Enjoy life to the fullest
Every January, millions of Americans set New Year resolutions. We want to spend more time with family and friends, get a new hobby, travel more, and enjoy life to the fullest. Do you know what else we wish more than anything else? Spend less and Save more!
What if you can spend more time with family and friends stay on budget? What if you can travel or get a new hobby and not overspend? What if you can enjoy life to the fullest and still make progress toward your long-term financial goals? Well, you can!
The very first thing you need is to create your financial plan. The plan is a roadmap that will clarify where you are financially today, where you want to be and how to get from here to there. It will eliminate hundred of ‘what-if’ questions, bring clarity into your guilt-free disposable income, and bring certainty to your life.
After you created your plan, the financial wellness journey starts, and please enjoy every step of it. You will achieve quite significant financial goals along the way and bring a lot of joy to yourself and your family. You will get rid of debt, build your emergency fund, acquire proper protection and secure your retirement income. What not to love about it? I love it!
You might be asking, how can I achieve all this and still enjoy life to the fullest? There is one key truth you’d need to understand, comprehend and commit to. The truth is:
You cannot afford everything.
You can afford anything.
Nobody, absolutely nobody, can afford everything. The wealthiest person in the world would quickly run out of money if he’d go on a shopping spree to buy everything. There is a limited amount of money available to us to spend on things we want. We have to be selective about where to spend money. Money spent on things you don’t truly want is the money you cannot spend on the things you truly want. Every time you spend money on something, you make a trade-off on something else. If you truly want to spend all your disposable income ordering in a restaurant every day, great, do it. But you should logically expect not to have money to take your family on a holiday trip. If you truly want to travel in the upcoming holiday, you’d need to make some trade-offs and maybe order less food out of a restaurant.
You can afford anything, but you cannot afford everything. Once you understand and comprehend this truth, decision-making becomes easy. Life becomes easier and more enjoyable because you get more things you truly want and fewer things that become waste and drag quickly. Make a list of things and experiences you truly want and spend your money accordingly. Your spending habits need to adjust according to your priorities. If you truly want to buy a round of drinks for everyone in a bar, do it! Fill happy, enjoy the moment, accept thanks, smiles, and shoulder taps. As long as you are spending your guilt-free disposable income on what you truly want you are fine.
You enjoy life to the fullest by creating memorable moments once in a while, by getting things and experiences you truly want, and by trading off things you don’t. At the same time, you stay on budget, keep your long-term financial goals on track.
Check, check, check.