Meaningful Money 101: A Quick Trick

 

 

In my last post, the Coffee Conundrum, I talked about the satisfaction of “meaningful spending.” What is it? Meaningful spending is spending your money consciously on something that is important to your life. I don’t care if what is important to you is having a great meal, looking great, or making sure that your kids have the best toys. Everybody is different. That is why finances is, and should be, so personal and looking at the way other people spend their money is not always the best example for you.

The question is, how do you get there? Well, I can tell you from personal experience that there is no quick pill or fix you can do to get there. Like many other things in life, it is quite a journey and it is an ongoing one. Why? Because your life is not static and your priorities change. Therefore, what is considered “meaningful” to you changes as your life circumstances change.

Although I don’t have a quick fix for you to get to a place where your spending is meaningful, I have developed a few quick tricks along the way to put my “unmeaningful” spending in check. And, yes, “unmeaningful” is a new word. Here is one of my favorites:

Tip: The credit check (Takes 10 minutes tops)

This is not the real credit check where you order a credit report to check your credit score. This is a self-check where you take the monthly statement or statements from your most heavily used debit and/or credit card(s), look through the statement transactions and circle 2 type of transactions. The first type are the transactions/purchases you remember but realize that they were unnecessary or did not mean that much to you. The second type of transaction you will circle is the transactions that you don’t remember because, if you don’t remember them, they were probably not that meaningful or necessary. Then, add up all the circled items. Your total is the total of “unmeaningful” spending for that month or that billing period.

Surprising? I know. I have been there.

What to do? It does not mean that you have to cut up your credit cards and/or debit cards or put them in the freezer (a trick one of my friends taught me). This simple exercise along will bring you better awareness, better perspective. Do this every couple of months and you may start to think twice with some of your less meaningful purchases. For me, after a few “credit checks,” I started to see my total of “unmeaningful” spending go down. And, that alone is encouraging!

Wishing you a wealth of wellness,