Money! Credit Money!
Do you control money, or does it control you?
The economy, despite the few green shoots, which are starting to show in the housing market, is still very much on its knees. Unemployment is close to 2.5 million people. House repossessions are at an all time high. Beneath that statistic, millions more are just barely managing to keep afloat.
Worry over finances has become a national British pastime.
Let me give you another statistic; most of what we worry about never happens - FACT. Worry is the fear of what might happen, and even if it does happen, a few months later and after the dust has settled, it’s almost forgotten, and doesn’t seem that importance when looked at from a distance in any event.
I’m not belittling worry, there’s a lot of it about at this time and it’s real. The greatest fear for most people is lack of money by which to live their lives, losing one’s job, over spending on credit cards, mortgage payments falling behind. You worry over the cost of insurance, tax, and credit payments, so you are able to keep the car on the road.
I'm not saying not to worry about these things, if you’re unable to pay your way, you will worry. That is only natural, but often the problem lies within you, and only you. In the majority of cases, the problem is not a lack of money, but how you handle the money you actually receive, no matter how large or small the sum.
What is your actual spending pattern?
That should be your starting point, to free yourself from worry. Do you plan what you spend? I mean by planning your finances: do you set yourself a budget and stick with it? No matter what obstacles are thrown your way! And you spend only within your means.
Let’s look at what Mr Micawber from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens had to say.
“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery."
Very droll and obvious; everyone knows that statement by Mr, Micawber, but nevertheless, the words are still a magnificent truism. Worry, illness, high blood pressure, bad temper, and all the other negative adjectives you could use against temper, are real to us, and we need to control and take responsibility for our own actions. I have heard people say.
Worry over finances has become a national British pastime.
Let me give you another statistic; most of what we worry about never happens - FACT. Worry is the fear of what might happen, and even if it does happen, a few months later and after the dust has settled, it’s almost forgotten, and doesn’t seem that importance when looked at from a distance in any event.
I’m not belittling worry, there’s a lot of it about at this time and it’s real. The greatest fear for most people is lack of money by which to live their lives, losing one’s job, over spending on credit cards, mortgage payments falling behind. You worry over the cost of insurance, tax, and credit payments, so you are able to keep the car on the road.
I'm not saying not to worry about these things, if you’re unable to pay your way, you will worry. That is only natural, but often the problem lies within you, and only you. In the majority of cases, the problem is not a lack of money, but how you handle the money you actually receive, no matter how large or small the sum.
What is your actual spending pattern?
That should be your starting point, to free yourself from worry. Do you plan what you spend? I mean by planning your finances: do you set yourself a budget and stick with it? No matter what obstacles are thrown your way! And you spend only within your means.
Let’s look at what Mr Micawber from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens had to say.
“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery."
Very droll and obvious; everyone knows that statement by Mr, Micawber, but nevertheless, the words are still a magnificent truism. Worry, illness, high blood pressure, bad temper, and all the other negative adjectives you could use against temper, are real to us, and we need to control and take responsibility for our own actions. I have heard people say.
“I don’t worry about money, it’s not important to me.”
That may or may not be the case, but what they are actually saying is: I don’t worry about it until in knocks me in the face, and my past spending habits have placed me up against a brick wall.”
Our politicians behave in the same way; little wonder large tracts of the population follow. The world has changed greatly since Mr. Micawber’s time. If he were around today, he'd be astonished at the size of the government’s trade deficit, and with the way people live their lives, which is well beyond their financial means. In Europe and in America, until now, they have prospered. Credit has become the new God, the elixir of life, but the road is now at an end. So where do we go from here?
For starters, we are at last back to reality, and many are now forced to spend only within their budget. For others, it is already too late, bankruptcies are up several fold, and for them, the only way out is insolvency, but, and here is where the light shines. They have an opportunity to start again, and hopefully, not to make the same mistakes.
They are now forced by circumstance to live within their means; credit is barred to them. Indeed, in today’s difficult market, credit is barred to most people, so having no credit line could well be a positive attribute for many people.
That leads me nicely on to the type of person you are when it comes to handling your finances. There are five categories in all: the evader, ambler, hoarder, splurger, and validator.
Our politicians behave in the same way; little wonder large tracts of the population follow. The world has changed greatly since Mr. Micawber’s time. If he were around today, he'd be astonished at the size of the government’s trade deficit, and with the way people live their lives, which is well beyond their financial means. In Europe and in America, until now, they have prospered. Credit has become the new God, the elixir of life, but the road is now at an end. So where do we go from here?
For starters, we are at last back to reality, and many are now forced to spend only within their budget. For others, it is already too late, bankruptcies are up several fold, and for them, the only way out is insolvency, but, and here is where the light shines. They have an opportunity to start again, and hopefully, not to make the same mistakes.
They are now forced by circumstance to live within their means; credit is barred to them. Indeed, in today’s difficult market, credit is barred to most people, so having no credit line could well be a positive attribute for many people.
That leads me nicely on to the type of person you are when it comes to handling your finances. There are five categories in all: the evader, ambler, hoarder, splurger, and validator.
Which one are you?
Do you, when a bank statement lands through your letterbox, eagerly open it, add up the charges and interest payment? Or do you look at it with apprehension, pick up the letter unopened, as if it's toxic, and place in to one side for a few days until you feel in a better mood to confront.
Whether you delight or dread such moments says a lot about your personality when it comes to handing money. And for most people, the news is not that great.
Nearly 60% of us are Amblers. The type who drift through life not worrying about our bank balance, spend impulsively, and worry about the paying later, and only confront when bankruptcy looms, and when change is forced upon us. Not good for our well being, or our peace of mind, but still, we carry on, often until it’s too late.
Next, coming in at 24% are the Evaders. They avoid opening their bank statements, bin them, pretend they don’t exist, and live permanently in denial about the size of their debt, and you got it, they just carry on spending until forced to stop.
Next, at 13.80%, the Hoarders, who stash cash but live in fear of things going wrong. This often leads to continued anxiety, they always go for, “safe investments” which brings them little by way of return, and constantly they worry over money.
Penultimate, at 2% are the Validators, these people splash out to impress others or, to show off, to make them feel better.
Finally, at a measly, 0.2% the Splergers, who can’t help impulse buying on credit until they face financial ruin, and even then, it doesn’t always stop them, they are compulsive spenders, similar to a compulsive gambler or alcoholic.
The result of the survey concluded that as a nation we have little to no control over our finances. Money awareness in the population needs to sharpen tenfold; once you have worked out your finances, and the type of person you are, the starting line is then in front of you.
Now, take that first step to improve. Financial sanity, which largely means financial happiness, is to prepare a monthly budget, write it down, every detail of what you spend, even down to a newspaper, and compare it against your budget. If there is a variance, stop spending, no matter how much you think you may need something. Just don’t spend, go without. Money is important, and you should look upon it as such if you wish to lead a stress free life. Planning is everything when it comes to handling and managing your finances.
Summation
The survey sample was 1417 and researched by the Reader’s Digest.
The Ambler: A person who doesn’t worry in the least about the state of his finances until it comes and smacks him in the face, and is then forced to act.
The Evader: Constantly in denial about his level of debt, and will avoid opening mail until forced to confront, and even then still remain in denial of the true situation.
The Hoarder: Constantly worries over money, fears losing it, and is motivated to save and not spend.
The Splurger: Impulsive, often to destruction, will spend on a whim and worry about it later.
The Validator: Spends to show off and to improve his low self-esteem, sometimes even invests to demonstrate that he has money, purely for show.
Do you, when a bank statement lands through your letterbox, eagerly open it, add up the charges and interest payment? Or do you look at it with apprehension, pick up the letter unopened, as if it's toxic, and place in to one side for a few days until you feel in a better mood to confront.
Whether you delight or dread such moments says a lot about your personality when it comes to handing money. And for most people, the news is not that great.
Nearly 60% of us are Amblers. The type who drift through life not worrying about our bank balance, spend impulsively, and worry about the paying later, and only confront when bankruptcy looms, and when change is forced upon us. Not good for our well being, or our peace of mind, but still, we carry on, often until it’s too late.
Next, coming in at 24% are the Evaders. They avoid opening their bank statements, bin them, pretend they don’t exist, and live permanently in denial about the size of their debt, and you got it, they just carry on spending until forced to stop.
Next, at 13.80%, the Hoarders, who stash cash but live in fear of things going wrong. This often leads to continued anxiety, they always go for, “safe investments” which brings them little by way of return, and constantly they worry over money.
Penultimate, at 2% are the Validators, these people splash out to impress others or, to show off, to make them feel better.
Finally, at a measly, 0.2% the Splergers, who can’t help impulse buying on credit until they face financial ruin, and even then, it doesn’t always stop them, they are compulsive spenders, similar to a compulsive gambler or alcoholic.
The result of the survey concluded that as a nation we have little to no control over our finances. Money awareness in the population needs to sharpen tenfold; once you have worked out your finances, and the type of person you are, the starting line is then in front of you.
Now, take that first step to improve. Financial sanity, which largely means financial happiness, is to prepare a monthly budget, write it down, every detail of what you spend, even down to a newspaper, and compare it against your budget. If there is a variance, stop spending, no matter how much you think you may need something. Just don’t spend, go without. Money is important, and you should look upon it as such if you wish to lead a stress free life. Planning is everything when it comes to handling and managing your finances.
Summation
The survey sample was 1417 and researched by the Reader’s Digest.
The Ambler: A person who doesn’t worry in the least about the state of his finances until it comes and smacks him in the face, and is then forced to act.
The Evader: Constantly in denial about his level of debt, and will avoid opening mail until forced to confront, and even then still remain in denial of the true situation.
The Hoarder: Constantly worries over money, fears losing it, and is motivated to save and not spend.
The Splurger: Impulsive, often to destruction, will spend on a whim and worry about it later.
The Validator: Spends to show off and to improve his low self-esteem, sometimes even invests to demonstrate that he has money, purely for show.
Personal:
Where would I come into the list? Well, I do worry about the state of my finances, so Amber is out. Evader, I have little in the way of debt, none in fact, always pay off my credit cards every month, so that is out. I do not over spend, most definitely not, and I am more motivated towards saving than spending, and I always open my statements immediately check and file them if correct.
Again, I defiantly not a Splurger. I never buy on a whim, I sleep on every decision first, and even then, I take another night's sleep before I make a decision whether or not to buy. When I do decide, I scour the shops and Internet as to the best value, and purchase only that item. I rarely leave a tip when in a restaurant unless I get exceptional service, except sometimes when I'm forced to by my partner. (Sic!)
Validator, I never spend to show off, the exact opposite in fact, rather not spend at all if it can be avoided, and I never invest or spend to impress.
So I suppose, that makes me something of a Hoarder, the nearest to it in any event, but I do possess entrepreneurial tendencies as well, so the fit is far from perfect, but, as they say, the nearest fit will have to do. That’s life.
Where you are on the scale?
Now come on, be honest!
It’s your turn, go through the five categories. A tip: don’t just light on one and say, that’s where I am. Work by eliminating what you are not until you are left with just one category. Irrespective, if it’s not totally you, go for best fit out of the five.
Another quote from Dicken’s Mr. Micawber:
“Welcome poverty! Welcome misery, welcome houselessness, welcome hunger, rags, tempest, and beggary! Mutual confidence will sustain us to the end!”
Best if you don’t go there in the first place, so plan, and watch how you spend or that is where you could end up.
Don’t be too down hearted if you fail to live within your means, as Oscar Wilde (1854 – 1900) says. “Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.” But you will go bankrupt, if you follow Wilde, your choice!
Again, I defiantly not a Splurger. I never buy on a whim, I sleep on every decision first, and even then, I take another night's sleep before I make a decision whether or not to buy. When I do decide, I scour the shops and Internet as to the best value, and purchase only that item. I rarely leave a tip when in a restaurant unless I get exceptional service, except sometimes when I'm forced to by my partner. (Sic!)
Validator, I never spend to show off, the exact opposite in fact, rather not spend at all if it can be avoided, and I never invest or spend to impress.
So I suppose, that makes me something of a Hoarder, the nearest to it in any event, but I do possess entrepreneurial tendencies as well, so the fit is far from perfect, but, as they say, the nearest fit will have to do. That’s life.
Where you are on the scale?
Now come on, be honest!
It’s your turn, go through the five categories. A tip: don’t just light on one and say, that’s where I am. Work by eliminating what you are not until you are left with just one category. Irrespective, if it’s not totally you, go for best fit out of the five.
Another quote from Dicken’s Mr. Micawber:
“Welcome poverty! Welcome misery, welcome houselessness, welcome hunger, rags, tempest, and beggary! Mutual confidence will sustain us to the end!”
Best if you don’t go there in the first place, so plan, and watch how you spend or that is where you could end up.
Don’t be too down hearted if you fail to live within your means, as Oscar Wilde (1854 – 1900) says. “Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.” But you will go bankrupt, if you follow Wilde, your choice!
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