With so much personal finance advice everywhere, you’d think we’d all be financially fit by now. Dave Ramsey blasts money tips from his radio show. Suze Orman lectures us on television while numerous personal finance books, blogs, and magazines spit out all sorts of money saving suggestions.
As a result, we often know exactly what we should be doing with our money. Unfortunately we never get around to doing it.
Of course, we understand that switching to a credit union could save us hundreds of dollars every year, but it never gets done. We should definitely sit down and create a budget, but when? The smart thing would be to enroll in our company’s 401K plan, yet we promise ourselves we’ll take care of it later. Raising our automobile insurance deductible is sound money advice, but how many of us have actually done it?
We know what to do. Life just gets in the way.
The Quickest Way To Success Is To Prioritize What Matters The Most
Stephen Covey, author of First Things First, argues that the reason we don’t accomplish what’s truly important to us is because we’re great at filling up our time with tasks that bring no real long term benefit.
We’re too busy engaging in urgent but non-important tasks like answering emails, attending meetings or returning phone calls. Worse yet, we’re even better at allowing non-important and non-urgent tasks to suck up our time. Can you say Housewives of Atlanta and Facebook?
All the while those things that would really change our lives get pushed to the side. These tasks are important all right. Going to the gym to work out, researching a career change, or finding the time to write our novel would all make our lives better in the long run, but because these things are not urgent, they get pushed off until “tomorrow.” Because there’s no immediate penalty for not doing them, they never get done.
We never get physically fit, never complete our novel, never change to a more lucrative career, and never get our finances straight.
Schedule Your “Golden Hour”
So how do make sure the important but non-urgent matters take precedence in our lives?
We schedule time for them. That’s right, we define the time up front that we’ll use to attend to these tasks that will have the most impact on our lives.
Want to lose weight and get fit? Schedule an hour early in the morning devoted to exercise. Want to actually write your novel or screenplay? Schedule an hour a day devoted just to writing, say between 9pm-10pm. Want to ensure you spend more time with the family? schedule a few “family nights” during the week.
Want to get your money straight? Schedule the time to do it. Find an hour a week to devote to nothing but getting your financial house in order. I call it your Golden Hour because it will literally pave the way to you becoming financially independent.
During your weekly Golden Hour you could:
Switch your checking account from a bank to a credit union that charges fewer fees.
Shop around for lower auto and home insurance rates.
Appeal your property tax assessment.
Call your credit card company to ask for a lower interest rate.
Create a will.
Purchase and install energy efficient light bulbs.
Review your monthly spending in order to find ways to save more money.
Install a programmable thermostat.
Develop a budget.
Automate your bill payments to prevent late fees.
Research a career move.
Or use the time to increase your financial knowledge. Learn exactly how to invest wisely or investigate how to earn more money.
Once you start attending to your money matters on a consistent basis, you’ll find the savings start pouring in. By prioritizing your financial success you’ll make sure that “life” doesn’t get in the way.
BMWK, how do you make sure that “life” doesn’t get in the way of the things that matter the most to you? Have you ever considered setting time aside weekly to devote just to your finances?
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