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Take Inspired Money Action

wise words from Denise Duffield-Thomas

By Kaitlyn DawnPublished 3 years ago 5 min read
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Take Inspired Money Action
Photo by Micheile Henderson on Unsplash

"When it comes to taking action, most of us do something wishy-washy like 'research' (aka scrolling through pinterest), or we procrastinate by getting obsessed with finding the perfect color for our website backgrounds."

... Guilty! I am a researcher, for sure. I typically love to have all the facts before diving into a decision. Like with sustainable and eco-friendly living: I feel like I've been actively avoiding it for years, because the research is overwhelming and I didn't know where to start. (Now, I've started taking baby steps: unplugging things that don't need to stay plugged in; having shorter showers so as not to waste too much water ...)

With money, I don't think research is necessarily my problem ... but getting obsessed and needing things to be perfect is -- I still wait sometimes for "the perfect time", aka "when I'm rich I'll do this". But there is no such thing as "perfect", and as I've talked about in a few of my articles lately, taking one step at a time is so much better for progress and moving foward!

With manifesting, as Denise says, it's important to do something "highly symbolic" -- show The Universe you're serious about your income. It's basically like meeting The Universe halfway; put in the effort, you will get a reward.

Denise, as always, has some great money wisdom in Get Rich Lucky B*tch, so I'd like to share some of that wisdom here, with my own personal examples.

Begin Saving Today

I've been super gung ho in the past (and present, for that matter) about saving for something significant, as well as saving just to have a safety net ... but then something always seems to come up, either important (tuition) or unimportant (a sale on books), and I get derailed.

Between my joint account with my boyfriend and my own personal account, I have 7 savings accounts ... yes, SEVEN. Some of them have been more successfully untouched than others.

What Denise adds is to set up "a direct debit of a really small amount of money, one that you won't miss too much" -- in other words, pay your savings account from your chequings on a regular basis. And, by setting it up automatically, you won't have to actively do anything! The other goal is to also increase the amount a tiny bit every couple months.

Spend a Little for Pleasure

While some people have trouble saving, there are others who have trouble spending -- they save and save and hoard their money.

Denise actually ORDERS her readers -- those that are having issues spending -- to take 5% of their monthly income, that they MUST spend on themselves/their pleasure. So if you make $1000 a month, you MUST spend $50 on yourself: buy a new top, treat yourself to a nice dinner, splurge and get the expensive versions of things you buy at the drugstore ... whatever you gotta do to treat yourself! (She even says to increase the amount over time so that you're one day spending 10%!)

Make a Public Commitment

Something I've done in the past has been to tell people "I'm not buying any more books until I read some of the ones I own". If I say it to myself, I'll buy books the next week anyways ... if I say it to someone like my boyfriend or my mom, I'm held accountable, and I think twice about making a book purchase. I've done this for other things too, like I told my boyfriend last weekend "Don't let me buy snacks, I have enough snacks already" -- this weekend, I'm going to be talking to him about bigger changes I'd like to make around diet and exercise, again to have that accountability.

Pony Up and Put Down Some Dollars

I'll admit, this idea scares me, but it makes sense. Denise is saying that if you put down a non-refundable deposit on something that you can't quite afford (or maybe you can afford this month, but then you're scrambling the next), then you will do whatever it takes to come up with the money for that thing.

"I need to wait until I have more money before I can do this" -- I say this for a lot with big purchases, especially service-based purchases (like coaching). Last month, however, I was inspired by a workshop that I attended, and right after it ended I opened my email to see it was the final day for the early discount of a group coaching program for writers that I KNEW would be a good investment (the program starts this month, and I'm so excited!) ... it was $1,250, and non-refundable, and I went for it. I had the money to do it, but it means I'll need to really buckle down for the rest of the year, until I start getting more clients in my business (and/or until I publish my book that I'll be completing in 90 days!).

Something else I can do, however, is sell some of my belongings, which I've been meaning to do for awhile anyways. I may not have $1,250 worth of items (or maybe I do, who knows?) but it'll at least put some cash back into my wallet. And it'll declutter my apartment.

Conclusion

So, a few ways you can take inspired action today:

* Save if you have trouble saving -- set up a savings account AND have money directly deposited into it on a regular basis

* Spend if you have trouble spending -- 5% of your income must go towards YOU and what YOU want

* Find someone you can be accountable to -- this could be a friend or family member, or it could even be you sharing your commitment on social media (for the world to hold you accountable)

* Make that large purchase you've been waiting to make for too long -- you will light a fire beneath you and get you actively moving on finding the money for it

(Note: This is my fifth article relating to GET RICH LUCKY B*TCH. If you enjoyed this article, please check out my other four: My Money Story; Designing My First-Class Life; Richer Than I Thought; and The Law of Incremental Upgrade)

personal finance
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About the Creator

Kaitlyn Dawn

27, Canadian, she/her

Life & Creativity Coach

reader, writer, and lover of words

https://www.kaitlyndawn.com

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