HOPE

As you are navigating your own financial journey, remember HOPE!

It was budget meeting time again. Somehow, in the beginning of our marriage, it fell on me to be the manager of our money. I didn't think it would be all that difficult - just record what we've spent and balance the checkbook, right? Wrong! Each time my husband wanted to look at the books, I felt like Lucy when Ricky would tell her, "You've got some 'splainin' to do!" It felt like whatever was wrong with our finances was all my fault - after all, I was in charge of our finances. I should have told him not to spend when we didn't have money. I should have known we were close to going into overdraft... again!

Each time we met to talk about money, my heart would race, I'd start sweating like a pig, and have a major fight-or-flight response. It always turned into a fight - him asking where the money went and me trying to defend the spending. It wasn't like we were spending like crazy either. Diapers and food don't come cheap! I felt like he didn't understand the reality of how much things cost; and he felt like I didn't understand how to not splurge on every "shiny" thing I saw. I had had it. He had had it. We needed to do something!

We had tried so many different ways of tracking our spending and budgeting, but nothing seemed to work. With two young children and a third on the way, a mortgage, car debt, and student loan debt to worry about, we didn't have much hope in our situation. It wasn't until we discovered the secret to finding financial hope that we finally began to communicate about money - not just argue. We began to see our money grow and not go into overdraft month after month. We were no longer living paycheck to paycheck. We finally had a plan and we were sticking to it. It can happen for you too! Just remember H.O.P.E.!

H.O.P.E. = Habits, Opportunity, Planning, Endurance

HABITS - Start developing good budgeting habits. Make a plan for your money when it comes in. Ask yourself, "what does this money need to do before I get paid again?" Then, develop the habit of checking the budget before spending.

Opportunity - Take advantage of opportunities to increase your income if needed. Weigh the opportunity costs. If you spend your money on something, you lose the chance to spend it on something else. Spend with intention.

PLANNING - Plan for the future by having an emergency fund stashed away to cover all those unexpected emergencies that come up. Don't forget to include your "true expenses" in your budget -- those things you know are coming up that you'll need to fund. Be sure you are adequately covered by having good health, auto, home/renters, and life insurance as part of your overall plan.

ENDURANCE - Keep going! If you’re just getting started, your budget will take a few months before you get most of the kinks worked out. It’s ok. Keep at it. After a few months, you’ll get to the point where you stop forgetting all those little expenses you never thought of. If you're further along in your journey, but you keep hitting roadblocks rather than milestones, hang in there. Keep doing the work and you will achieve your financial dreams!


Go on! Feel the hope!

P.S. Watch for future posts where I will break down each of these aspects of a winning financial plan.