Help! I Have Money Problems!

It’s typical.  Understandable.  Universal.  It’s also avoidable.  You just haven’t come down hard enough on yourself yet.  Because your principle problem isn’t money.  It’s you.  That’s right.  You.  Does that make you mad?  Sorry.  It’s the truth.  Here are a few truths that demand acceptance and submission. 

1.  You have all the money you deserve.  I’m not talking about your intrinsic value or your personal worth.  I’m talking marketplace.  In a market economy, each of us offers something of value that other people want.  The more people that want what you’ve got, or the more intensely they need it, then the greater your value becomes.  No need, no value.  Little need, little value.  Great need, great value.

2.  Cultivate your value.  Don’t have a skill?  Develop one.  Have a skill?  Make it better.  Have a great skill that no one knows about?  Advertise it, sell it, broadcast it, show it.  Unknown qualities and commodities equal non-existent qualities and commodities.  Find your niche, locate your most promising opportunity and capitalize on it.

3.  Rein in your appetite.  Stop spending money on non-essentials.  Reevaluate your tastes, desires, wants and affections.  It may be a very basic and obvious tendency, but the more money you spend on things you don’t need, the less money you will have to buy the things you need.  Quit whining about not having enough money for food, clothing and shelter when you spent it on luxury items that only serviced your unchecked lust for looks, comfort or prestige. 

4.  Reexamine your priorities and role models.  Take inventory of your habits.  Something or someone is driving you to behave in certain ways with your finances.  None of us live in a vacuum.  None of us do things for no reason.  We all have tastes or desires that control our behaviors, or else we have role models whom we consciously or unwittingly emulate.  Unrealistic goals or unattainable profiles of your heroes will drain you dry. 

5.  Exercise patience.  Note, when you have patience, you have to wait on fulfillment.  That seems like a given, but it still comes as a shock to many people.  Things are not going to happen overnight.  It’s what you do and how you handle yourself in the meantime that determines your outcome.  When you get tired of waiting, you will sabotage your prospects for success.  Wait a little longer than you expect to wait.  All you will hurt is your pride.

6.  Figure out your attitude towards money.  Is it just a way to live comfortably and take care of your needs, or is it a pathway to fame, fortune or admiration?  Is it a means to a status level or an instrument for pride and boasting?  If you regard money as a way to compare yourself to your peers, then you will always be disappointed.  Most people will not be impressed, or else you will outgrow your present peer group and then find yourself beneath the next more prestigious group.  It’s a battle you will never win.

7.  Don’t make money the measure of your contentment.  Be content with whatever you have, whether little or much.  The irony of contentment is that you can work or strive for more even while you remain content with what you have.  And, contentment is based on an appreciation for what you have.  Jealousy, envy and covetousness undermine contentment. 

8.  Progress is a matter of direction, not distance.  Little steps, little bites, little successes count just as much a leaps and bounds.  You do not have to have it all at once.  When you operate one day at a time, you will look back after 365 of those small increments and be amazed at what you accomplished in a year!

9.  Make money a spiritual commodity.  Your attitude towards money and the way you handle your finances reflect your relationship with God.  Jesus spoke as much about money and possessions as He did any other subject.  When you consider the spiritual aspect of money, you will make it a matter of prayer and you will adhere to spiritual laws concerning your use of money. 

10.  Finally, get help.  You may need some critical information, some helpful advice or even a rigorous education about money matters.  Just because you can add, subtract, multiply and divide doesn’t mean that you know how to handle money.  There are financial planners out there who can offer invaluable services to you on your money habits.  Don’t be so headstrong or incorrigible that you turn down the opportunity to learn more about your finances.  Swallow your pride and make that phone call.  A year or two from now, you will be glad you did.