9 Ways to Mind Your Money

                                                               

There are several books, websites, articles and television shows that talk about how to save money, spend money wisely, and invest your money and more.  None of these tools can help you if you don't take the time to realize how your thinking affects your spending habits.

Money can be used to help you achieve your dreams, and can help identify any painful or traumatic experiences you have had with money.  If you overcome those experiences and move on you can begin having happy experiences with money.  You must learn how to remove your negative emotional attachments to money such as fear, doubt, worthlessness, stress, depression, guilt, hurt, jealousy, envy and anger.

Negative thoughts become negative feelings. Negative feeling become negative words, negative words become negative actions.  If you continuously make negative statements about your financial situation you will manifest those statements into reality.

Financial Planner Vickie Champion has a quiz that determines if you need to change your relationship with money.  The quiz can be found at http://vickiechampion.com/about-money-issues/money-quiz/. The first step to change the way you think about money is to admit that there is a problem.  Face the problem head on.  By doing this you will be able to eliminate those negative thoughts, beliefs and emotions that are attached to money and be able to turn them into positive thoughts that will manifest themselves into positive actions and prosperity.

Decide if you want to continue to struggle with your finances or if you want to improve your financial situation. You will continue to struggle with your finances and experience financial crises if you:

1. Buy things you don't need
2. Spend more money you can’t pay back
3. Continue to bounce checks or pay overdraft fees, late fees or other fees
4. Use payday loans, checking cashing stores or cash advances to pay your bills
5. Don't have a monthly budget or don't stick to your budget
6. Don't have a saving or retirement account
7. Don't have health, life or disability insurance
8. Live paycheck to paycheck
9. Have creditors calling your house day and night or sending harassing letters
10. Are depressed and stressed out over your money situation
11. Are afraid to spend your money
12. Have credit cards that are maxed out
13. Unable to buy or pay for basic necessities due to your financial situation

Here are 9 ways to mind your money:

1. Remove the following phrases or any negative phrases you say about money from your vocabulary: I can't, I don't have, I will never be able to, I am a loser, I am broke, I have nothing, I will always be in debt, I don't have any money, I will have to work until I am 65, I will never be able to buy a house, the more I make the more I will spend, money is the root of all evil, I am not good with money, etc.
2. Be thankful and responsible with the money you have. If you cannot be thankful and responsible for what you have now, how will you be able to handle your finances if you gain more in the future.
3. Think about your childhood and identify any traumatic or painful experiences or beliefs you had about money and write them down.
4. Write down why you felt that way regarding each experience.
5. Write down how those thoughts have affected you as an adult.
6. Ask yourself if you really believe those thoughts, have they just become habits or someone else's thoughts or habits. If they are someone else's thoughts or habits then you can easily eliminate them. If they are your own thoughts, then you have to make a commitment to yourself that you will stop having negative thoughts about money.
7. Each time you have a negative thought or make a negative statement about money or your current financial situation and immediately write down why you feel that way. Then write down a positive statement that is the exact opposite of that negative thought.  If you need additional reinforcement buy some books on positive affirmations. You can also put an empty jar or water bottle somewhere where you will see it often and place $5 in the jar every time you think or speak a negative thought about money.  Repeat this for 30 days.  By the end of 30 days you will have begun to change your thoughts about money. Whatever money you have in the jar after the 30 days use that money to pay a bill, put in a savings account or investment account.
8. Create a budget and make a serious change in your spending which will require sacrifices.
9. Set a monetary goal that you wish to accomplish and a deadline for that goal, i.e. I will pay off my Visa credit card by June 30, 2013. Once you accomplish your first goal continue to make additional financial goals and continue this throughout your life and you will see your financial situation improve and your negative thoughts turn into positive ones.

You must believe that money does not make you smarter, nicer, more successful, more intelligent or a better person and that money will not solve all of your problems.  Your character determines all these things not money.  If you were a mean person when you had a few dollars you will continue to be a mean person when you have more money. 

Make this affirmation, "In the past I have used my negative thoughts to create debt but from this day forth I will use positive thoughts to create wealth."  I leave you with one of my quotes, "Money has the ability to generate debt or generate wealth, you make the choice". Remember to mind your money.