The Writer’s Coin

None of us are perfect when it comes to our finances, our hobbies, or anything else. But even the best of us seem to fall into that trap and when we are reminded of our imperfection, we take it a little hard.

Trent over at The Simple Dollar had a recent post about it.

And yesterday Ramit over at Iwillteachyoutoberich got an email from a guy who was saying that all the personal finance he reads doesn’t apply to him. That it only applies to to single people making good money.

Which is probably the exact opposite of the truth.

Most personal finance (PF) blogs are here to help normal people like you and me become aware of their financial selves, which are most of the time in disarray. Regardless of salary or marital status.

Anyway, Ramit talks about this all the time so he was trying to engage this person and try to figure out why he felt that way when he’s exactly the type of person PFers are here to help.

Eventually the emailer came back with this:

After sitting on this a while, I realize that there isn’t really any advice I can be given. I want to–and do, for the most part–give my wife and kids whatever they want. Until I stop doing that, the whole saving more, spending less thing won’t work for me.

Dude, welcome to the club. This is exactly the type of person that can benefit from PF blogs. It just goes to show how hard the whole “spend less, save more” concept can be so difficult for people.

We can dress it up any way we want (sacrificing for my family, not enough money, I want to enjoy life, etc.) but it comes down to one simple thing: sacrificing something you can live without today for a more secure future tomorrow. And most times you don’t even have to sacrifice, you just have to plan and maybe put off a purchase or trip for a while.

This happens to me all the time when I think of my “buying a place” fund. How organized is my plan? What is my goal in terms of dollar amount?

I have no idea. I don’t have a plan in place yet. Right now I’m just throwing all the money I can into my ING account and saying to myself that “that’s enough.” That “once I get a new job, it’ll pay me more, and then I’ll be able to really start saving.”

Bad, bad, bad.

I need to work on it. But it’s OK. I’m doing other things well. I’m not perfect.

Tags: being perfect, Budgeting