Just In Case
First milestone toward financial freedom achieved! I now have a $1000 emergency fund. While this may not seem like much it is important to achieve small mini victories toward the big ones! It confirms that you are heading the correct direction and that if you put your mind to it you can achieve anything. Budgets take discipline and let’s face it we as a country and individuals haven’t practiced discipline monetarily very well. I’ve posted the statistics to prove it in a previous video blog post where I talk about how much money I make.
Budgets aren’t for the broke, but for the rich and wealthy. They have learned to do two things. The first thing is to be disciplined and the second is to be diligent. I won’t debate exactly how they got their wealth, but either way it involved those two principles. Once you retrain your thinking about money and learn to delay gratification we can actually have more. There is a certain power in having control over our money that needs to be understood by everyone. It’s not common sense to spend less than you make, but it does make sense! So does building an emergency fund. don’t let emergencies control your finances, but let your finances control your emergencies with an emergency fund. When you have control over your money time becomes your only constraint to make more.
The Tortoise and the Hare (film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Tortoise and the Hare is a story that I remember as a young boy. I remember questioning why the hare just didn’t stay awake. He was obviously faster than the tortoise. As I’ve grown up I realized that the tortoise represents a large portion of people who want to live fast, but can’t stop to save slowly. However, the tortoise did just that. He added one step at a time, but always made forward progress. In the end the Tortoise won the race and had the desired success he pursued, but the Hare lost it all.
The point I am trying to make is something that the bible talks about a lot. Even if you’re not a Christian or particularly “religious” the principles still apply. One scripture says “The race is not to the swift, but to those that endure”. While this verse isn’t directly related to money it outlines a principle that we should live by. That principle speaks volumes if applied to ones life. In fact I’d argue without it you can’t go far. It’s how I made it through college to achieve 2 master degrees, a PMP certification, and saving a $1000 emergency fund.
What are you willing to endure? Are you like the tortoise and willing to not get sleep, have the latest iPhone, say no to that vacation on a credit card, or not buy presents on this Christmas?
If you could give up 100 dollars today to have 1000 dollars in 3 months would you do it? I say yes you can and if you believe its true I challenge you to build your $1000 dollar emergency fund! Next step pay off debt and save toward my 3 to 6 month emergency fund. Don’t be broke, be Budget Strong!
