Tomorrow is a brand spankin’ new year! And with each new year, comes resolutions. In our business, we have two New Year’s: one at the beginning of each year, and one when the kids go back to school. Both times of year people decide that they are going to get their finances in order. It’s a funny phenomena. It’s like people wake up one day and think, “Oh crud! My finances are whack!” Or something like that. Then they seek out any possible way to try and get back on track, as if they were on the tracks to start with. There’s a lot of midnight cable watching, brother-in-law asking, get rich scheme talkin’ goin’ on. But for a select percentage of the population, they actually get on a plan that changes how they handle their finances for life: our plan! (Insert guy with pearly white teeth and a single “DING” sound.)
But let’s go back to the other FANTASTIC ideas that will help people stop their horrid spending habits and get focused on the things that will truly make them rich. Like the three wallets that fine folks at M.I.T. came up with. As Michael Koretzky reported, they developed some wallets to combat “our consumer impulses.”
- The Bumblebee – which vibrates whenever your bank registers a transaction.
- The Mother Bear – which has a hinge that gets tougher to open as your account gets smaller.
- The Peacock – which inflates or deflates as your account gets cash flush or cash poor.
As I read this I couldn’t help but think, “These are some great novelty items.” That’s right, novelty. “But Chris, wouldn’t that stop my over-spending? Wouldn’t that keep my bank account full? Wouldn’t that get me on the path to financial freedom?” Uhhhhhh, no. It really wouldn’t. Disciplining yourself to be on a budget that allows you to spend for what you need AND (here it comes) want, will get you on the path. Yes you can actually budget the things that you want as well as need. Actually having a plan of how to live on less than you make will get you on that path. A trick wallet that tells you how dumb you’ve been lately isn’t the thing that’ll do it. Pretty soon you’ll just get tired of the wallet telling you what you can and cannot do, and you’ll toss it for the one that was more spender friendly.
Please…pleeeeeeease start your year off right and get on a plan. It’s really not that hard to do, and you’ll be amazed at the difference it makes.
Resources:
Winning the Culture War at Work
