I want to talk about one thing I see people do all the time that I think you should ditch ASAP: the one where you tell yourself you’re broke on a loop.
When you graduate college and (hopefully) get a full-time job, you might feel temporarily rich, but for a lot of people, that feeling really doesn’t last. You see your first paycheck and you’re maybe amazed that anyone wants to pay you that much. Then you get to paying rent and bills and loans, and having fun on weekends and planning vacation, and you’re back to feeling broke again.
And that’s when you’re unmarried and kid-less. Yikes.
But I’d like to propose that one thing that makes you broke is telling yourself that you’re Broke Girl (or Broke Guy).
Labeling yourself as broke is a really good way to convince yourself that “broke” is part of who you are. If it’s who you are, well, now you have an excuse to not try to fix your broke-ness.
You feel like there’s never enough money, so you tell yourself there’s never enough money, so you start to believe there’s never enough money, so you act like there’s never enough money.
Then you don’t have enough money to live how you want to, and I’m pretty sure you don’t want that. So let’s talk about some actions that will help you break that cycle.
Just a note: these actions are not really related to your budget. We’re going to talk about that next week. These are to help you shift your mindset so you stop believing you’re stuck being broke and start believing you can totally have enough money.
Ask for you what you want.
You don’t know if you don’t ask, and you can get more money (and less broke) just by asking.
So if you want a raise, put together a list of reasons you believe you deserve on and ask. If it goes well, awesome. If not, ask what you need to do to get that raise a little later. Then go do those things and get that money.
If you want a fee waived, ask. Many banks are willing to waive late-payment fees for people who consistently pay on time. If you’re a good customer, you can probably get some money back.
If you want cash instead of another present for a birthday, graduation, or any other occasion, ask. A lot of givers feel that cash is too impersonal, but if you make a case for why a little cash will help you (pay off debt, build savings for a larger purchase later, etc.) and mean more to you than another sweater, many people are more than willing. Plus, you made the whole gift-giving thing easier on them and you get more money. A win-win.
Help someone.
A really good way to feel like you have plenty of money is to help someone else. Not because it’s a good thing to do, but because if your $5 can buy someone a coffee or cover the last of their grocery purchase, you start to think of that $5 as being useful rather than “not enough.”
Make a point of covering someone’s order when you go through the drive-thru or offering to pay for the whole Uber next time you and your friends go out. Or, hey, finding a cause you want to donate to regularly.
Your friends will appreciate it and likely reciprocate (more money for you!), but a stranger or charity probably will never get the chance to repay you.
So why do it anyway? Your money is enough to help someone else, which means it’s enough to help you, too. You’re not too broke for that.
And before you say you have goals to reach, I know. I also know that you’re always going to have goals to reach. Debt to eliminate, a house to buy, a kid to put through college, a dream vacation, an early retirement. There’s never going to be a good time to start helping people; it’s just one of those tings you have to do before you’re really ready.
Do/buy something “expensive.”
It doesn’t have to be super expensive, just something you wouldn’t usually do for yourself. Spring for a $20 bottle of wine instead of a $9 one. Get something that sounds delicious but is off the happy hour menu during happy hour. Buy berries or avocados or a really nice steak at the grocery store.
Basically, do something that you don’t think a broke person would do every so often to remind yourself that you aren’t a broke person. You’re a person who doesn’t have their finances quite as figured out as they’d like, and you’re working on it. Big difference.
Wrapping up
Your money situation might not be ideal, but it’s also not permanent. These small actions will help you shift your mindset from believing you’re going to be broke forever to knowing that you have enough money right now, and more will simply be better in the future.
Next week, we’ll talk about budgets and planning your spending in a way that’s flexible and stress-free, so you can feel even less broke.
Your turn:
How would you describe your relationship with money?
Have you ever felt broke? How did you get out of it?
