Sorry about that… I wrote an entry on Saturday, and didn’t publish it. My bad…
If “Time” is the first “teller” of where a person’s priorities are, the second is your Spending.
Look through your checkbook and credit card statements… If a person is buying a lot of books, they probably hold learning or knowledge in high regard. If “Olive Garden, McDonald’s, Applebees, and KFC” is taking up a lot of transactions, what does that say? Are clothes important to you? A car wash every 4 days… trips… or donations to charities?
There is the “charge or expense” itself, and then there is the question, what are you getting out of the purchase? For example, $400 spent at Barnes and Noble could say one thing… but if the books are collecting dust, maybe it is just telling half of the story.
Therefore, expenses are not the end all, just like time… it is not the end all and you can’t make all conclusions based on expenses entries in your online checkbook. But – where your money goes does put a red flag over those things which need some major looking into.
I’d start by pulling out 3 months of expenses… if you use a lot of cash for your purchases you’ll have to do at least one month of “pen and paper” record keeping to get this data. Either way, see where you funds are going. More so, see where multiple purchases are going. If you say “health” is a big priority, but you see weekly trips to fast food places, I’d beg to differ.
Next, as you assess your expenses, ask yourself what are you trying to get from these purchases. Freedom, excitement, security, time… or a “sense” of freedom, excitement, security, or time? If you can answer that question, ask yourself if there is a way you can better supply that in your life, without big price tags – either one time buys – or accumlative, week after week expenses.
If you’ve gone this far, having your schedule/calendar and checkbook/credit card statements do some telling… you’re ready for the next one which I’ll cover tomorrow.
Lee, Love and Life,
Sifu
ps: Last week before Adult Evolutions in Bloomingdale!