‘Change is the only constant in this world”!
I know that is a favorite phrase with many and they often keep on touting it.
Unfortunately, these are the same folks who never want to change their priorities and philosophy despite getting no expected benefits from their current financial strategy. Both rigidity and flexibility are important but depend on the situation.
Flexibility in financial planning means you are open to new ideas. If something is not going right for you, it is time to consider a change in favor of a sensible idea that will work for you situation. It makes sense to be flexible enough to ditch the non-working idea. At the same time, patience is also important.
You can get anything by just clicking on a mouse and with your credit card, but it sounds a non-sense idea to overuse those modes of ‘immediate satisfaction’. Most of the online buyers and credit card owners allow themselves to go on shopping sprees. If they wait just one week or a month, it is unlikely that they will go gaga over the same items that were previously on their wish-list.
Preferences change very quickly for such impulsive buyers and only experience can teach you that how much important it is to be patient in order to arrest money drain-out for seemingly unnecessary items or what you can put on hold right now.
Bring flexibility to your attitudes
If something is not working for you properly, it is time to realize that everything in life is temporary and can be updated and even thrown away, depending on if changes will bring you benefits or there is no way but to start from the scratches. If you ask me, I have always believed in natural evolution, no matter whether it is about animals or financial philosophy. Take a leaf out of my life and it may work for you as well.
I started with AB….All about Basics. Can you work out complex sums without knowing addition, subtraction, multiplication and division? Can you frame a sentence without learning alphabets? NO. So I started with picking up knowledge about budgeting, how to save money, debt repayment, where to invest etc.
Over the years, I have realized that there is no need to follow someone blindly, be it fashion or finance. Nobody in this world is perfect. Furthermore, to err is human! I have learned from others’ mistakes and success but never wanted to be a blind follower. Even when you are listening to my advice don’t be a copycat.
Be open to ideas from the people close to you, from bloggers and from personal finance industry experts and gurus. Judge what will work for you. It sounds wise to make those ideas tailored made to your own requirements and priorities. It is never easy to evolve your own financial philosophy. It took me a decade to do so.
Bid adieu to the ideas that don’t work. It is no use to cling to an idea that is not working any more. Sometimes it is necessary to do the exact opposite to conventional wisdom. For example, many people prefer buying home to renting. But I discarded it happily while shifting to a costly city like New York. Now when I am moving to a small town, I might be thinking about buying a property rather than renting an apartment.
That’s really okay for me. Now frequent changes are detrimental to financial stability. However, once you change for something, it never means that you cannot revert to the original option if situation demands so.
Practice patience
In this age of instant gratification, we don’t have much patience. We can now buy anything whenever we want just with a few clicks on mouse or use of credit card. Now these cards could be a boon or bane, depending on how you are using them. Make it a habit to buy anything in cash instead of using your credit card even if it means waiting for one month or a week. You will lose nothing but the recurrent interests charge on your credit card.
Being ready to change your attitude and action when it comes to money (and the decisions that come with it) and practicing patience are the two axes that define the philosophy of your financial planning.
Where do you stand on those? Are you persistent to a fault or ready to embrace change? Do you buy things before you’ve allowed yourself time to think or take so long to make up your mind that you never buy anything?
Editor’s Note: This article is contributed by Tina Roth: a personal finance blogger at PROFinance blog. She is commerce graduate from Florida, USA. She loves to write about money and finance management.
I’m pretty disciplined when it comes to impulse shopping, but it is oh so easy these days for those that are prone to making these purchases to do so. Good post!
Hi Matt
Thanks for the comment. Yeah, impulse shopping is the reason many people waste their money, specifically women.
Philosophy and goal of your financial planning should always be clear to you. Without a clear understanding, you cannot proceed forth.