SPENDING MONEY EVERYWHERE

Spending money for most people is an emotional experience. I was reading a book about financial management and the author said that spending money was emotional. When I realized this, I made a determination to view money logically rather than emotionally. This meant that I could get serious about paying off my debts. It was not to much longer after this realization that my debts were paid in full and I was debt free!

This is the key to money management, taking the emotion out of it. This is also a form of self discipline. Being self disciplined requires doing the right thing, not the emotional one. This is where most people get into financial trouble is that they use money as an emotional release. Spending money makes them feel better about themselves. They have not learned yet that self esteem comes from within, not from without.

The opposite of being frugal is being a spendthrift. Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines spendthrift as, "One who spends money profusely or improvidently; a prodigal..." To spend money improvidently shows a lack of foresight which means not having a plan. Spendthrifts do not have budgets. As soon as they get any money, it burns a hole in their pocket and they have to spend it immediately. A spendthrift is a person who is spiritually out of balance.

The prodigal son of Luke 15:11-32 is an example of the results of a spendthrift. Luke 15:13-14 reads, "And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want." The prodigal son had no concern for the future. His motto was eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow, we die. He never thought about that tomorrow he may still be alive and then what was he going to do? As with all spendthrifts, he was in want or poverty.

Probably one of the worst things a spendthrift can do is to go outside his home. Wherever he goes, he feels as though he has to spend money whether he needs anything or not. Since, he has no budget, he will not know where his money is going. He probably will spend money that he has not earned yet and then he will complain that he does not know why he is having financial troubles. A spendthrift needs to spend more time at home. This will prevent him from spending money needlessly.

The frugal are financially self disciplined. They have a budget and a financial plan. They can go into a store and look and not buy anything. The frugal will many times shop ahead. In other words, they will go to a store to gather information about future purchases. I did this recently by going to a sporting good’s store and looking at some running clothes. I made a mental note of the prices and left the store without buying anything. I was not under any compulsion to buy anything just because I was in a store. Unfortunately for the spendthrift, he lacks the self discipline to do likewise.