How to Respect Money

Guest Post by Barbara Stanny, The leading authority on women and money. Barbara is a Best Selling Author, Motivational Speaker, Workshop facilitator, Money and Wealth coach and Coach Trainer.  Original post on BarbaraStanny.com.

There’s a big difference between making a good living and enjoying a good life. You demonstrate respect and appreciation for money the same way you would anything else of value in your life, be it an heirloom rug, an expensive hand tool, a close friend, or cash in hand. If you want it to last, you’ve got to take care of it. Throw it around carelessly or ignore it completely and guess what’s going to happen?

Remember, my goal is not just to put a fatter paycheck in your pocket. I want to help you achieve financial independence, which means making a good living and enjoying a good life, where money enhances your well-being, not exacerbates your stress. Financial independence does not come from what you earn. It comes from what you do with what you have. No matter how sizable your salary, the money will slip through your fingers if you bypass this step.

Yet this step is frequently neglected, even by the best and the brightest. It was the biggest surprise I had when interviewing six-figure women. With earnings that ranged anywhere from $100,000 to $7 million, the whopping majority, as confident as they were professionally, were surprisingly insecure financially. They were so busy making money they didn’t bother to take care of it.

Of all the people I’ve interviewed for my books, or met during my travels, I can safely say, the ones with the highest net worth were not necessarily the ones who made the most money. They were the ones who took the best care of their money.

Rampant, unintentioned spending is often the culprit. Like Pavlov’s dog salivating when it hears the dinner bell, as soon as people boost their earnings, ‘Ka-ching,’ they bump up their spending, then wonder where those extra bucks went.

THE CHOICE IS YOURS
Making conscious, deliberate choices about what you do with your money is precisely what this step is all about. And as I see it, there are only four choices you need to make to fully respect and appreciate money. I call these four choices the Four Rules of Money.
1. Spend Less (Only buy what you can easily afford)
2. Save More (Pay yourself first)
3. Invest Wisely (Put money in assets that grow in value over time.)
4. Give Generously (Use your money to make a difference )

Most of us have the giving generously part down pat. But unless you handle the first three, giving can become an act of self-sabotage. Not only do you jeopardize your future security, but you diminish the impact you can have with your money. Read more