Attention to Detail: Finances

In an effort to refocus my attention on areas of my personal life which have been neglected during the past year, my theme for 2010 is A Year of Attention to Detail.

I haven’t spent much time discussing personal finance recently as I have come to the conclusion that I am not the best outlet for complex financial matters.  That doesn’t mean that personal finance has no relevance in accomplishing our goals.  As a matter of fact, having a strong handle on your finances is one of the single most important things a person can do in order to turn their dreams into reality.

Having a healthy relationship with money is an area of my life that I have been working to perfect for the past couple of years.  I still have a long way to go.  The past year I have focused mainly on digging myself out of debt and have left myself in a volatile situation where I find myself relying on my credit card by the end of the week to make it through.  That is exactly the reason I found myself in the mess I was in before.  I was spending my money as soon as I had it in my hand and oftentimes, before it was in my hand.

The difference between now and then is that I am applying my money directly towards debt each week instead of spending it on toys and other Stuff.  It sounds great that I am paying down my debt as fast as I possibly can but in doing so I have been totally ignoring my savings goals.

Having no cushion of money to rely on leaves me feeling vulnerable.  I could request more Student Loans if I needed but that is not a solution.  Doing that would only delay and compound the problem.  Instead, I will establish a savings plan to compliment my debt repayment plan.  In doing so, I will create a balance in my finances which will help accomplish both goals simultaneously.

Debt repayment is crucial in creating a healthy financial relationship but doing so at the expense of your future security is poor strategy.