Why you shouldn’t feel guilty about saving money : July Net Worth Update 2015 (+2.29%)
MONEY ISN’T EVERYTHING
It has always been hard for us to say no to our friends and family when the money wasn’t in the budget to do certain things. Saving money certainly does come with its ups and downs.
Whether it would be taking a weekend getaway with family or spending more at Christmas on gifts we always stood our ground.
There have been times we felt guilty that we didn’t participate in certain activities but money doesn’t grow on trees. Sometimes I believe that feeling guilty about money started when I was a young boy.
When I earned my allowance I wanted to spend it when I could in moderation. Anytime I did want to spend money my mother or father would guilt me into saving it,”One day you will understand son”. As a child you feel guilt but in reality my parents were only teaching me money lessons.
I think over the years now that money has become a guilty pleasure of ours. We’ve since learned to embrace our finances because if saving money is on the menu that means dessert is just around the corner (goals). You can eat your dessert first (debt) but it may take you longer to finish the entrée if you even get a chance to taste it at all.
It has taken us a long time to get where we are financially and frankly we don’t want to blow it.
Sure there are times when we get the “Oh, you’re rich” or “Oh come on you have money” thrown in our faces but we don’t care because saving money is important to us. Partying and travelling comes at a premium which means we need to save up for it in our budget first.
This is just another reason why we don’t tell family and friends about our money situation. It seems to backfire at times. It’s easy to spill all the juicy information when you are deep in conversation with friends and family which most people do but they come to regret it after the fact.
Yes, saving money means you get what you want because you likely have your finances under control but saving money also means sometimes you miss out. It’s up to you to choose but we’ve learned that once we are lenient with our budget it’s hard to get back on track.
If you want to learn how to use your money wisely then listen to your inner self. You know the answer to the burning question “Should I spend money?” before you even ask yourself.
Psychology of saving money
Money is all part of a psychology that some people give in to very easily. They don’t worry about the consequences until after the fact.
The problem is that some people who spend money feel guilty when they do especially when saving money is the goal. We are those people at times because we want to achieve our goals and monetary setbacks don’t get us to the top of our financial throne.
It was at the start of 2015 just after we had our first baby that our financial mindset changed about money. No, we didn’t stop budgeting but we did stop beating ourselves up when we had to spend money each month. We were feeling guilty because all we were doing was saving money and when it came time to spend it that became difficult to do.
Saving money can become a bit obsessive but it shouldn’t be. It should be simple and part of everyone’s financial outlook. Whether it’s $1000 a month or $5 a month saving money is saving money.
We tend to feel guilty when we spend more on something we don’t really need. For example, if the furnace died and we had to spend a few thousand getting it replaced that would be an acceptable expense. We need the furnace so there’s not much you can do about it, you accept the expense and move on. However, if I took the same few thousand dollars and blew it on a boat, that would set-off my guilt because I don’t need a boat.
Over the years we’ve done some expensive renovations to our house and it was hard to spend money to do that. We were on a mission to pay our mortgage off in full before we turned 40 and with-in 5 years of buying the house.
Many friends would ask why were renovating because there was nothing wrong with our house. Renovating has not been a need but more so a want but we knew that we would have the money to pay cash but it’s still a guilty pleasure.
In May of 2014 we were able to reach our goal of debt freedom because we weren’t afraid of saving money and missing out on expensive dinners, new clothes every month, brand new vehicles, new furniture, trips etc. Our entire marriage has been a financial dream because we worked on money together.
So how did we hold ourselves accountable for our expenses while building our net worth?
Easy…we keep on budgeting and saving money like we’ve always done BUT this time planning trips and buying new clothes is not unheard of. We don’t often feel guilty about saving money or spending it because of our budget and mindset change.
It wasn’t easy to get to this point of financial balance and we are always rocking the boat. It’s never going to be a steady sail BUT what you can do is brace yourself for those times where you do feel overwhelmed or guilty about saving money.
- Always set goals
- Never lose site of your goals
- Motivate each other to stay positive
- Don’t let others views about the way you are saving money affect you
- Always budget for what you need and want in life so you can do your best to pay cash and beat the credit card crisis in Canada
- Smile and remember that your end goal is in sight
There will always be people in your life who won’t support you and your saving money habits but who cares, really? We don’t because it’s our life and if you are feeling guilty about spending your own money that means you need to understand how to balance out.
Don’t feel guilty about your money because you worked hard for it. There may be times where you overspend but it’s not the end of the world. Any time you do this that means you need to evaluate the way you are spending money and find ways to start saving money better.
What I do know is that if you plan to be financially successful, whatever that might mean to you and you know what you need to do then go for it.
Don’t be shy and don’t worry if you are doing something outrageous and wacky. So many people dream about saving money so they can reach financial independence. If you’ve got that opportunity,embrace it.
Have you ever felt guilty about saving money?
Our net worth 2015
RESP Contribution 2015: $208.33 a month.
What Happened in July?
Well, at first glance of the increase in investments I thought the figures had to be wrong. How could we gain that amount in one month? I know that we had previously had a fantastic month back in May 2015 but having two almost back to back seemed a little odd.
After some reading I found one of the reasons as to why the investments jumped. The falling Canadian Dollar meant that returns off of a rebounding American economy made our investments increase quite substantially. With the increase in May 2015 and the increase this month our net worth has gone up an astounding $35,330.43 in the last three months.
However, I’m still reading articles linked to the economy and the slump in the oil price and what it means to the Canadian economy. I just like to keep informed as to what is happening.
It’s also nice to see that we beat our estimate that we would hit the $700,000 mark at the end of this year. At this rate I would imagine that we are well on our way to 3/4 of a Million by the end of the year.
How was your net worth month?
Check back next month to see how we made out and don’t forget to check all of our charts below from July to see more data!
Understanding net worth
What Does Individual Net Worth Mean?
Net Worth is a snap shot of your financial health sort of like a picture or debt to net assets. In simple terms it’s a total of the value of your assets minus your liabilities.
We credit the growth of our net worth due to patience, perseverance, using a monthly budget and not giving up. Your numbers may go up and down but don’t let the numbers scare you rather understand why and move on.
If you would like to use our budget I offer a FREE downloadable budget which I created and that you can use at home just like we do. I don’t charge for it because I want you to save money not spend more!
Enjoy and let me know what you think.
There are tonnes of other free printable lists offered at Canadian Budget Binder to help you achieve some of those financial goals and build your net worth.
Now… what you need to do is determine just how much net worth you actually have and go from there….
Determining net worth
Figuring out net worth is fairly easy as long as you know your personal numbers or monthly finances which means you need to do your homework. Net Worth is simply adding up all your assets (what you own) then taking away your liabilities (what you owe) which will give you a net worth number.
Understanding your net worth will help you determine if you are on track to meeting or beating your personal financial goals. It doesn’t get any easier than that.
Net Worth = Assets – Liabilities
Calculate net worth
Do you know how to calculate your own Net Worth?
Now you can stop asking yourself the question, how do you find out your net worth? Why? It’s easy to determine. We like to calculate our net worth every month so we know if we are still on track. Some people calculate it yearly or quarterly. It’s really up to you and how informed you want to stay when it comes to your financial health.
Net Worth is essentially an estimate and not everyone uses the same type of figures. Some people don’t include vehicles like we do or they may leave out the assets inside the home like we have. It depends on what you want to calculate or what you can sell today and make money on.
Why not go ahead and calculate your own using our Free Money saving Tool Net worth Calculator (Canadian Budget Binder 2012)
Why you should set goals
Setting goals are the only way we work towards achieving what we want to get done as a couple around the house and in our financial life. I know that without them we would be flying by the seat of our pants which wouldn’t work for us.
I find it’s much easier to be held accountable when I share what we need to do with all of you. Yes, my wife refers to the list when she asks what I plan to do next. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing for me or not.
In the graphical representation below, I have used excel to provide a prediction based on the past years monthly net worth figures.
Using figures from our actual net worth gains over the past 12 months (the red line) it has suggested that by the end of this year we should be at approximately $700,000.00.
This is nice to know but anything can happen over the next year. Hopefully with some careful planning we can achieve this goal and go beyond it.
Do you set goals for the year?
Our financial numbers
When budgeting anything is possible, we are proof of that although we still have a long way to go in our journey. These are our numbers and our goals, not a means of comparison towards your own goals to others target goals.
We don’t care how much money others make or if they have a high net worth or if it is lower than ours as it’s not a competition. I hope our experiences perhaps will help guide you along your financial path working towards debt freedom.
We all have different financial paths
Not everyone has the same path in life. Some of you may have had to start over like I did or go to school a second time and now have OSAP loans to pay back.
Others may have divorced, lost money in the stock market or other investments, suffered job loss, fell ill or was injured on the job etc. but you can’t let that stop you from achieving your financial goals.
Some of you may have been given trust funds, paid-for homes, paid educations or perks in life that give you a financial kick-start and that’s OK too. Remember what I said, “It’s not about how much money you make, it’s how you save it”.
Focus on you and don’t let the evil eye of money jealousy or keeping up with the Joneses cloud your vision. No one cares about your money as much as you do so don’t waste your energy trying.
The only reason people accumulate wealth is because they know how to save or invest it wisely even if they did inherit money or win the lottery. The smallest improvements should mean big strides in working towards reaching your goals.
Sometimes we have to fail in order to learn and we’ve all been there. Money can be an evil force for some people especially those who have a negative attitude towards their own financial situation.
I urge you to be optimistic and little by little with determination you too should see improvements, if you want that to happen.
Net worth updates 2015
Below you can click the links to read past 2015 net worth updates to see if we were on target or if we struggled with some of our numbers.
In the last year since July 2014 our net worth according to our figures has grown $110,565.88
July 2015 $711,673.13 – July 2014 $601,107.25 = +$110,565.88
That’s all for this month’s net worth update but please check in at the beginning of September 2015 to see how we made out in August 2015 and what has happened to our finances since.
Do you track your net worth? Share your net worth updates with CBB! You don’t have to give your name just a bit about yourself and what you are worth.
~Mr.CBB
Remember: “It’s Not About How Much Money You Make It’s How You Save It“
