How much money do I spend every month?
How to invest and in what?
Can I afford this?
I never learned how to answer any of these questions. My parents never talked to me about money and kept saying we didn't have it.
Well, I'm a parent now, and all my money habits might get adapted by my kids - whether I like it or not. My kids usually do what I do and not what I tell them.
So, the first time I learned anything about money was from Ramit's book.
It took me some time to read it. The terminology wasn't clear, and I kept telling myself I'll read it when I had more money to spend. Silly, I know.
When my son was born, all my experiences shot up. Since I didn't know how much I was spending every month and on what, I just noticed that by the end of each month, I didn't have any money left in my account. That was a red flag and a very stressful period.
I opened up Google Sheets and began to track back my expenses for the past 3 months. That was terrible. I didn't even remember any of these experiences! I noticed some unhealthy money habits and could predict my fixed costs for the rest of the year! That was a huge win.
When I read Ramit's chapter on the conscious spending plan, everything became very clear. I feel that if my kid asks me what we are spending on every month or he would like to learn how he can answer this question for himself - I can teach him!
Even if there is no additional income, it's way less stressful to look at money when you know what to expect. It was the surprise and the unknowing that were the most stressful thing for me.
#ramitsethi #consciousplan #money #budget #budgeting #iwt
