One of my goals for this year was to deal with my money “issues”. Of course, at the beginning of the year, the issues included worrying about money, feeling guilty about money, having to check the bank account every morning to make sure there’s enough money left to last us until pay day, etc. I had no idea just a few months ago that I’d soon be worrying about total global economic collapse.

But, then again, am I worrying about it? Um. Not really.

Why not? Well partly because I am a believer in the Law of Attraction, which dictates that we should focus on what we want, rather than what we don’t want. Of course, this is difficult when we’re surrounded by so much scaremongering about the economic future. And yet, whether or not you believe in the LoA, economic crises are partly caused by public loss of confidence, which the widespread and hysterical media coverage can only make worse.

Also, as Eckhart Tolle tells us, there’s no point in worrying about the future since it doesn’t exist. All we have is now.

My “internal” money management system:

• not to worry about where the money is coming from.
• not to worry about where my money has gone.
• focus on the money I have now, the best thing I can do with it, what will make me secure.

What I’ve learned is that I need some savings. Just a small amount, but enough that I don’t need to worry about, say, not being able to buy food or pay a bill. So I’ve established a small savings cushion. I’ve also learned that control is very important to me and so I continue to check my bank account daily. For much of my life, my attitude to money was ostrich-esque and it turns out that’s the worst thing I can do. Even if I have no money, I’m happier knowing that I’m out of money than worrying that I might be out of money.

Unfortunately, I can’t budget—I’ve tried, I just can’t do it—but what I can do is list all of my expenses in the order they are paid and tick them off as they disappear from the bank. This both appeals to my love of list-making (and off-ticking) and means that, although I can see the balance in the bank, I also know how much of it is available for spending and how much has, basically, already been spent.

I’ve been doing this for a couple of months now and it seems to be working. I do still find myself cringing at the cashpoint (I now take a mental step back and think of a figure I’m comfortable with withdrawing and that’s what I get) or the checkout, but I’m making definite progress.

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Photo courtesy of jenn_jenn