No matter who you are or what your belief is, money is important for you. Some believe that money is the root of all evil but will also agree that without money chapels won’t be built and charity foundations will move slowly and may eventually die together with their founders. Money is important in many aspects of human lives. It is a tool that helps ease and better our lives.

The Financial Fear

It is said that “Success is 1% inspiration 99% Perspiration”, what then is it that inspires you to work and earn money? Is it the spirit of fear that inspires you to do things or is it the spirit of faith that inspires you to stand on your feet and go to work?

As an example, when you are spending your money, are you afraid that that will be the last money that you’re going to spend? This means that you are afraid to be in lack. The common trigger is you want to make more money but this won’t solve the problem. Because if you made more money you welcome another fear “What if it doesn’t come again or what if I lose the money I made?” you are still afraid.

So what is the answer then to getting out of financial fear?

1. Understanding that the problem and the solution is not money or more money. It is not where we live or what our circumstance is. The root of the problem is FEAR.
2. A great cure for fear is action. Taking action allows you to feel more in control of your situation and you can work towards a solution. As long as you allow fear to paralyze you, all will stay the same if not worst.
3. Putting your fear into something that will counter it. Like looking for a better drive. You may counter it with your faith on the God that you love and serve or counter your fear with the thought of a loved one and go to work. How many times have we encountered people who have little or nothing yet when a family member get sick or hospitalized they can produce more than enough to pay the bills, even more than what they can earn from their regular income. It is because their fear was countered by the love they have for their loved ones.

It’s more than meets the eye.

We humans tend to judge according to what we see. We often say that a person is rich or financially successful because they have cars and new clothes. Those who love to splurge and spend carelessly, also have a poor money mindset. Having the power to afford anything you want and not starving is not a sign of a sound financial stability. If you belong to this group then you are a little lucky than the many and here are some tips for you:

1. Save now or pay later. If you look at LIFE closely you will find the “if” in the middle. Preparation may sound easy and logical for many but find it hard to practice. Living for long years in this L if E can be a problem if you do not have savings. The same is true if you walk out of this life younger. Living longer makes you suffer because this is the time in life when illness and frailties come in. Dying early will only cause mourning for you loved ones, one because they will miss you and two because you will leave them hungry (especially if you are the bread winner in the family).
2. Chances are if you keep spending money, you will be in debt. Avoid debt even excessive and unnecessary debts. Being in debt is a problem both mental and physical. Being in debt is a life of stress and constant running and working, it’s a cycle. Here is a post about repaying your debts.

Change the way you think, look for better inspirations and then give your 100% to achieve your goals.

The way we handle our money is a product of habit.

Again this is a topic of perspective and the way we think. There is a quote that says “If you sow a thought you reap an act. If you sow an act it will be a habit. If you sow a habit it becomes your character. If you sow a character it becomes your destiny”.

From it we can say that it is very important for us to understand that habits are formed by the way we think. An employee that is always late to work may use the heavy traffic as an excuse when the fact is that being late has became his habit. Or a salesman who doesn’t have a sale may blame the economy saying that it is in a bad shape when the truth is he doesn’t trust his product therefore his action is far less than what a good sales person does.

Success is a habit, failure is a habit, saving is a habit. You may think that you do not have the capacity to save when you can truly choose to save and make it a habit. When you don’t know how to save while your income is little then you can definitely know by now that you will still don’t know how to save when your income becomes big.

How then do we develop a Habit?

There are people who want to eat cakes but only few who want to learn how to bake cakes. If you want a cake you need money to buy one and eat it. But if you know how to bake a cake you will never run out of cake. The same as with money, a lot of people want to make a lot of money but only a few people who want to learn the process of making money, if you know the process of making money then you will never run out of money.

And the process starts in doing things, even little things, consistently. Start small by saving 20 to 50 pesos a day from now on, make it a commitment and promise to yourself that you will not let the day pass without saving that amount. Do it for the next 3 to 4 weeks CONSISTENTLY and you will likely be forming the habit of saving. In the coming months and years it will not be hard for you anymore to save. In fact it will be part of your system, a habit.

What are good money habits that you can develop?

Here is the Holy Grail, spend less of what you earn and do it in a long time and you will then become financially rich, live within your means. Keep in mind the formula INCOME – SAVING = EXPENSE. Right now this moment, starting today you can save 5 to 15 thousand pesos a month by following the lists below:

• Lessen your cell phone loads (which you are just using to exchange non sense text messages with your barkadas)
• Do not appear to be “sosyal” by drinking expensive coffees from expensive coffee shops.
• For every bad word you say take 2 pesos out of your pocket and put it in your piggy bank.
• Drink water instead of sodas to keep you healthy and at the same time save you money.
• Spend more on things that you NEED and less on what you WANT.

Would you be so nice to help other readers of this post know how you save, where you save your money, how did you started in saving, how do you increase your income and additional tips from the list above? Please do so by leaving your comments below this post.

P.S.

As promised i n the title of this post I have here a FREE book ready for download. This book is not from me but from OMF Literature Inc. written by Mr. Eduardo “Andy” Roberto Jr. an entrepreneur who knows how it feels to be always broke and how to get out of it. I too have been reading it and applying what Eduardo preached.

Grab your FREE COPY here!