Earlier this week Michelle wrote a great post about how sometimes we let our financial situations control us.
I'm no different from her, I've spend many days and nights worrying and fretting about my money. I've worried that I won't meet my financial goals, I've worried that I'm not going to have enough money in case of an emergency.
These things cause me to work way too hard to achieve my goals, to overreach and push myself to the point where I don't have any time left to enjoy my life, and even if I had the time, I'm too frugal to spend money doing the things I love!
While it's definitely true that taking care of your finances is important, at some point, it just becomes an obsession, and your money is controlling you, more than you are controlling your money. Fortunately there are lots of ways to take a step back, and remember that money is, after all, just money.
Limit Time Spent Checking Accounts
One of my big issues with allowing my money to control me is that I routinely will do my debt goal calculations more than I need to. I'll check and recheck my budgets, my projected debt free date, and my Mint.com accounts, even though I know that nothing has changed since I looked at them last.
This is a terrible habit that keeps money at the forefront of my mind, even though I know that everything is taken care of. To combat this, I try to limit the number of times I check my accounts in a single day.
Make (and stick to) a Plan
To help me stop worrying so much, I make a plan to achieve my financial goals. My plans are really detailed, usually broken down by month.
That way, I don't have to worry about whether or not I'm going to meet my goals. As long as I stick to the plan, I know I'll be successful, so why worry about it?
Take Some Time Away
The biggest thing I do to make sure that my money isn't controlling my life, is to step away from it.
This could be anything, a walk outside, a run with my dog, or just a mini vacation in the form of a camping trip or visiting family members in another city. Anything to get away from my spreadsheets, my goals, and my bank accounts. I usually come back from my breaks refreshed, and with more perspective about what is really important.
Having financial goals usually requires a lot of sacrifice, frugality, and hard work. It doesn't have to mean that your money takes over your life or that you can't enjoy yourself while working towards those goals.
Unfortunately, sometimes money gets the best of us, and it takes over our lives. Using these simple tips, you can make sure that you are in control of your money, and not the other way around.
Now, why do you think money controls your life?
What steps do you take to ensure this doesn't happen?
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I used to be obsessive about certain things…but I really no longer have time to. Now, I usually check in with my accounts once a week or so….just to make sure that nothing crazy is going on.
Great advice! Making a plan is one thing that we found helped a lot. We now have a savings and investment plan that we only check every 4 months. The rest of our finances are pretty much automated, we just set it and forget it until we have our next financial check-in (mid September is the next one)
I make sure and have set calendar time that is “check my accounts” time. Once I put it in the calendar, I freed myself up to NOT think about my plan during the rest of the day.
I check my net worth and balances once a month and that’s it. Apart from the rents/income coming in and bills coming out at the beginning nothing changes until the next month.
I feel like sometimes the lack of money controls my life. I think once I get my emergency fund in place that the worry will subside and I won’t worry so much.
I’m going to play devil’s advocate for a change – do you think being “controlled” might actually be a good thing? Maybe constantly checking your accounts and doing detailed planning are part of what’s driving you to aggressively pay of debt and earn more income? Perhaps if you weren’t that way you wouldn’t be trying to accomplish your goals so passionately? Unless you really feel it’s a problem affecting you in other ways then maybe it’s ok to be controlled?
i am constanlty checking my accounts too (including my mint.com one, which i love). even though i know there hasn’t been a chagne. i have to remember to let go too and relax a little if everything is taken care of.
— jackie @ jade and oak
When I was in debt, I would check my account all of the time and it just lead to worry. I now only do it once or twice a week to make sure we are still on track. It has freed me up to think about other things.
I try to check all of our accounts through Personal Capital on Monday mornings and Friday. Love to start the week and end the week knowing where I stand. If I don’t check twice a week, I stray to far from the plan and the goals.
The Warrior
NetWorthWarrior.com
I have a tendency to be a control freak when it comes to money. It’s hard for me not to let it control me, but I try to not let it. I actually think that checking my accounts gives me the freedom to not let it control me because I know that it doesn’t need to based on what my accounts are at.
money tends to control me every now and then, especially in more difficult financial times, but somehow everything has turned out ok, somehow the bad situations turned good. Despite how much I worry about money, I often think “this too shall pass”, and it does. it really does.
It definitely helped when I stopped checking my accounts every single hour of the day. It’s funny/ironic how we can let our money control us when in fact we’re trying to gain control over our money! Something I need to work on is taking some time away, even if it’s for half a day. I need to step out and regroup.
Some of my least stressed times in my life are when I’m visiting family in rural PA and not spending time on my computer (they have internet but there’s other stuff to do). Being away from the computer is something I have to do to stop obsessing about my debt and finances.
I think money occupies my mind so often because my financial goals are high on my overall list. Financial independence is right up there with goals for family, health, and personal development. So it makes sense that it’s on my mind.
Now why don’t I daydream about running…
I’m very much like you. Checking my bank accounts several times a day. Not as much with the budgeting and mint.com, but I go through phases. But while it’s a bad habit, if I go too far in the other direction sometimes I’ll stop paying attention for a week or two and then things get crazy. I’m trying to find a balance!
I try not to think about money at all unless I am spending it or budgeting; I don’t worry about it and it doesn’t control me. As a result, I have more than enough and I don’t stress.