Day 20: April 6, 2014

My current ‘economic circumstance’ {tight budget} causes me grief on a daily basis. Frequently I want to throw a three year old style fit and scream my head off until someone shuts me up promising to take me to Hawaii. But, I tell my three year old emotions to hold on because the rest of me is over forty and capable of going without for just a little longer.

But this is growing increasingly more difficult.

Often, I turn to regret for a dysfunctional comfort. I blame my past idiotic self for my current lack of funds to buy a new outfit. I’m certain if I knew better at a young age, I would be basking in the light of wealth, instead of shadowed by my current financial reality.

Forecast: increasing clouds with no chance of sun.

In the event I really could go back in time to change my financial destiny, here’s what I might tell my 20-something year old self:

Dear Self,

Save your money. And by save, I mean like 50 percent or more of it. You don’t need to live by the beach and buy all of your meals from a restaurant. That new car is awesome, but you can’t afford it. Take the bus until you’ve saved up enough to pay cash for your car. And only after you’ve saved a crap load of cash for your future. That second job you are working to afford your lifestyle should be your savings account, not even more spending money. As a point of encouragement, kudos for planning an excellent but inexpensive wedding and for your willingness to maintain two jobs.

Give at least 10% of your money to charity. You haven’t found Jesus yet, so I’m not going to insist you give it to a church. {However, as a side note, I really wish you would find Jesus because you are about to make some really dumb choices that he probably would sway you away from.} Sharing your wealth is freeing and a great tax break. More so freeing, but you’ll understand that when you read the Bible someday.

Sacrifice during your younger years so you can live a less restricted life after 40. You aren’t going to have the two job energy like you do now, but you will have to work because you unexpectedly decide to send your son to private school with no savings to pay for it. And you really need a vacation when you are older because you get tired more easily. But when every last penny is accounted for, you won’t have the luxury of travel.

Under no circumstance whatsoever should you go into debt. Not for a car, a vacation, new clothes, or, dare I say, a home. You were lucky to leave college with only a tiny bit of debt, and you should start saving now for your kid’s college because it will cost about a billion times more than yours did. If you buy a home, save up more than 20% to put down and pay extra each year so you can pay it off. If you can’t afford a 15 year fixed loan, you can’t afford that house. Deal with it.

I want you to live a life that doesn’t feel suffocated by finances. And I want you to be free to give more than you ever dreamed so you can make a difference in the world. And I want you to give your family opportunities to learn and experience life. I want you to worry less in the future. Trust me, I know what I’m talking about.

So I know I can’t go back in time and tell myself these things, but I certainly hope someone hears it. And I don’t want you to think for a minute that I am not thankful for what I have. We have been blessed beyond measure. It’s just taken us a really long time to figure out how to appropriately manage our money in a God-honoring way. And when you are in your 40’s and finally sacrificing for your future, it is a lot harder and will take a lot more time to get to where you need to be than if you’d started 20 years earlier.

Where would you like to be in the near and distant future? Are you sacrificing for it?

this post  is part of a series called ’40 Days of Blogging’. Click the links to find other posts! Thanks for reading!