I spent the weekend on the Oregon Coast.  The attraction was not only to the Coast itself (which is well worth the time) but also attending a Beach Boys concert.

They can still call themselves the Beach Boys because there are two remaining members of the original band, although the newer younger members participate extensively.

The reason I mention this is that I was noticing how innocent the music seemed.  The biggest crisis was that Daddy could take the T-Bird away.  The deepest question asked was whether you could go on a surfing safari.  The aching issue is why they couldn't all be California girls.

People were be-bopping in the aisles and even slow dancing to the ballads.  I wasn't the oldest person in the audience but rather in the mid-range, which meant that the audience in general wasn't youthful.  But we were all having fun and left with smiles on our faces.

In the after-glow, I was thinking about how much more complicated our lives had gotten.  Lately the biggest crises include which country will develop atomic weapons the fastest...Iran or North Korea.  The deepest question is whether we're destroying the planet at a faster rate than ever.  The aching issue is whether we can keep our jobs and our homes.

In our money lives, we're further and further away from an actual dollar and transact most of our finances remotely.  We aren't reminded that we're running out of money because of an empty wallet but rather by an overdraft allotment that gets slipped into our account without our knowing until a bill comes.

The question that I framed for myself is whether we can grab back some of that simplicity in the areas of our life that we control.  We control how we do our finances and where we choose to spend our money.  We control how we feel about money and our lifestyle.  We even control how much money we make.

It's easy to feel powerless these days.  This issue's article is on claiming back our power around simplicity.  When you're feeling confident and competent around your own money, you can weather the storms of complexity that swirl all around you.  As Rudyard Kipling said, "If you can keep your wits about you while all others are losing theirs, and blaming you, the world will be yours and everything in it."  

p.p.s. A special welcome to my new subscribers!  I sincerely hope you will appreciate my articles and insights!

sb  

Whatever Happened to Simplicity?

When I first started this work 20 years ago, I was working with clients on reconciling their checkbook registers and sometimes working with cash in envelopes. They would bring in paper bank statements for us to use.

Many of my clients were still receiving their paychecks in hand and had to get them to the bank to be deposited. Electronic banking in the form of ATMs still seemed suspicious to people, and most would only get cash from them if they used them at all. Depositing a check meant walking into a bank (between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.) to make a deposit.

Today that scenario seems like the dark ages.  Now, bank statements are online, very few use checkbook registers, transactions are via plastic, and paychecks are deposited automatically.

Electronic banking is so common that paying your bills via your online banking is second-nature and checks are being deposited via your smart phones. Although it all seems more convenient, the skills required are more extensive than walking into a bank.

It requires that you have computer skills, and are able to navigate various websites. A certain vigilance is required to spot something unexpected or fraudulent within 50 or 100 transactions in a month.  

It also assumes that you're a visual learner, because the information is on a screen. No one is there to explain it to you-  unless you withstand a ghastly automated phone system that seems to have been designed specifically for your call to be dropped.

And it all just keeps gaining acceleration. It feels as though there is a purposeful intent to keep us removed from our tangible connection to money.

Recently, I was in a store and they didn't accept cash at all.  Plastic (in the form of debit or credit) was required for all purchases! I think it was a policy to protect their staff, but I saw it as an indicator that the use of plastic wouldn't turn away potential buyers.

So how can we carve out our own simplicity in this runaway system? That's a really good question. It is a three-part solution, involving time, systems and gratitude.

We can't control the financial system (just ask the U.S. government) and we can't stop progress, but we can introduce simplification in how we handle the money we make and what we spend our money on.

We have control of our thoughts, our feelings, our attitudes and our choices. If simplification is going to happen, you can make it happen in the areas you have control of.

So what would that entail?

• Time: Make time for a financial meeting with yourself on a weekly basis. Handle anything that is financially related during this "appointment", and in between make notes for things to handle at that meeting. You're consciously creating a worry-free zone at all other times.
• Systems: What are you tripping over in your financial life? If you keep running out of money, then you want to figure out why. Is it because irregular expenses keep popping up that seem to take your last dollar and then some? Then you need a monthly allocation for irregular expenses. Are you out of grocery or gas money before the next paycheck? Then before you pay your bills, isolate money for the whole pay period for those expenses that are necessary (food, gas, important errands, etc.). Is it because you're not sure how much money you actually have to spend?   Separate out expenses that are for monthly bills, the money you've allocated for savings and irregular expenses, and then it's clear that what's left over is what you have to spend. There is always an answer although it's often an interwoven solution involving many factors.
• Gratitude: Your attitude is crucial to being able to stay in simplicity. If you spend your days longing for what you don't have, you'll have a really hard time finding satisfaction and simplicity. Focusing on what you have and how great your life is, will help in keeping your engines from revving unnecessarily. You do have control over what you focus your thoughts and feelings upon, so focus on those things in your life that bring you value and joy. Trust that whatever you're longing for  will be there after you've saved for it. You don't need to put yourself at risk just to acquire more things.

I know that creating time and systems and feeling gratitude aren't easy in this busy, busy world we've created. Yet ironically people are feeling emptier and emptier. As Alice would say, "Curiouser and curiouser."

Are you hungry for simplicity and effortlessness in your money life? I've got some great ideas, expertise and support to help get you there. Email me and we can explore how easy it is to get started. Yes, it's really  that simple.