Up the Game of Money

I am upping my financial health. Getting my foundation stronger so I don't have to work so hard to do what I WANT to do which is travel, shop at exotic lands, and breathe air in another part of the world. I want to minimize stress and NOT add to it. While my paycheck as a nurse gives the breadth of opportunity, it seriously does NOT give the depth to live a life that includes MORE fun and freedom. It doesnt, especially living in the city. My paycheck is enough for house stuff, cell phone, utilities and basic sanity needs.  

I'm working on living smarter and leveraging what today's landscape offers. I have to. If I continue to do the SAME thing everyday without changing my mindset, NOTHING will change in my financial health. Nothing. Life will stay on the same channel while I daydream and that's not how I want to live.

I tracked every penny of my livelihood for 8 years. Eight years straight.  I saw exactly where I spent $$ monthly: $400 on "beauty" ie hairspray, salon visits, manis, pedis, lipgloss; $400+ on my kid's activities and lessons; $200-$400 on clothing etc. Doesn't seem like I spent that BUT when pen and paper meet, the data doesn't lie.  I had other categories too like utilities, car/gas, food, health, miscellaneous (you know, those random trips to Target and trolling through the malls while I waited for my daughter to get out of her classes).

While I will likely continue to live in the elegance that I love to do, I know I need to manage my financial health in a creative way so that my $ will out-live me. I'm talking more about my daily deal of living in a way that makes me feel content and where I can look forward to my next adventures and experiences.

Last year I changed my one credit card - the one I opened in 1987 - I never reaped any rewards for 25+ years bc I never paid attention to that. Never.  I guess that's my problem, isnt it? NOW because I will be indulging in travel and doing MORE fun stuff, I changed that card to an airline card and I have accumulated enough points in a short amount of time to get me checking off stuff on my lets-go-places list. Yay me.

I just booked a flight to Dallas for a whopping $5.60. Yippee! From my intentional stroke of leveraging what I got, I'm already living a life of fun and freedom. So proud that I said yes to examining my life and aiming for what feels right!

The financial game and the embracing of it all doesn't necessarily correlate with those who have lots of degrees and certificates and blah blah blah. Good financial health is a mindset and a way of life that anyone can master.