I often get asked how we motivate ourselves to budget and the answer is simple, financial self-discipline. The budget won’t take your money worries away, YOU WILL. Sadly, we don’t take enough time to focus on ourselves from a meditative state of mind. Stop trying to impress others by pretending to be rich when you’re really broke and engage in self-awareness.
What I prefer to do is find a quiet spot whether it be in my office, the sun-room, at the library, a beach or even under a tree just to think about my life. If I’m not happy with it I work on making heads and tails of it all with positive reinforcement so I don’t give up on myself.
This small 20 minute break from life cleanses me of everything that sits on my shoulders for the short time I engage so I can work on my master plan. Then it’s back to reality but with a new sense of where I need to go and how I need to go about achieving my success.
Stop relying on following what other people do and invest in beefing up your financial compound by improving on the ways you are not building your wealth. For most people they focus on what they think they should do instead of increasing awareness of what they are already doing wrong.
You can’t fix something if you don’t know why it’s broken.
There may be practices that we complete each day that helps us continue to save money but most of all inspires us to keep the frugal mindset that we’ve built over the years. It’s important to envision what you’d like your future to look like but to do that you must change your thoughts.
Change your thoughts and you change your world – Norman Vincent Peale
Forget about the negative whispers you tell yourself about how you’ve failed at life and that you’ll never become debt free, own a house, build a lasting relationship or even score a great job to compliment your education.
Every time you say the words, “I can’t”, “I’ll try” or “It’s too much” you put negative notions into your brain that helps scatter your thoughts and pushes you to give up. Don’t do this to yourself, it’s not worth it.
When I first moved to Canada 9 years ago (you may have already read this story) I felt a sense of failure come over me because I didn’t know where to start looking for a job in a new country. With only my University Degree and related experience that didn’t equate to much in Canada I had to start my life over.
As a newly married guy I wanted to participate in providing for the family and at that point my wife was making very good money. I wanted to do the same but most of all I wanted to mark my spot in Canada and I couldn’t have done that without setting goals and financial self-discipline.
Although I wanted to buy a nice house with a back garden and lots of garage space I had to control those urges to buy a house and put other priorities first. This is the problem with some people who know they have to do something they don’t want to do so they find an easier source of happiness that won’t cause them unhappiness.
In my case if I would have bought a house with my wife, then look for a job only to find out I didn’t have enough “Canadian experience” and that my University Degree required me to take on 4 more years of education then I don’t think we’d be debt free today.
Sometimes focusing on the hardest parts of our lives takes an enormous strength that most people tell themselves they don’t have.
This way of thinking may cause;
- Overthinking
- Failure
- Abandonment
So how can you go about mustering up the strength to build your wall of financial self-discipline? You have to plan and by planning I don’t just mean writing it down on paper either. There are stages from start to completion and by completion I mean debt freedom from all financial demons.
That means no one will be coming after you because you owe them money, you’re happy with your life and forget about payday. Not entirely but it doesn’t take over your mind every single day. When you can forget about money you know you’ve successfully completed the game of financial self-discipline.
Don’t just pay off your credit card and throw your hands up in the air and think that you’re free for life from financial worry. It follows you and you must build your empire no matter how many zero’s you’d like to see in your net worth statement.
Increase Financial Self-Discipline
Below are some of the ways Mrs. CBB and I work on our financial self-discipline and as you know we are now debt free including our mortgage. Our financial self-discipline journey is not over, it never is until you become a memory.
Get to know yourself
Take the time to go sit under a tree or find your sweet silent spot where you won’t be disturbed by anyone and talk to yourself, learn about what you like and don’t like and how you want to proceed with life.
Brainstorm your life
The best way to do this is by making key points of things you want and don’t want. Think about what you’ve already experienced and what you still have yet to do that will make you financially happy.
Draft a plan
The plan is critical however the plan is never concrete, don’t forget that.
Change bad habits
If you are engaging in habits that impede your success, break them.
For example, if smoking is costing you too much money and your health concerns you (which it should) then quit. You don’t like to hear the strength in that but just do it. I did it and I had little faith in myself. Thankfully I have a wife who believes in me more than I believed in myself. Now I know that even if my wife wasn’t here it’s up to me to push through those barriers by finding new adventures to keep me busy.
Crush your weaknesses
Stop spending money, stop spending money, stop spending money you don’t have. Believe in yourself because if you keep telling yourself that you will be nothing, guess what? You’ll be nothing. We build a life of what we believe so believe in success.
Build on your strengths
If you’re good at something use it to your advantage. If talking is your strong suit use your communication skills to network with people around town. Join in events where crowds of influential people are attending and break down the walls. If you’re a money saver find new ways to save even more money. The key here is to find what you may be already doing and do it better.
Promote self-worth and happiness
If anything you must be happy. You must believe in yourself. You must remember that you are not perfect and that no one is. We are all flawed in once sense or another. Take time to smile, talk to yourself, talk to others and welcome them to the new day by saying good-morning, good-afternoon or good-evening.
Hang out with like-minded people
When you are happy others are inclined to gravitate towards you so don’t be afraid to do the same with other like-minded people. The easiest way to do this is by joining groups of people working on a similar journey to yourself or by hanging out with those that inspire you to be better at what you do. If you find people that you wouldn’t mind trading spots with because they have financial success down you know you’re cheering on the right crowd.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help
Finally, ask for help when you need it. Failure is part of life and we all go through it in stages but for all different facets of our journey. If you screw up one week you do better the next. If you don’t quite understand something ask a question, ask 10 questions, ask until you have your answers!
Revise your plan as you go along
This really isn’t a ninth habit but it’s a very important to step to remember when you are working towards debt freedom. Your plan will never stay the same which means your budget may change month to month depending on circ*mstances.
- Your investments may shift
- Your health may change
- Your employment status may turn
- Your relationship may switch
- Your family may grow
- Your eating habits may remodel
- Your spending habits
maywill improve
You catch my drift.
Start Now!
Source: Facebook The Mankind Project
Don’t set financial self-discipline and forget it because your mind is a business and if you close the door on what you think will make you wealthy and free from money worry you’ve given up one of the biggest opportunities of your life.
Your world is an open book, go out and grab your dreams because financial self-discipline can’t be bought nor found in a book, it must be taught. Teach yourself how to grow a rich life by following your dreams and if you fail get back up and revisit, revise or return to the drawing board.
Good luck, You’ve got this!
Mr.CBB
Trouble I got into this week
This was quite the laid back week for us although we did get out and about with our son to the park a couple of times. Apart from doing outside home maintenance, repairing a wood sled and studying for work we just got bits and bobs done here and there.
Next week I can finish up some bits in the garden and figure out what materials I will need for the deck upgrade. I’d like to get it done this summer but like every other renovation around here things get pushed back.
I won’t be working as much at my second job for the rest of the year so this will be the time I jump into renovations. I purposely said I didn’t want as many hours so I could focus on my family and the house.
That’s all the fun and exciting stuff we did this week. Hardly a party but it was with my family.
How was your week?
Awesome posts I published this week
Just in case you’ve missed any of my blog posts this week I will share them all below. If you are looking for past Saturday Weekend Review posts scroll down to the bottom of this post where I will list up to 5 previous weeks for you to read.
If you have a question that you would like to ask Mr.CBB fill out the Contact Mr.CBB form on the blog home page and I’ll do my best to reply to each one. If you want to share a story via a Fan Question please ensure that there is minimum 500 words and lots of details…we love details! I’m more than happy to chat via email to bring your story to life.
New: If your story submission gets chosen and published you will be entered into a yearly draw for a $25 Gift Card or $25 CDN via PayPal if you are from the USA.
Right now CBB is posting Tuesday (Grocery Game Challenge), Thursday (Personal Finance Post), Saturday (Personal Finance and Weekly Wrap-Up and a Frugal Recipe on Sunday!
Top performing CBB Post this week : How to make money fast without going crazy
- $5000 Small Bathroom Renovation with Unavoidable Surprises
- What evey grocery store clerk wants customers to know
- How to Save Money Buying Fresh Flowers
- Extra Juicy Chicken Avocado Burger
Reader Budget Brags
You got WHAT for HOW Much?
Submit your Deal or Brag:
Saving money while grocery shopping is essential in the CBB family and that’s why we share our grocery shops every week in The Grocery Game Challenge .
Join the Budget Brag Challenge 2016 and WIN!!!
What I love the most is when my fans share their amazing shops with me whether it be groceries or other deals they find at a garage sale, online or freebies!
For 2016 if you send me your Budget Brag you will automatically get entered into a yearly draw for a surprise gift card.
If your Budget Brag gets chosen you get an extra ballot! So start sending in your brags with a photo and tell me about your deals. If you are from the USA and win I will PayPal you the money in CDN dollars. Open to Canada and USA only.
Email me at canadianbudgetbinder@yahoo.(ca) < remove brackets) or fill out my contact form by Friday each week to have your brag considered for the Saturday post.
Hi Mr CBB,
Been an avid reader of the blog for a long time now. I love the budget brag challenge and have been wanting to participate for a while now. I think I finally have something worth bragging about. I have a lot of friends with summer birthday but not a lot of extra cash in the budget to make it to all the birthdays and still bring gifts. I decided this summer to hand make my gifts or try to find a gift that fits my budget which is very small.
I walked into Goodwill today and automatically was attracted to the book section. It was half price on the yellow sticker day. For $3, I was able to pick up two books for two friends.
The “Walt Disney’s story land “book was a yellow sticker for $1 so I got that for 50 cents. A classic book which I was very conflicted and thought of keeping it for myself but the friend who is getting this will be very happy. The book was in amazing condition.
The second book- “Cutting for Stone” is one of my favourite books and was the exact book that I wanted to buy for this friend that I actually contemplated getting it brand new.It retails for $22 but I got it for $2.50 also in great condition. No marking or stains on the pages.
The funny thing was that there were two copies of this book at the Goodwill. Like it was meant to be.
Really happy about these finds and am sure my friends would love it.
P.S- I plan to hand-make the birthday cards from a tutorial I say on YouTube for a simple easy pop up card.
Ndot
Making a difference (MAD)
Welcome to the 2016 Making A Difference series! Join the networking movement of Personal Finance Bloggers around the world. If you are a personal finance blogger (anywhere around the world) and would like your blog to be MAD featured simply drop me an email and I’ll explain the process to you. I’m currently booking for August and September.
This is my way of giving back to the personal finance community through networking and sharing knowledge with my fans. Today it is my pleasure to share with you the personal finance blog, Finance Superhero.
Hello CBB Readers!
My name is David, and Ilaunched my personal finance blog,FinanceSuperhero, in March 2016. You can also find me on Twitter(@FinanceSuprhero).
If you are interested in money and its role in your life, my blog may interest you. I created my site with a simple idea: dedication to the protection of finances by defeating common “money myths,” combating threats to financial well-being (such as the consumer lifestyle, debt, mismanaged assets, and lack of a game plan), and “Restoring Order to the World of Finance,” one post at a time.
I launched this site rather reluctantly in March 2016 following years of encouragement from my wife, Mrs. Superhero. She knew that I badly missed writing and enjoyed personal finance far more than the average person, yet I didn’t have an outlet for either of those passions.
By profession, I am a public school educator, part-time financial consultant, and real estate agent. I do not hold a CPA, MBA, or any other fancy letters of accreditation. I do, however, have plenty of experience and first-hand knowledge when it comes to personal finance.
I have made mistakes with dollar signs in front of them. I have also experienced the joys of conquering a mountain of student loan debt. I am far from perfect when it comes to managing my finances, but I enjoy learning and improving each day.
I would be honored if you would check out an article and add to the conversation and learning. I am sure we can learn a lot from each other!
Restoring Order to the World of Finance,
FinanceSuperhero
Frugal Recipe Pick
Food and grocery shopping are relevant to us because food is a large part of the budget which people struggle the most with.
We all have to eat to survive but just because we have a budget doesn’t mean we can’t eat delicious home-cooked meals that are drool-worthy.
If you are someone who would rather buy convenience foods consider cooking homemade meals or baking from scratch. Not only will you save money but you will be proud of what you’ve accomplished and you’ll see that from the smiles on those you feed.
For the past 2 years I’ve had a second Facebook page called The Free Recipe Depot where I exclusively share recipes from Food Bloggers around the world. I also share recipes on the blog on Sunday either made by home cook and mom Nicola Don or myself.
This week our Top Recipe Pick goes toLee Ann over at Cooking on the Ranch shared this Lemon Zucchini Bread topped with glaze that made my mouth water.
The photo reminded me of my Copycat Starbucks Lemon Loaf which is a MUST bake recipe for anyone who loves lemon loaf.
What I love about Lee Ann’s recipe is the zucchini inclusion. It looks moist and certainly a recipe that would be perfect for dessert after entertaining dinner.
Cool Pinterest Find
Bev over at Flamingo Toes created this amazing idea for a DIY Smartphone charge holder which I think everyone who owns a phone should have. My wife constantly has her phone laying on the nightstand, carpet, counter-top and kitchen table just to charge it. This is an ideal gift that is inexpensive to make that just about anyone with a Smartphone would appreciate.
Editor’s Choice
Every week I will pick a blog post of the week from around the web that I found interesting and want to share with all of you. Please head on over and give the post a read and let them know that Mr. CBB sent you if you comment. Thanks.
Editor’s pick (That’s me Mr.CBB) This week I read a post over at Clark.com about a 30 year-old guy from Texas named Glen who was short on cash but not ideas and now he’s raking in the money buying low at Thrift Shops, Garage Sales and retail stores than selling high on Ebay.
Glen paid off $50,000 worth of debt with this popular way to make extra money. I know a few people who do this and they make a pretty good side-hustle out of the deal. If you focus on specific items or know what the public wants you can turn this into a money-making adventure. He offers some tips to those who are interested in joining in the buy and sell game.
Finance Quote Of the Week
Don’t Go Broke Trying To Look Rich
This quote doesn’t need much explanation but for those of you who are still trying to have others believe you have lots of money in the bank, stop. Convincing yourself that you deserve or need stuff when you can’t afford it only sends people into debt that causes financial stress, relationship stress and much more. Think about it. – That’s all.
Google Search Giggles
Always begin and end your day with a SMILE!- Mr.CBB
Every week I get thousands of people visitCanadian Budget Binderbecause they did a search online and found my blog. If you notice any spelling errors below this is because I share the exact way it was typed into a search engine query to land on my blog.
Most times funny, Sometimes serious.
- DVD price Garage Sale– We’ve bought them for $0.50 all the way up to $1 each but no more. If you sell them online you’d probably sell them for a couple of bucks. They are like vehicles, once you rip the packaging off they’ve decreased in value.
- Is it possible to make a rock garden and never have weeds?– Sure, if you’re a magician. I’ve made a pretty solid rock garden in the front of our house and we get the odd weed. The key is to dig deep, pull out all the weeds and other crap you find, using weed barrier, pea gravel and then your rocks. There’s a post on CBB you can read all about weeds and your rock garden.
- How much does it cost to dispose of a dog in Ontario?– WOW, I don’t know about you but being a previous dog owner who took our pets passing very hard I find this heartless. I would never think about disposing his body. Euthanasia is a gentle way to say goodbye to your pet even though it hurts so much. You can read all about it, costs involved in my post The Costs involved with Euthanasia.
- LCBO wrong price tag law Canada– You’re not going to get Free booze at the liquor store or $10 off with the Scanning Code of Practice. My lord could you imagine if they had a self scanner in the store? The line-up would be massive. Ha!
That’s all the fun for this week, thanks for dropping by and we’ll see ya all again next Saturday!
Mr.CBB
Subscribe to the blog by entering your email address on the home page of the blog. Once you’ve subscribed you MUST activate your subscription via the email sent to you from Canadian Budget Binder. Open that email and click YES Subscribe me.
Don’t forget to Follow me on Social Media!
- The Saturday Weekend Review #178: How I Made My Move To Canada From the UK
- The Saturday Weekend Review #179: When you’d Rather Be A Redneck Than A Rich Girl
- The Saturday Weekend Review #180: How to Make Easy Money When You’re Broke
- The Saturday Weekend Review #181: Should I buy a Cheaper or more Expensive house?
- The Saturday Weekend Review #182: Free Stuff to do During A Heat Wave to Keep Cool
