Good news—Christmas is over! Hallelujah!
A model of forbearance, my middle kid waited until we were leaving Grandma’s house on Christmas night before starting to muse about his 2020 wish list. Ladies and gentlemen, December 25th—the one day a year he plans for the future. Is it any surprise that I try and spend as little time as possible with them over the holidays? My kids are pretty entitled and annoying most days, but they really take it to an 11 between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Which is why Christmas Day found me hooked up to an apheresis machine at the local American Red Cross center, donating platelets to … I don’t know, people who need platelets? Lest you think I was doing this out of any kind of big-hearted altruism, remember my other option was staying at home and listening to my kids matter-of-factly discuss how great it was that they get 10 presents from Santa since there were always one or two stinkers.
Instead, there I was in a recliner under a heated—yes, heated!— blanket watching a movie (OK, Season 2 of The Golden Girls) while Nurse Lisa brought me a bottle of chocolate milk. Sure, I couldn’t move either of my arms, and yes, there were the needles, but really, I think we have a new Christmas tradition.
I was, for sure, the smiliest person there. Even when the DVD got a little glitchy or Lisa apologized for having to move the needle around, I’d just grin and reply, “Great! No problem. Looking forward to the Nutter Butters!”
Why do I tell you all this? ‘Cause while I was there, I also had a lot of time to think about LBYM in the new year (also, the Red Cross needs more donors!). On the cusp of 2020, what do I have to say about me and you and money, spending and saving, and getting better at it all?
I was recently in a meeting with a test prep colleague of mine whose wife just had a baby. Of course, we I started talking about how expensive kids are and he mentioned that he still remembers something I said at one of the Personal Finance classes I had given over the years. My ears perked up. Excellent! Here was a chance to get some feedback on the most helpful bits of what I teach. I leaned in.
Do one thing.
I leaned back. Huh.
That was it? Given that I spend a fair amount of time writing about how much I loooove end-of-year financial to-do lists, posting not one, but two articles about New Year’s resolutions, and once gave a sub-seven-minute presentation entitled The 4 Steps and 6 Strategies to Live Beneath Your Means or maybe it was The4Stepsand6StrategiestoLiveBeneathYourMeans … this was not exactly what I expected to hear.
My bad.
So thank you, John (his real name). Thank you for reminding me of my own advice to keep it simple. Heck, it’s even in our company tagline 😆! Rather than browbeat you with yet another daunting list of All The Things you should be doing, financial and otherwise, I’m going to refer you to John.
Commit to one thing.
Let’s all do just one thing differently—start with one thing that will put you in a better place at the end of 2020. That one thing doesn’t even have to do with money, though of course, I’m fully on board if indeed it is. Here are a few suggestions.
Calculate your Net Worth.
We’ll start with an easy one. Here’s how to do it.
Figure out how much you spend.
Well, that just got real. Hey, I’m not saying spend less … yet. Just keep track for a bit.
Increase your means.
You may or may not have reached this one on your own after the previous suggestion. There are a lot of ways you can do this. Ask for a raise. Find a higher interest rate for your cash. Say “no” (time is money).
Give a little.
Lastly, here’s what I’ve always found to be the secret to riches. Share what you have—money, time, skills … even platelets—with others.
Happy New Year!