Money, and even more so a lack of it, can be a great source of worry, stress and anxiety for many of us, so much so that we often feel as if we never have enough of it. This unpleasant feeling is often amplified when we compare our lives to other people’s, especially on social media. When we notice a friend posting holiday photos regularly, or we find out a colleague has bought a new house, or even when we catch a glimpse of a neighbour’s new car, the first question that often comes to us might be: how did he manage to buy that? How much does he earn? Why can't I afford one?
It's not always easy to stop ourselves getting carried away with these envious reactions. Some people are victims of a negative worldview, which means seeing the glass half empty, and focusing only on what they lack, rather than on everything they have. To help with this, the author suggests an exercise, called "the flow of gratitude", which helps increase our gratitude for all those little things that we take for granted every day. The flow of gratitude is the daily practice of choosing three different things to be grateful for, and reminding yourself how lucky you are to have them. It could be something as simple as your breath, the food on your table, or your health; essentially the basic, yet fundamental, things in our lives that most of us tend to take for granted.
Once we let go of the comparisons and inequalities our inner green eyed monster is constantly on the lookout for, we can ask ourselves honestly: how much money do we really need? To answer this question, you need to divide your money into three different categories: the first one is for "essential expenses", the things we have to pay for to survive, such as bills, the mortgage, groceries and so on. The next category is called "superfluous purchases" and this should include all the money we spend for our pleasure and entertainment, such as eating out at restaurants or going on holiday. The third and final category is called "future objectives", and must include all savings and investments. Structuring your finances in this way can help you put together a clear and precise expense plan with which you will be able to manage your money relatively easily, whilst aiming to reduce non-essential expenses in case of emergencies, and reduce the occurrence of making unwise choices that end in you squandering away your money.
Another useful trick for defining your budget is to look back on how much you have spent over the last three months, and use that as a reference to help draw up your future spending plan.
