Inertia or One Duck Stuck in the Muck
Have you ever heard me do my rant on Inertia? It’s for all those Duckies who are stuck in the muck; people so convinced they can’t that they don’t even try.
The Law of Inertia says that a body at rest will remain at rest until some force acts upon it. And a body in motion will remain in motion… well, you get my drift.
I believe that a lot of the problems people have dealing with life, their money, everything, stem from this simple Law of Inertia. It is so much easier to maintain the status quo than to change.
However, You cannot save $10,000 until you save $1,000. You cannot save $1,000 until you save $100. You cannot save $100 until you save $10.
If you want to build a financial safety net, you must START by opening a savings account and creating an automatic savings program. If you want to stop spending money you haven’t yet earned, you must STOP carrying your credit cards. You must change what you are doing or not doing, to something that works FOR you instead of AGAINST you.
I love change. Change is exciting. Change brings challenge, learning and a sense of New. Change is full of promise. Change is audacious. It takes guts to change. It takes real guts. And guts are something that seem to be in short supply. If you have them, you’ll make it. If you don’t, well, so sorry. Not guts, no glory.
So the question you have to ask yourself today is this:
Do I have the guts to change?
If your answer is “No” then go away. You’re just wasting your time here. This is a place of change, a place to be brave, a place to commit.
If the answer is, “Yes”, then what are you going to change? TODAY. What small step will you take to move you from being at rest to being in motion? What will you DO (not think about, not plan, not worry about, not whine about) to change what your life looks like? What will you DO?
If you think that financial inertia isn’t an epidemic, here’s something you should read:
Britons’ financial inertia is so great that the majority of people would not even bother picking up a free £5 note if it was offered to them, research has showed.
And from the New York Times:
Are your finances making you feel guilty? Does every passing week leave you more determined to finally get your fiscal affairs under control . . . and more frustrated because you don’t know how or where to start?
Rest assured, you are not alone in your financial inertia.
If you have the guts to change, do you have the guts to say what you’re going to do in a public forum? If so, post a reply to this blog describing the step you are going to take TODAY to change something about your life. It can be financial. It can be wholistic. It can be small. No one is asking you to move a mountain… well, not in one push.
You can put inertia to work for you. Or you can just remain One Duck Stuck in the Muck. You decide.
June 27th, 2008 at 9:39 am
I started reading your blog about 3 months ago. I caught up on all the past episodes of TDDUP (we don’t get SLICE on our Cable package). 2 months ago, I set up an auto-debit savings account at Citizen’s. $100 every other Friday, from my paycheque. I have, so far, twice resisted buying the totally awesome outdoor camp cook stove that I want - only $189 at Costco!
3 weeks ago I sent my (just graduated from university) daughter to Gail. My daughter has set up autmatic savings at ING, and in her new budget, set up debt repayment as a fixed expense, on automatic. She has also found some valuable things she was no longer using to sell. She said, “That’s what Gail says to do”
This week, I am cancelling the $218/month Motgage insurance we have and replacing it with more term life that will cost $100/month
My next small change will be to add auto-debits to savings from my husband’s pay cheques as well. Maybe his I will direct to his RRSP’s (I have a pension plan at my work)
I was worrying about my spouse and my different money styles (been doing that for 30 years!) I have realized the my husband is a Balance Sheet kind of guy - we have significant assets and are going to be just fine.
We have both just moved into jobs that offer better work-life balance, but pay less. I am an Income Statement kind of woman, and sometime’s wonder if we can get to the end of the month before we get to the end of the money. My committment here, is to respect both of our points of view, and to keep my defensiveness out of our money conversations.
Last but not least, our climate action dividends (don’t you just love it when politicians bribe us with our own money?) are hitting the savings account today.
June 27th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
A change, a commitment here in writing…. it’s insignificant to anyone else but would bring a world of peace into my life….
I will FIT into my home.
I will make my books fit the large bookshelf I already have, the clothes fit in the closet I have, all the Christmas decorations fit in the designated space for them, the toys fit in the kid’s closets, the dishes fit comfortably into the cupboards, the movies fit in the movie cuboard….. what that means is that I will be editting my “stuff” and relaxing in the knowledge that I don’t need a bigger house, I don’t need to be crowded and stifled by my possessions and most importantly that I CERTAINLY don’t need any MORE stuff!!!!
Also, here is my promise not to buy even one more book until I have actually read all the ones I have!
June 27th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
What a great entry Gail!
I will make a commitment to stop feeding my urge (need, desire?) to “upgrade”. Everything from furniture, clothing, vehicles and home renos. I have a beautiful home and great family and friends. It’s time to take a good look at what I have and appreicate it. Stop the comparisons and reckless spending. Happiness isn’t a new fancy car that I can’t afford, a cruise paid for by credit card or a $200 purse that will be out of style in a year.
June 27th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Okay, Gail….you always say that if you don’t have enough money to pay expenses, then find more ways to make money. I really thought that didn’t really apply to me because I have a full-time and a part-time job. However, I just decided (before you posted this blog) that I would add an extra shift to my part-time job to do some catch up. I am doing this during July and August but can’t do it during fall-winter because my f/t job is much more demanding. Another thing — currently I deal with two banks; one for my f/t job that covers all my household expenses; the other one for my p/t job that covers variable expenses and includes a chequing and savings account. I have decided to flip the accounts…..use my savings money for the food, and transportation (I put less money automatically each week into this account) and save the chequing account money. It will be tough but doable. You know Gail, my granddaughter (5 years old) asked me the other day as I was sitting down to watch your show “Why did I need to know so much about money”. She said her mommy doesn’t think about it! Out of the mouths of babes!
June 27th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Why an extra job?
- Extra money.
- Another line on the CV (so carrer move).
- An extra person for a reference letter.
- Increased job security in the extra job.
- Ok, the job is fun!
I just agreed to a busy fall schedule. Once a week, after a full day of work, 1.5 hour travel , teach for 3 hours, 1.5 hour back. Other evenings of the week: minimum one for rest and the rest to prepare the teaching.
It makes you look forward to the Christmas holidays!
June 27th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Shoot! I typed the word “C*****mas” before Thanksgiving!
June 27th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
To Tracy J
Before I say this I will recommend if you do not already have one, get a library card, that will help you cut down on the number of books you buy. Second, once you have your library card put on hold the book “It’s all too much : an easy plan for living a richer life with less stuff” by Peter Walsh. I really, sincerely, think this book might help you with your goals of decluttering and streamlining your life - if you feel you need some motivation. I read that book and when I finished I spring cleaned my house and got rid of 5 moving boxes worth of STUFF and 3 garbage bags full of clothes!!! It was a huge weight lifted!
I wish you all the best with the re-organization of your home! YOU CAN DO IT!!
June 27th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
My fiancee and I have started the jars and we absolutely love it. We are finally living within our means and extra money from doing extra work is a great reward. We have automated payments (NOTE: payments… because you have to pay yourself too) to each of our own savings accounts (one for the wedding, one for an emergency fund) and an RRSP. It’s encouraging to see our money grow with very little effort. We are paying off our consumer debt and have crossed one credit card off the list and this one we are crossing off number two. In less then a year, we will be almost debt free (only school and car debt less) due to the financial inertia. The feeling is amazing to see your payments grow as you pay off one card and then another!! I dare people to try it!!
Thanks Gail for the incentive you provide on your shows and on your website to get people like me moving toward financial control and independence.
June 27th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Nola:
What is this Climate Action dividend you speak of? I thought that wasn’t going to be in place until at least 2009
~ Instead of using my GST rebates (that get automatically placed in my bank account), I will immediately send that to my savings. It’s not money I count on having, so my emergency fund can grow a bit more at a time.
~ I decided that at the end of the month, any amount remaining on my spreadsheet will be transferred into my emergency fund (it’s time to see it grow!) I am almost at 2 months of living expenses, and I only started the emergency fund 5 months ago.
~ I have decided that although paying off my loan *is* a priority, a social life and spending time with friends is *also* a priority. My budget now has an increased “entertainment” amount to give me wiggle room for any events or invites that pop up throughout the month.
Other goals/changes:
~ I need to be more active.
~ I need to enjoy more of this weather, instead of going home from work and going online
~ I will continue to not let junk/stuff accumulate in my living space - if I didn’t need (or even want) something up until I saw it or heard about it, then I certainly don’t need it at that moment!
~ I will continue to do my part to live in an environmentally friendly lifestyle
~ I will increase my fruit intake with local rather than shipped produce - it tastes better too!
June 27th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Emma
Residents of B.C. rec’d a $100 cheque (each). The B.C. carbon tax on gas (like we need for gasoline tax) takes effect July 1 but is supposed to be revenue neutral
June 28th, 2008 at 10:50 am
Emma ~ your goals are similar to what I am thinking for myself!
My husband & I just had to replace both of our cars, so our debt is larger than we thought it would be when we worked on our budget just a few months ago. I am now going from 4 days/week in my job to 5 days/week, so the extra money will definitely help. I want us to be happy with what we have instead of always wanting more. I dispise clutter, and am still working on one room in the basement since we moved almost three years ago. I want to stop using credit cards and buy only what we can afford, and like Emma said, budget more for entertainment so we can be satisfied and not feel that we can’t enjoy doing anything. I’d really like to try the jars, so I’ll make that a goal to try within the next month. I’m not a very disciplined person, nor is my husband, so this may be a struggle, but an adventure non-the-less.
June 28th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Since we are debt free except for our mortgage I have two goals. The first is to have one month’s expense saved in cash (we have an emergency fund of 6 mths saved in a mutual fund). Everytime I make headway life happens and the money disappears. DH and I will reach the goal this time by snowballing any extra’s toward the liquid ef. Secondly, I will spend 15 min a day removing stuff from our house. I have a tendency to see the mountain of stuff to be dealt with and give up. If I spend 15 min a day at the end of the month I will have 7.5 hrs left of stuff and the mountian will be smaller.
June 28th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
~I’m going to ensure that my house is clean and tidy; so I can find things and so that it’s a healthier place to spend time.
~I’m going to continue to save to my chosen limits in my accounts (vet, travel, car, etc) and make a more concerted effort on my 3 month emergency fund.
~I am really going to start using my jars for what they’re designed for (hopefully with some slight downward budget readjustments)!!!
~I am going to read the book that Jessie recommended and see if I can’t cut my clutter even more
~I will put more of my second job paycheque towards saving; keep my main paycheque for rent, bills, etc.
~I will continue to read Gail’s blog daily for inspiration, ideas, motivation and the chance to follow and share stories with other people.
June 28th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Excellent post Gail. It made me sit up and take notice that even though we are debt free except for our mortgage we could be doing MUCH better with our savings. We are going to sit down this weekend and rework the budget and stop the frittering away of a $ here and a $ there and increase the monthly automatic transfer into savings starting next week.
I also want to be more aware of whats happening in our retirement savings funds rather than just meeting with our financial advisor a few times a year. We need to take the time to do more research and be more involved.
Personally, I need to be more active and watch what I eat. The munchies have a way of taking over!
Thanks for the wakeup call Gail.
June 29th, 2008 at 11:46 am
I want to see if I can cut my grocery spending by seriously meal planning. Just because something is a good buy doesn’t mean we need to have it. I want to use the meat I already have in the freezer and the food already in the fridge & cupboard. Currently we are spending $600- $650 each month for a family of 3. We don’t buy our meals at work though. That cost also included diapers, cleaning products & dog food. I’m looking forward to my son being potty trained.
I am going to take my credit cards out of my wallet unless I have a planned purchase (used for the card rewards) and then I’ll come home and transfer the money to the credit card.
I am going to collect items in my house that I know I am not going to use again and try to sell them online. Then I’ll use that cash to reduce my debt.
I am doing small renovations to my house but only as I can save the money for them. It makes it so much more worth it!
I am going to resist buying a Blackberry phone because I know I really don’t need it at this point. I don’t need the extra bill each month either.
July 2nd, 2008 at 6:52 pm
1. Today I will stop using my credit card for anything except travel (built in travel/medical insurance).
2. By the end of this week, I will have sent off all of the annoying/hard-to-understand prescription rebate forms that have been piling up at home.
3. By the end of next week, I will have gotten a better cell phone plan.
4. By the end of this month, I will have figured out how much we actually spend each month, and how much we can save, without scrimping.
wow, putting it down makes it real.