Well, it is that time of year again. Intermittent days of dangerous snowy or slushy driving, shops are starting to get overrun, and another year is drawing to a close.
Much in the same way that I enjoy tracking expenses, I also enjoy reflecting on the year’s changes. Reflecting on the past leads to reflecting on the future. Zooming out and taking a bird’s eye view on life and life direction is always worthwhile. There is only so much time to do what is truly valuable.
I remember hearing my mom say, “Time flies!” ever since I was a child. I didn’t understand it then, but I’m starting to understand that phrase more and more as my years keep ticking by. There is this perception of being able to remember things years or decades ago as if it had just occurred, and then realizing that much time has passed since the occurrence. This leads to those feelings that time just zipped by at light speed. I don’t know about you, but I panic a little bit as I project into a future-me that feels life has just zipped by without knowing where all that time went.
One way to slow down and actually feel the time go by is to reflect. Now, writing multiple page diary entries each day is relatively impractical for many of us. But a bit of reflection really helps with slowing down the perception of time. My One Line A Day Five Year Memory book dates back to 2013 – yes…there was a bit of hiatus in there – and it actually is really special to glance up the page at previous entries on the same day and remember the boredom-provoking, the anxiety-provoking, anger-provoking, pain-provoking and gratitude-provoking events that happened in days long past. And I feel those days and years, rather than feeling like they were not lived at all.
You know what else makes people say, “I just don’t know where it all went?”
Money.
It’s interesting though; we know how much time has lapsed based on our ages. This leads to rude awakenings around mid-life (or earlier), when we realize that there is only so much of this finite resource of time left. Do I really want to spend the rest of my life with this person? Do I really want to die without having done this wild and wondrous thing? Do I really want to work another 10-20-30 years at this job?
Unlike time, we often don’t know how much money was made and how much money has left our pockets. This nebulous sense of money is like a nebulous sense of life, when life has been lived without reflection. “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
Let’s play with that for a moment. I tweaked that thought into a financial version:
Unexamined spending is unworthy spending.
Was that too strong a statement? I am also not a big fan of negatively oriented statements (unless for a very specific purpose). Let’s try this version:
Examined spending is worthy spending.
My take on this? Let’s look at our spending to increase our appreciation of just how much money has flowed into our lives, and how much we appreciate and enjoy where – and how much – has flowed to other purposes 😊
How Much Money Was There?
If you have been reading this blog (or other personal finance blogs), you will have certainly come across the idea of finding your net worth.
I am a loud and proud advocate for digging into the details of our financial picture in order to get the most solid sense of where our financial footing is. If you are feeling up to the exciting challenge, then go ahead and diagnose your financial situation!
Sometimes, though, it might feel a little scary. And if you haven’t yet started tracking your expenses, finding all the numbers can take a bit more time that you might have to spare today.
Let’s break it down to today. Maybe this past week. Maybe even this past month. (Yes, I know there might have been a lot of holiday shopping!)
Here are some reflection starters:
- What was each thing you spent money on? Today/this week/this month
- How much was each expense?
- How much is the total expenditure? (This is wealth!)
- How much do you enjoy or appreciate each portion of spending? What gets you excited about how you allocated your money?
- What would you like to keep about how you have been spending your money?
Here are some other reflection questions:
- What were the things you spent money on that you did not enjoy or appreciate as much as you thought you would?
- Were there items that your online banking says you spent money on but you can’t remember what it was?
- Is there money that you just don’t know where it went?
- What would you like to change about how you have been spending your money?
Last questions:
- What is your wildest money dream?
- How will you get there?
Next week, we will talk specifics regarding “how will you get there”!
-Dr. FIREfly
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