One Financial Mistake Even Expert Never Talk About
Good news, it is something you can alter
One sunny day in Thursday morning, me and my friend had a plan to go the biggest book sale in the country. The location is far from our home. So, we need to go early and spend more time to search for the books.
We took a train, costing us around IDR8000 per person. Then, we need to get a taxi, adding up IDR20,000 to our traveling cost. Along the way, I spent another IDR15,000 for foods. In total, there is IDR50,000 spent on one-way transportation (means we need IDR100,000 to go back to our home).
At the book sale, I bought three books worth IDR260,000. I think I spend much less than other. I observed that majority of the visitors could spend million of money on the books they like. So, I don’t think I spend too much money to enjoy my holiday, after I realized I made one financial mistake that day. That mistake is I being denial with my financial condition.
Before Thursday, my spending budget is tight. I only have around IDR 1.5 million cash at the bank. From Monday to Wednesday, I take out around IDR400,000 for online shopping, leaving my balance around IDR1.1 million. Take out another IDR400,000 in that Thursday only, my budget is only IDR700,000 for the whole March.
Another sad fact, I have loan payment worth IDR300,000 this month!
Yeah, I effectively need to live with only IDR400,000. It is not a very good situation financially and emotionally.
With this kind of situation, I am literally suffering. Living in one of the priciest city in the country, my balance is in danger of short-term spending. And all of that starts with I being denial.
I am denial with the money in my pocket.
I am denial with my saving.
I am denial with the fact of my balance.
I am denial with the fact of my financial burden.
And because of that, I suffer from my own mistake for the whole month.
The good news is being denial about the money is something you can change. It is a habit and you just need a proper plan to overcome it.
This is what I will do in the next month so I make sure I don’t do the same mistake ever again.
The most important thing to do is to separate your income for spending, saving and investing brackets . Divide the money proportionally and only spend the money on spending bucket.
Never ever take the money from the other two brackets.
The next thing, divide your spending bracket into smaller brackets like entertainment, meals, and so on. Modify the brackets based on your needs.
And don’t forget to obey the rule: don’t take out the money from saving and investing brackets if it’s not emergency.
