I know Thanksgiving has not yet arrived but I can’t resist!
I’m a Christmas person. There, I said it! You have probably figured this out already and I wasn’t even planning to write a post about my love for the Holiday Season but yesterday my son sent me a video of 4 years ago, where I’m singing, learning the lyrics to “Baby it’s cold outside” by Idina Menzel and Michael Bubblé. That just got me on the memory lane track! I had already set up my “Winter” tree, because it’s not a Christmas tree until you decorate it!, you can see it in the background of the video… so that got me longing even more for Christmas. Family time and hot chocolate and gift wrapping and… all things!
It also got me on the memory lane track to where we were, financially speaking! At the time we were almost done paying our debt, we had no money to splurge on gifts but it was also the year that a lot changed for us. We started giving more than ever, even before our financial debacle. I started believing that there must be something more than that! That being where I was. My mindset had begun to shift and I knew I was meant to do/be more. And that brings me back to today. What has changed since that day 4 years ago? Well, let’s see!
My hair colour has changed… I’m blonder everyday that passes! I’ve always been partial to dark hair. Love it, but also, I could just buy some cheap dark colour shampoo and have no more grey hair! Of course I didn’t like buying cheap shampoo! But it was all I could afford and I would not be seen dead with grey hair! Choices. My house had hand-down furniture and all new clothes were gifted.
Today, I go to the hairdresser and I have blond highlights that make me feel a million bucks (they almost cost as much!). My house is starting to feel like I live there again. I get to slowly but excitingly decorate it the way I want. I get to hang my new collection of Christmas ornaments that I’ve started since travelling to the Netherlands for a Concert or from Belgium, even Australia where I went for my High School Reunion or London where I went this year to meet my new amazing best friends and GirlSquad! I get to buy new clothes and shoes but mostly bags! I get to make a list to send Santa and I actually know I have a shot at getting a gift I asked for.
It may not seem a lot, but to me, it’s changed my life! And all of that wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for me getting out of my way and working on my mindset around money as well as creating a plan for my finances. It’s not been a smooth sail but it certainly has made a difference. I kept procrastinating and telling myself I could never do it! But the fact is I did and it all started with, at the end of “I could never do it” I added “but what if I could?”. Nothing extremely out there, just the simple realisation that I could actually, maybe, perhaps do it and it would work!
I keep getting in my own way all the time, like writing this post, could it be more confusing? But this is everything that is going through my head at the moment and if you need to hear this today, I know you’ll get it! I’m writing this post today in the South of France, I’m here for a week. No, I’m not on holiday! My husband has a job down here and because four years ago I got out of my own way, I was able to leave my day job this year and I’m free to travel with my husband if I want to. And yes, I want to! I can work from anywhere and even though I know that’s probably not your dream, wouldn’t it be nice to be in a place where you could make that choice? A place where you don’t have debt and you have the freedom to actually choose what you want?
I hope you take this time to think about it and maybe visualise what it would look like for you. Would would your life look like if you had nothing stopping you? Not even yourself! You don’t have to make major changes in your life, it’s actually the small stuff that together makes that big change. It’s one thought today, one dollar tomorrow… that’s going to make a difference. I know you are just like me and you are thinking, once I earn more I’ll change, once I pay that loan I’ll save, once I, fill in the blank, that used to be me too. I’m so glad I started paying attention to my thoughts and started small changes, little things, everyday and that got me to where I am today.
Have I arrived, you ask? Of course not, I’m starting my investing now and I’m still struggling with that “get rich fund!” (you know what I mean if you’ve been around!) but I know I can do it. And that is probably the biggest thing I’ve learned about myself. And I believe you can do it too! If you set your mind to it and it doesn’t have to be difficult, let it be easy! Just because it’s easy doesn’t mean it’s not valuable. It only means that you had what it takes all along! And if it’s hard, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it! It means that you have been in the wrong mindset all this time! Get out of your own way, just like I did!, and get moving!
You got this!
S – The Sparkling Budgeteer
