Tough Financial Shape? Just Listen for the Call to Action

For some people, the piggy bank really is their emergency fund, and it's called into play regularly.

At one point or another, many us will recognize that we’re in tough financial shape, and that becomes our call to action. We ought to be thankful we can hear the call when it comes, because for some of us, we don’t “get off the dime” and act in our own best interest until it’s absolutely necessary.

And, some of us are financially hard of hearing.

Recently, I’ve had the opportunity to peek in on the lives of others, through social media, and learn a little about their challenging financial conditions. I’d like to share some of my observations, and insights and suggestions, in an effort to get some value out on the table.

I do this in the interest of helping others understand there are various indicators that we should recognize as a type of wake-up call. We ought to create insights regarding these indicators, and put them to work for us, so we sleep better at night.

Casual Observations

Here is what I’ve learned about the financial conditions of others, just through casual observation of what is mentioned in public forums on the web. Some of these might be difficult to believe, but since the conversations are regular and between friends, I assume that there is far more sincerity behind the comments than drama or fiction. In any event, we can learn something by glancing at the lives of others.

  • A couple leaves their vehicle parked in the driveway from roughly the 20th of the month until about the 4th of the next month, unless they have an urgent matter that requires transportation. They do this because around the 20th, they run out of money, and they don’t get paid until early the next month. They have enough food on hand, but can’t afford fuel for the vehicle.
  • One regular forum participant has someone else pay for their Internet service because there isn’t enough money in the household to have their own paid Internet connection.
  • A single parent drinks water at some meals, while feeding their child, because there isn’t enough money for both to eat a good meal.
  • The lone income earner in the family has hours cut back at work, so their spouse scrambles to obtain ideas for living on less, and perhaps land some sideline income as well.
  • One individual concerned about inflation and civil unrest seeks ideas for being better prepared and more self-sufficient, but they have no financial resources – everything has to be at no cost in order to be feasible.
  • Another regular forum member is making use of the food stamp program until they can get their financial house in order. This is a subsistence program that provides meager benefits, the likes of which I would hate having to count on.

The more I learn about the lives of others, the more I understand the difference between survive and thrive. There are far more people living on the financial edge than I ever imagined. I believe it was Dave Ramsey who coined the phrase, “Broke is normal, be weird.” Okay, so I’m happily weird, but very concerned about others who don’t have much of a grip, and are indeed in tough financial shape.

Insights and Suggestions

As usual, the examples above aren’t so important, they’re only the attention-getter. The important part is what we might learn from these examples, and how those lessons might be implemented in our lives so we don’t slip into, or farther into an undesirable financial condition.

Here are my take-aways:

People can become accustomed to even dreadful conditions. Broke or nearly so is their “normal.” As an acquaintance of mine once said, “You can get used to just about anything.” Ain’t it the truth! Don’t get comfortable until you know it’s safe to do so.

Less commiserating is good, and solution-seeking is better. If the people we hang with just like to talk about financial problems, but don’t have solutions or initiative, we might be better off finding a more success-oriented crowd. If we’re serious about getting a handle on our personal finances, we ought to get involved with others who are serious about it too. They’ll have advice, applicable experience, an appropriate mindset, and better patterns of behavior that can be imitated. Spend your time constructively by seeking out others who have been successful, and find out how they’ve done it.

Get mad or be sad. I know it sounds odd, but sometimes it takes anger, fear, disgust, ridicule, shame or embarrassment before we act. Some of us need to be mad about hitting bottom before we take action. Get mad and take action now, so the sadness of financial disaster won’t take up residence with you and your family.

Don’t wait for others. Being a good life manager can be challenging, but some have given up and are instead waiting for others to make decisions in their lives. Those decisions might include termination of utility services, eviction, foreclosure, debt collection, and other unpleasant things. Some find it easier to be a crisis manager than an active decision-maker. Be proactive in bettering your financial position, don’t let things happen to you.

Resist Being Satisfied

Many of us might look at some of these examples, wipe our brow, and say, “Well, at least I’m not in that tough spot.” I would caution against becoming overly satisfied with where we might be, unless we’re clearly sitting on top of the world – very few of us are. Instead, I would suggest we take these observations and insights, and compare them with our own situation, by “holding them up to the light” to see if we might need to make some changes. Are we getting too comfortable, talking instead of acting, not holding our own feet to the fire, or simply waiting around until the decisions of others narrow our field of choices by default? If so, it’s time to listen up so we can hear that call to action.

The compassionate person in all of us will be concerned about the future of others, and we’ll want to help, but the best thing we can do is to take good care that we’re crafting the best financial situation that we know how for ourselves. It’s the only way we can be sure that we might be in a position, by way of experience and resources, to help others. Leading by example is powerful, and to do so we must be our own leader (and cheerleader) first and foremost.

Are the above examples of financial leadership of others akin to what’s going on in your life? If so, consider this to be your call to action. “About face, forward march!”

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About Clair Schwan

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