Do You Respect Your Money?

I recently skimmed Suze Orman’s book entitled The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom and Step 5 caught my attention, which is to be respectful of yourself and your money.  The concept of respecting your money may sound a bit strange, but the way Suze describes it makes sense.

Respecting your money means taking care of it properly.  To quote Suze: “Your money is governed by how you treat it: it’s that simple.  It thrives when you are being responsible, respectful, and doing honorable things with it.”

In other words, don’t abuse it and it will actually take care of you.  Spend money within your means rather than spending more than you earn.  Be honest with what you have rather than pretending you are rich.

Suze recommends that everyone contribute the maximum they are allowed into their retirement savings plan because if you think you cannot afford to now, how do you expect to afford to live during your retirement when you are not getting a steady paycheck?  Her argument: Can you afford not to?

Another tip Suze suggests in Step 5 is to pretend that you earn less than you really do.  By doing so, you will be apt to spend less.  Generally the more we earn the more we spend, but if we increase our automatic payroll deductions towards our retirement savings whenever we get a raise, we will only “spend what we see” and the rest will be safely tucked away for our future.

She emphasizes treating your money well, saving it and investing it and it will end up benefiting you greatly.   It is amazing what a big impact tucking some away now can have on your financial future.

If you respect yourself and your money, you will want to learn how to manage your money wisely.  For more details on Suze’s steps to financial freedom, check out her book and skim the steps that apply to your current situation.