Confession Time: I Lost My Focus And I Am Ready To Get It Back

May 26 2008

Posted by NCN as Goals |

Every day, I write about personal finance.

Every day, I think about personal finance.

Every day, I check my blog stats, link to my fellow personal finance writers, answer emails from readers, and think about ways to motivate, inform, and inspire.

But, recently, I haven’t been focusing on my own finances.

I’ve been paying my bills and funding my retirement accounts, but I haven’t been paying much attention to my budget, I haven’t been looking for opportunities to save and/or make more money, and I haven’t been sitting down regularly with my wife to talk about our finances.

I’ve been in a ‘personal finance funk’ and it’s past time that I break out of it!

As of right now, I’m back in the game, big time -

I made a mid-month transfer to my savings account, something I haven’t done in four months.

I just logged into all of my retirement accounts and recorded my current balances.

I just opened my favorite budgeting software - You Need A Budget - and created an ultra-specific budget for June.

I wrote a list of items to sell on eBay, once we get home from vacation.

I just ordered Investing For Dummies - a book I’ve been meaning to buy.

I’ve been on a bit of a ’spending spree’ - and I’m tired of wasting money. Now, don’t get me wrong, I haven’t purchased anything that wasn’t in our budget, but I have purchased a lot of things without which I could have done. And, now that we are on vacation, I’m reminded of my desire to retire and live at the beach. The decisions that I am making today will go a long way towards determining where I end up, financially, in the future.

If you are like me, you might be in a mid-year slump. So, instead of looking back and making excuses, let’s all decide to gather ourselves and move forward!

Share and Enjoy:

13 Responses

Frugal Dad

May 26th, 2008 at 9:51 am
1

This all sounds so eerily familiar to my situation! My wife and I just discussed needing to regroup on our finances, and again start game-planning for killing debt. We had gotten kind of lazy about it over the last few weeks and months as I paid minimums and piled up savings. Thanks for reminding me to get back after it!
toniannette

May 26th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
2

OMG — This really hits home because I have been feeling the same way. Although it wasn’t quite a full fledged funk it was a mini funk. I’m close to getting back on track and this is a little kick in my tail. I’ve got to get back to work on my snowflaking because that credit card won’t go away on its own.
bluntmoney

May 26th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
3

Let us know how Investing for Dummies is — I’ve been thinking of reading that one myself.
Lazy Man and Money

May 26th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
4

I’ve had this problem in the past… sometimes you just get too close to the problem and you have to step back, write a little less about personal finance and do a little more on your own.

I’ve been personally spending too much on new computers and such, so that I can write about saving money… pretty silly, eh?
Maria @ Financial-Tip

May 26th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
5

Great post! We all slip sometimes … it’s hard to think about finances all the time and keep up the same intensity. My husband and I have to regroup too, as our house sale fell through. Our budget fro June needs to change dramatically. Thanks for the inspiration!
Geoffrey

May 27th, 2008 at 9:07 am
6

Thank you for the inspiration to get back on track! My wife and I finished paying off our debt, got a little bit in an emergency fund and now we’ve stalled a little bit. We’ve had some unexpected medical expenses and it’s been nice to pay for those with cash (without having to use our EF) but now it’s time to get focused and save with the same energy we used to pay off our debt.
Mike

May 27th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
7

Hey don’t be too hard on yourself. We all fall off the wagon now and then. You know you were off track and now you are focusing on get back on track and I say good for you. Keep up the good work.
Mrs. Micah

May 27th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
8

Thanks for sharing that. May was a month of funk for me…I still haven’t actualled used our stimulus payment. Things are ok on cruise control, no major incidents. But I need to get off my butt too.
Adam

May 28th, 2008 at 12:38 am
9

Let’s Do It!
MillionDollarJourney

May 28th, 2008 at 4:36 am
10

It’s easy to get off track with a busy life. For me, the key is to keep your eye on the big picture and not get distracted with the little things.
Imelda

May 28th, 2008 at 10:21 am
11

I took have lost track of PF and savings. I had a mental breakdown, really (hospital and all) and working on myself right now. I got to Boston for a few days, already paid for, and when we get back, we are totally getting back on track with saving.

Good luck with your path!
Bill

May 28th, 2008 at 11:32 am
12

Same here, I think this ‘funk’ feeling is also due to lower savings rates, investing slowdown, and general economic slump. Slump is another fine word for it.
elena

May 28th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
13

I’ve been distracted, too.
Big changes in how I spent my money the past two months and what the next three months are going to be like:
Daily changes at the gas pump around the corner,
waiting for the new quarterly real estate tax bill,
grocery store sticker shock,
and anticipating next month’s pre pay oil bill
All the more reason to keep my eye on the money.
Good luck to you.