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4 comments on Money Talk: What drives your financial decisions?

Money Talk: What drives your financial decisions?

I would have to say the main driver of my financial decisions depends on where I am in my money journey.

So when I was in debt, it was to get out of debt. I stopped spending as much as possible and I checked my debt balance obsessively. I made charts to see when I would get out of debt, I planned for everything. EVERY PENNY.

Once I was out of debt, I just wanted to save money and reach a comfortable amount of savings so I could breathe and not worry about having to go back into debt of any kind.. It was around the time of the market crash of ’08 and I managed to save $30K and was paralyzed in investing or spending because I had no clue when my next contract would come and when.

I couldn’t invest that bit of money, I thought I would not get a job for another year or two, and I needed all that $30,000 to pay for expenses in that case.

Fast forward to today.

Now, I am growing wealth. It is easier for me because I make a good income, but harder because I didn’t (until recently I have been running models on whether I am on track or not) have any real goals set up with true benchmarks of wealth or assets.

Today, I would say the main drivers are:

  • Comfortable retirement (and on track for it, to give myself an #%9# kicking to stop spending so freely)
  • Saving to be comfortable so that I am financially stable for Little Bun – he will not worry about me and I can help him if I need to
  • Hitting the $1M mark this year. Yeah, THIS YEAR. I am trying to force myself to accelerate.
  • Disregarding my car and house as liquid assets because I am being fooled into thinking I have money and I have it in fixed assets, so I will be splitting out my LIQUID assets versus fixed.
See also  Success Story: I earn $26K and can’t do this any more. Please help me figure this out.

What drives your financial decisions?

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4 responses to “Money Talk: What drives your financial decisions?”

  1. John Avatar
    John

    The economy drives my financial decision, whether it’s the stock market or real estate market. I worry about not having enough liquid assets to take advantage of a recession or a business opportunity.

    Since I manage my own stock holdings, I also do not want to hold stocks during a recession as it happened many times in my past.

    With that said, my main financial goal is to also achieve a rate of return on capital of around 20% per year which of course requires substantial risk taking.

    Reply
    1. Sherry of Save. Spend. Splurge. Avatar
      Sherry of Save. Spend. Splurge.

      The risk taking is what gets me nervous. I try to diversify outside of actual stock holdings but this is becoming difficult.

      Reply
  2. Domonique Avatar
    Domonique

    As someone who grew up orphaned, low-income/working class, and had very low self-esteem, I never thought I would amount to much…until I was pregnant with my first child.

    The fire inside me to succeed began the moment I knew he existed and has only been fueled by other circumstances I put myself in and a few others I had little control over.

    My desire to be financially independent finally reached the first milestone on January 31st — more than six years after I made that goal – no government assistance.

    The next step is saving 3 months worth expenses and NOT touching them because I finally make a reasonable income.

    The goals I had because of my son, I now have because I WANT them for myself. It’s a nice feeling.

    Sherry, I love that you write about these topics.

    Reply
    1. Sherry of Save. Spend. Splurge. Avatar
      Sherry of Save. Spend. Splurge.

      I love how children push you to be better. That is truly impressive. My mother grew up also, very low income (literally no income), poor, sleeping on a wine crate with rats at her feet. She is MY inspiration, and I am always pleased when I hear other people who have done similarly well.

      Reply

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