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sabrinamariPreamble: What I mean by "Element Money"
The Blue Star Tradition, like other Wiccan traditions, thinks of the world as created from 4 (or 5) key Elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water (and also Spirit).
We encourage tradition members, especially initiates, to develop personal relationships with each element as part of their work. In my own work with Element Earth, I realized that money, a sub-element of earth, has its own consciousness and spirit.
Interestingly, the friend who clarified this for me identifies as neither Blue Star nor Pagan, but has a strong personal relationship with Element Money.
When I speak about chatting with Element Money, I mean taking a deep breath, relaxing, and opening yourself to the spirit of money with an open and friendly heart. Then, turning directly to the most concrete manifestations of money you can find: your online banking website, your paper statements, your credit card statements and other, similar documents, and reading through them closely with a relaxed and open state of mind. Thoughts will occur to you: inspirations will come to you. Write them down as they come.
Sometimes, self-critical thoughts will emerge, too.
Just listen with an open mind and calm heart, and write these things down. Notice everything you are learning about yourself through your finances. Ask what the wisest next move is, and immediately write down the answers you get without stopping or thinking too hard or too critically about what you hear. Then, read over what you write and take it seriously. Note any questions that you might want to answer or any information that you need emerging from the text.
Then, either browse the net for resources that could give you more information to answer what you have written or consult with friends you trust. As you discover wise moves, moves you could make with your finances---do them. If need be, look for tools that can help you do them.
Some examples: the resources on Dave Ramsey's website (his Financial Peace University materials), free downloadable podcasts on iTunes (like the No Credit Needed podcast, the Money Girl podcast, or the Money Guy podcast), or financial blogs like "5 Cent Nickel".
Do this regularly, repeating it frequently, and gradually coming to a greater and greater understanding of your finances and yourself through the time you spend doing this. That's what I mean by "developing a relationship with Element Money".
Spent a little time today with my friend Element Money today. We decided to use some of our time to figure out my net worth and sharpen my thinking about possible 2008 financial goals.
Element Money is like most everyone else: s/he likes to be paid attention to, consulted regularly about his/her opinions and given a nice cup of coffee in a relaxed sort of way. So I fixed us some vanilla brew with a little gingerbread flavored creamer and we went to a Suze Orman website that offers a simple form for helping you figure out your net worth.
It took me about 20 minutes to update my accounts so that I could fill in the form and then 5 more minutes to enter the data. The end result was OK, not fabulous, in terms of actual net worth. It was truly fabulous, though, in the sense that I grew my investment portfolio (including my money market fund) by 279.90% in 2007.
That didn't happen because of my fabulous income. I have a modest little income (for which I am grateful!). It happened because I sat down with Money about twice a week all year long and looked at what my accounts were doing: how much did I have in my checking account? What were today's credit card balances? Could I throw a few dollars towards paying them off early? What was I going to do with my money this week and this month?
Those 20 minute chats with Element Money meant that I kept tabs on most of what I did; I made conscious choices about what I spent. When I occasionally overspent, I shifted my weekly and monthly plans. Before I got paid, I projected my expenditures forward over the coming 4-to-6 weeks.
Because I paid close attention, I "found" alot of cash that I would otherwise have overlooked, forgotten or spent mindlessly on things I didn't really want. Because of our frequent chats, I ended up giving myself the equivalent of a raise: suddenly, I noticed that I had more money than I thought.
Element Money is very kind when you pay attention to him/her and listen carefully to what s/he has to say to you. Instead of looking like a terrifying monster you must placate, s/he becomes the good friend who wants you to succeed. But first, you have to pay attention and notice where your relationship is going.
This afternoon I decided that my 2008 financial goals would look like this:
* I will add between $10,000 - $12,000 to my money market fund. I want to have 8 months' salary in my emergency fund at the close of this year. Next year, I may be looking for a new career. I need cash reserves in order to do that without getting scared and taking a job that I don't feel good about.
* Fully fund my 2008 Roth IRA. This will be a $5000.00 investment.
This means that I will need to save at least $15,000 over the coming year.
Once this goal is accomplished, I will take any additional savings and decide whether I want to:
create more savings OR buy more stocks and funds for my taxable investment account.
It looks like 2008 will be a rough year for the economy, and that means...SALE time on Wall Street! I could pick up some blue chip stocks at bargain basement prices. Wooo-hoooo! Shoppin' till I drop on Wall Street.
I *love* it when the market goes on sale. For a new investor like me, bear markets are perfect. I can buy more for my money while everyone else is desperate to dump their temporarily depreciating stocks. Then I will hold tight over the next 20 years while my blue chips rise. The secret is to not be in a hurry.
******
So---I challenge you. If you have the courage, sit down with Element Money and have a nice little chat. Fix yourself some coffee or some tea. Pull up the computer. Browse your accounts and note the balances on them. Eyeball your next 2-3 paychecks. Then ask Money what s/he thinks.
What's your best Earth Element/Element Money move for 2008?
Do you want to drop debt, fatten up your emergency fund or do something else entirely?
When you have the answer, write it down. Here, in your journal, on your computer, in a private post---somewhere. Record it where you can call it up easily and look at it over your next few fireside chats with Element Money.
Happy chatting!
The Blue Star Tradition, like other Wiccan traditions, thinks of the world as created from 4 (or 5) key Elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water (and also Spirit).
We encourage tradition members, especially initiates, to develop personal relationships with each element as part of their work. In my own work with Element Earth, I realized that money, a sub-element of earth, has its own consciousness and spirit.
Interestingly, the friend who clarified this for me identifies as neither Blue Star nor Pagan, but has a strong personal relationship with Element Money.
When I speak about chatting with Element Money, I mean taking a deep breath, relaxing, and opening yourself to the spirit of money with an open and friendly heart. Then, turning directly to the most concrete manifestations of money you can find: your online banking website, your paper statements, your credit card statements and other, similar documents, and reading through them closely with a relaxed and open state of mind. Thoughts will occur to you: inspirations will come to you. Write them down as they come.
Sometimes, self-critical thoughts will emerge, too.
Just listen with an open mind and calm heart, and write these things down. Notice everything you are learning about yourself through your finances. Ask what the wisest next move is, and immediately write down the answers you get without stopping or thinking too hard or too critically about what you hear. Then, read over what you write and take it seriously. Note any questions that you might want to answer or any information that you need emerging from the text.
Then, either browse the net for resources that could give you more information to answer what you have written or consult with friends you trust. As you discover wise moves, moves you could make with your finances---do them. If need be, look for tools that can help you do them.
Some examples: the resources on Dave Ramsey's website (his Financial Peace University materials), free downloadable podcasts on iTunes (like the No Credit Needed podcast, the Money Girl podcast, or the Money Guy podcast), or financial blogs like "5 Cent Nickel".
Do this regularly, repeating it frequently, and gradually coming to a greater and greater understanding of your finances and yourself through the time you spend doing this. That's what I mean by "developing a relationship with Element Money".
Spent a little time today with my friend Element Money today. We decided to use some of our time to figure out my net worth and sharpen my thinking about possible 2008 financial goals.
Element Money is like most everyone else: s/he likes to be paid attention to, consulted regularly about his/her opinions and given a nice cup of coffee in a relaxed sort of way. So I fixed us some vanilla brew with a little gingerbread flavored creamer and we went to a Suze Orman website that offers a simple form for helping you figure out your net worth.
It took me about 20 minutes to update my accounts so that I could fill in the form and then 5 more minutes to enter the data. The end result was OK, not fabulous, in terms of actual net worth. It was truly fabulous, though, in the sense that I grew my investment portfolio (including my money market fund) by 279.90% in 2007.
That didn't happen because of my fabulous income. I have a modest little income (for which I am grateful!). It happened because I sat down with Money about twice a week all year long and looked at what my accounts were doing: how much did I have in my checking account? What were today's credit card balances? Could I throw a few dollars towards paying them off early? What was I going to do with my money this week and this month?
Those 20 minute chats with Element Money meant that I kept tabs on most of what I did; I made conscious choices about what I spent. When I occasionally overspent, I shifted my weekly and monthly plans. Before I got paid, I projected my expenditures forward over the coming 4-to-6 weeks.
Because I paid close attention, I "found" alot of cash that I would otherwise have overlooked, forgotten or spent mindlessly on things I didn't really want. Because of our frequent chats, I ended up giving myself the equivalent of a raise: suddenly, I noticed that I had more money than I thought.
Element Money is very kind when you pay attention to him/her and listen carefully to what s/he has to say to you. Instead of looking like a terrifying monster you must placate, s/he becomes the good friend who wants you to succeed. But first, you have to pay attention and notice where your relationship is going.
This afternoon I decided that my 2008 financial goals would look like this:
* I will add between $10,000 - $12,000 to my money market fund. I want to have 8 months' salary in my emergency fund at the close of this year. Next year, I may be looking for a new career. I need cash reserves in order to do that without getting scared and taking a job that I don't feel good about.
* Fully fund my 2008 Roth IRA. This will be a $5000.00 investment.
This means that I will need to save at least $15,000 over the coming year.
Once this goal is accomplished, I will take any additional savings and decide whether I want to:
create more savings OR buy more stocks and funds for my taxable investment account.
It looks like 2008 will be a rough year for the economy, and that means...SALE time on Wall Street! I could pick up some blue chip stocks at bargain basement prices. Wooo-hoooo! Shoppin' till I drop on Wall Street.
I *love* it when the market goes on sale. For a new investor like me, bear markets are perfect. I can buy more for my money while everyone else is desperate to dump their temporarily depreciating stocks. Then I will hold tight over the next 20 years while my blue chips rise. The secret is to not be in a hurry.
******
So---I challenge you. If you have the courage, sit down with Element Money and have a nice little chat. Fix yourself some coffee or some tea. Pull up the computer. Browse your accounts and note the balances on them. Eyeball your next 2-3 paychecks. Then ask Money what s/he thinks.
What's your best Earth Element/Element Money move for 2008?
Do you want to drop debt, fatten up your emergency fund or do something else entirely?
When you have the answer, write it down. Here, in your journal, on your computer, in a private post---somewhere. Record it where you can call it up easily and look at it over your next few fireside chats with Element Money.
Happy chatting!
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no subject
Date: 2007-12-23 09:36 pm (UTC)This year my net worth increased about 15%, exclusive of real estate, which is on-target. I plan to keep that up for the next 4 years, then I'll retire in relative comfort. :-)
no subject
Date: 2007-12-24 01:12 pm (UTC)I need to look into Quicken. As you know, I'm a little hesitant around computer-related things, but Quicken sounds like such a good idea. I think that's a next step for me---right now I'm doing everything manually: browsing account web sites and online banking (GREAT for weekly micro-payments!) but doing all tracking in my journal, on paper.
Of course, Michael has spreadsheets.
I need to learn to use spreadsheets!
no subject
Date: 2007-12-24 01:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-24 02:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-23 09:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-23 10:39 pm (UTC)The Blue Star Tradition, like other Wiccan traditions, thinks of the world as created from 4 (or 5) key Elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water (and also Spirit).
We encourage tradition members, especially initiates, to develop personal relationships with each element as part of their work. In my own work with Element Earth, I realized that money, a sub-element of earth, has its own consciousness and spirit.
Interestingly, the friend who clarified this for me identifies as neither Blue Star nor Pagan, but has a strong personal relationship with Element Money.
When i speak about chatting with Element Money, I mean taking a deep breath, relaxing, and opening yourself to the spirit of money with an open and friendly heart. Then, turning directly to the most concrete manifestations of money you can find: your online banking website, your paper statements, your credit card statements and other, similar documents, and reading through them closely with a relaxed an open state of mind. Thoughts will occur to you: inspirations will come to you. Sometimes, self-critical thoughts will emerge, too.
just listen with an open mind and calm heart, and write these things down. Notice everything you are learning about yourself through your finances. Ask what the wisest next move is, and immediately write down the answers you get without stopping. Then, read them over and take them seriously. Note any questions that you might want to answer or info that you need.
Then, either browse the net for resources that could give you more information to answer what you have written or consult with friends you trust. As you discover wise moves, moves you could make with your finances, do them. If need be, look for tools that can help you do them.
Some examples: the resources on Dave Ramsey's website (his Financial Peace University materials), podcasts on iTunes (like the No Credit Needed podcast or the Money-Guy podcast), , or financial blogs like "5 Cent Nickel".
Do this regularly, repeating it frequently, and gradually coming to a greater understanding of your finances and yourself through the time you spend doing this. That's what I mean by "developing a relationship with Element Money".
no subject
Date: 2007-12-24 12:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-24 01:32 pm (UTC)