Are You Really Broke, Or Do You Just “Feel” Broke?

There are certain things you can say when you are trying to save money or cut back. There are also some things you shouldn’t say. Saying, “I am broke,” all of the time is a key phrase which might actually be hurting you. This is especially true when indeed you are not FULLY broke.

Change Your Way of Thinking

Regardless of where you are in your financial journey, it is important to keep the correct mindset for yourself and toward others. Having a poor mindset can set a preconceived idea about you which will be hard to override later on. For example, if you are working a part-time or full-time job while going to college, money can be tough. However, having the mindset and verbally displaying yourself as a poor, broke, college student doesn’t serve any purpose. Instead, a polite response for why you are not able to go to the party or an event should be kept as simple as, “I can’t afford that right now,” or, “It is not in the budget right now.” These are less abrasive responses than the alternative.

Effects of Negative Thinking and Actions

When are you are always talking about being broke, others begin to associate this quality about you. After awhile friends and family may stop asking if you would like to participate in events, gatherings, food, etc. They have simply come to understand you as the “broke” person whom they should not bother. This will be tragic when you begin to have some money to participate but are not invited due to your current standing amongst others. Another problem with having the wrong thinking is the lack of comparison between actually having money or actually being broke.

Example

I can say I am broke with $100,000 in the bank. I can say it again once I have dropped to $50,000 in the bank. Lastly, I can drop to less than $10,000 left to my name. During this process, I still have had income coming in, but my mindset was corrupt. If I had been able to differentiate what the true meaning of what I was saying meant, I could have seen I wasn’t ACTUALLY broke, but rather I had very poor spending habits.  I was still using too much money (as seen in my bank accounts), but I was blinded by my own thinking. If you are already at the bottom (being broke) there is nowhere else to go. However, if it “wasn’t in the budget” or I was “trying to be frugal” I would have been able to evaluate what money I did have available to me. It would be a lot easier to recover from a slight decrease in savings compared to a nearly complete loss of $100,000.

Be Mindful

Reevaluating the way you view your financial status can have huge implications on your life. Your demeanor should be happier as you realize you aren’t actually broke. You can begin to effectively make changes in your spending and budget to increase your residual savings and ultimately increase your income at some point. However, it is deeper than simply money. Harnessing the ability to logically examine your life and see the good, bad, and indifferent allows you to change (if you desire to). The control is yours.