3 Ways To Control Your Worrying About Money

I know that I will probably get more reads if I post an article that teasingly proclaims "3 Ways To Stop Worrying About Money", but I don't think I will be entirely honest with you if I were to go that route. The thing is, with the prevalence of finance-themed sites these days, it seems that many people are willing to make known their net worth and investing portfolio and whathaveyou nowadays. Here comes a hiccup moment. Why are these people do so much better than me financially? What was I thinking/doing when I was their age?!

So, I acknowledge that it's difficult not to be impacted by other people's (greater) financial well-being. Nonetheless, as my mum used to say, "Never be a slave to money", I am aware of the need to act from a position of strength and not give in so easily to worrying about money.

In fact, I have come up with a framework called DCA. Nope, not dollar cost averaging but Defensive, Contentment & Aggressive. Here's how my anti-worry framework works:

1) Defensive

Let's look at Seedly's very own Money Framework (https://blog.seedly.sg/beginner-series-tips-seedly-money-framework/). It recommends that we get a grip of our monthly cashflow. Thus, defensive here means managing our budget and trimming the excess fat from our spending.

For instance, my resolution this year is to 1) always ask for tap water (if the restaurant serves it for free) and 2) order bottled mineral water (if the eatery doesn't). I would not order a $5 cup of latte or $9 bottle of beer while dining out this year. I examined my thinking and realised that I was previously very resistant to paying for bottled mineral water because why pay for water, right? But if I look at the actual cost, $9 for a bottle of beer - even if it's to pamper myself - is ridiculous.

Yes, I know beverages don't count for much in the grand scheme of things, but I think that's how we build resilience - through these small things.

Defensive, in my opinion, also means exchanging our life energy to complete easy tasks and earn an extra buck or two. Let's just say that I use(d) five out of the six apps featured here: https://blog.seedly.sg/free-mobile-apps-earn-money/. In fact, for Milieu, I went one step further (https://diaperfinancingfund.blogspot.com/2020/06/milieu-do-bite-sized-surveys-on-go-earn.html). I 'pestered' my colleagues to download this app so that I could earn 500 points when they finished their 7th survey. No shame, no gain!

2) Contentment

With such preoccupation about money, the last thing I want to see happen is me turning out to be an Uncle Scrooge and being so particular about where every dollar and cent goes. So, I actually adopted this habit I read about in "Happy Money" by Ken Honda (https://www.nlb.gov.sg/biblio/203916508). As you can infer from the name, Ken Honda is Japanese - and he says Arigato gozaimasu, not just when he receives income, but when he spends money.

Truly a paradigm shift. Prior to reading his book, I sometimes took a moment or two to rejoice in my monetary blessings, particularly at the end of the year. But saying thank you _when money flows out of my wallet? Wow! But it made perfect sense - at least to me. Since I already have to spend this money,__ why not take a mindful moment to express thanks _for my current ability to fork out this amount of cash?

This is especially so when you start to be a houseowner. All these electrical appliances have a pesky habit of breaking down, and it's not the case that I can manage to get these expenses covered by warranties.

Or children's vaccinations at the private pediatrician's clinic because you can't get a suitable slot at the polyclinic. I can go on and on with examples of the curveballs life seems hell-bent to throw at us.

In moments like this, I take a deep breath and say arigato gozaimasu as sincerely as I can while taking the cash out from my wallet/opening up the app to PayNow the other party.

3) Aggressive

After a while, doing surveys and other assorted tasks on apps didn't cut it any more, so I naturally gravitated towards wanting to make a bold stance towards money making. Aggressive here means how I try to make money out of nothing.

Everything just fell into place in December last year. I like writing, I am perpetually reading finance-related books, I am motivated to inculcate financial wellness in my boy, why not just start a blog and post about money and parenting?

And of course to get approved by Google Adsense, there's no point in me blogging unless I post on a regular basis. And if I really want to carve out a second source of income for myself, I need to post every.single.day.

Yes, I have been blogging every day since late December, without fail.

And through this passion project, I realised an important truth: because I am taking action to improve my situation, I don't expend energy on worrying. Because now my KPI is to churn out some writing every day.

That, in itself, is empowering.

It also led me to Seedly Opinions. If nothing else, I hope that my musings about money will alleviate your worries about money somewhat. There's the greatest wish for any self-respecting writer.

Till the next Opinion!