Do you feel like you are always broke?  Like no matter what you do, you are going to be in the same situation all the time?  I know it seems like it never gets better, but I promise you it can change. You just have to change your mindset.  That means that first, you need to realize that there are things that are making you broke and until you change those things you are unlikely to change your situation.

Over the next couple of days we are going to talk about the things keeping you broke so that we can then talk about the things that can help us thrive:

• Keeping up with the Joneses’ – This is not just a saying, it’s a real thing that is keeping millions of people from being truly successful.  You are too worried about appearing as though you have money to actually put your money to good use for you. Instead you buy a house you can’t afford or a car that you struggle to make the payment on.  It’s time to stop this.
• Not budgeting.  I have said it time and time again.  You have to keep a budget and follow it so that you can see where your money is going.  You control your money, it doesn’t control you. Don’t forget that.
• Not planning.  This kind of goes along with having a budget, but you can’t go blindly into life spending and doing whatever without some kind of plan for the money you have.  It’s time to sit down and plan your future, financially and otherwise.
• The drive through.  A while back I realized that I was honest to goodness spending $10+ per day every time I was running errands with my kids (literally daily) on fast food.  I was always hearing “I’m hungry, mom” or I, myself, didn’t think to eat before we left the house. That was equally HUNDREDS of dollars that was being spent every single month on food that wasn’t even good for us!  I had a good heart to heart discussion with myself about this one and now I always have snacks on hand for those moments. No more drive-throughs for me.

What are the things that are keeping you broke?  Be honest….