PP 203: Escaping the State of Scarcity Mode

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Today I’m gonna share a little bit about escaping the state of scarcity mode. It would be an understatement to say that my husband and I are familiar with scarcity mode. What I mean is, we went through an extended period of time where money came into our account, and we spent it almost immediately. And I’m not just saying that we spent it on bills and groceries and utilities and all the necessities of life. However, sometimes it felt like we spent the money just to make sure that nobody else spent it first. Now, I must admit, there have been more than a few times since we got married. That money was taken out of our account without us planning on it being taken. For instance, we had multiple car payments take it out when we were only planning on one being taken. And this was a repeated problem with the financial institution we had gotten the car loan through. Over time. It got to be a ritual where every single time money came into our account. We Not only spend what we needed to, but we overspent just to make sure that we were the ones dictating where the money went. This is not good. If you are in a place where you are constantly finding yourself just barely in the black or even in the red, that I want you to think about where you are on the scarcity mode meter. Are you like we used to be, are you afraid that somebody else is going to take the money before you have a chance to spend it? If so, I want you to take a couple steps to get out of that mode. The first step that each and every one of us needs to take is to have a very solid budget and also a solid understanding of when bills are due each and every month. These can be personal bills such as rent and utilities, phone bills, etc. But they should also include the payment means that we need to make to the different services that we use to keep our business running. I put all of these bill due dates onto my Google calendar so that I know what money is going to be taken out on what day. The second step I want you to take is to open up a secondary bank account, either a checking account or a savings account. Every single time that you get money in, I want you to take a little bit of that money and put it into that secondary account. Oh, I should have put a disclaimer in the beginning of this episode that I am not a certified financial planner, and that you really should contact one before taking any of my advice. However, from my own experience, this is what has worked for us. By moving some of this money to a secondary account, we can feel more secure in knowing that nobody is going to spend it especially if you don’t have any of you Your bills, or your creditors linked to that account. I would encourage you not to spend the money in that account. But instead save it for emergencies or for holidays. For example, saving money all year long in preparation of Christmas or Hanukkah is a good way to know that at the end of the year, you will have money to buy presents for everyone on your shopping list. Or in the case of an emergency, for example, your engine blowing out in your car, you won’t have to worry about where that money is coming from.

The final step of getting out of the state of scarcity mode is simply to know that everything is going to be okay. This is perhaps the hardest step to take of the mall. Because most often it’s the one that we have the least confidence in. But I have to tell you, I know from personal experience that it works I know that every step I take on every day is getting me closer to a higher bank balance. And all I have to do is stop worrying, and keep moving forward. Worrying about our financial state is not going to do anything good for us. And in fact, the stress we are putting on ourselves could be negatively impacting us health wise. If you’re struggling with knowing that everything is going to be okay, that I want you to take a look at what you are doing in your life. Are you following your passion? Or are you purely chasing income? If you’re purely chasing income, then take a step back and think about what you’re doing. For the first three and a half years of my business, this is what I did each and every day. And I can tell you that the outcome was never good. There is no reason why any of us needs to be living each day in scarcity mode. So I encourage you to take The few pointers I have offered and start moving yourself towards the direction of being in the black. Now with all this said, Go forth and make it a positive and a productive day.