Financial advice from a man with financial problems

Why should you take financial advice from someone with financial problems? The answer to that question is most of the time that you shouldn’t. But if you also have problems with money, and you are still lying to yourself and others about money, I’m at least one step ahead of you. 

I admit that money matter to me. I do my best to accept where I currently am. I try my best to be happy and grateful for what I’ve got and to see that all that ultimately matters, is my relationship with God. But I admit that financial problems is a huge stress factor in my life. 

So, this is what I've realised:

I want to have resources to really help other people. Not just help others in similar financial situations as my own to put some band-aid on huge wounds. Band-aid that burns huge holes in my own pocket. 

I want to go abroad on vacation every year. I want to travel abroad to meet interesting people and get mesmerised by all the beautiful places in God's creation. Today I can’t. And when I finally can afford going on vacation, I constantly think about what everything costs and feel bad when I spend more money than I’ve planned. Which has happened on exactly every vacation I’ve ever been on throughout my adult life. Simply put, I want to be able to go on vacation without having financial stress constantly in the back of my mind.

I want to go to the store and just buy the things that I want, without looking at the price of the items. 

I want to never have to worry about bills ever again. 

I don’t want to have to check my bank-account several times every month, to make sure that there is enough money there.

I want to be able to save money every month.

I want to have a buffer.

I don’t want to have to worry about unforeseen expenses. 

I don’t want to argue with my wife and other people about money.

I recognise that all of these things cause stress in my life in a way that significantly lowers my happiness. This does not mean that I shouldn’t try to meet my situation with as much acceptance that I can muster up. It’s a good thing to learn to bear our circumstances and to do our best to focus on the positives instead of the negatives. 

But what it does mean, at least for me, is that I need to face reality as clearly as I can and, to the best of my ability, try to find out what it takes to create a financial situation that I’m truly content with and the do it to the best of my ability. 

This, I believe, is true for most people that don’t live in an ideal financial situation. To admit and accept these things, I believe is sound financial advice, even if it doesn’t come from someone who has “made it”.