When someone at your doctor’s office says, “Will you please take off your clothes?” you probably aren’t offended. However, there are certain financial questions many people consider to be forbidden because the answer would make them feel naked: How much money do you earn? How many credit cards do you have? What is the balance in your checking account? Revealing answers to these questions are insignificant because they do not provide any insight regarding your ability to manage money.
While recording a guest segment for a radio show the other day, Al stated, “My wife and I live a very simple life. We have only 23 line items in our monthly budget.” After the interview concluded, the host, expressing disbelief in that low number of categories, mentioned he wanted to discuss these items on the next show.
If you doubt that it is possible to maintain a household utilizing 23 expense categories, here’s a summary of Al & Lesia’s monthly budget line items:
As you can see, this list is very basic. Items with an asterisk represent future high dollar expenses that are paid in a lump sum. For example, if you have several insurance policies with the same company, pay your premiums in full to take advantage of a larger discount (#MoneySavingTip).
There are a few items that are not on their list: mortgage, student loans, credit cards, and car payments. If you’re thinking about yourself, financially naked at the moment, and considering a weight loss, start with paying down your credit card balance. The lower the number of expense items in your monthly spending plan, the better. A revolving balance is like still having love handles after sticking to a meal plan and exercise routine for months without seeing any positive results.
If you haven’t been financially naked in a while, it’s time to bare it all in hopes of uncovering new opportunities to have more, spend wisely, and live abundantly. If you don’t like some of the love handles you discover while exploring your financial nakedness, a slight change in behavior can usually fix it.
