When you first read this title, you may have thought of a different F word. Gotcha! In this instance, the question is, what to finance? That’s the other WTF you rarely hear about.
When you think about all the things you’ve financed, have you ever stopped to ask yourself if the item you’re about to purchase should be paid for with other people’s money? It is easy, convenient, and habitual behavior to swipe your credit card or tap your smartphone against a point of sale terminal. However, before making the purchase, ask yourself WTF. In a typical month, you might use your credit card to finance gas, grocery, take out, subscriptions, airline tickets, auto repairs, home maintenance products, parking fees, concert tickets, and more. If the bill is not paid, more than likely, you just gave your credit card company permission to take more of your hard-earned wealth from your pockets and put it in theirs. Hello interest!
If this example replays itself in your household like reruns of Girlfriends or Seinfeld, there is a quick fix: Count your money! Pull out your cell phone, click your bank’s app and check your balance. Newsflash! That’s not counting your money; that’s data retrieval. When you see that number beside the word balance, isn’t it amazing that you naturally assume banks or credit unions don’t make mistakes?
If you put your bills on automatic draft, that’s not counting your money either. That’s an example of blind faith. You’re simply accepting the fact that the amount being billed is accurate, no questions asked. We all know retailers never make mistakes with other people’s money, don’t we? If you’re going to give a service provider that much power, the least you could do is inspect what you expect.
You know who’s good at counting money? Students in elementary school! You can be just as good if you simply remain aware of what’s coming in and going out on a week-to-week basis. Comparing those amounts to your projected spend and adjusting accordingly can change your life, if you let it. Counting money might not be fun to you, but it can help you determine WTF or WNTF (What not to finance).
