What are you saving for?
On Friday’s episode of Your Caregiving Journey, Ellen Rogin, our wealthness expert, encouraged us to take steps today to plan for our tomorrow. (You can listen to our show via the player at the bottom of the post.)
Our discussion focused on saving for a dream or a vision. Perhaps it’s a small business. Your own home. A European vacation. Saving involves a financial plan but also includes saving physically and emotionally. You save physically by eating well and exercising. You save emotionally by creating and nurturing a support system.
You may feel: “I am saving myself for tomorrow. When caregiving ends, I can concentrate on myself.” That’s not saving—that’s withholding.
If you wait until caregiving ends, you’ve wasted, rather than saved, for tomorrow. You wasted the time you could have used toward achieving your goal. Saving involves small steps which ultimately net a big result. Five dollars a day doesn’t seem like much. In 10 years, it’s a significant amount of money. And, one small step each week (reading a book, taking a class, keeping current on trends) toward making your vision your reality may seem like no big deal. In two years, the knowledge base you’ve built will be invaluable.
So, this month, we challenge you to start saving. In the comments section, tell us about your dream and the small steps you’ll take this month to put yourself on the path toward living your dream.
Don’t serve time, make time serve you. ~ Willie Sutton
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I just finished listening, Wow. Many of these things have been my exact thoughts! Withholding… I’m so glad this concept exists, I thought it was just me. Back in January one of my goals was to begin horseback riding again (I had ridden as a child). Well, we have been reworking some of our finances and I begin riding again on Saturday! Yay! After listening, I am prompted to continue to work on my “visions” (maybe several small ones at this point). One is to begin the day exercising. If I get up prior to my husband leaving for work, things here are covered and I can make that time for myself. Tomorrow… to be accountable, hmmm, I will write it here…I need to start to exercise again (before the whirlwind begins). Tomorrow: jogging begins again…7 a.m. (Many of you are probably up way before this). One last vision: we recently got a town e-mail announcing a ballroom dancing class! I have always wanted to try this, but quickly deleted the e-mail, thinking we could never leave the house on a regular basis to do this. We will probably have to save a bit for this class, as well as plan a bit, but maybe we could get in on the next session (or the session after). We shall see (: What a great topic, thank you. I have been in quite a “caregiver’s rut” lately. I think this is the safety rope that I needed. The song from Enchanted, “Ever Ever After” by Carrie Underwood, has a wonderful part, which goes: “There is joy to be claimed in this world, You even might wind up being glad to be you” Whenever I hear it, it sounds so empowering. We should all be claiming our joys!
Hi Bette, Oh, my, gosh, your post gave me goose bumps! I love the lyrics, which are empowering and comforting. Hope all went well this morning. One step at a time, one day at a time with your visions in place. It all sounds great!
Once again, you never cease to amaze me Denise. What a wonderful and inspirational radio show. I just had the chance to listen as well…saving for the future. We have a bit of debt as well that we are slowly working on so hearing you today and the accomplishments you made watching your goal is very uplifting to me. We dont look at the entire mountain or how far we still have to go it is how far we have come. It does mean sacrificing…and it does take time…but vision, keeping your eye on the goal is exactly the perfect line.
also, on the line of your story about not wasting your precious time while caregiving. That sort of also stems to what I was discussing last week…relationships, and getting out and enjoying life, and being grateful … our loved one will one day be gone from us…our lives are also ticking by…we have to balance our happiness in there somewhere as well. So really it all does stem together, for me reaching the goal of being debt free as well as finding little bits of extra change to go for coffee with kevin once in a while as well as giving mom lots of love in the process. As you wrote last week, we can have it all. it just takes dicipline and work…fighting the good fight to care for everything…but thank you for reminding us..if we set our minds to it…it can be done…you are so inspirational…thank you soooo much
so saturday we will spend the day with mom, put her to bed at 8, rent a pay per view movie with a cheap bottle of arbor mist…mission accomplished:)!!..I will have it all…and the following week just keep coming up with more and more inexpensive ways to invest in us as well as not spending a ton of money and still be a great daughter…YIPPEE I do have it all!!