REDUCE STRESS; Get Rid of Dysfunctional Money Behaviors – Part 2
Yakezie, debt, life, money management July 15th, 2010Overcome a Passion for Procrastination (in dealing with financial matters)
“Procrastination is like a credit card: it’s a lot of fun until you get the bill.” Christopher Parker
This young actor hit the nail on the head! Avoiding and procrastinating seem fine, for a while. Later- the price you pay for procrastination is quite HIGH. Charge away with the credit card; if you don’t have the cash to pay it off every month, you are walking on a treadmill of pain.
MAIN TOPIC: Behavior is Everything-Avoid Financial Procrastination
This article is the second in a series relating poor money behaviors with stress. The topics are inspired by an article entitled Emotions, Money, & Financial Stress by Nancy Losinno, published at the US Department of Energy, Brookhaven National Laboratory website.
Procrastination is an evil and insidious behavior. It starts out benign and continues until it ruins everything it touches. Our summer guest Juan, discovered the problem with procrastinating the hard way. When he got his first credit card Juan checked on the balance on line, charged a few things, and didn’t pay the bill the first month. OK, not too much of a problem. But the reminders to pay came, and JOSE ignored them! Avoidance is procrastination’s ugly brother. He pushed the card out of his mind. It seemed too “complicated and difficult” for him to deal with.
Lo and behold, the second month, after not paying the bill, his card was refused at a merchant. It disturbed Juan, but he quickly put it out of his mind, with an explanation to himself, “there must be something wrong with the card, I’ll worry about it later.”
After several months of non-payment, Jose racked up late fees and finance charges equal to his original balance. But he didn’t notice as he continued to procrastinate and avoid dealing with his bill.
Juan had the money to pay the bill, but continued to avoid paying because it seemed complicated.
In our efforts to get Juan on track, we walked him through the payment process.
Total time spent paying the credit card bill online: 15 minutes
Total late charges and fees: $125.00
Unfortunately, the story does not end here. After paying the bill in full, he attempted to use the card to pay for his summer school tuition. THE CARD WAS DENIED.
All of this stress and expense, not to mention potential damage to his credit rating, occurred because he PROCRASTINATED.
PRACTICAL APPLICATION; How to Combat Money Procrastination
Money is a great big mystery and secret for many of us. There are couples who don’t talk about it, overspend, don’t tell their partners what they buy, etc. Individuals use shopping as therapy and then PROCRASTINATE dealing with the bills. Overspending is bad enough, procrastination in dealing with the spending is worse.
PROBLEM 2: PROCRASTINATE handling money matters.
PROCRASTINATION in paying bills leads to problems; poor credit, debt, and stress. Just like other unhealthy behaviors; eating junk food, lack of exercise, money procrastination can be turned around.
Begin changing the PROCRASTINATION HABIT & reduce money and life stress.
SOLUTION:
- Be honest and ask yourself: “HOW HAS PUTTING OFF DEALING WITH FINANCIAL MATTERS WORKED OUT FOR ME?”
- Schedule time on your calendar to deal with money stuff.
- Make an appointment with your partner to talk about money.
- List your debts.
- Put every bill in a basket near where it is to be paid.
- Pay bills 2 times per month or better yet, arrange to have regular bills taken out of your bank account.
- If you miss a payment, do not compound the mistake by “ignoring it.” Call the merchant, and inform him that you are paying immediately, then DO IT.
New habits do not occur overnight. Habits are developed over time with regular practice. Day by day, rehearse these “solution steps.” When you catch yourself slipping back into the “passion for procrastination”, immediately, correct course and go back into action.
DO A MONEY TASK TODAY and reduce stress.
Stay tuned for part 3: Money & Relationships-Make it Work!
ACTION STEPS:
Get a notebook and label it: “(your name) Personal Finance” and keep it by the computer. Use it to keep all of your personal finance goals, thoughts, activities, and plans.
- Make a “MONEY to do” list of tiny action steps.
- Do one difficult money task each day.
- PRACTICE dealing with the bills even though it is unpleasant.
Write in a talk about how you tackle the insidious passion for procrastination.
Image credit: [j]t
YAKEZIE SHORT CARNIVAL:
Check out these personal finance articles by talented Yakezie writers:
This 1 Question Will Change Your Spending Habits at Financially Poor
Save on Gas-11 Extreme Tips at Car Negotiation Coach
Is it OK to Splurge When You’re in Debt? at Cool to be Frugal
July 16th, 2010 at 12:40 am
So many of our clients (I work in insolvency) say it just happened overnight or it’s like someone just pulled the rug out from under us. What they really mean is I put my head in the sand for 3 years and now I’m financially dead!
We talk to other people who think that the don’t have to do anything “serious” like negotiating with creditors because they’re just going through a rough time. When looking at their finances you know they’re going to be bankruptcy in the not too distant future.
I just hope you’re not preaching to the coverted here
July 16th, 2010 at 6:37 am
Whether it’s our nation or whether it’s individuals one thing that overcomes procrastination is a crisis. I remember standing in a parking lot with my apartment dwelling neighbors watching smoke pour out of the building as fire fighters entered. The next day all of us had renters insurance. It’s too bad that we sometimes have to come close to hitting bottom before we act on something we perceive as unpleasant.
In most instances when we complete some task we have been procrastinating on it turns out not to be nearly as onerous as we had imagined. The problem in the financial world is, as you illustrate, it can be very costly.
July 16th, 2010 at 12:20 pm
I know it could sound odd to most people (it does to me), but my oldest son procrastinated on paying his student loan for a period of time a couple of years ago. The most bizarre thing to me was that he actually HAD the money to pay it.
I think it’s very unfortunate that there’s very few resources for on-going support for people unless they’re way in over their heads and heading for bankruptcy. The only one I know of is Dave Ramsey.
July 16th, 2010 at 10:24 pm
@Benjamin, Ignoring reality is a recipe for disaster. It never works out (except when you procrastinate spending)! I share your hope that I am not just preaching to the converted, obviously my intent is to increase financial literacy.
@ DIY,Yes, Yes, Yes, that is so true. I would definitely prefer to inform, so that my readers don’t have to hit the depths of financial despair before they make a change.
@Jacq, I am learning not to be surprised by anything! I certainly think it’s preferable to pay any debts asap, unfortunately, that is not a universal behavior!
Thank you all for continuing the conversation. Best regards, Barb
July 19th, 2010 at 4:59 am
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