You’re definitely not alone – the stats are shocking. This is definitely the “norm” but it needs to stop, now.

I’ve been doing some research on really how bad the financial epidemic is for Americans, and what I found was pretty shocking.

Just a few weeks ago, CNBC released an article on a study about how many people live paycheck-to-paycheck. GUESS what that percentage is…

78% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck! And most of those are slipping farther and farther into debt by the day.

You may think this was income dependent, but it wasn’t. Even those polled that were making 6-figure incomes and 56% of those were even in the RED, spending beyond their means.

That makes me sad 🙁

HOW does this happen? Perhaps you fall into this category and perhaps you don’t. Either way, we ALL know people that constantly feel constricted by their finances. The problem doesn’t start or end with money, it’s all-encompassing.

Financial stress leads to marriage problems, health issues, etc. and MOST OF ALL… it leads people to live lives that they aren’t happy with or excited about!

I’ve done some reflecting on the issue and I’d love to share some thoughts with you, whether you’re in financial distress or not.

We all interact with money EVERY DAY – these are all points we should all be considering about our money:

1.  WHY do you even want money? Where is it taking you and WHY?

We aren’t encouraged to SLOW down and really assess what we want money for at the end of the day. Money is just the gas to our vehicle which is life.

When you’re clear on WHAT you want and WHY, you can start to find the financial means to do so – making more, spending less, investing more. However, we are told what we should want to do with our money, so we adopt those values and goals instead of our own.

It’s time to stop ‘conforming to the norm’ because someone else’s values and goals will NEVER work for you.

Over half of the people that they polled in that study BELIEVED that they would ALWAYS be in debt.

2. What we think, feel, and believe about money is SO powerful. 

Assessing you what you think about money is a very valuable use of time! Again, this requires slowing down, but what you think, you become. If you believe you’ll always be in debt, you surely always will. To make a lasting change, we have to BELIEVE that there might be another way.

These sad statistics are the result of some deeper issues that we aren’t taught about money growing up or at any point in our lives.

When we just try and “keep up with the Jones’s” like we are subliminally encouraged to do on so many levels, we are bound to be unhappy!

Lack of money or really any issue involving money can be resolved if you’re open to seeing things in a different way than traditional/tactical solutions. While it seems counter-intuitive and challenging to “slow down” to do some self-assessing, it’s crucial! For me, for you and for EVERYONE.

Money issues are just the side effect to a much deeper problem… as a whole, we have grown more and more unhappy as a society.

3. Perhaps if we considered what ACTUALLY makes YOU happy FIRST, we could reverse this problem. 

What makes people happy at the end of the day isn’t more cars, toys, bigger houses, more STUFF – like we are led to believe it will. It’s typically things that don’t even cost much, if anything!

My mission is to help people slow down so that they can start to see money in a different light. To connect with why they want money in the first place. Figure out their values and what’s important in their life. To start adopting a mindset that will be conducive for living out that life! And then going out and GETTING It.

When you’re truly in alignment with yourself, “money problems” start to fall away.

Financial Aid Tips

It’s an investment in yourself to do the WORK. It’s not easy work… but it’s so worth it!

If you found this useful in any way, please share it out. I’m committed to getting to the bottom of this issue and helping more and more people in financial need and can’t seem to “figure it out”!

“The goal isn’t more money, the goal is living life on your own terms.”

Liked this blog? It was written by WalletGyde’s #mindandmoney coach, Jordan Youngblade! Her philosophy is it’s not always about having MORE #money – it’s about how you view and use your money. She will completely transform your money and LIFE through her process! Stay tuned, she will be sharing her expertise all month!

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