Splurging can have its consequences as most of us have probably experienced from time to time.  Acceptance of the splurge can be the key to unleashing a power that can help change spending behaviors.  Accept, forgive, move on – consciously.  Splurging with eyes wide open allows for changes in behavior the next time the urge to splurge hits us.  Conscious decision making as an adult who keeps their own counsel can indeed lead to bigger and better results.

The outcome is that we get what we truly want or need, and not just what we “thought” we wanted or couldn’t live without.  Take a breath, get centered and choose to walk away.  Write it down, keep a list.  If you were meant to have it, it will be yours.  Make a game of what you want.  Spend it on paper before you actually buy it.  Create a generously balanced spending plan to see where you want your money to go before it is gone.  This is a great tool for covering your bases, maintaining control and honoring thoughtful consideration about where and when your money leaves your bank account. The best part about the plan is that you can pay yourself first and reap the rippled benefits for months and years to come.

Wanting to change has its great rewards.  Become your own Daily Money Manager.  Once it is on paper, it takes on a life of its own and you are in charge. Start.

Lucinda Lintz has spent immeasurable time and energy learning, growing and teaching others about how to make it last, make it count and keep it coming in!  She operates Abundance in Business LLC and is a Bookkeeper/Consultant for individuals, small businesses and the media.  She can be reached at 602/997-7970 or lucindalintz@abundanceinbusiness.com

Space can be an abundant concept to deal with when it comes to money.

Chasing money and spending a great deal of time pursuing the objective of acquiring dollars can at times cause painful isolation for family and friends, not to mention the potential harm we do to ourselves on a daily basis.

As important as it is to keep up with our finances, the speed at which we move at some point becomes counterproductive.  Things are missed, dropped or overlooked.  Important things, like people and self care.  Our error ratio goes up.  When a full schedule or tight deadline continually takes precedence in the name of money, it might be best to step back, clear some space and re-evaluate receiving and developing the capacity to accept abundance in our lives.  It doesn’t have to be hard.  The following suggestions may prove helpful:

• It pays to pay attention to the details. Slowing down at times to get really clear assists in getting “it” right the first time.
• Paperwork can’t be ignored. Invoices sent consistently, bills paid promptly at regular intervals reinforce a great money management mind set.
•   Taking care of you first (physically, emotionally, spiritually and then monetarily) gives added value to opening up creative possibilities.
• The real flavor of life comes through, not just a poor substitute for living, which may be just surviving and getting by.

Creating space around money can be a meditation, a chant, a deliberately conscious open schedule for self care, or a slowing down process to allow more dimensions into our lives.  We have easier access to what is ours and has been all along.  Sometimes, in our busyness we just get in our own way.

Lucinda Lintz has spent immeasurable time and energy learning, growing and teaching others about how to make it last, make it count and keep it coming in!  She operates Abundance in Business and is a Business manager, bookkeeper and accountant for individuals, small businesses and the media.

She can be reached at 602/997-7970 or lucindalintz@abundanceinbusiness.com

There are a lot of complicated and sophisticated “things” in this world and how we deal with money and its benefits does not have to be one of them. Sometimes the manipulations of staying on top of our finances leads to further problems and challenges.  This can spill into our relationships, affect our leisure and recreation time, and most of all, our relationship with ourselves.  Beating our selves up over money matters rarely promotes growth and abundance.  Maintaining Financial Simplicity can go far in releasing us from a mental squirrel cage.

Below are some views on getting a handle on handling money for individuals and small businesses.

• Pay bills twice a month according to payday schedules and know that there will be enough.
• Embrace a “Love my Banking” attitude for reinforcing positive actions.
• Take the time to acquire bids, comparisons and shop around for proposals to ensure that you’re getting the right price for your purchase.

• Listen, talk to and ask for help from people whose opinion you value when faced with difficult or stress related money management.

• Attempt to sit down with daily expenditures for 15 minutes to “touch” your numbers and stay on top of your finances.

A virtue carried to an extreme can turn into a vice – stay flexible and open to alternatives. Gathering information, developing non game, non adrenaline pumping solutions serves to manifest simple systems that enhance rather than drain your energy. Perseverance through change with support can turn into a considerably more appreciated relationship with money!

Lucinda Lintz has spent immeasurable time and energy learning, growing and teaching others about how to make it last, make it count and keep it coming in!  She operates Abundance in Business and is a Business manager, bookkeeper and accountant for individuals, small businesses and the media.

She can be reached at 602/997-7970 or lucindalintz@abundanceinbusiness.com

Reinforcing new behaviors around money is an excellent action to practice. Whether it is posting your bank statement to the refrigerator, writing on the mirror how good of a money manager you are or silently noticing the “In God We Trust” on the backside of a dollar bill every time money exchanges hands, small actions lead to bigger dividends.

Let’s say you want to spend less so you can start a child’s education fund, a vacation reserve or a retirement account for you and your spouse.  It pays to start somewhere, the important thing to do is to start.  No matter how small!

The following actions will serve to reinforce your newly developed self-loving goal.

• Putting on paper what you earn and where you plan to spend it helps to get clear about the reality of what is and distance yourself from possible fears and projections. Believe it or not, reality can be dealt with effectively. Drama, fears, frets and worries are never completed resolved because they only exist in our minds.
• Use the envelope system at first, if you have trouble spending unconsciously.  When that category is empty for the month, quietly reinforce the things that you do have, what you are grateful for, and that you are certainly doing the best you can do.
• When wanting to spend money that isn’t there, take a deep breath, and consider calling someone to talk you down, examining the feelings behind the compulsion to spend in order to feel better.  It also is beneficial to again reinforce that you can have it, just not right now.  Once you keep a wish list and check off what you receive, you can always refer to it when you need to know that if you wait, you will get it and getting it will be without the accompanying drama, anxiety or high.

Once you see and experience the savings account that is growing, even in small increments, you are on your way to feeling better and financially reinforcing growth in the areas that can give you personal freedom.

Lucinda Lintz has spent immeasurable time and energy learning, growing and teaching others about how to make it last, make it count and keep it coming in!  She operates Abundance in Business and is a Business manager, bookkeeper and accountant for individuals, small businesses and the media.

She can be reached at 602/997-7970 or lucindalintz@abundanceinbusiness.com

LET’S MANAGE MONEY

Whether you have a little or a lot, money needs to be managed allowing for the ebb and flow effect in our bank accounts.  It is when money is “controlled” that it probably eludes us the most.  By attempting to control our money we seem to either hoard or spend it excessively.  Picture a handful of sand closed in a tight fist, the sand seeping out between the fingers as opposed to holding the sand  with an open palm where it can be held with less energy and attachment.  This is the vision of abundant living that money can be a part of, supplying us with everything we need in life and some of the things we want.  Remember, we can have all we want, just not all at once, all the time!

When faced with the situation of deciding whether to “spend or not to spend,” it helps to run “it” through a few filters.  (1)  Do I really need this right now?  (2)  Are the rest of my necessary bills covered?   (3) Is there something better I would rather save for?   Putting the cart before the horse, i.e. spending money that is not there for something that is not just right often evokes a panic/anxiety mode that continues to escalate and get worse until payday.  Then a moment of relief is experienced before the money has to go out again.  Ebb and flow.  A doctor once remarked “I’m rich, once a month…and then I pay the bills!”

The alternative is to “outearn” the spending needed for monthly expenditures and beyond.  It is possible if one keeps a good detached attitude about money, stays out of the fear of not having enough money and regards it as “just money.” A means to an end, not necessarily an end in itself.

Lucinda Lintz has spent energy learning, growing and teaching others about how to make it last, make it count and keep it coming in!  She operates Abundance in Business and is a Business manager, bookkeeper and accountant for individuals, small businesses and the media. She can be reached at 602/997-7970 or lucindalintz@abundanceinbusiness.com