Before doing Step 2, in Your Money or Your Life, I thought I made a lot more money. Don’t get me wrong, I love my job and am happy to have a steady income stream.
I was a tad shocked and surprised after adding up my true take home pay (minus taxes, medical co-pays, etc). Despite my surprise, it is okay because I have enough. I am not wealthy in the monetary sense, but rich in many other ways. Good health, many friends, family, and L make my world wonderful.
Read below for a summary of the assignments for Step 2:
Assignment #1: Establish the actual costs in time and money required to maintain your job, and compute your real hourly wage.
You may be wondering what costs are associated with maintaining your job, well some on the list include: commuting, costuming, meals, escape entertainment, vacations/expensive play things, job-related illness, and a variety of other expenses.
Needless to say Assignment #1 was shocking. After deducting all my job related expenses, my real hourly wage was low! I was surprised because we have made a lot of lifestyle changes that have saved quite a bit of money. If we still owned a car, I am sure my hourly wage would be negative.
Assignment #2: Keep track of every cent that comes into or goes out of your life.
We have a software program that we use to track our expenses, but we have not been tracking every cent closely. That behavior is going to change ASAP.
Reading this book and completing the exercises is empowering and well worth the time.
For more information on Your Money or Your Life, click here.
