In the News

Prioritise And Regain Control

Herald Sun - 5/4/2009

We are all going to have to tighten our belts a little in the period ahead. No one likes to have to work to a budget. A budget so often becomes a negative, focusing us on what we can’t have rather than we want to achieve. I believe the answer to succeeding in the exercise of budgeting lies in the way we frame our thinking.

When we are told we can’t afford something it can tend to make us feel like a victim and we focus on how unfair the situation is. One of my earliest memories was going into our local milk bar with my mum and seeing all the lolly jars full of treats, only to be told “No, we can’t afford it”. I can tell you I had an emotional experience that let the whole world know I was not happy.

A short while later I went into the same store with an aunty who told me that “Yes, I could have a lolly but I had to choose just one”. The difference between the two experiences was stark. In the first instance there was a feeling of having no control and there was a bitter resentment at the injustice of it all.

The experience with my aunty was one where I was in control of my choices and I just had to prioritise. I might have only been a pre-schooler but the lessons and memories remained. As adults we are faced with an array of choices. Those choices collectively lead us to the position where we are able to determine how we allocate our available resources.

When we say we can’t afford something, subconsciously we can build resentment and feelings of injustice and of being a victim. Despite this, so many people use this phrase in their everyday language. I think what we really mean is that it is not a priority. By replacing the phrase “I can’t afford it” with “It’s not a priority” we are empowering ourselves to feel in control instead of being a victim of circumstance.

A budget becomes a ‘priority planner’ and instead of it being a negative it gets us to focus on what we have rather than what we are missing. It is a ‘glass half full’ situation. The priority planner focuses us on the reasons we are choosing to spend less and save or pay down debt and be in a financially stronger position.

It is remarkable how many things we can’t afford we could really have if we were prepared to prioritise differently. Let’s say for example that we would like a swimming pool but feel we can’t afford it. If we instead determine we could have the swimming pool but it is not a priority then that puts a whole new perspective on things.

I would say I could have the pool but I would have to sell the house and buy an empty bock of land and build the pool on in. I would then perhaps just have enough money left to live in a tent beside the pool. Perhaps I can afford the pool after all but a house is a much higher priority. I know it is an extreme example but it serves to illustrate the point and remind us to focus on the positives rather than bemoaning what we don’t have.

We always have limited resources and we forget that as Australians we are so much better off than the vast bulk of the world’s population. Having a ‘priority planner’ and living within our means is a discipline that can help us to give thanks for what we have and to focus on what is most important to us financially. It is so much better to be in control than feeling a victim about all the things we could have if only they were important enough to be a priority.

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