blogs

Rising gas prices. Out-of-control national debt. Food costs on the rise. Inflation on its way up. Social Security going broke.

There is a lot of financial news out there, and most of it is bad. Really bad. But I’ve decided to tune it all out. I’m not listening any more. No, I’m not naïve and I don’t have my head in the sand. But I’m also not going to worry about things out of my control. And while the national debt and skyrocketing gas prices do affect me, I have no control over them. So why stress?

What I’ve decided to do, instead, is focus solely on my household’s own bottom line. If I can make sure my family’s financial house is in order, then I won’t have to worry about what’s going on in the outside world.

Therefore, we continue to focus on:

1. Working hard to improve our income, mainly by doing our best at our jobs in order to get the biggest raises possible.

2. Maintaining or reducing our monthly expenses. Of course, this gets tricky when food and gas get more expensive. It usually means revisiting the budget and cutting down on any frivolous spending. It requires hard choices when it comes to spending on things like clothes, entertainment … and Starbucks.

3. Getting and staying out of debt. Again, this requires a lot of self-discipline.

4. Building a solid emergency fund; and

5. Investing for retirement and saving for our kids’ college.

Through hard work and diligent financial planning, we should be able to do all of this AND enjoy life. And we won’t have to worry when gas hits $5 a gallon …