Be Mindful Of Your Money - The Sad Tale Of Janice's $5,000

Being Mindful Of Your Money - The Sad Tale Of Janice's $5,000
By Donovan Baldwin

Have you heard about the latest weight management system? It's called "Mindful Eating". Reduced to its simplest level, the program is what the name implies, a system where you pay attention to what you eat and become responsible for your nutritional decisions. You know, that makes sense. It's not simply that we eat too much or eat the wrong things, but that normally we don't even think about what or how much we are eating.

We do a lot of things in life without thinking, or out of habit, or just because we've never stopped to consider the consequences. Take my friend, Janice, for example.

My wife and I were supposed to be spending a pleasant evening with her and her husband, Gary. Gary and I were in the army and sometimes worked together on a small post in Germany. When we arrived at their home that evening, it quickly became obvious that Janice was NOT in a good mood. Oh, she wasn't mad at us, but she was upset about something. She knew I had a degree in accounting, and after a while, she told me what was bothering her. She had thought that she had over $5,000 in savings in a credit union back in the States. She also had several hundred dollars in a checking account at the same credit union. Earlier that day, she had received an "Insufficient Funds" notice from the credit union in the mail, and, since the $5,000 in savings was supposed to be automatically used to cover possible overdrafts, she was at her wit's end about why they just didn't take some money from savings and pay the check!

We were in Germany, the credit union was in the U. S., it was Saturday afternoon, and this was before personal computers and online banking.

"I know there's money in the checking account, but even if there wasn't, they should have covered the check from the $5,000 I had in savings!", Janice said. "Don, can you help me figure out what's going on?"

My first question was, "Well, you've been keeping your checkbook balanced, right?"

The look on her face was all the answer I needed.

"Janice, when was the last time you balanced your checkbook?", I asked.

"I never have. I don't know how." she replied.

Fortunately, she DID have all her statements from the credit union...still in their unopened envelopes.

Also fortunately, Gary had a nice supply of Grolsch beer that he had just brought back from a trip to Holland. It was going to be a long night!

Several hours later, I got to give Janice the bad news. Over the past several months, she had not only spent all the money in her checking account, but the credit union had been forced to use her $5,000 in savings to cover overdrafts. She had only a few dollars left in her checking account. The savings account was empty.

Now, despite how this sounds, Janice was NOT a stupid person! She was very intelligent, perhaps TOO intelligent for her own good. She carried a little check register...in her head. Sadly, occasionally her mental math was wrong, and she had NEVER made any allowance for overdraft fees...you get the picture.

Janice lost over $5,000 because she had not been mindful of her money.

The amount of money we have to accomplish future goals and daily tasks is important. Failing to plan and monitor its use can result in disastrous consequences, as Janice found out. These days many of us keep our financial tracking records on our computers...which we don't have in our pockets at the grocery store. I know a few years ago, I accidentally went in the red in my checking account, despite my preaching to Janice, because I had not checked my computer records for several days in a row and overspent because MY mental checkbook register was off. That doesn't happen any more. I check my records every morning and every evening. The checkbook register on my computer is balanced several times a week. It takes me a total of about 10 minutes a day, and I know the exact state of my finances at any time, including recurring bills and expenditures coming due in the near future.

I don't know, maybe that's overkill, or maybe it's what I personally need to stay on top of my money. Maybe you don't need to be quite so intense. However, I do know that if you and I want to use our money wisely and possibly grow our personal wealth, we both need to be mindful of our money.

By: Donovan Baldwin

Donovan Baldwin is a Dallas area writer, and an internet and network marketing professional. A University Of West Florida alumnus (1973) with a BA in accounting, he is a member of Mensa and has held several managerial positions. He is the owner of TexasPrepaidCellular.com.

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