I once asked my rapper friend (Dollar Bill) if he had enough money to heat his house since he just moved to Minnesota to collaborate with Prince. He flashed me a gold-tooth smile and opened up a briefcase full of $100’s and said, “I can burn these until December.”
As I left in my 1991 Buick Regal and hoped it would make it through the McDonald’s drive through so I could splurge off the dollar menu, I realized not everybody is like old Dollar Bill and most of us do not have enough money to live. The key to finding how much money you do need to make it though a cold winter or how many $1 chicken sandwiches you can buy is to make a budget.
Determining how much money you need to live goes beyond deciding how much money you need to stay alive. Your first priorities should be paying heat, rent, food, water and other necessary bills that are constants in our life. If you find your budget is in deep disarray after figuring these mandatory expenditures, you might have to evaluate changes in life such as moving to a cheaper location or taking on a roommate or 7.
Even though you must take steps to ensure you’re up to date on all necessary bills, its important not to stretch yourself too thin.
Having enough money to live also means having something set aside to enjoy a movie or nice meal. If you can count the remaining money on one hand after your monthly budget, perhaps its time to pick up a second job because after all spending a weekend at home because you don’t have any money isn’t all that more appealing than washing dishes on a Saturday night so that you can have money for a Sunday movie.
Where there’s a will there’s a way! If you are sick of never having enough money for any special treats then fo something about it. Think about how you can cut back somewhere else or even look at earning more money in other ways. Then maybe you can burn some $100 bills like my rapper friend.