I had a dream and was saving towards it, then I lost my job and I’m having to use my savings to live on. It feels like my dream has had to take a back seat and that makes me really frustrated and miserable (as well as being down because I’m unemployed) – Sharon

Look to the positive – you may not have money to pursue your big dream right now, but you do have a lot of time to work towards your dream if you are able to. When you have constraints, you can either get frustrated OR you can get creative and find new ways to do things (and you sometimes find a better way!)

Making progress on your dream will help you feel less frustrated, it will give you energy to help you find a job, and you will feel better. By the time you find another job, you will be further along with your goal and you can start saving money again.

I’m a big believer that life works for us, not against us, so ask yourself this: What if this situation was bringing you closer to your dream, not further away? Explore that possibility for a while and see how that could be true.

Love

Donna.x

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With all the uncertainty in the financial world at the moment, there is a lot of worrying going on. The news programmes seem to be doing their absolute best to provoke panic, fear and stress. From what I can tell they are succeeding in this aim with a lot of people. However, some of us have a memory…and I remember this year that the stock market has ‘crashed’ according to the news 57 times. Actual number of crashes…zero.

Whenever someone (even a highly respected newscaster) says ‘this could happen’ or ‘this could mean’, I always think ‘and the sky COULD fall in, Chicken Little’. Forgive me, but I am not going to worry about something that could happen…for a start, the possibilities are endless, I’d be in the nuthouse by the end of the week! Worrying about something that could (and equally, could not) happen is a total waste of energy…and if you ask me, is part of the problem for the financial markets because everyone is panicking!

If the current news makes you think ‘hmmm…perhaps my finances aren’t as secure as I thought – I am going to educate myself and make it better’ THAT is all to the good. But if you are watching the news, and believing that the sky is falling…how is this helping you? Don’t get me wrong, of course the sky COULD fall down. But I shan’t be worrying about it until it happens (and not a moment before!)

Love

Donna.x

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This month, my ebook distributor smashwords is having a 50% off sale – and my ebook “110 Ways to Heal Your Money” is part of that summer sale – you can get it this month only for $4.99 (approximately £3). Half price! To buy it click here. And to help you decide if this purchase is for you, here is an excerpt from the ebook about gratitude and generosity. For more excerpts, click here.

- Banish Money Misery Excerpt – Gratitude and Generosity -

Most teachers of abundance advocate the use of gratitude and generosity to bring more money into your life. The energies of gratitude and generosity are attractive and magnetic to money. But here’s the thing…if you are being generous or grateful on the condition that you get something back, it is not going to help your financial life. Don’t think that this is some easy magical thing that you give away £2 and get £2 million back, or that because you pay lip service to gratitude you will get lots of stuff in return.

And I have seen both attitudes – both in the mirror in myself and in other people who are working to improve their financial lives. Both unconditional generosity and unconditional gratefulness will make you feel more abundant, which will ultimately help to bring more to you. But if you do it from the perspective that you give in order to get, that is not unconditional, and is more likely to bring you more stress.

So let’s forget for a minute the idea that gratitude and generosity will bring something to you sometime in the future and concentrate on the immediate benefit. Feeling truly grateful is a beautiful feeling – remember the last time someone did something really lovely for you, and how good it felt to appreciate that? That is the feeling you are reaching for – that heart-expanding beautiful feeling of thanks-giving.

Generosity is similarly a beautiful feeling – when you give with a generous, open heart, not with a sense of obligation. You will know the difference between giving begrudgingly and giving with an open heart. Being generous (whether with your time, your money, your expertise, your friendship) feels wonderful, whereas giving begrudgingly feels like a chore, like you are being forced into it. To be able to treat your friends and family is a lovely place to be in. To be able to give to a charity is a wonderful thing. And to be able to treat yourself with generosity is the most beautiful of all.

- Something to Play With -

For the next month, every day find 5 things to be truly grateful for. Remember to get the feeling of gratitude – don’t just go through the motions. If you want to intensify the experience, add a ‘because’ – e.g. I am grateful for my lovely car because it is reliable, comfortable and allows me a freedom I would not otherwise enjoy. As this ebook is about money, find at least one thing to be grateful for in your financial life. Want to share your thoughts on this article? Leave a comment below. Or pop over to my facebook page and leave a comment there.

Buy the ebook here.

Love

Donna.x

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Panic Stations

If you keep track of your finances and balance the books, this will happen less often, but it may still happen. I have this pretty much every February because my business and car insurance and car tax all come due at once – sending me into a 5 minute stress where I realise I will have to put the Caribbean holiday on hold again. The key moving on from ‘Panic Stations’ is not to stay there panicking, but find a way to get out of the overwhelm quickly. You will find your own way out of it, and some of the ideas in this book will help you in the long term.

But for now, I just want you to look at when you get into panic. When was the last time? What happened? When was the time before that? What happened then? And other times? Do you notice any patterns emerging? When I first did this exercise, I noticed that I had a mad panic every month at the beginning of the month – in that gap between my invoicing going out and coming in.

There was always a late payment that I was expecting that sent me into a total tailspin…because my financial margins were so slim. Once I’d noticed what set me off, I could take steps to sort it out (for example by getting ahead of myself so I had time to collect outstanding debts). The next time the same trigger happened, I could shift myself out of it more quickly. Again, this is about finding out where you are so that you can find your way out.

Other potential triggers:
- ‘unexpected’ bills – the kind that come once a year, and always slip your mind
- emergencies – like car repairs or new boilers
- Conversations with your accountant/spouse/father, who always looks on the bleak side
- The weekend before payday – knowing that there is another week to go before you’ll have any money.

Once you know your triggers, you can start to put plans in place that will help you to be able to get past these moments into financial serenity.

£ exercise: Looking at the times you have visited ‘panic stations’, how did you sort out the situation? What would have prevented each situation? What can you do (or start to do) today to stop this ever happening again? Or at least make it easier on yourself if and when it does happen again.

You may think ‘that’ situation will never happen again – and you may well be right, but you may have a similar situation come up. This is not closing the stable door after the horse has bolted; it is ensuring the stable door is secure so that the horse won’t be able to bolt again. And keeping you in financial serenity instead of in financial meltdown on a regular basis.

This is excerpted from my ebook ’110 Ways to Heal Your Money’ (soon to be renamed ‘Banish Money Misery’). For more information, or to buy the ebook, please click here.

Love

Donna.x

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It’s Wishcasting Wednesday. There is power in wishing – putting your wishes out there sets might forces into action…

What is Your Money Wish?

Get involved on Jamie’s blog, or leave a comment here. As you wish for yourself, I wish for you also.

Love

Donna.x

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I had a dream and was saving towards it, then I lost my job and I’m having to use my savings to live on. It feels like my dream has had to take a back seat and that makes me really frustrated and miserable (as well as being down because I’m unemployed) – Sharon

Look to the positive – you may not have money to pursue your big dream right now, but you do have a lot of time to work towards your dream if you are able to. When you have constraints, you can either get frustrated OR you can get creative and find new ways to do things (and you sometimes find a better way!)

Making progress on your dream will help you feel less frustrated, it will give you energy to help you find a job, and you will feel better. By the time you find another job, you will be further along with your goal and you can start saving money again.

I’m a big believer that life works for us, not against us, so ask yourself this: What if this situation was bringing you closer to your dream, not further away? Explore that possibility for a while and see how that could be true.

Love

Donna.x

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I had a dream and was saving towards it, then I lost my job and I’m having to use my savings to live on. It feels like my dream has had to take a back seat and that makes me really frustrated and miserable (as well as being down because I’m unemployed) – Sharon

Look to the positive – you may not have money to pursue your big dream right now, but you do have a lot of time to work towards your dream if you are able to. When you have constraints, you can either get frustrated OR you can get creative and find new ways to do things (and you sometimes find a better way!)

Making progress on your dream will help you feel less frustrated, it will give you energy to help you find a job, and you will feel better. By the time you find another job, you will be further along with your goal and you can start saving money again.

I’m a big believer that life works for us, not against us, so ask yourself this: What if this situation was bringing you closer to your dream, not further away? Explore that possibility for a while and see how that could be true.

Love

Donna.x

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I had a dream and was saving towards it, then I lost my job and I’m having to use my savings to live on. It feels like my dream has had to take a back seat and that makes me really frustrated and miserable (as well as being down because I’m unemployed) – Sharon

Look to the positive – you may not have money to pursue your big dream right now, but you do have a lot of time to work towards your dream if you are able to. When you have constraints, you can either get frustrated OR you can get creative and find new ways to do things (and you sometimes find a better way!)

Making progress on your dream will help you feel less frustrated, it will give you energy to help you find a job, and you will feel better. By the time you find another job, you will be further along with your goal and you can start saving money again.

I’m a big believer that life works for us, not against us, so ask yourself this: What if this situation was bringing you closer to your dream, not further away? Explore that possibility for a while and see how that could be true.

Love

Donna.x

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I had a dream and was saving towards it, then I lost my job and I’m having to use my savings to live on. It feels like my dream has had to take a back seat and that makes me really frustrated and miserable (as well as being down because I’m unemployed) – Sharon

Look to the positive – you may not have money to pursue your big dream right now, but you do have a lot of time to work towards your dream if you are able to. When you have constraints, you can either get frustrated OR you can get creative and find new ways to do things (and you sometimes find a better way!)

Making progress on your dream will help you feel less frustrated, it will give you energy to help you find a job, and you will feel better. By the time you find another job, you will be further along with your goal and you can start saving money again.

I’m a big believer that life works for us, not against us, so ask yourself this: What if this situation was bringing you closer to your dream, not further away? Explore that possibility for a while and see how that could be true.

Love

Donna.x

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I had a dream and was saving towards it, then I lost my job and I’m having to use my savings to live on. It feels like my dream has had to take a back seat and that makes me really frustrated and miserable (as well as being down because I’m unemployed) – Sharon

Look to the positive – you may not have money to pursue your big dream right now, but you do have a lot of time to work towards your dream if you are able to. When you have constraints, you can either get frustrated OR you can get creative and find new ways to do things (and you sometimes find a better way!)

Making progress on your dream will help you feel less frustrated, it will give you energy to help you find a job, and you will feel better. By the time you find another job, you will be further along with your goal and you can start saving money again.

I’m a big believer that life works for us, not against us, so ask yourself this: What if this situation was bringing you closer to your dream, not further away? Explore that possibility for a while and see how that could be true.

Love

Donna.x

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