What brings peace with money can be quite variable from person to person. Let’s look at a couple of examples.
A woman I know lives very effectively on about $700.00 each month. You may wonder how she does this. Out of her modest income she saves 10% and donates 10% to causes she supports. She buys insurance and gas for her car, a supplemental health plan, pays for a cell phone, and uses the rest for food and incidentals. You may notice she pays no rent or utilities. Instead, she lives in her car when she is not house sitting for one of her many acquaintances. She counts herself blessed and is wholly at peace with money.
Another person I know has income of just over $7000 per month. He, too, is at peace with money. He hasn’t always been, though. For years he was driven by fear that he didn’t have enough. He strove to earn greater and ever greater amounts. This at the cost of sleep and peace of mind. Once he realized he was allowing money to be in the driver’s seat he decided to change things up. He developed a plan to use his money in more satisfying ways. He quit working so hard and gave up about $3000 per month in earnings. This required a lifestyle adjustment but now he is delighted to be spending more time with his family. He says he is happier than he’s ever been in his adult life, knowing his money supports his and his family’s genuine well-being.
How do you bridge the gap between what you currently experience with money and having peace 
with it? Here are some of the main characteristics:
- Determining your values around money and live within them
- Defining what peace with money would be for you – not pie in the sky, but reality-based
- Knowing what role you want money to serve and making sure it serves that role
- Living within your means
- Learning to manage any scarcity or entitlement or other challenging thoughts about money
- Beginning to take small, sweet steps toward realizing your money peace
- Acknowledging or celebrating when you achieve milestones
My mentor coach, Maria Nemeth, PhD, says, “Financial success is doing what you said you would do, with money, with clarity, focus, ease and grace.” I’ll say more about those qualities in my next blog, however, I’ll say this now.
When I started doing what I said I would do with money, which presupposed clarity of thought about it, I became more successful. And, even better, I started to experience calmness and satisfaction about my money. This has led to greater peace as well.