Here's a question you probably weren't expecting: What does road rage have to do with planning your finances?

Well... have you ever been driving down the freeway in the slow lane, minding your own business, sitting right on the speed limit, only to find that when you come up behind a slower vehicle there is a line of cars speeding in the passing lane?

Those cars have been gradually closing in on you from behind and just at the time when you need to change lanes to overtake the slower vehicle, you find they have boxed you in!

Now you have to wait for every one of those speeding cars to go by before you can get around the slower vehicle that is now holding you up.

How annoying is that? It reminds you of the verse: ‘The first shall be last and the last shall be first!' and you don't like it! You were ahead of those cars but you end up behind all of them!

And the worst part? It's completely avoidable. If you'd simply been paying attention to your rear-view mirror, you could have pulled out earlier and avoided all that frustration.

But what does this have to do with planning your finances? In life, if you are just cruising along, not really taking notice of what is going on around you, it is easy to get left behind — regardless of whether you are in the right or not. If you have this kind of “financial blindness”, it can destroy your ability to plan your spending and make good money decisions. When it comes to your finances, you need to be paying constant attention to what's going on in your world. If you don't, you'll run into worse problems than some annoying drivers.

The Cure for Financial Blindness

To overcome your financial blindness and regain awareness, here is a list of the sort of things you should strive to be aware of:

− You should know the value of your assets and the balance of your debts
− You should know the interest rate you are being charged on your Credit Cards, personal loans, mortgages, etc.
− You should know the interest rate you are being paid on your savings and what other rates are available
− You should know who can supply your electricity, insurance and similar services at the best rate and you should check annually
− You should keep an eye on the property market in your suburb and those surrounding you
− You should keep an eye on the movement in price of a selection of shares that interest you
− You should know what businesses and local facilities are coming and going in your area before everyone else by keeping an eye on the local town plan

If you are not paying attention to this kind of stuff you can easily end up losing money and opportunities and as I said earlier, you don't need to be in the wrong to end up at the back of the pack − all you have to do is not take notice of what is going on in the world around you!

And if you do fail to stay aware of your financial situation and do nothing to cure your financial blindness, it can lead to things like:

Getting overwhelmed by expenses and feeling like you never know where your money is going
Falling behind on debt repayments or your mortgage
Failing to save enough for retirement or savings
Constantly feeling like you're broke, despite having an income

Does any of this sound familiar?

You may think you have better things to do with your spare time but if you don't take care of your finances nobody else is going to.

You could let a fund manager do the job for you but you will pay for the service and when all is said and done nobody will care about your money more than you will (or at least I hope so anyway!).

Of course, it is better to save money in a managed fund than have no savings at all, but unless you know you are NOT going to do a good job of it I believe YOU should learn to be an investor. Don't just cruise along leaving it up to other people.

If you just can't get your head around that and/or you are tired of money stress and have decided it's time to take control, talk to a Spending Planner to find out how you can break the cycle. BOOK A FREE CALL

You have nothing to lose and lots to gain. Spending Planners are non-judgmental professionals who are trained to help. A short relationship with a Spending Planner will provide you with tools and training that will benefit you for the rest of your life!

Are You Suffering From Financial Blindness?