Get Back in the Game!!

Ok! OK! I’m late with this, but I been doing stuff!

What I’ve been doing is not what you should be focused on right now! *hands on hips*

Anyway……

We’re a little more than half way through the year.  I’ve been hearing rumblings about the “Good Time Fund”. 

To put it bluntly, some of you have fallen off the wagon.  That ain’t nothing but the devil trying to get in your way!

BUT DON’T WORRY! I’M HERE TO HELP!!  IT’S NOT TOO LATE!

Let’s say your plan was to put $10 aside every Friday for your Good Time Fund, but you haven’t put anything in the fund in the last 8 weeks.  That would put you $80 in the hole (oh shit!) and Friday fast approaching!

You’ve thought about it long and hard (don’t be fresh!) and you just won’t be able to put $90 into your fund on Friday to bring it current.  So you figure the heck with it. You throw your hands in the air and give up.  Giving the devil a victory?  Not here Boo-Boo!!

Before you throw in the towel, let me give you some advice to get back on track.

First let’s examine why you fell off the wagon:

Did you just forget? – Sometimes life gets in the way of even the best made and simple plans.

Was putting aside the $10 a bit of a hardship? – I know what you’re thinking, “It’s just $10!” I’m embarrassed to let anyone know that I can’t afford to put a measly $10 aside.  Some of my friends are doing $25, even $50 a week.”

Some tough love:

     (1)   Your “FRIENDS” wouldn’t think less of you because $10 is a hardship.  Any one of them   
           who does isn’t really your friend.  And trust me! They may not know it all, but your friends
            have a clearer picture of your financial situation than you think.

(2)   WHAT WAS THE FIRST DAMN THING I SAID ABOUT THE GOOD TIME FUND? Put aside what you can afford.  If the amount you chose is too tough to do right now, THEN LOWER IT!  Don’t set yourself up to fail! 

This is not about having a whole lot of money saved, it’s about getting you to save.  Some people will have saved a $1,000 or more.  Some will have saved maybe $100.  But for many, whatever the amount, it will be the first time they saved up.  Instead trying to take $200 out of one paycheck, or having a checking account with more than $20 in it because of your income tax check.  If you can save $100, you can build on that!

*WOOSAH* (deep breaths)

Here’s a plan.  Put your $10 in this week. Take the $80 you’re behind, and divide it into small payments over the remaining weeks.  How far you spread it out is up to you.  Then add those payments to your $10. 

For example:  If you spread the $80 over a 10 week period, that’s $8 a week.  So beginning next week (July 10^th ) you would contribute $18 a week over the next 10 weeks.  Your payment on September 18^th will just be $10 because you’ll be all caught up.

If you spread the $80 out over the next 25 weeks, that’s an addition $3.20 a week.  So your payments would be $13.20 each week. Get it!!

BUT…..BUT……BUT

If the $10 was a struggle for you, then decrease your amount.  Under these circumstances you can write off the $80 and just start with your reduced payments.

OR

You could decide to reduce your payments AND make up the arrears.

I can see you’re getting sad faced again.  You can only afford about $5 a week?

Then do this:  Lower your weekly payment to $2 a week.  Spread the $80 out over the 25 week period at $3.20 a week.  For a total Good Time Fund contribution of $5.20 a week!  Will you have saved a lot of money? If you had Bill Gates’ pockets, no. But you don’t! You have yours!

So…..YES YOU WILL HAVE SAVED A LOT OF MONEY!!

Get up.  Brush off the dust and grass. Look Satan in the eye and say, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! And I WILL be doing this!”