My favorite definition of consciousness is very simple, yet profound: it is the state of being awake and aware of one’s surroundings.
So, this begs the question: how does one stay conscious about money, a potent form of life energy, while using technology to your advantage?
And more to the point- what is the best use of technology when it comes to thinking about your finances?
As the cofounder of MoneyMinderOnline (spending plan software that is used to track and plan your spending and income) I have spent a lot of time pondering this question. And because I have a Master’s in Consciousness Studies and Psychology, I feel literally compelled to ask these questions!
Disclaimer: first and foremost, I am a money coach (not a technologist). And as such, my goal is to help people feel better about their relationship to money. My clients want to feel more in control (like they are in the driver’s seat of their life). It is way too easy to feel out of control—like someone else is driving our money car and we are along for a scary joy ride… I became a money coach to help fix that problem.
We are all busy, and sometimes attending to our money feels like it falls between the cracks of our overscheduled lives. We would love to work on to our relationship to money if we knew how (that’s where we money coaches come in) but we want to be mindful of our time and spend it on what matters.
I’ll let you in on the big secret.
What matters is being conscious about what you spend. What matters is knowing what you need to earn. What matters is having a plan each month that takes care of you, helps you meet your financial goals, and makes you feel great about your lifestyle choices and your life.
So, you need a way to track your spending that is efficient and uses technology, but helps keep you awake and aware.
Recently, our spending plan software went through a major upgrade (hooray!). Users can now download their spending from checking and credit card accounts. And – even more exciting—MoneyMinderOnline “learns” your spending. Your Safeway transaction will now to default to groceries. Oh happy, happy!
If you can track faster using technology, that is great. But only if you then spend the saved time thinking about what you are doing and planning where you want to spend your money this month.
Sometimes automation can lead to being unconscious. When all our bills are on autopay, for example, they often go unexamined and unquestioned.
Yes, technology makes it easier to track your finances. However, the key is to use technology correctly. It is there to give you the ability to spend your valuable time on what really matters—not to drift off into an automated money fog.
What is the point of tracking, even with the help of technology, if you don’t really look?
(I mean, just because software thinks Safeway should be categorized as groceries, doesn’t always mean it is. I ran in to Safeway last week and bought a massive bouquet of flowers as a gift for a friend. And sure, that visit to Target was for clothes last time, but that doesn’t mean your Target transactions should be categorized as clothing every time. You need to look at what your automation is assuming. You have the final say and should review all transactions to make sure they are categorized the way YOU want.)
Bottom line: technology is wonderful because it saves us time on tedious repetitive tasks. But the key is to make sure that we then use some of the reclaimed time to think, feel, and notice what we notice.
When you analyze where you spend your money, you may see where you spent differently than you intended, and why. This is where emotional money issues come up. This is where different ways to handle cash flow can be debated. This is where you think about how to create more satisfaction within your lifestyle – and contemplate how to create the life of your dreams while attending to all your financial goals.
This is the true power of technology: to save us time so we can use our precious minutes on the things that matter most.
It’s about staying conscious.
Mikelann is a money coach with over 20 years’ experience, helping women escape the money fog, feel more in control of their finances and love their financial life. If you are ready to leave money stress behind and design a life you love, please see www.seattlemoneycoach.com and read about this life changing work. Once there, grab her free eBook on how to stop worrying about money.
