{"id":31161,"date":"2010-06-21T04:00:57","date_gmt":"2010-06-21T11:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/getrichslowly.org\/blog\/?p=31161"},"modified":"2023-10-04T21:37:39","modified_gmt":"2023-10-05T03:37:39","slug":"patience-and-personal-finance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.getrichslowly.org\/patience-and-personal-finance\/","title":{"rendered":"Patience and Personal Finance"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I used to describe myself as impatient as though it were a trait of which to be proud. While I still have a long way to go, I think back on that and have to smile and shake my head. Impatience is the quickest route to misery.<\/p>\n

I recently read an article by Eknath Easwaran, teacher, author, and founder of Blue Mountain Center of Meditation, called In Praise of Patience<\/em>, where he asks where the extolment of patience is in today’s society. Easwaran writes:<\/p>\n

There almost seems a conspiracy in our modern civilization to counsel just the opposite: be impatient, be angry, \u201clook out for number one.\u201d But what is life without patience? What use is money if we live in exasperation with those we love, if we cannot stand to live with our own family? What good is it to have your picture on the cover of Time<\/em> [magazine] if you cannot be patient with yourself?…We seldom realize what power there is in patience.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s often been said that personal finance is simple \u2014 spend less than you earn<\/a>. The implementation<\/i> isn’t easy, and what prevents you from developing good habits is largely psychological.<\/p>\n

Most people don’t want to get rich slowly<\/em>, they want to win the lottery or pick a hot stock. They want the fast track. They don’t see how saving a mere $50 per month matters, so they don’t bother saving anything at all. Getting rich slowly requires a great deal of patience.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Paying off debt<\/span><\/h2>\n

When you make the decision to stop acquiring new debt, it’s like being at the bottom of a mountain and starting the climb to the top. You see the peak; it seems impossibly high.<\/p>\n

I once heard someone say, “We’ll never get out of debt. We’ll just be in debt until we die.” My heart sank for this person. With no end in sight, they were choosing to continue to make monthly calls to creditors for extensions and shuffle around money to make the minimum payments.<\/p>\n

It’s hard to stick with a debt repayment plan. You’re usually trying to change ingrained money habits, as well. It’s discouraging when you make a mistake, when you have to turn friends down for dinner at a pricey restaurant, or when your kids are complaining that they don’t have the things their friends have. You feel like you’re going without, yet your credit card statement shows you’ve barely made a dent.<\/p>\n

For an impatient person like me, paying off debt was torture!<\/p>\n

<\/span>Buying decisions<\/span><\/h2>\n

Impatience with a buying decision is another example. Maybe you put something on credit because you’re too anxious to wait and save the cash. Maybe you just want it done<\/em>, even though you know you could have found a better deal with one or more of the following actions:<\/p>\n