You should spend your money on the things you value most, wrote Kate Northrup in her book Money, A Love Story: Untangle Your Financial Woes and Create the Life You Really Want (a book that Elena Brower recommended for struggling yoga teachers in an interview I did with her a while back.) So I took a gander at my bank account to see where my money was going. Would it be yoga classes? Gifts for family members? Adventure-filled trips or memory-making experiences? No, no, and no. I was spending most of my expendable income on … wait for it… Sandwiches!

WTH? The thing that I value most in life is sandwiches from cafes and delis? How can that be? Do I really love sandwiches that much?

Upon greater reflection, I realized that what I value isn’t really the food (it’s not even good, healthy food!), but the convenience of not having to make my own meal and clean up the dishes. I think I also like the change of scenery and time to reconnect with my family again. With a bit more planning around my family’s meals, I figured out a way to get the convenience factor from more healthier, and less expensive meals—something that freed up more time to spend with my family and more money to put toward things I value more: HEALTHY food, yoga, trips, family excursions, the new car we need.

That was probably the most important lesson I learned from Northrup’s book: Money is just and exchange of energy, and it’s important to assess where you’re putting your energy and make sure that it really does align with your values. When you think about it that way, it’s not as hard to change your habits.

Northrup’s book also helped me to realize that to reach the financial freedom I’d like, the best strategy might not be to keep adding freelance writing jobs and weekly yoga classes to my schedule, but find creative ways to invest my time and money into projects that can provide passive income. In other words, creating products I can sell instead of always exchanging my time (a limited resource) for money. I’ve had less success with this part, possibly because I already have so many demands on my time it’s hard to manage taking time to finish writing my book or create yoga videos. That’s why the next book on my list is: It’s Hard to Make a Difference When You Can’t Find Your Keys: The Seven-Step Path to Becoming Truly Organized (Compass).

I’m curious. If you looked at your last month’s spending and were REALLY honest, where does most of your money go? I encourage you to go take a look—you might be as surprised as I was!

Read more…
Spoiled Yogi’s Summer Reading List
Book Review: Awakening Shakti
Review: Theme Weaver: Connect the Power of Inspiration to Teaching Yoga