When someone gives you a gift of money for your birthday, Christmas, or just because, what do you do with it? Do you treat it as earned income or do you just blow it because you did not have to work for it?
Most of us are likely to treat our gifts of money differently from our earned income. Rather than just popping it into our savings accounts, we are tempted to spend it, perhaps even on things that we don’t really need. Why? Because it’s not as if we are using our own money, or so we think.
The fact is that any money given to us now becomes our money, and we should treat it as if it is earned income. That is not to say that we should never spend it, but it would be better to put it into a bank account for a while first, so that when we are ready to spend it we know that we will be buying what we truly need/want and not just splurging.
The same goes for a tax refund or money we might just happen to unexpectedly find either in our own home or on the street. Although it may feel like extra money we do not necessarily have earmarked for anything in particular, you can put it towards your existing short, medium, and even long term goals.
So the next time you happen to come across some extra money from gifts or a lucky find, be sure to think twice before deciding what to do with it.
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