A few weeks ago I had a conversation with gentleman regarding the state of tourism in Barbados. He was adamant that the Barbados Government should help all of the smaller tourism business by giving them money.
I told him that it was impossible for the Government to help every single entity or person. He disagreed and said that they can. I calmly told him that they can do it, but his taxes would increase considerably. He went silent.
His mentality is one that many people seem to have when it comes to their own personal finance. They are of the opinion that government or someone else has them in the position that they are in and they can’t do any better.
How many of you find yourself in a difficult financial situation and make the decision to cut back? Cutting back on
the things that you like is not ideal, but would you sacrifice your needs for wants?
I know a girl that used to complain about how broke she was and how difficult it was to survive on her salary. But, she used to get her nails manicured twice a month. I once suggested that she could cut back on the manicures as a way to ease the financial strain. She shook her head and said that her nails have to be manicured because she deals with the public. Oookkkayyyyyy then.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that some government policies (e.g. taxes etc.) don’t make life a bit harder. But
if that’s the case, shouldn’t you try to do what you can to make ends meet where you can? Nobody cares about your struggles like you do.
And I’m definitely not saying that you should not enjoy life and spend some of your earnings. But why spend money on your wants, when you have needs to be fulfilled? Why complain about what you can’t control when you’re not taking steps to change the things that you can control?
How many of you don’t like your job, and are actively working on business ideas or sending out resumes for new jobs? How many of you are cutting back on your wants and making your needs and goals a priority?
What are you doing to help yourself?