Money mindset: cost vs ROI
A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about money.
It was a good start.
But really, there is ALWAYS so much more to discuss when it comes to money and mindset.
Why?
Because money is an area where we have TONS of default programming.
Tons of unhelpful thoughts and stories that are directly blocking us from creating what we want.
Tons of unhelpful frameworks that keep us making the same choices over and over even though we don’t like the results of those choices.
One of those frameworks is the idea of cost.
Cost seems pretty simple, right?
It’s how much you pay for something.
It’s the price.
It’s the cash you part with in order to get the thing you want or need.
But cost is only one way of looking at how you’re spending money.
It’s a one-dimensional view.
Here’s what it doesn’t take into consideration: return on investment.
Cost is just money going out.
It’s an expense.
But return on investment is what value you’re getting in exchange.
If you spend $80 on a pair of jeans, what are you actually getting for that money?
Literally, you now have a cloth item that can be worn on your legs.
But that’s not really why we spend $80 on jeans, is it?
If we spend $80 and we put the jeans in the closet, then all we’ve got is a pile of cloth cut into the shape of legs that isn’t doing anything for us (unless you love to collect jeans for fun).
It’s when we put the jeans to use that we get the ROI.
To me, the ROI of jeans I love is knowing that I have something to wear that feels comfortable and looks good.
I will happily part with $80 for that.
Why?
Because I genuinely believe that I am getting more value than I am giving.
I value the experience of owning the jeans more than I value the $80.
And I would rather get one pair of jeans I love for $80 than get a bunch of cheaper pairs that I don’t like as much.
To me, the ROI on one good pair is better than a bunch of pairs I only sort of like.
What are you currently investing in?
What return are you getting?
You might think you’re *not* currently investing.
But you are.
We all always are.
Any money you’re spending, that’s an investment.
It might not be an investment you mean to be making.
It might just be lunch time and you might just be buying that Thai takeout because you need to eat something and it’s close to your work.
This is how many of us spend.
We don’t think about it.
We buy the things we’re used to buying and we don’t buy things we’re not used to buying.
We buy the things we want or think we need in the moment.
But we don’t necessarily consider what we want to be able to buy in the long run.
We spend the money we make and then we think, dang, I need some more money.
And it all seems very reasonable.
Because it’s how we were taught to think, most of us.
And if it’s working for you, great.
But for many of us, it’s not working.
And we don’t know how to change it.
No one taught us how to think intentionally about spending our money.
(Or sometimes they tried but it seemed boring or like we’d never get to buy fun things, so we tuned it out.)
But spending your money intentionally can be fun and it can create INCREDIBLE results.
It’s not just about making “wise choices.”
It’s about looking at where your money is going, looking at what it’s doing for you, and deciding if that’s what you want to do with it.
Or if there’s something else you could do with it that would create more of what you actually want for your life.
Try thinking about your money this way today.
What return is it bringing you? What will you think about that purchase a year from now?
Is it adding more value than the cash going out? If not, maybe it’s time to make a change.
Want to untangle your money mindset once and for all so that you can stop spending and start investing? I can help you with that. Book a consult here.