What would you do if you found $40? Totally free money, found on the floor in a coffee shop.
I was faced with that dilemma the other day (for full details, see The Tale of the Two Twenties). Whenever I find money, I give thanks for it coming into my life, and then I put it in my Financial Freedom Fund. I have a jar in which I collect small change until it becomes enough to roll and take to the bank, where I deposit it into my Financial Freedom Fund (FFF) bank account.
I learned the concept of the FFF when I took the Millionaire Mind Intensive, a course offered by Peak Potentials. In this excellent three-day intensive, T. Harv Eker, presented a system of allocating income that includes personal expenses, long-term saving, education, giving, playing and investing for your future by creating a revenue-generating fund. In addition to adding a specified amount monthly, Eker encourages putting a small amount of money – pocket change – into the fund every day to create a substantial fund over time. While it may sound cumbersome, I have found that having a glass jar full of coins and taking it to the bank every once in a while is very rewarding – tangible evidence that I’m taking care of my financial future.
So, long story short, $20 of my donut shop windfall went directly to the glass jar that holds my FFF. Since I also believe in tithing, donating a tenth of the money I receive, I wanted to give some of it away. I ended up putting the other $20 bill in the clear Lucite box at the donut shop which collects money for the chain’s pet charity, a group of summer camps for disadvantaged children. If I’d taken more time to think about it, I probably could have chosen a charity closer to my heart, but it worked for me at the time and it has made for kind of a neat blog!!
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
The Tale of the Two Twenties
From time to time I find money on the ground. It’s usually a penny, sometimes a dime and if I’m really lucky, a looney – a $1 coin. I’ve always seen these discoveries as little messages from the Universe that I’m on the right track. For example, when I was in training for the 60-km walk for the Weekend to End Breast Cancer, I’d find a coin almost every time I was walking and viewed it as an affirmation that this walk and the training was a good thing for me to do.
Recently I’ve been struggling with eating -- the sugar and high-fat foods had been calling to me. One particular day I was having a difficult time resisting the call. For my hour-long trip home, would I stock up on chips? A package of candy? Or would I choose to nurture myself with a cup of tea and wait to have dinner until I got home? After a long conversation with myself, I pulled into Tim Horton’s to pick up a tea.
As I stood in line behind a teenaged girl, I noticed that there was a $20 bill at her feet. Was it hers? If I asked her, she would certainly claim it. I waited to see what she would do. She paid for her order with money from her purse and left, revealing that there had been a second $20 bill under her foot. The restaurant was full of people and I seemed to be the only one who had noticed these bills. If felt like I was on Candid Camera! As I moved up to the counter to order me tea, I stooped down and picked up one bill. Even though it felt somehow greedy to claim the other as well, after a minute or so I stooped again to take it.
If finding money is my sign that I’m on the right track, how do you think I felt as I sipped my tea? I had received clear validation from the Universe that a healthy choice was very right for me. The message was so clear it was astonishing!
What messages do you receive? For some, it’s finding a feather. For others, a nail. Maybe you’ve never seen a connection between finding something and the thoughts you were holding at that time. Be open to the possibility that there is and see what emerges. Let me know what you experience by responding to this blog.
Now we come back to the question of what I did with the two $20 bills. I could have spent them on a treat, invested them in my future, given them away or donated them to a worthy charity. What would you do? Really think about that and share your ideas by responding to this blog. I’m looking forward to reading your ideas and I’ll let you know what I did in my next blog.
Recently I’ve been struggling with eating -- the sugar and high-fat foods had been calling to me. One particular day I was having a difficult time resisting the call. For my hour-long trip home, would I stock up on chips? A package of candy? Or would I choose to nurture myself with a cup of tea and wait to have dinner until I got home? After a long conversation with myself, I pulled into Tim Horton’s to pick up a tea.
As I stood in line behind a teenaged girl, I noticed that there was a $20 bill at her feet. Was it hers? If I asked her, she would certainly claim it. I waited to see what she would do. She paid for her order with money from her purse and left, revealing that there had been a second $20 bill under her foot. The restaurant was full of people and I seemed to be the only one who had noticed these bills. If felt like I was on Candid Camera! As I moved up to the counter to order me tea, I stooped down and picked up one bill. Even though it felt somehow greedy to claim the other as well, after a minute or so I stooped again to take it.
If finding money is my sign that I’m on the right track, how do you think I felt as I sipped my tea? I had received clear validation from the Universe that a healthy choice was very right for me. The message was so clear it was astonishing!
What messages do you receive? For some, it’s finding a feather. For others, a nail. Maybe you’ve never seen a connection between finding something and the thoughts you were holding at that time. Be open to the possibility that there is and see what emerges. Let me know what you experience by responding to this blog.
Now we come back to the question of what I did with the two $20 bills. I could have spent them on a treat, invested them in my future, given them away or donated them to a worthy charity. What would you do? Really think about that and share your ideas by responding to this blog. I’m looking forward to reading your ideas and I’ll let you know what I did in my next blog.
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