Do you suffer from bad luck or poor planning?
So many people blame the hardships in their lives on bad luck.
“I got a flat tire”
“My car got repossessed”
“I got fired”
True, some things in life come totally out of the blue and smash our plans or wreak havoc on our finances and we had no way to see them coming!
But a lot of things don’t. They saunter in slowly while you willingly turn your head the other way to avoid direct eye contact until eventually, they slap you upside the head! Then you go cry to your mom, friends, or the void of social media about how you have such bad luck.
This topic came up during a recent discussion with friends.
A coworker had had their car repossessed the day before. This coworker constantly complains about money. They never have enough even though they get paid pretty much the same amount as our friend.
Yet they:
- Go out to buy lunch, every day, even though their office has a refrigerator and microwave available
- Just purchased a brand new Mercedes a few months ago
- Have missed 8 days of work this month due to things like “headaches” on Monday and Friday mornings, the car not starting (yeah, that brand new one), and doctors appointments that should take no more than an hour or two, but they miss the entire day (Surf was up that day).
Yeah, sometimes you just need a grilled chicken sandwich after working all week on a project or an extra day to recover from the weekend, but not if it means not having the money to pay for your everyday bills!
Some people just need a kick in the pants to pull their heads out of the sand and take responsibility for their life.
Here is my advice. Hopefully, presented in the least D-Baggy way possible. (My friend is totally gonna tease me for saying D-Baggy)
Don’t Suffer From Poor Planning- Take Your Responsibilities Seriously
Like the above-mentioned coworker, one of the best ways to get rid of bad luck is to plan and take your responsibilities seriously.
Have bills you need to pay this month? Probably best you ACTUALLY get out of bed and go to work so you can get PAID! Might have to cut down on partying or surfing. Earn those dollar bills before you spend them or else you’ll get evicted, your car repoed, or the power turned off.
If your job legit does not pay your enough to live your life then you need to increase your income or cut down your living expenses. Sacrifices must be made.
Do you have a job that requires you to work certain hours and/or complete certain tasks? Probably best you actually show up and complete those tasks if you want to keep said job.
If you don’t like your current position, for whatever reason, instead of acting all “woe is me,” plan to make a change! Get the training or contacts needed to leap into something different. But unless you have the FU money to walk away from your current job, it’s best to keep up the good work while you look for something else.
Don’t Suffer From Poor Planning- Take Your Finances Seriously
So many people who let their finances go are just scared. Instead of learning how to handle their money and take the necessary steps to fix it, they turn a blind eye. That’s when the “Bad Luck” kicks in.
Debt piles up. Collectors start calling. And life suddenly feels out of control. Instead, take control of your finances.
Budget for Bad Luck
Budgeting is one of the simplest AND hardest things to do.
Simple because it simply means listing all of your income each month and then subtracting your savings, bills, and other spending.
When it’s all written out, you should know where every dollar needs to go to accomplish your goals.
Hard because it means you actually have to create goals and follow through with where your money needs to go to accomplish them. No more spending all willy-nilly on cake pops and mermaid lamps, unless you plan for them.
Take the time to actually create a budget. Check out these articles to help create a Budget That Fits You and How I Hide Money From Myself so I don’t have to “Budget.”
Save for Expected Expenses
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times, you need to save for Expected Expenses.
Expected Expenses are those expenses that seem to pop up out of nowhere but you totally knew could or would happen:
- Car Maintenance/replacement (tires need replacing, oil needs changing)
- House and appliance maintenance/replacement (hot water heaters leak, windows break)
- Annual or Semi-Annual Bills (Car registration, life insurance, Sam’s Club Memberships)
So often, these irregular expenses are forgotten and when it comes time to pay, it feels like a financial emergency. Instead, go through your finances and figure out what all your expected expenses are, and treat them like a monthly bill. Put 1/12th of the annual cost in a high-yield savings account every month, like it’s a regular monthly bill. Then, when the expected expense pops up, you will already have the cash to pay it.
Plan for Bad Luck With An Emergency Fund
Make sure you have an Emergency Fund. Ideally, your emergency fund should be 3-12 months’ worth of living expenses, depending on your life situation. But if you’re just starting out, make a goal of $1,000 then build from there.
An emergency fund should be totally separate from your expected expenses. Emergency Funds are only in case of an EMERGENCY.
A flat tire shouldn’t be an emergency if you have been saving for car maintenance in your expected expenses fund.
An emergency is suddenly being laid off, a hurricane wiping out your entire town, or your child having a medical emergency. An emergency can’t be planned for, except by actually putting away money in an emergency fund, just in case.
Save For Retirement
At some point in your life, you are gonna be just plain too old to go to work. Your health might fail or your entire industry could be taken over by robots.
If you have been saving up for retirement your entire working career, hopefully, this will be just fine. You’ll let those robots do their thing while you sip iced tea on the porch, knowing that your retirement fund will keep you fed and housed.
But if you’re like almost half of the population, you have nothing saved for retirement. Don’t get caught with your pants down when it comes time to retire. Start saving NOW.
- If your employer offers a 401K or other retirement funds, sign up for it and make sure you are contributing at least enough to get any match.
- Open an IRA (Individual Retirement Account) and try to max it out every year ($6,500 per person in 2023, $7,500 if you’re 50 or older) Even non-working spouses can open and contribute to an IRA. Even if you can’t max it out, put in as much as you can
- Choose simple low-cost index funds to invest in (Super Simple Investing)
- Set up automatic contributions to all retirement funds every paycheck
- Set it up, on paper and in your mind, that every time you get a raise, you put an equivalent raise in your retirement fund. If you get a 3% raise, make sure you add 3% to your contributions
Don’t Suffer From Poor Planning- Get Insurance
Having the correct insurance for your lifestyle is probably one of the top ways to plan ahead.
Life Insurance
If you have anyone important in your life depending on your paycheck or services, you need to have life insurance. (Unless you already have enough assets to self-insure, which most people don’t)
Figure out how much your family would need in order to pay off all debts and live comfortably in case you or your spouse were to pass.
Here are some fancy calculators to figure out how much life insurance you need.
Ideally, use the DIME strategy, add up:
- Debt and final expenses: Add up your debts, other than your mortgage, plus an estimate of your funeral expenses.
- Income: Decide for how many years your family would need support, and multiply your annual income by that number. (Or childcare/home care costs for a stay-at-home parent)
- Mortgage: Calculate the amount you need to pay off your mortgage.
- Education: Estimate the cost of sending your kids to school and college.
Once you have your number, you can start shopping for insurance. Term Life Insurance is usually all most families need. It is lower cost as it only lasts for the selected time period. Instead of paying a ton for Whole Life Insurance, you can just purchase Term and invest the difference on your own.
Car Insurance
Not only is it important for your own security, it’s also legally required in almost all states.
Cars are expensive to replace or fix. Car accidents can create some major medical or property replacement bills.
Don’t get stuck in financial ruin because you didn’t bother to carry car insurance. Shop around, there are all sorts of safe driver discounts available. (If you’re not a safe driver, please work on that)
Homeowner’s/ Renter’s Insurance
A house is probably THE most expensive item most people will buy. Homeowner’s insurance is required by most banks when you take out a mortgage loan. Make sure to shop around annually to ensure you are getting the best coverage for the best price.
But if you don’t own a home, and choose to rent instead, like us, get renter’s insurance. It is usually only a few hundred dollars a year and it will keep you covered in case of damage on the property. Fires, thefts, and break-ins happen. Renters insurance ensures that your stuff can be replaced or fixed, even if the landlord says too bad.
Medical Insurance
America’s medical situation is super not ideal, duh. Even if you’re healthy, please make sure to get medical coverage. Arm’s break. Cancer sucks. Seemingly out-of-the-blue events financially ruin Americans every day.
Plan ahead and make sure you’re covered. If your employer doesn’t offer medical care, check healthcare.gov. You might be surprised at how affordable it is with all the government credits.
Beat Bad Luck And Be More Flexible
As a proud member of the millennial generation, we were the first to be called snowflakes. We believe in equality no matter race, gender, ethnicity, disabilities, or whatever.
But some people definitely take this too far and end up suffering for it.
When your boss writes you up because you’re not doing your job, they’re not being mean. They’re just trying to do THEIR job.
If you’ve quit or been fired from 4 jobs in the last 6 months because your coworkers were jerks, look at the common denominator. (Hint, it’s you)
It is definitely not ok to stay working in a toxic environment or for an employer that legitimately takes advantage of their workers. If this is happening, for sure, go look for a new job, you shouldn’t spend 8+ hours being unhappy every day.
But if you’re just grumbling because you’re lazy or rude, it’s time to suck it up buttercup. Sometimes you need to clean the bathroom or put up with an annoying coworker who likes pickles way too much.
Figure out what your goals are and start working towards them. It might entail working at a boring job, but if it gets the bills paid so you can better enjoy life overall, I think that’s a way better option.
Wrap-Up
There are so many things you can do in life to prevent “bad luck.” Look ahead and think about what might throw you off, then plan for it.
A little bit of planning and saving now, can save you from so many potential pitfalls in the future.
I hope I didn’t sound too D-Baggy, I just hate seeing people suffer when the answer to their problems is so obvious!
What do you think? Can “bad luck” be prevented? Do you know someone who suffers from habitual bad luck?
Leave a comment below and let us know if you have any questions or topic suggestions.
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