Taking A Pay Cut…

Recently, due to some unforeseen circumstances with the company I work for, my hours at work got cut back by 25%.  I’m taking home 3 quarters of the pay I normally take home.  My understanding is that this is usually a temporary thing but that’s not guaranteed.  I know this would be unnerving to a lot of people but I’m staying pretty calm about it and I wanted to share why.

First off, I’ve got other things to work on.  I just recently gave a presentation here in Little Rock, AR based on my book.  

This was a huge deal for me.  It’s the first time I’ve done a public in-person presentation since I left Tacoma, WA in 2020 as the Pandemic was starting.  Also, it’s the first time I’ve presented the 3 principles of ownership from my book.  The ideas and my communication style were well received.  For my first talk in Little Rock it was a good start.  A large part of making it a smooth presentation was preparing well. Being well prepared for a presentation is something that I’ve always taken very seriously.  Getting my hours cut back, while not ideal from a financial standpoint, did give me more time to prepare for this presentation so I appreciated having the time.  Also, I’m studying to become certified as a personal trainer through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).  The extra time comes in handy for this task as well.

Getting ready for the presentation and studying for the trainer certification both required me to spend money on marketing and study materials, respectively.  I also had to spend $1,000 on new tires for my wife’s car during this same time period.  I’m making less money but spending more than normal for the moment.  Yet, I’m still calm and still positively looking towards the future.  Why?

I’ve been practicing financial discipline in the form of paying off all debt, budgeting, and learning about investment for retirement for the last 18 years.  This isn’t secret knowledge only given to the wealthy.  Most of it, you can probably learn for free on the internet.  Furthermore, the principles are crazy easy to understand.  It’s accessible to virtually anyone who has a smartphone and can read.  In the last 18 years there have been a litany of emergency situations that have come up in my life that require a financial response of some sort:  deaths in the family, emergency room visits, moving across the country suddenly, repairs to homes/cars, and now an unforeseen reduction in income.  Not once have I ever panicked about any of these situations.  First off, panic in no way helps you deal with the problem.  Also, due to my financial habits, I’ve always had some financial buffer to at least begin to address the problem.  Every time a problem like those I’ve listed comes up, the importance of financial discipline gets reinforced in my mind and habits.  

Since the Pandemic, all of us have probably lived with financial uncertainty in some form.  Even if you get wiped out financially, I’m telling you now, panic and unchecked anxiety are not helpful.  I get it, I’ve been in a scenario where I had credit cards in collections, my car had been repossessed, and I was being evicted from my apartment.  Being at a financial bottom is just an opportunity to rebuild yourself with the right principles and habits.  While it may seem foreign and impossible now, think where you’ll be in 20 years if you decide that debt is no longer an option, at least 10% of every dollar of income will be saved in some way, and every dollar of income will be given a job by a budget that you regularly track.  Building wealth is not complex.  But if you want to have some, time is the most important factor.  The longer you implement these ideas the better off you and your family will be.  

Visit my Fundamentals page for more detailed articles on getting your personal finances in order.

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