My oldest daughter loves fairy tales. She loves reading them, watching them, hearing them, and acting them out. We have an entire closet full of princess dresses, witch hats, and magic wands. She’ll pull the entire family into the fun, handing out acting assignments to her daddy as the troll under the bridge and to her little brother as Chip, the talking teacup from an enchanted castle. I don’t mind at all, having been raised in a house full of Disney movies and storybooks. I love the magic of childhood, and fairy tales are a big part of it.
But at some point, as adults, we have to let go of the fairy tales. Of course, we aren’t expecting a wizard to come and grant our wishes, or waiting for a magic beanstalk to take us up to a castle in the sky. Still, we can all find ourselves in a fantasy land every once in a while, and I think that’s especially true when it comes to money.
Do you faithfully purchase three lotto tickets every week? Do you dream about what you’d do with the winnings? Maybe you know somebody who knows somebody who suddenly inherited a fortune from an uncle in Europe. I don’t think there’s any harm in daydreaming about a sudden leap into wealth…so long as that’s not your plan for getting there. When it comes to your life and your path to financial well-being, you need to write your own story. Rely on yourself, your family, and your five year plan to reach your goals, and if a little magic happens along the way, that’s a bonus. There’s plenty of room in my life for enchantment, wishes, and fairy tales, but there’s no room in my budget.
That being said, I do have my own “plans” for suddenly striking it rich, and they involve a lot of travel, adventure, and fun. Which is funny, because those are my plans right now as well, even without that big jackpot. So here’s my challenge: start writing your own story, if you haven’t already. Start setting goals, making plans, and taking action. If you need a little help setting your financial goals, stop by Afena Federal Credit Union. And if you need a little magic to get started, take a look in the mirror…determination and hard work are better than a handful of magic beans any day. I’m Claire, the Afena blog mom. Thanks for reading.