“Apple trees weep dust and stone when something is wrong in their environment.” -Author

A lot of people miss the mark when it comes to lifestyle choices impacting their day to day outcomes. What is a five minute tardy becomes end of the year migraine and mewling about essentially missing four days out of a pay period the entire year.

If you’ve ever thought “Let’s just game the system;” or “Why am I not making enough money?” this blog might be for you. I have dubiously followed along both lax and rigid lifestyles to scrounge up some well earned advice.

You’ll need:

• Skepticism
• Probably a pocketbook
• Wallet
• Can do attitude

Starting this exercise off without formality you’re never using this wallet. Basically buy it empty and maybe if you have the advantage of memory loss put a five or ten dollar bill in it on occasion for a treat.

Just don’t ever use it. Sounds ridiculous right?

Now think about everything you might forget and neglect on the regular and you basically have the wallet as a perfect example of how your emotions will work when you face any life decision. Doesn’t matter if it’s huge or small. Sounds like an interesting warm up right?

It does something else. By focusing all your attention on that empty wallet you put a stop gap on any financial anxiety you have. If you have any negativity surrounding money this frees up some of your original operating patterns.

The reason why it’s an important warmup is that it shows you how to deal with adverse situations without actually putting you in one and it keeps your mind focused on motion instead of stagnation. Empty wallet = more thoughts of prospect.

“How do I add five dollars when I’m always broke?

“What if I put $10.00 in it and forget when I absolutely need it?”

These questions wouldn’t normally seem like a big deal or will add a shocking amount of interest and introspective value to your day but it does.

Now here’s where the pocket book comes into play. You already have this useless wallet. Now the pocketbook will seem even more strained compared to usual activity. Basically you’re going to subsidize every purchase you put in the pocket book.

Here’s what I mean:

Sue goes to the bar and buys a burrito for $10.75 and a drink for $5.32. Now Sue spends another $25.00 on the floor there because she finds a hat with the company logo of her favorite place.

Overall she spent $41.07 there.

This is a purchase worth more over the long haul because by buying company advertising she’s prolonging the businesses ability to continue operating. If she wears that hat for 25 days that’s free advertising for the company equivalent to another $2.00 spent for every potential new patron that notices. Then nearly another $5.00 everytime a potentially new patron stops to ask or talk about the business with your client. Essentially $7.00 new dollars are possible for that business now every time some one sees that merchandise.

That’s just the business side.

The personal side is maybe the patron goes there because it’s a quick bite but didn’t really like the food or beverage and realizes she could spend $16.07 to not only double her portions and what’s available in the long run but also make it to her preferences.

So the opposite is Sally buys the same food doesn’t really like it. Finds copy cat recipes doesn’t buy the hat and eventually writes a cookbook that removes the popularity of that menu item. Now not only did the business not make an additional $25.00 on a hat, they potentially lost $84.00 in free advertising for about twelve new patrons and their business earnings are now damaged because a cook book is costing less than the original meal at $15.99 market value.

Seems like a lot that would make any business owner or patron’s head spin.

The goal of this blog is to promote resilience and reliability in a world full of financial ups and downs. Observing the struggles of malls and fast food establishments on the West Coast and beyond highlights the necessity of maintaining a positive relationship with yourself amid uncertain financial times.

When you go to use your pocketbook write out the original price of the item or meal you buy. Then break it down by material and labor value. Consider all the other potential math involved with the cost of operations and basically bean or rice count your way through every purchase with your teabook (pocketbook) to your heart’s content. You will start to find other ways to master your own preference for commitment of these tasks then carry them to the next group.