it's chelsea from the financial diet and this week's video is sponsored by fidelity investments and today i want to talk about the concept of feeling rich it is very easy to automatically associate the feeling of being rich with the feeling of having a lot of money and to be fair there's quite a lot of overlap there as we've discussed many times on the financial diet it is almost impossible to feel happy and safe and fulfilled if you do not have enough money to get by every day if you're worried about paying bills if you're worried
about an unexpected expense if your day-to-day needs are not being met it's going to be very very difficult to build on that let alone to experience daily positive emotions and it is very easy for people to dismiss those very real economic concerns with glib phrases about how money doesn't buy happiness in many ways that's just simply not true and without enough to meet your basic needs and to provide you a bit of security and stability it is going to be very hard to feel happy but that being said as we've also discussed many times on
the financial diet increases in income do not always correlate to increases in feelings of fulfillment satisfaction happiness etc there are many many interesting data points around how the wealthiest amongst us also often tend to work the longest hours which is ironic when you consider that one of the most precious and valuable resources that money can allow you to buy is time but because of the status games that many of the wealthiest tend to get themselves involved with and their main source of validation coming from their professional achievements and their income it's easy to see how
you can get trapped in a cycle of constantly wanting more in terms of compensation it's also easy to see how things like lifestyle inflation can keep people on a hamster wheel where more money does not actually lead them to live a better life we've all seen those viral articles about how couples earning 500 000 a year are finding themselves living paycheck to paycheck because their spending habits are meeting or sometimes exceeding that insanely high income and i can guarantee you that people in those positions would not describe themselves as feeling rich not only because they're
constantly behind the eight ball in terms of their own tastes and quote-unquote needs but because they're also only comparing themselves to other high earners now don't get me wrong these high earners who may be working extremely high hours or have super high lifestyle inflation that prevents them from enjoying their income are still way more privileged than someone who's struggling with money and no one needs to be playing the world's smallest violin because someone living in a gated community feels like they're not wealthy because their next-door neighbor has a slightly bigger mcmansion but the reported levels
of dissatisfaction amongst the wealthy and we did a whole video on this which i'll link you to in the description does go to show that being rich on paper does not always equate to feeling rich and feeling rich is a little bit of a nebulous concept but i would personally define it as a few things you feel generally safe and secure in terms of your finances for example you know that if an unexpected expense comes up you're able to handle it you feel that you have enough time and resources to dedicate energy to the things
in life that make you feel happy fulfilled seen part of a community you exist in a space that feels warm and welcoming to you and you generally feel as if you have a level of control over your day-to-day now there are a lot of different factors that can contribute to that feeling of being rich and as my parents always used to say even when we were at our poorest and we were very poor when i was a little kid we still always felt rich because we had a lot of those things even if we didn't
have all of them i want to talk in this video about how we can create some of that feeling of being rich really at any income so without further ado let's get into them number one is keeping your home consistently clean one of the big components in feeling rich is feeling calm and free of chaos and whether you realize it or not the state of your home environment actually has a huge huge impact on that yes psychologically that is demonstrated especially now when most of us are spending more time than usual at home making sure
your environment is one that contributes to your overall well-being is incredibly important to being in the right frame of mind so here are some quick tips for keeping it primed one 20-minute daily cleaning and tidying ritual institute a 20-minute daily ritual in which you vacuum clean any surfaces put away any items that are out of place wash any loose dishes etc you can do this morning or night depending on your scheduling needs a weekly deep clean deep cleaning your home weekly will supplement your daily ritual and ensure that everything in your home feels fresh always
do the dishes before bed to create abundance of space always do the dishes especially right before you go to bed waking up to that mess is just the wrong way to start your morning so when i'm cooking a meal i actually do all the dishes in the cleanup before i eat so that when i'm done eating everything's already clean lastly regularly bathing and grooming your pet if you have one our furry friends deserve to be cleaned and groomed regularly so do not wait until your pet starts to smell to give them a bath this will
also prevent them from inadvertently damaging any of your furniture by the transferal of their dirt and grime your pets deserve to be clean and fresh too and walking around with a well-groomed pup how rich number two is avoid clutter one of those rich feelings is having that abundance of space and organization and nothing can make you feel less on top of your game than looking around at a bunch of crap that you don't even need and you don't even know where it's supposed to go but that goes beyond just the daily routine of keeping things
clean you need to also dedicate space to reducing the clutter in your life and no that doesn't require going full-on minimalist but it should be part of your practice so how do you reduce clutter you make your bed right when you get up and it will be over before you know it and yes there are many studies demonstrating that this has enormous benefits throughout your entire life i am someone who always hated making her bed and trust me when i say that i make it every morning now and it's really had a positive ripple effect
next organize your refrigerator utility closet and wardrobe organize these spaces so that the items that you use the most are most accessible and the items you use the least are towards the back you can also level this up by organizing by category for instance in the refrigerator you can designate different shelves or areas for different types of food i.e all the leftovers on one shelf sauces and spreads are together etc third have a home for everything every item in your home should have a designated place so that you know exactly where that item is when
you're done using an item always pull it back where it belongs even something as simple as having a little shelf or key rings right by the door so everything can have its proper place has enormous benefits lastly take care of your cable management cables wires chargers extension cords all of that stuff can create a feeling of unnecessary clutter so investing in a couple of cable management boxes and power strips and intentionally organizing all of your cables so they're neat and tidy will always make you feel a little bit more on top of your game as
well as reduce redundancy because speaking of someone who has somehow like eight effing iphone chargers i wish i had just known where my one iphone charger was at all times number three fully stock your home supplies before you need them name me a better feeling than being like oh no i'm about to run out of paper towels and then you open up your little closet or pantry or area where you keep your paper towels and there's like eight rolls of paper towels in there because you thought ahead i never used to be the person who
would buy in bulk for these sort of items because i just like weirdly was like why am i gonna buy eight rolls of toilet paper i won't need those for years surprise surprise you need toilet paper a lot more than you think things like toilet paper ziploc bags paper towels toothpaste shampoo always having a backup before you need it and never being in a place where you need something and don't have it is not just great for avoiding those unnecessary trips to the store which can end up costing you in the long run it's also
great for that abundant feeling you feel so put together you feel like you're taken care of you feel like you're on top of your game part of feeling rich is having what you need when you need it and there are so many little moments throughout that day where you can create that feeling for yourself so making sure that you're stocking up on the things you always need ahead of time is an easy way to recreate that feeling number four find a color scheme that works for all areas of your life now i'm not one of
those people who believes in that like crazy 70s trend about like you're you have like autumn colors or like whatever those color things were that had like i don't know if that had like astrological significance or whatever it was it was maybe for like your complexion but point being i don't put that much stock into what color should have meaning for you in your life but for most of us there are undeniably colors that for example in our wardrobe we feel good in we look good in there are colors in our home that calm us
down that help us sleep that make us feel at home curating a color palette that makes you feel good every day both in what you put on your body and what you live in is an easy way to take the things you already have such as your living space or your wardrobe and make it work for you beyond just the utilitarian i often tell people that one of the easiest things that everyone has access to in terms of their living space is simply painting a wall it suddenly transforms the space because not only does it
now have a color that you actually love rather than whatever happened to be in the place when you moved in it suddenly feels so much more intentional and nothing looks richer than an intentional space and beyond that having a wardrobe in a palette that makes you feel powerful and capable is something that's going to radiate throughout your entire presence we all know how we feel when we're wearing something that doesn't quite suit us or that doesn't feel good for us and there's really no reason to do it i've always known that red is just not
my power color and yet several times over the past few years i've bought myself a red item of clothing every time it was a mistake never again am i buying red if you watch this show you know my colors are like gray navy blue black camel taupe beige a little bit of green here and there but point being mama knows her color palette and she stays within it and i always feel better number five is make time for a hobby part of feeling rich is feeling proud of how you spend that time because you're spending
it intentionally there is nothing wrong with watching television i watched a five hour marathon of the real housewives of new york city the other day because i couldn't watch it while i was out of the country and trust me every moment of that was worth it but you don't want to be in the kind of situation where most nights you come home from work or i guess you finish work if you're working at home these days you turn on the tv and several hours later you're pulling yourself off the couch to go to bed and
you don't even know where that time went in order to feel like you have an abundance of time that time must be allocated intentionally you must be selecting things you want to do with that time and using it accordingly rather than letting the time sort of overwhelm you and while some hobbies might be a little bit limited because of the current pandemic not only are there plenty of hobbies that you can still engage in right now both in person and digitally there are also other things that you can dedicate some of your time to that
will feel infinitely more productive and intelligent for example you might want to join some mastermind groups with other people in your industry you might want to start an online course to learn a new skill you've been putting off or even set up some kind of accountability group with people in your life for a goal you've been meaning to reach that they might share i do regular workouts via zoom with a small group of gals online and it's in my opinion kind of even better than working out in a studio the point is whatever the hobby
making sure that you select it based on what you want to be doing and you dedicate a regular amount of time to it can go a long way to making you feel like you have ownership over your time number six find small ways to feel financially empowered in order to stay afloat we all need to get control over our money we need to understand it we need to be intentional with it and we need to have an understanding of the choices we're making because for most of us money is finite so that skill is just
necessary but even for people who might for example come into a lot of money having a lot of it doesn't automatically mean understanding it or having control over it many people with money can often feel behind the eight ball because they're simply terrible at managing it or not paying attention to it the feeling of richness doesn't come from just having endless piles of cash it comes from feeling in control of your money so here are a few small tasks to help you feel more in control and therefore more empowered with your money set up a
regular financial check-in either just with yourself or with a buddy if you're looking to keep yourselves accountable where you really go over all the ins and outs of your finances and check in on where you are with regards to your bigger goals come up with a realistic budget having a budget is always going to be the key to staying ahead of your money and feeling like you have control over it if you don't currently have a budget you're operating on or if your budget is out of date give it a refresh work on building up
your emergency fund we can't say it enough here at tfd but without an emergency fund it is going to be extremely difficult to get ahead of your finances having an emergency fund that you know you can tap into whenever you need it is going to give you an enormous boost in your day-to-day confidence and sense of security come up with a debt repayment plan if you're currently paying the minimum if you don't know how much you owe if you're behind on your payments if anything about your debt repayment is not tailored to your needs your
money and your goals you need to get in charge of your debt repayment especially with all of the deferments being offered right now due to covid you need to be checking in on your debt repayment plan if you have it lastly have a money conversation with your partner whether or not you live with your partner provided you have a partner of course you need to be open with money about them money is not just dollars it is your goals it's your plan for the future it's your priorities it's your values talking about money with your
partner is not a taboo topic it's a key to feeling stable and fulfilled in your relationship number seven is routines routines routines similar to the way that budgets make us feel in control of our money routines make us feel in control of our time think about all of the little daily tasks that end up eating a ton of your time over the course of a week how many of them could possibly be grouped together to be more efficient how many of them could you probably eliminate how many of them could you maybe even outsource is
there some kind of routine that you could implement to free up more time add a little bit more joy to your life kill two birds with one stone i'm not saying that every single moment of your life has to be planned but getting used to routines and structure and planning out your day in a way that's efficient and intuitive will end up invariably freeing up a lot more time over let's say the course of a year and as i mentioned earlier one of the most important qualities of feeling rich is feeling intentional and empowered with
your time you never want to feel like you're constantly chasing after the things you need to do or having to dash out a dozen times because you constantly forget to do things when you're already out i'm a huge believer in using tools like your google calendar or even a physical planner in order to really map out your days both professionally and personally but whatever the tool that works for you creating routines and grouping things together in ways that make sense is about setting a structure over your time so that you dictate your day not the
other way around number eight remember that it is okay to treat yourself one underrated quality to me in any good budget is a specific part of your budget that is dedicated to whatever you want to do with it it's money that's not earmarked for any specific category but it is accounted for so you always know that if you are spending within that amount you can afford it but it's really the amount of money that you're letting yourself surprise yourself with you could stop for an impromptu lunch you could take yourself to see a movie you
could buy yourself a book on a whim basically knowing that there is a space within your budget that is allocated to treating yourself as you want to is going to give you that feeling of hey if i really want something i know i can afford it obviously within reason and it also allows you to enjoy that item without feeling guilt because it's going above and beyond your budget even in the most stringent budgets there needs to be that little amount allocated even just 25 a month can make a huge difference and especially if you are
on something like let's say an aggressive debt repayment plan having built-in treat yourself moments is a key item to helping keep you motivated in the long term life needs to have some frivolity and some excess planning for that is the way to gain ownership of it because you're never going to force yourself to completely eliminate it number nine is practice gratitude now this is something that i often struggle with in my own life because i'm someone who as i've mentioned before has a habit of living in a projected future and therefore often doesn't feel all
that grounded in what's happening right now but as this year has essentially robbed us of the concept of a future i've had to get a lot more acquainted with the idea of living in the present and part of that is being incredibly grateful for what you have at the moment i spoke earlier about the tendency amongst the wealthy to be in limited social groups that self-compare and that's very true when it comes to the concept of gratitude if you make a million dollars a year but feel constantly envious of your neighbor who makes five million
dollars a year you're not going to feel rich however if you make not even a tenth of that but you have enough money to cover your needs you're able to save a bit and you're able to spare up some time for the things that you love to do you're going to feel infinitely more satisfied and in many ways more rich than that person so how do you work on getting to a place where you're more cognizant and appreciative of what you have you incorporate a gratitude practice into your everyday routine the way you would let's
say a workout in a journal or your calendar or even a notes app take the time every day to write down one thing that you're grateful for and why you're grateful for it because it's not just about appreciating the things in your life that are bringing you fulfillment it's about connecting with why those things are fulfilling for you because maybe by more deeply interrogating why certain things are bringing us more joy more fulfillment more security we'll be more cognizant about seeking out more of those things and by forcing ourselves to take stock of what we
have we're also less likely to constantly be impulse spending on things to give us what we don't going on a temporary shopping freeze for example to shop your own closet for a season doesn't just force you to save money it also forces you to become more creative and more grateful with the things that you already have i did a one month challenge once where i had to wear outfits from my own closet that i'd never assembled in that way before and i was pretty surprised at how new all of my items felt when i was
simply using them in a different combination than i usually did i went from feeling bored with my wardrobe to feeling grateful for it and there are so many ways to integrate that into your daily life at the end of the day feeling rich is above all about feeling intentional you have control over things you're deliberate about things you have a sense of security you have a sense of calm things have their place you have your place and you're grateful for what you have obviously this is going to be very inaccessible if you are struggling financially
on a day-to-day basis and not able to meet your basic needs but just because you're meeting those basic needs doesn't necessarily mean you're going to take that extra step into feeling rich incorporating a more deliberate and more mindful practice into everything you do not just your money is a huge part of getting from a to b and as i mentioned this video is sponsored by fidelity investments and they are here to help you reach your savings goals and if you're looking for an easy way to finally start investing what you save check out fidelity so
as always guys thank you for watching and don't forget to hit the subscribe button and to come back every monday tuesday and thursday for new and awesome videos goodbye
