You got a raise? Congrats! Now, let’s become intentional

Is that time of the year when we start hearing about job reviews and when we will be waiting for that raise that we deserve…or at least the one that the company thinks we deserve.

Have you ever thought where your raise has gone every time you get one? Because I am sure, at this point, you have received more than a couple. When we don’t pay attention that raise money is spent pretty much by magic. It is like an expenditure was patiently waiting for that money to hit our bank account to show up. And once again, we find ourselves spending exactly what we make or a bit more.

What’s next? Out of the sudden we “need” those shoes, the latest iPhone because God forbid people see us using an “obsolete” iPhone, upgrade the Netflix subscription or add more streaming services, a spa day, etc. We see all these expenses as stuff we deserve because well, we work hard or “this is why I work, so I can get me stuff”. The problem with this motto is that what we are getting on a treadmill with no idea we are getting on a treadmill. And this never-ending make-more-to-spend-more will get old for anybody.

What we need to do is to become really intentional with our money. Actually, we need to do anything we do intentionally. It also applies to our time and how we use it. Actually, being intentional is one of those skills that we should strive to improve in all aspects of our day to day. In this post, we will specifically focus on being intentional with our salary raise. 

We were not counting on that extra money two weeks ago, why do we need it now? 

You are the master of your money and you need to give it a mission. In order to do so, it is important to have your priorities straight and within those priorities, take care of your future self, should be in the top 2.

Once you have your list of priorities on hand, decide what would be the best use of that extra money you will start receiving on a regular basis. Know exactly what that money will be doing, you are in charge, it is not the other way around. I promise you; you will feel so energized! You will feel in control, because you are.

Don’t let the live style creep get into your wallet. It is not cool.