Where is My Money?

Have you been downsized? Lost work? Did you need to close down your business? Many of us have been experiencing a lot of changes in our personal economic situation and are facing reduced income or total loss of it. Many have, as a result, lost their homes and are struggling to provide for their families and dependents. And this is going on in a large part of the world. The economic systems in North America and Europe are definitely going through a time of big changes and sometimes it seems like they are on the verge of breaking down.

There are questions you can ask yourself that might help you to take a first step to make changes you would like to make and are not meant to blame or point fingers. And, further down there is a tip what you could do.

So, have you ever wondered where all the money is you ever had or earned over your life time? How much was it? Do you know what you spent it for? How much do you need to live comfortably? How much do you need to live frugally? Are you spending money on things you do not use, need or even want and do not have money for essentials?

At this point, for most of us, a currency, like the US dollar, is the main means of exchanging or paying for goods, services, loans, interest, fees, taxes and rights, like licenses, and might be involved in penalties, donations, gifts and more. There are other options than using currency, which we will talk about in the future.

Here I want to suggest that you start keeping track of where your money comes from and where it goes, if you don’t do that yet. Once you have set up a system that works, it is easy to maintain it without spending a lot of time.

It might be eye opening to find out what you spend your money on and how much it is, or it might confirm what you suspected already. But then you know at least for sure. After keeping track of your in-flowing and out-flowing money for a while, you have good information to consider making changes and then can also make projections how much you need in the future.

This is but one part of things that I have been doing myself in order to bring financial sustainability into my live. I find finances a fascinating subject.

In order to keep track of my personal finances I have been using some simple tools. I will share more about them in future posts.

Green living, sustainable living, can easily be misunderstood as a social or environmental movement or philosophy without considering the important money and profit question, that is driving our world. Well. in my view, what is really driving our world might be something different and how we approach the economic aspect in our lives and society is just a symptom of the beliefs that are underlying our all-permeating economic global system. Sustainability is also about economic sustainability – it has to be in a real balance with the ecological and social sustainability.

To Thrive On Green is born out of the understanding that to achieve this balance is possible in such a way that we can not only regenerate, over time, degradation, loss of natural resources, breakdown of community and loss of quality of life, but we as individuals and communities can thrive living sustainable, resilient and vibrant lifes. Hence this site’s mission is to ‘Thrive On Green” and to be a clear and compassionate voice and force to make this a reality for all of us.