Personal Finance Is Boring
Almost every single good financial move you can make is, in the long run, pretty boring.
- Tracking your spending is boring
- Spending less than you earn is boring
- Index investing is boring
- Money in a savings account is boring
- Automated savings are boring
- Debt repayment plans are boring
- A solid estate plan is boring
- Good insurance is REALLY, REALLY boring
Putting these things in place can be exciting. As you do them for the first time, you can see the progress you’re making and feel the difference from the way things used to be.
That can be a lot of fun.
But they all get old pretty quick. Once your systems are in place, once they’re humming along and making consistent progress without needing much input from you, well, what’s left?
I mean really, who gets excited about the investments they’ve held for the past 10 years without change? Who tells stories about the security that their life insurance policy gives them? Who’s up all night because they can’t wait to track their spending the next day?
There’s nothing glamorous about good financial habits.
But don’t confuse boring with ineffective. Or more importantly, don’t confuse exciting with good.
There’s always someone pushing the newest, hottest thing that’s going to fix all your financial woes. The latest app. The newest investment. The ultimate debt repayment tool.
Some of them will be useful. But most of them will be distractions. Or even worse, obstacles between you and what really matters.
When it comes to money, consistency is the cornerstone of success. It’s the repetition of the same good habits, day after day, that builds the security and freedom you’re looking for.
Consistency in any area of your life often leads to boredom. We all look for new things and new experiences to keep us interested and engaged in daily life, and without them we get bored.
So it’s only natural to feel bored by your finances.
When that happens, remind yourself that it’s probably a good thing. And remember that the cure to your financial boredom ISN’T a new financial tactic. It’s getting out there and living your life.
If you’re bored enough with your money that you can stop thinking about it and move on to other things, you are absolutely on the right track.
Some times boring is better and this list definitely captures a lot of areas where this certainly rings true.
The process is boring, but the result can be exciting. Building wealth, having a plan for for money, teaching your children about money. I find those things exciting. 🙂
Agreed! I think that sometimes though there’s too much focus on the “moves” you’re supposed to be making rather than the outcome you’re looking to achieve. And in that sense it can get boring when there really aren’t any more moves to make, which can, in some cases, lead to trouble when people try to find the next moves regardless and doing things they don’t need to do.
Hopefully though people are able to take your approach and focus on the positive things their financial decisions allow them to do.
Does this apply to other areas of my life, too? Because my work is boring as shit. 🙂
Really creative angle on finances. Mr. Money Mustache has a neat way of packaging the concepts in “badassity”, and the marketing appears to be working. But yeah, in the end, it’s the same old boring concepts that work.
Haha! Well I listen to the Fizzle Show podcast and Chase Reeves is fond of saying that everything turns into a job at some point. So even when you’re doing work you love (not sure if you are), do it long enough and parts of it can get boring.
It’s great to put the finances on autopilot (boring) and do exciting things with the income as a result.
So true! Setting everything up for the first time is exciting because it’s new. But once everything’s been running smoothly for a while, it can start to get boring.
Indeed it is boring but it is definitely worth pursuing for.