The Power of Mindset

In January 2020, I came across a post on Instagram about a challenge to save $10K in 6 months. I had been following this account for a little while and I thought, why not?

At the time, saving $10K in 6 months seemed like an impossibility, but at the very least it would encourage me to save what I could, which was better than saving nothing.

Then in late January, my husband was suddenly hospitalized and my family’s world turned upside down. He was in & out of hospitals and didn’t come home until March. During that time of uncertainty, I was essentially a single mother of 2 young kids with now only my income to survive. I had to immediately make some drastic and urgent decisions based on the family income now being cut in half.

First to go was daycare. Thank GOD for my wonderful, loving, supportive family. They really stepped in and came through during the most difficult time of my life. My gratitude for their help is more than I can express, ever.

Next to go was our gym memberships, home warranty, and ALL eating out. I had dabbled in meal prepping, but now was the time to get serious and consistent.

Then came the point when I had to make the cut I was dreading the most — my daughter’s dance lessons. My daughter was in competitive dance and took several classes a week. I was extremely resistant to taking my daughter out of dance because it’s something she absolutely loves and also provided some normalcy during this difficult time. Turns out, this was right around the time the COVID 19 pandemic caused the economy to shut down, so the shutdown made the decision for me.

There were a few additional smaller cuts I’d made to the budget, and by the time March came around and my husband had come back home and back to work, I had adjusted all of our expenses to survive almost solely on my income alone.

Since we were living almost solely on one income, all of the 2nd income money went straight to savings. This, along with a few one-time checks we received (one of which being my Dependent Care FSA reimbursement check — learn more about that in my post, Tax Advantaged Retirement Investing), we were able to save double the amount of the initial $10K within much less than 6 months! When I realized this it brought me to tears and I immediately chastised myself for placing limitations on myself.

For it is our self imposed limitations, not failure, that is our true enemy.

I’m so glad I didn’t let my self imposed limitations prevent me from entering the challenge initially.

I myself had made the savings challenge an impossibility at the onset, yet decided to join anyway. Then came setbacks, and I had completely given up on saving altogether. I didn’t just put it in the back of my mind, I’d completely forgotten about it. And given the whirlwind of the first half of 2020, I don’t feel guilty about not consciously putting forth the effort to save. I had much more urgent matters ruling my mind.

I truly believe that it is because I stepped out on faith just by joining the savings challenge, that God made up the difference.

Now, consider what limitations you’ve been placing on yourself.

Turn those thoughts of limitation into thoughts of abundance and success. When it comes to achieving your goals, if you think you can’t do something or when you think it won’t work, do it anyway. Just one small step can make a world of difference!