6 Step Money Challenge for 2020

As we embark upon this new decade, many of us are committed improving our finances. We may have vowed to stick to a budget or have a general goal to live below our means. While these are noble goals, let’s challenge ourselves to do even more. Here’s my 6 step-money challenge for 2020:  

1. Buy 1 or 2 finance books to read. There are many different ways to consume information but I’m a firm believer in the benefit of books. While I enjoy blogs, books can be a one-stop-shop for the information you seek. Having books allows us to highlight certain passages and tips that make the material a consistent resource we can refer to throughout our journeys. Plus, it provides a single resource we can use to learn about a several different topics or go in depth on one particular area. There are plenty of good finance books but I think the white coat investor has a list of recommendations organized by various categories that can be useful. When I started on my personal finance journey my favorite books were Rich Dad Poor Dad, the White Coat Investor, and the Total Money Makeover. I’ve just purchased How to Think about Money and tend to refer to Ken McElroy’s The ABCs of Real Estate Investing as I’m thinking over new real estate deals. There’s always more to learn and books are a great way to do that. Pick a couple finance books to read this year.

2. Download a finance podcast. As someone who is intellectually curious and loves to be efficient during my “off” time, I consume a lot of finance information via podcast. Whether it’s the “Hippocratic Hustle” giving me insight into ways other female docs have increased their income, “Docs Outside the Box” giving me new ideas on ways to create additional revenue streams, or the “White Coat Investor” providing step-by-step instructions on how to do a backdoor Roth IRA, podcasts can be a great way to learn about various finance topics without requiring a huge sacrifice of your time. Most episodes are 30-45min or faster if you alter the playback speed. Whether you’re commuting to work, cooking dinner, or working out at the gym, there are plenty of good podcast options. As you continue along your journey of increased financial literacy, download a finance podcast and commit to listening to 1-2 episodes a week.

3.  Join an in-person or online group. Along with increasing your knowledge via books and podcasts, strive to be more active as well. Whether it’s participating in a finance-focused Facebook group, joining the Bogleheads F.I.R.E. (financial independence retire early) online community, or going to real estate investor meetup groups in your city, surrounding yourself with likeminded people can be beneficial. In fact, it’s this active engagement that can propel us even further along in our journey. These groups and online communities challenge us to share our goals with others and inundate us with people traveling a similar path. They also provide a slew of contacts that can keep us motivated and accountable. As you continue along your journey, commit to joining at least one finance or investor group.

4. Create a spending plan for the next month. There couldn’t be a money challenge without a point on living below your means. While many of us would like to increase our savings and invest more, this can be quite challenging to uphold. Sustainable change involves altering our behaviors and putting boundaries in place that keep us focused on our goals. One of the best ways to do this is by creating a spending plan for the next pay period. While most of us know where large chunks of our money are spent, there still may be things that go unnoticed. The challenge for this year is to create an active spending plan that outlines which things we will purchase, and which bills will be paid on certain dates. It also includes automating our payments so that a percentage of our income automatically goes to various savings accounts or investment funds. If you haven’t already done so, create a spending plan that automates payments and “forces” you to live below your means.

5. Pay off “bad debt” early. I’m a huge proponent of paying off consumer debt, especially when the interest rate is higher than 7%. Many of us understand the importance of getting the match to our retirement plans, but once that’s done, we are unsure on what to do next. The correct answer may vary from person to person but generally speaking, once you have at least a small amount of cash for emergencies, you should prioritize paying off consumer debt like high-interest credit cards or car loans. Although investing in the stock market is another great option, the guaranteed return from paying off debt cannot go unnoticed. Plus, paying off consumer debt faster will increase our monthly cash flow and allow us to invest even more towards retirement once the debt is paid off.

6. Give more to charity. Although we each have different priorities and plans for our money, one of the things I challenge you to do this year is think outside of yourself and give more. Even though it can be tempting to delay helping others until we have met all of our own individual goals, I challenge you to find ways to give in the midst of this journey. Oftentimes, we find the most happiness when we find ways to assist others. Giving has helped me stay grounded in the midst of success and allowed me to help others in a way that has increased my own quality of life in ways I never imagined. In 2020, I challenge you to find ways to give more. Doing so may impact your own life more than you may realize.

Tell me, what are some ways you will challenge yourself to improve your finances this year?

Key Lessons from 2019 to Bring into 2020:

1. Meaningful relationships with family and friends can add so much joy to your life. As a busy physician I can sometimes forget how important a personal life is to our overall well-being. Having close friends outside of work to socialize with or plan fun weekend activities makes my life so much more enjoyable. Having family around to relieve stress and keep me grounded helps me remain focused on what’s most important. With close personal relationships, I find myself happier at work, even in the most trying of times. I’m more positive, more optimistic, and even have increase job satisfaction. In 2020 I will continue to prioritize personal relationships.

2. Happiness is a choice—positivity, in the most trying situations, can improve your mental health. Many of us chose to work in health care to help heal various illnesses and provide people with second chances through medicine.  Despite our altruistic motives, there are some parts of our job that can steal our joy. From ever increasing administrative work, patients expressing frustration over costs/wait times that are often times beyond our control, to rising pressure to compromise quality patient care in lieu of “efficiency,” work can seem less enjoyable. Despite these challenges, I’ve learned that happiness is a choice. Positivity, even in the most trying situation can improve our mental health. Finding the silver lining, even when it seems to be hiding, can alter our mood and outlook for the rest of the day. There are many reasons to feel frustrated or upset but choosing happiness and positivity makes things so much better.

3. Finding ways to relieve stress is necessary to prevent burnout. Although happiness is a choice, finding ways to relieve stress is integral. As a resident doctor who works crazy hours with high expectations, work can be stressful. In order to have longevity in my career and actually wake up each day excited for what it may bring, I have to relieve stress. For me, that means going to a hip-hop spin class, having brunch with my girlfriends, enjoying a football game with my brothers, or sometimes just relaxing at home with a piece of chocolate and a savory glass of red wine. Whichever the method, it’s important to have reliable ways to relieve stress.

4. Financial stress can be avoided by using a budget and sticking to a spending/saving plan. Learning about personal finance is integral to our future. It’s so easy to live the lavish doctor lifestyle with a large house, expensive car, and limitless luxury purchases largely paid for with debt and credit cards, but those decisions can put us into a perilous situation down the line. As a grad student, I made some horrible financial decisions (buying things I didn’t need on credit cards, moving to a city I couldn’t afford, and living above my means when I finally did start making decent money). Trust me, it is taking a lot of effort to right these wrongs now. Instead of investing as much as I want for retirement or putting more money into a high-yield savings account, I spent a good chunk of each check paying off credit card debt I racked up in my early 20s. Now that I’ve nearly paid it all off, I’ve vowed to be better in 2020. Having to correct previous mistakes is always more costly than we think. Learning to stick to a budget, live below my means, and follow a set financial plan is a never-ending exercise in self-discipline that has set me on a clear path to financial independence in the coming years

5. Writing down goals and creating accountability can help you achieve more overall. I learned a while ago that a goal without a timeline is just a dream and a goal without a plan is just a wish.  In order to make sure I achieved my goals, I decided to write down them down along with some concrete objectives and action steps. Doing so has helped me create accountability and drastically increased my chance of success. I definitely plan to continue this practice in 2020. If I truly want to go higher, achieve more, and have continued success then I need to be constantly striving for more and putting safeguards in place to remind me of my goals and motivate me on the journey. Writing down my goals and placing them on my bathroom mirror forces me to look at them each morning and be reminded of the bigger picture.

6. The people you surround yourself with have a major influence on your life choices, decisions, and accomplishments. The people we surround ourselves with, listen to, and speak with have a major influence on our life. We begin to think about what we constantly hear and we begin to believe what we are repetitively told. When I started interacting with friends who were very religious, I too gained more zeal and faith. When I started meeting up with young professionals were business-minded with multiple side hustles I too began to think of ways to create additional revenue streams. When I conversed with doctors in the hospital who were positive despite the challenges, I too became more optimistic about my job. In 2020 lets think about who we want to become and surround ourselves with more people that embody those traits.

What are some key lessons you learned in 2019, that you are bringing into 2020?

New Goals for the New Year

1. Increase retirement investments. As young professionals who will eventually retire or cut back on work at some point, we need to start investing towards our future. While many of us may already have started setting aside money for retirement, others of us may not have begun that process. In 2020, let’s strive to do even more. Let’s commit to increasing our retirement savings, even if it’s by a small amount. As we continue to set aside more money for retirement, we will have a greater amount of money invested which will allow the magic of compound interest to work in our favor and increase our net worth.

2. Save more of my income. In addition to investing more money for retirement, I am also striving to save more in general in 2020. In addition to saving up money for vacations and large purchases, we should also have a certain percentage of our income in an emergency fund and for unexpected expenses. While some people may choose to save all additional funds in retirement accounts, I plan to keep a certain percentage of money “liquid” or saved outside of retirement accounts just in case I need to access it at a later date. It’s difficult to take money out of retirement accounts before you reach your mid-50s, so having money saved in a more accessible account is ideal for those of us who may be a bit younger.

3. Live below my means. As I enter in 2020, my goal is live below my means. Instead of buying things because I can afford them or living the doctor lifestyle I envy, I’ve chosen an alternative path: practicing self-control. I share an apartment with a roommate, which allows me to save money on housing costs and other bills. I have a budget for food that I adhere to each month. I also refrain from going to the mall unnecessarily or buying things I want simply because they’re “on sale.” Learning to live below my means has helped me become less materialistic and allowed me to save more, invest a greater amount, and be better prepared for any unexpected events. It has also prevented me from buying things to impress those around me. Instead, I’m focused on my own financial goals which will allow me to make even greater progress toward financial independence.  

4. Pay off bad debt. Before I became financially literate, I made some costly mistakes. I used credit cards to purchase things I didn’t need. I moved to a city I couldn’t afford and failed to live on a budget. I also didn’t save much of anything, for retirement or for emergencies. Now that I’m older and wiser, I have sought to right these wrongs. You might be doing the same thing as well. As we enter this new decade, lets strive to get rid of credit card debt and car loans and refrain from accumulating more. The quicker we get rid of high interest debt, the sooner we can increase our cash flow each month and have more money to invest.

5. Give money to charity. Along with spending money on ourselves and saving money for the future, my goal is to give more. It can be easy to focus on my own priorities but giving allows us to improve the lives of others. Whether it’s paying tithes to the church or increasing charitable donations, giving is a self-less act that allows us to make a difference in the lives of people with real struggles and financial hardships. Although I’d love more money for myself, I recognize that I’ve been blessed beyond measure and should actively seek to pass that grace onto others.

Tell me, what are some of your financial goals for the new year?

5-Step Money Challenge for the Holiday Week

1. Pick one charity or organization to donate to as a family. The holiday season includes a lot of celebrations but it also a time we give. Whether it’s putting a little extra in the church offering or giving our spare change to the solicitors outside of our local grocery stores, many of us express our generosity around the winter holidays. Why not take it a step further this year? Together, with your family members or close friends, pick a charity, organization, or church to give an extra offering to this holiday season. Doing so not only makes us less selfish but it allows us to enhance the lives of someone else.

2. Have a limit on how much you plan to spend during your next restaurant outing and stick to it. While sticking to a budget for an entire month can be a bit challenging, why not take baby steps towards this goal during the holiday season? We can do this by thinking about our next restaurant or social outing and coming up with a budget of how much we want to spend. Then stick to it. For example, if you plan to go to dinner with friends then look at the menu ahead of time, determine how much you plan to spend, and make a concerted effort not to go over that amount when you actually get there. Whether it’s a restaurant or some event in our city, try to use self-control by sticking to a budget, not matter how large or small it may be.

3. Vow to do 3 things that don’t cost any money. Because of the holiday season many of us get additional time to spend with the people we love. While we may be tempted to go out to dinner and do various things around the city, we must be conscientious of how much we’re actually spending. Part 3 of this challenge is doing 3 things during the holidays that don’t cost you an additional money. You could watch a Christmas movie on TV, listen to a holiday album, or bake cookies with ingredients you have at home. You could also video call family members that aren’t with you in person, decorate a Christmas tree with your kids, or play a fun board game with your family. Regardless of what you choose, pick 3 things to do that don’t cost you any extra money.  

4. Purchase at least one meaningful gift for someone you care about. Along with donating money to others, another part of the holiday season is showing appreciation to the people we care about. While we may be tempted to purchase new designer items or expensive electronics, this year deviate from the norm. Think of one inexpensive, but meaningful gift you can give to someone you love. Maybe it’s a book they’d like, a bottle of wine they’d love, tickets to a show or concert they’ll enjoy, or a framed photo of one of your favorite memories.

5. Pledge to learn a little more about personal finance. Along with giving to others and spending time bonding with those we love, as money savvy young professionals we should take this challenge a step further. This holiday week, why not pledge to learn a little more about personal finance as well? We may not have time to read an entire book or go make a budget for the entire year, but we can still start small. We can pledge to spend at least 1 hour increasing our financial literacy. For example, we could listen to a podcast episode on how to best pay off our debt or read a couple chapters in a book on different ways to save money for retirement. We could even skim a few blogs on different ways to get involved in real estate investing or learn how to lower our tax rate in the upcoming year. Whatever the topic or the method, we should vow to spend a little time this holiday season learning more about personal finance and different ways to build wealth.

Tell me, are you willing to try to 5 step holiday money challenge?

5 Ways to enjoy the holidays without destroying your budget

The holiday season usually comes with dedicated time off to spend with the ones we love. Instead of going into debt doing expensive activities or forgoing any festivities altogether, how about finding a middle ground? Here are some affordable ways to enjoy the holidays without destroying your budget.  

1. Explore low-cost activities in the city. Whether you live in a big city or a small town, there are usually several low-cost activities in the area to explore during the holidays. Check out winter decorations in the city and Christmas lights as you walk around your local area. Spend the weekend going ice skating at a park or visit an indoor rink. If you work for a corporation or are in involved in various community organizations, you can also check out company Christmas party or some holiday soirée filled with young professionals in the community. Search the internet, ask your friends, and skim your local newspaper to find out about various affordable activities in the city around the holidays.

2. Buy inexpensive, meaningful gifts for friends and family members. Gift giving is a great way to show our gratitude for others. Many times it can be quite rewarding. Instead of lamenting over the realization that we cannot purchase new Iphones, designer clothes, or hefty gift cards, why not purchase inexpensive meaningful gifts for the ones we love instead? If you need some ideas, try giving a Christmas basket filled with the person’s favorite desserts, a holiday stocking filled with pajamas, hot chocolate, and other trinkets they can use to relax and watch a holiday movie, or even gifting them framed photos of a happy memory, wine they’d enjoy, or a book they’d find intriguing.

3. Search for discounts on holiday travel. With the holidays usually comes lots of travel. Oftentimes, it’s the travel expenses that end up being putting a serious dent our budget. In order to prevent this from happening search for discounts. Look to see if you have earned any rewards points from credit cards or if you qualify for any discounts on transportation services like Uber or Lyft. You could also search Groupon for affordable travel packages and skim AirBnb for reasonably priced lodging options. Regardless of which route you take, spending a little time searching for travel discounts may be worth your while.

4. Enjoy holiday festivities on existing subscription services. In this current digital world, many of us have a variety of different ways we entertain ourselves. Whether it is listening to Apple Podcasts on the way to work, dancing to our favorite playlist on Spotify, laughing at the newest comedy on Hulu, or watching a popular movie on Netflix, we have a variety of subscription services we use for entertainment. The majority of them are either free or some inexpensive bill we pay each month. As we look for ways to enjoy the winter season in an affordable manner, why not make use of the things we already have? Whether it’s a Christmas playlist, holiday episodes of our favorite shows, or adorable Christmas movies from our childhood, we could all find ways to enjoy holiday festivities on the subscription services we already have.  

5. Participate in fun activities at home. If you’re looking for ways to enjoy the holidays without leaving the comfort of your home, there are several things you could try as well. You could decorate your home and Christmas tree as a family. If you’re like me and crave a good amount of social interaction, you could invite some of your close friends over to watch holidays movies and drink hot chocolate. You could even adopt the mindset of some of my coworkers by hosting a holiday potluck for some of your associates. Lastly, you could play fun holiday games, do puzzles, or bake cookies with your loved ones as well. Either way you spin it, there are fun and affordable things to do during the holidays at home.

Tell me, what are some ways you plan to enjoy the holidays that don’t require you to spend a lot of money?  

6 Meaningful Gifts for Family Members and Close Friends

With the holidays quickly approaching many of us may be brainstorming things to get our family members and friends for Christmas. As money savvy young professionals, we want to make sure we do this on a budget. Here are 6 affordable gift ideas for family members and close friends:

1. Christmas Eve basket. Instead of getting one large gift you hope they like, why not get them several small things you know they’d love? You could consider getting them a “Christmas Eve basket” full of items that will help them enjoy Christmas day even more. For your parents or siblings who spend the holiday surrounded by lots of people, you could fill the basket with pajamas, hot chocolate, candy, and a movie. For a close friend who uses the holiday to relax from stressful corporate job you could fill the basket with a large candle with a scent they’d love, book they’d enjoy, and a nice bottle of wine. If all else fails, you could always go to a bakery and get an assortment of their favorite desserts. Either way, filling a gift bag or Christmas basket with things they’d love could be a great gift that helps them enjoy the holiday even more.

2. Digital Photo frame/album for their home. Many of us love capturing family moments on our smartphones. Instead of keeping all of those memories on our phone why not display them in our home as well? I realize you may not want to go through the hassle of finding a place to print the photos so consider the alternative: getting a digital picture frame through which you can upload photos and display an 8.x10 slide show of some of your favorite photos and memories. I purchased one for my mom a couple years ago and she loved it. Instead of having to buy a frame for each photo, she had one nice frame that cycled through many different photos. Whenever I’m not in town or she misses my father, she sits on the couch and watches the digital photo frame cycle through some of her favorite family memories. Perhaps your family members and friends would enjoy that as well.

3. Custom kitchen or living room essentials. I love getting custom gifts for someone’s wedding or baby shower, but the Christmas holidays can be a good time to purchase them as well. Instead of buying your family members something you hope they like and haven’t already bought for themselves, why not get them a custom gift? If they like wine, buy some wine glasses with their name engraved on them. If they love to cook, get aprons with their name or photo displayed on the front. If it’s a close friend, you could even go to Walmart or Target and get a pillow or blanket with one of your favorite photos printed on the fabric. Whether it’s getting something engraved or getting a photo printed, you can usually find some home décor or kitchen item that can be customized or engraved to add a special touch for the holiday season.

4. Useful items they wouldn’t think to purchase themselves. What do you get someone who has all they need and can buy whatever they want? Something useful they wouldn’t think to get for themselves. As someone who has several family members with lucrative jobs, it can be difficult figuring out what the heck I’m going to get them for Christmas. Nowadays, I just think of affordable, useful items they wouldn’t think to purchase. For example, my father owns a small business and loves to read so one year I got him several of the highest rated business books. My brothers got tired of me complaining about how little sleep I got in med school so they chipped in and got me a super comfortable mattress topper so that the little sleep I did get was more restful. My uncles were always forgetting household items when they traveled out of town so my father bought them each travel kits filled with all the grooming items they’d need during trips away from home. Whatever it is for you and your loved ones, try to think of items they’d find useful but wouldn’t think to purchase for themselves.

5. Permission to reset. Sometimes the best part of the Christmas holidays is the break we get from our everyday lives and work schedule. Instead of gifts, your family members and friends may simply need help relaxing. If they love to read, consider getting them a novel they’d find interesting, a book written by their favorite celebrity, or a non-fiction piece on a topic of interest. If they have children or a stressful job, consider getting them a massage at the spa or a gift card to their favorite salon. If they enjoy fancy dinners or happy hour drinks, then consider buying them a bottle of bubbly or setting up a small dinner with food from their favorite restaurant. Sometimes the best gifts are those that help us relax.

6. Quality time doing things they enjoy. Some of our family members aren’t really the relaxing type. They are extremely extroverted and always on-the-go traveling or doing some activity in the city. For these people, consider getting them something to help them enjoy the holidays even more. Perhaps you can find discount tickets to one of their favorite sporting events or to a popular show at the theater. If they love to eat out or cook at home, you could consider booking a cooking class with a personal chef. If they are very creative, you could consider a couples painting class. If they are a lover of music, why not give them tickets for one of their favorite music artists. Sometimes the best gifts are ones that allow us to create new memories through unique experiences.

Tell me, what are some gift ideas you have for family members and close friends?

Affordable gifts for co-workers and associates

It’s that time of the year. Along with warmer clothes and holiday decorations, the Christmas season also calls for gifts. It’s the time of year where we buy things for others to show our gratitude for all they’ve done throughout the year. While we may be excited to purchase gifts for our family members and close friends, we may feel obligated to pick up a few things for our co-workers as well. Whether it’s a “Secret Santa” or organized “Gift Exchange,” you may be at a loss of what to actually buy that won’t break your bank. Aside from mugs that break before Christmas arrives, socks we lose the match to before the year even ends, or candles full of awkward scents we’d never want in our home, we may need some new ideas on affordable gifts for co-workers and associates. Checkout some ideas below:

1. A book they wouldn’t think to get for themselves. Everything isn’t for everyone. BUT…if your co-workers are like mine, they might enjoy a good book every now and then. Whether it’s a non-fiction piece that inspires them to be a greater, a novel that allows them to escape into another world, or Do-It-Yourself guides that turn them into better cooks or workout specialists, there is something for everyone. The key with gifting a book is to understand what that person would enjoy and buy them something they’d like but wouldn’t think to purchase for themselves. If your co-workers like NBA basketball, a book about Lebron James or Michael Jordan might be great. If they love movies, getting them a book written by their favorite actress or comedian might be good.

2. Wine they would enjoy. If your co-workers are anything like mine, they enjoy a nice glass of wine every so often. Although wine is a staple “dinner-party gift,” giving it away during the holidays is usually well-received. The key to buying a good bottle of wine is getting something that you yourself have tried and know is good. It’s not enough to buy any Chardonnay or Merlot, you have to get a wine type they’d like from a brand you trust. In my personal budget-friendly opinion, wine bottles under $8 are hit or miss and many wine bottles over $30 are over-rated. However, I can always find a good bottle for $10-15. If your co-workers tend to like sweeter wines, try a Riesling over a Moscato, it’s still relatively sweet and bubbly so it may be something they’d like but haven’t had before. If your co-workers like red wine, try giving them a “red blend.” It’s a combination of 3-4 classic red wine types that provide a rich flavor and a tasty finish. If all else fails, find a sales associate, tell them the type of wine you want, and ask him/her what the most popular bottle in your target price range is. 9 times out of 10 they will lead you down the path of success.

3. Custom cards with handwritten notes. While gifts can be great, it is often the thought and meaning behind the gift that counts even more. Many of my physician colleagues aren’t exactly hurting for money and can buy themselves whatever they like so I try to stay away from super expensive gifts and instead get them something more meaningful. In fact, my brother and I try to give out hand-written cards. I’ll buy a pack of blank cards with a cute stock photo or picture of my family, then write hand-written words of appreciation, detailing how special they are to me. While this may sound a bit cumbersome, they are well-received. We all love to be thanked and valued, these words of expression can mean more than you’d imagine.

4. Framed memories of happy times. I love to give photos. With things being so digital nowadays, many people have pictures on their phones but very few have actual prints. One of the things you can do is go to the photo booth at Target or Walmart, or even the local drug store and print out one of the photos on your phone. Then buy a cute picture frame and gift them a framed memory of some happy time you two shared. As my grandmother always said, giving someone a photo with a frame is not only proper etiquette but it virtually ensures that the photo will be displayed someone in their home or office. In other words, it has a more lasting effect. Plus, it’s pretty affordable. You can get a decent photo print and an 8x10 frame for under $15.

5. Intriguing desserts that delight the palate. One of my other affordable go-to-gifts for the holiday season is dessert! If you’re a great baker than put your skills to good use, but…if you’re like me in that you usually purchase pre-made mixes, hold that thought. Instead of baking something from a box, or giving someone pre-made cookies from the grocery store, why not give them a dessert they wouldn’t think to get for themselves. Use Yelp or Google to find some of the best bakeries and chocolatiers in your city. Purchase an assortment of some of the most popular items and have them put it in a little gift basket with holiday themed wrapping and some hot chocolate mixes. We all love sweet desserts around the holidays.

Tell me, what are some other affordable gifts you give for co-workers and associates?

Priceless Advice for the Holiday Season

This is one of my favorite times of the year. Thanksgiving dinner with my family, cool air that calls for cute winter clothes, and holiday festivities that invoke the spirit of love and positivity. As we embark on this season, inevitable holiday sales may tempt us more than we can imagine. In order to deal with this temptation and stay within our budgets, we may need a little motivation to help us practice self-control. Here are a few of my favorite money quotes for the holiday season:

“No amount of money or success can take the place of time spent with family.” –  I love this quote because it reminds me of what’s most important. In my quest to find the perfect holiday gift, advance in my career, and make the most lucrative investments I can, I am reminded that it’s quality time with my family that matters the most. This quote also gives me permission to take a day off from writing articles or put my phone down for a couple hours to enjoy a holiday movie, have a large family meal, or bond with my brothers over a football game.

“If you want your children to turn out well, spend twice as much time with them and half as much money.” Abigail Van Buren coined these words and although I’ve never met her and don’t have children, this quote still resonates with me. When I reflect on my childhood and the holiday season, I have so many fond memories. Not because my father bought us the most expensive gifts or because we took the most elaborate vacations, but because we spent plenty of time together. My brothers and I went on to become the Vice President of a large corporation, a financial analyst, and a medical doctor, respectively, because of the life lessons and shared support we gave to one another. Whenever I’m stressed about spending money on gifts, I remind myself that what I lack in money I can make up for in quality time.

“Don’t save what left after spending, but spend what’s left after saving.” This Warren Buffet quote helps me keep my priorities straight, especially during the Christmas season. Black Friday is quickly approaching and I’m always tempted to spend much more than I had planned. When I was a young graduate student living in DC I’d often purchase items “on sale,” then spend the rest of the month praying that I had enough money to cover my remaining expenses. Fast forward to my current life as a doctor, and I’m definitely doing things differently. I have money in certain accounts reserved for bills. I also have money in a “holiday account” through which I saved money during the year so that the gifts I plan to purchase don’t dismantle my financial goals. I’ve learned to make sure my bills are paid, save a certain amount each month, and only spend what’s leftover.

“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” This Winston Churchill quote is something I try to remember throughout the year, especially during the holiday season. While I have several financial goals, money alone does not bring happiness and meaning to life. Instead, it’s the spirit of generosity and how we seek to positively influence the lives of those around us. Rather than only thinking of myself and my family, I try to remember those in need and give to other charities and organizations as well.

Tell me, what are some of your favorite money quotes for the holiday season?