I have 4 bags of turmeric in my kitchen. Like… big bags of it.

I don’t really use turmeric for anything. Yet… I have soooooo much of it.

Why is that?

Well, because every time a recipe calls for it (probably a grand total of 4 times) I assume I don’t have it. And purchase myself a fresh new bag.

This happens at the grocery store all the time. I end up in the aisle staring at the spices, or the veggies, trying to remember what’s in my fridge. The more I strain to picture whether there’s a green pepper in the drawer, the more my imagination ‘helps out’ by filling out my mental fridge with all the things that I would want.

But… if my actual fridge is as full as the one in my head…. Then why did I even come to the grocery store?? CHECK MATE BRAIN.

And so I just buy everything.

And now I have 4 bags of turmeric. Mystery solved.

The lesson? Before you even think about getting something new, or changing something, make sure you know what you already have.

And the metaphor comes crashing down!! MWA HAHA… I’m of course talking about your finances.

BOOM.

Didn’t see that coming did y… oh… you did? Whatever…. Want some turmeric?

I’ve talked before about how important it is to start TRACKING YOUR SPENDING. And then there’s also FIGURING OUT YOUR NET WORTH. Both important parts of getting to know the ‘financial you’. But there are a few more things to know…. And remember…  just like tracking your spending, or looking at your net worth, this isn’t a judgement-fest. It’s just for your information.

Here are some other financial friends that you should really spend some time with:

What a delightful crew of misfits… what could there possibly be to know…?

Your bank:

You picked him as a friend when you were a teenager, because he lived next door. And for some reason you haven’t re-evaluated that decision since.

The tough questions:
– What kind of fees am I being charged?
– Are they for services I actually use?

I was “thrilled” to find out that I was paying more than 250 dollars in fees every year to my bank… for services I didn’t use, or need. Best friend ever?

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Your savings:

It doesn’t matter if he’s a big chunk, or a little chunk.. it’s not his size that matters, but what he’s doing and where he’s spending all his time. Well, it’s time for you to spend some time with this little cutey. Often we put money away into an account that’s called ‘savings’ and never think of it again.

The tough questions:
– Where am I keeping my savings?
– What kind of interest rate am I getting?
– Is it keeping up with inflation?

Interest rates suck right now, but there are degrees of suckiness… which end of the spectrum is your money on?

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Your debt:

Wait. I thought we were getting to know our financial friends? Well, it’s time to include the little weirdo on the playground who’s melting plastic spoons and that no one wants to play with. He may not be a friend, but he’s a big part of your life, and you have to get to know him.

The tough questions:
– How much is there?
– Who do you owe money to?
– What are the monthly minimum payments? (Or in the case of student loans, what will the monthly minimums be?)
– What kind of interest are they charging?

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Your investments:

“Wait. I don’t have investments.”, you say. Well, just think of them as that friend that never seems to be around, so you start forgetting about him. He may not be part of your life now, but he’s going to play a huge role in your future.

The tough questions (and with investments… you should ask a lot of them):
Do you have an RRSP sitting somewhere? A stock certificate from your grandpa?
– How much is even in there?
– What am I invested in? Mutual fund? GIC? Derivatives (probably not)
– What fees am I paying? (Usually the things they like to pass off on us unsuspecting people have significant fees. Sometimes they lie and say “there are  no fees”. There are definitely fees.) 

When I signed up for my first RRSP it was through the Actors’ Equity union and I had no idea what I was doing. I just checked some random boxes on a form. When I went back later I realized it wasn’t a good fit for me at all. This is a situation in which you can’t be scared to ask a lot of questions. You should NEVER be invested in something you don’t understand. If you already have some investments … it’s time to figure them out. Ring up the people in charge and start asking questions.

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Other assets:

What else do you have that’s worth money? A house, land in the Philippines, a rare and wonderful collection of toy boats? You don’t have to figure out what everything in your house is worth, but make sure you do know the big things. It all factors in to your financial health.

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Before you can start doing anything else, you need to know what’s in your financial cupboard, so to speak. Are there redundancies? Are there spices that you have no use for?

In order for your finances to work, you need to know about, and understand everything that you use. And that isn’t as daunting as it sounds.

In most cases it just means simplifying what you already have. You probably don’t need all the crazy complicated stuff. You just need a couple of things that are right for the kooky, beautiful snowflake you are.

And if you end up needing turmeric…

You know who to call… seriously…

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