Put Your Pants On!

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I recently told a story about how when I was a child I woke up one morning and went to greet my grandfather in my underwear. His response to me was "Go put some pants on!" Now this lesson can be interpreted in many different ways but financially speaking there are too many people who not only get caught with their "pants down" but with their pants completely off!

Putting your pants on speaks to general preparedness. If you're walking around your home without pants on and someone breaks in or there is a fire forcing you to evacuate, the likely first thing you will think of is "where are my pants?!" There is a cost of a lack of preparedness.

That lack of preparedness makes you a reactive spender, a gambler disguised as an investor, and/or someone running on a financial hamster wheel.
You live paycheck to paycheck. You cannot take advantage of lucrative investment opportunities. You scramble in the event of financial emergency.
In fact 60% Americans don't even have $1000 in savings for an unexpected expense.

The best ways to get (and stay) prepared include :

Budgeting - an understanding of the inputs and outputs relating to income and expenses with regular audits.

Paying yourself first- Making sure to live under your means by taking a percentage of all you make for you (and only you) before you start spending or repaying debts.

Multiple Streams of income - Finding ways to generate income that supplement your primary income through side hustles, investment returns, royalties, etc. ​

In the words of my grandfather, "Put your pants on!" so that when an opportunity (or emergency) arises, you are in the best place to take action without wondering where your pants are