⬆️ **Disclaimer – the above picture is NOT a photo of my pool or my house, though luckily for me, that is my wife! 🔥 

The above picture was taken at a home my wife and I were asked to take care of while the owners were away. This is the property we spend the majority of our Saturdays at, though probably not as you might imagine. You see, most Saturdays you won’t find us here lounging by the pool, cold drinks in our hands. No, you will find us here with sweat on our brows and dirt under our nails. We’ll be pushing around wheelbarrows full of mulch, building fences, and pulling weeds under the hot Sydney sun. This is our 3rd job. Most days for us look more like this. ⤵️

 This contrast has taught me an invaluable lesson which I like to call ‘Future vs. Friday.’

It’s pretty simple really. I believe that far too many people end up buried in debt because they live for their Fridays, yet those who succeed with finances are the few who choose to delay gratification and live instead for their Future. To me this has become more than just a catchy cliche. The phrase has burrowed itself deep into my being and now speaks out as if it were my conscience. Whenever I find myself about to make an impulse purchase, I must first answer the question: will this  benefit my Future or my Friday? If it is a bar of chocolate or a stop to McDonalds, it is easy to answer and often keeps me on the road and out of the drive-through.

This turns out to be more than just a few dollars saved a week. This is putting a discipline into my life which firmly states that I control where my money goes! I recently heard it said that “rich people stay rich by living like they are poor, while poor people stay poor by living like they are rich.” I mean ask yourself this, do you really even remember the purchases you made a year ago which you just “had to have” in the moment? Chances are they are probably as lost to you as the money you spent to get them.

Growing up, my Uncle would always advise me that before I made a large purchase (anything over $100) to wait and sit on it for a few days. If I still wanted it after that period of time, then it was something worth my money. Using this, I’ve found that 90% of the time whatever it was I wanted in the moment had lost its appeal to me a week later! On the flip side, the 10% of things that I have spent a lot of money on, I still value and use today. All those years ago, my wise Uncle was teaching me a principle which still holds true. It is this – ‘Future vs. Friday.’

This principle applies to more than just trivial purchases though. It is a question of are you willing to sacrifice now and build a future for your tomorrow? Or will you only live to please yourself today? Maybe if you are a student in college watching the loans pile up it means taking on a side-job or starting a business alongside your studies to keep the debt monster away. Or maybe it means deciding to rent a home for a few years longer until you can actually purchase the home you’ve been dreaming of with cash. It won’t be easy but it will be worth it.

So this week, I challenge you: before you let your money slip through your fingers ask yourself this question, will this purchase benefit my Future or my Friday? Don’t be one of the people who dreams of spending their Saturdays lounging by a beautiful pool, but never sees it happen because they’ve never spent a Saturday hard at work in the gardens. 

We are better together.

-FF