I recently went to a friend’s home and had the pleasure of reading a book to her 4-year-old granddaughter and I had forgotten how wise these children’s books are. Written by adults for children, but with a message in the story for all of us. The book was called “Days with Frog and Toad,” written by Arnold Lobel. The story starts with Toad waking up one morning and complaining about his messy house and how many jobs he had to do. He exclaims to Frog that he is going back to bed and will do it all tomorrow, saying “today I will take life easy.”

Now, how many of us keep procrastinating about everything we do in our lives today. Not just house-hold chores, but how about furthering our career, going back to school, asking for that raise or promotion; or what about just saving for your retirement and lowering your debt. Especially now, life can be tough in this economic environment. But the problem lies with putting things off more and more when the tomorrow you were waiting for has come and gone many times over. You see, if you keep putting it off, then it’s never going to happen, and the only one you will have to blame is of course, yourself. If you don’t save for retirement, you will have no money to retire on. If you don’t work at paying off your debt and your mortgage, you will always have debt, and the banks and credit card companies will continue to make money off you. If you keep wishing and dreaming about being successful, but take no action or plan to do so, you will always have less than you think you deserve.

Of course, throughout the story, Toad realizes that he will have an enormous amount of work to do by procrastinating and putting everything off till tomorrow so he decides to do one job, then another, then another, until he has completed everything he would have been burdened with the next day. “There,” said Toad. “Now I feel better. I am not in the dumps anymore.” “Why?” asked Frog. “Because I have done all that work,” said Toad. “Now I can save tomorrow for something that I really want to do.” “What is that?” asked Frog. “Now, I can just take life easy” said Toad and he went back to bed. What if you did this too? Take one job at a time. You will never climb a mountain until you take the first step, right?

Let’s look at an example, say balancing your budget to live completely on your take-home income. Get a journal, log every purchase and expense and find out where your money is going. Once that is done, create a monthly budget that you can live with and look for ways to lower costs to pay off your debt. Better still, why not think of ways you can make more money to improve your finances. Should you get a different job. Could you downsize to a more “livable” situation. Once you begin, it becomes like a slow-moving train struggling to get out of the station. The more things you accomplish, the more you improve, the faster that train moves towards your goals and future financial freedom.

If you are finding things difficult, and plan on putting off the solution to fix it, again – seek professional advice. You can’t know everything. Talk to an accountant, financial planner or even a social worker. Don’t let the worry about money or your “to-do list” have a toxic effect on the rest of your life. Believe you’re worth more and pull away from other procrastinators. The confidence and security of knowing you will be okay at retirement or should an unforeseen tragedy happen is invaluable. It provides you with the power to deal with current life issues. You will be happier, more confident, and more prepared to be successful in all aspects of your life and career. And of course, then you can say what Toad said: “Now I can take life easy.”

Good Luck and Best Wishes,

Money Lady

Written by Christine Ibbotson, Author, Finance Writer and Syndicated Money Coach on BNN Bloomberg. Christine is also part of the everyday lineup on Good Morning America and CBS This Morning. No AI. If you have a money question you want answered FREE – send it to: info@askthemoneyladyusa.com.