{"id":3815,"date":"2021-05-31T08:00:09","date_gmt":"2021-05-31T06:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/contattoblogs.timslatter.co.za\/?p=3812"},"modified":"2021-05-31T08:00:09","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T06:00:09","slug":"im-not-sure-i-want-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zcp.co.za\/main\/im-not-sure-i-want-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019m not sure I want to know"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a story that was told many years ago (it may or may not be true\u2026) about a Microsoft call-centre agent and their call with a deeply irate customer. Having recently purchased a computer that came pre-installed with Windows, the customer called to find out why his computer would not respond.<\/span><\/p>\n

It goes a little like this:<\/span><\/p>\n

Call-center Agent (CCA): Thank you for verifying your purchase; how can we help you today?<\/span><\/p>\n

Customer (C): My computer isn\u2019t responding, and I\u2019ve tried everything!<\/span><\/p>\n

CCA: Thank you for that feedback. What do you see on your screen?<\/span><\/p>\n

C: Nothing!! Absolutely nothing!<\/span><\/p>\n

CCA: Please press control, alt and delete together. Has that helped?<\/span><\/p>\n

C: No – nothing has happened. I\u2019ve tried all of this already!!<\/span><\/p>\n

CCA: Is there an error message on your screen?<\/span><\/p>\n

C: No – the screen is just black.<\/span><\/p>\n

CCA: Is your screen on? Do you see the power light on in the bottom corner?<\/span><\/p>\n

C: No – there is no power light on. (becoming more amiable) I don\u2019t think the screen is on.<\/span><\/p>\n

CCA: Is it plugged into the back of your computer correctly?<\/span><\/p>\n

C: Hold on, I\u2019ll follow the cable and check. (a few seconds pass) I can\u2019t see behind the computer; it\u2019s too dark.<\/span><\/p>\n

CCA: Are you able to turn the lights on to check?<\/span><\/p>\n

C: No, I can\u2019t; we\u2019re currently having load-shedding.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes, our biggest problems are our most basic problems. And, we can\u2019t always see them ourselves until someone else reminds us. When it comes to financial planning and managing our money, it\u2019s easy to become side-tracked by big ideas, fancy strategies, forecasting and spreadsheets, and overlook the basic starting blocks of budgeting. We miss what\u2019s happening right in front of us.<\/span><\/p>\n

Budgeting helps us stay connected to what\u2019s happening with our money right now. So – why don\u2019t we do it religiously?<\/span><\/p>\n

Carl Richards, a regular contributor to the New York Times, shares some reasons for why we allow this to happen.<\/span><\/p>\n

1- It\u2019s not fun.<\/b><\/p>\n

True. But remember, as Stephen Covey says, \u201cIf the ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step we take just gets us to the wrong place faster.\u201d Budgeting is how we make sure our spending ladder is leaning against the right wall.<\/span><\/p>\n

2- I already know where my money is going.<\/b><\/p>\n

No, you don\u2019t. Sorry. Unless you track your spending, you don\u2019t have a clue where your money goes. Everyone I\u2019ve ever seen go through the process of tracking spending for 30 days usually ends up saying some version of, \u201cI had no idea I was spending that much on X.”<\/span><\/p>\n

3- I\u2019m not sure I want to know.<\/b><\/p>\n

I think this is the biggest mental hurdle. The reality is that as we become aware of what and how we\u2019re spending, we\u2019ll find some things that surprise and bother us. Then we have to decide: Do we want to change?<\/span><\/p>\n

Carl goes on to suggest four ways to get back to the basics of budgeting:<\/span><\/p>\n

1- Try tracking your spending for 30 days.<\/span><\/p>\n

2- Don\u2019t stress about what app to use.<\/span><\/p>\n

3- Just carry around a pen and a little notebook, and each time you make a purchase, write down what you spent and how it made you feel.<\/span><\/p>\n

4- At the end of the month, go back through your notebook and just notice. Become aware. That\u2019s it.<\/span><\/p>\n

The glamorous side of managing our money is making purchases that make us feel better – not in tracking our spending. But, the feel-good side of managing our money is in regaining and maintaining control of what we can do with our money, which starts with budgeting.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Carl said, it\u2019s not about making significant changes. At first, it\u2019s just about becoming more aware and noticing what\u2019s going on, noticing things that we may have missed or overlooked.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The result is that we will be more mindful and have more control over our money; and that\u2019s worth knowing.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a story that was told many years ago (it may or may not be true\u2026) about a Microsoft call-centre agent and their call with a deeply irate customer. Having recently purchased a computer that came pre-installed with Windows, the customer called to find out why his computer would not respond. It goes a little […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3816,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,28],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3815","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-blog","8":"category-market","10":"post-with-thumbnail","11":"post-with-thumbnail-large"},"yoast_head":"\nI\u2019m not sure I want to know - ZC PRETORIUS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/zcp.co.za\/main\/im-not-sure-i-want-to-know\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I\u2019m not sure I want to know - ZC PRETORIUS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There\u2019s a story that was told many years ago (it may or may not be true\u2026) about a Microsoft call-centre agent and their call with a deeply irate customer. 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