You need to happen to stuff.

People that are wiser than me say that you need to happen to stuff, or stuff will happen to you. I have found this is especially true with money. Andrea and I have done a monthly budget for a year now, and nothing happens with our money unless it is on our budget for the month. If something happens, we have to agree to change our budget. At first this was very limiting because I wasn't able to just go buy the things I wanted.

Now, I feel more satisfied with my purchases because I have to wait to buy it, do careful research to decide that right thing, and find a deal. For example, I wanted to get a GPS unit for my car. I spent some time looking for one, and I found one from Garmin that did the things I needed. I eventually found that Amazon.com had a deal for about 40% off, so I saved about $200 on it.

This also applies to many areas of life, and I have found planning for various things far ahead makes me feel more at ease. I try to look at various time frames, such as the week, month, year to decide priorities.