How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Margin

What do you need to feel safe? How do you make yourself safe?

Would you stand on the edge of a cliff if you were afraid of falling? Would you go to the edge every day, knowing what would happen if you went an inch too far? If you build a railing to keep yourself away from the edge, to protect yourself from getting too close, would you cross it? You wouldn't do it with your life, so why would you do it with your money?

I've been attending church for the past few weeks, and while I'm not going to get into the biblical aspects of the message, I want to share the effect it had on me. They've had a series the past few weeks called "Margins." Margin is defined as the space between your current activity and your limits. They've applied the idea of margin to time management, ethical behavior, and this week: money.

I can identify with the struggle to put distance between yourself and your limits. My mom lost her job at the beginning of this summer, and we've been living on a tighter budget ever since. I've done my best not to worry about it though. There's money in the bank, and Joshua's job isn't ideal but it is reliable.

But when Joshua walked into our bedroom Sunday morning with an ad for a laptop at Walmart that was as good as mine (we paid $1000 for mine a couple years back when the market was less desperate) for $400. I told him that making a purchase like that scared me, because we only have so much money, and I didn't know how to feel safe about money. Then we went to church without making a decision, and lo and behold, the message was about how to live with financial margin. Perfect timing.

We shouldn't have to worry about money. If you think about it, the more you have the more you have to lose. The more money your job makes, the more competitive your position is. The more money you make, the more stress money creates. Seems like it would be the other way around, and I think at a certain point it is. If you don't make enough money to survive you're not secure. If you're in deep debt because you're living on more money than you make, then you're not secure. But if you're making a million dollars a year and spending a million dollars a year, then you're not secure, either.

It's all about the buffer zone. If you're using every penny you make, when an emergency happens you have to rush to cover your ass. But if you have a buffer zone - an emergency fund - a margin - call it what you want, if you leave little wiggle room you won't end up in a tight spot. So Joshua and I had a long talk about what it takes for me to feel safe about money. For me, that's Living Expenses + Commitments +$1,000. If I have $1,000 in savings and have all my bills paid for, the rest is just icing. If I feel safe, I'm not going to freak out over a small or even a large purchase. That surprise car repair is no big deal. If I feel safe I don't start fights with my beautiful Joshua when he makes a purchase that threatens my sense of security. So Joshua got himself a laptop. And I feel safe. Everyone wins.

How much money do you need to feel safe? Think about it.