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Executive Education, Personal and Professional development Programmes
Money - Underearning: How to eliminate the pain of less than enough
Bella Enahoro
Have you ever analysed your money history? If you haven’t, think about it now - from when you first started earning money to where you are today? Has your income climbed, has it declined or has it stayed stuck at a certain level no matter what you job you do or how hard you work? Do you always struggle to make ends meet - recession or no recession?
You might be underearning without even realising it. We can underearn at a low income and underearn at a high income. There are some professions that lend themselves to underearning such as entrepreneurs, contract workers, artists and those in the professional 'care' fields but it can occur in any field if we believe that the jobs we will be hired for cannot cover our living costs.
So, what is underearning? How do we get into it and more importantly, how do we get out of it and bring in enough money?
Underearning is when we consistently and habitually bring in less money than it takes to meet our living costs. And in living this way, over time we become wired, exhausted, demoralised and live in deprivation.
Privation becomes a way of life and when we do get money, we become afraid to spend because we live in fear of running out of money, not having enough to meet rent, the mortgage, food, clothes, bills or whatever. Fear of running out, of not having money there when we need it, then affects the quality of our lives, our estimate of ourselves and how to relate to others.
Barbara Stanny and Jerrold Mundis have done seminal work in this area - unfortunately, at the time of publication, their work is not available to download. (However, their work is so valuable that we've provided paperbacks to purchase on this site.) Although Stanny’s work focuses on women, it is also useful for men. Both Stanny and Mundis have their own definitions of underearning but Mundis’ definition I think captures it well when he defines underearning as ‘repeatedly to gain less income than you need, or would be beneficial – usually for no apparent reason and despite your desire to do otherwise.’
The characteristics of underearners are usually the way they attempt to cope with the situation of not having enough money. For Jerry Mundis, underearners are usually ---
You might be underearning without even realising it. We can underearn at a low income and underearn at a high income. There are some professions that lend themselves to underearning such as entrepreneurs, contract workers, artists and those in the professional 'care' fields but it can occur in any field if we believe that the jobs we will be hired for cannot cover our living costs.
So, what is underearning? How do we get into it and more importantly, how do we get out of it and bring in enough money?
Underearning is when we consistently and habitually bring in less money than it takes to meet our living costs. And in living this way, over time we become wired, exhausted, demoralised and live in deprivation.
Privation becomes a way of life and when we do get money, we become afraid to spend because we live in fear of running out of money, not having enough to meet rent, the mortgage, food, clothes, bills or whatever. Fear of running out, of not having money there when we need it, then affects the quality of our lives, our estimate of ourselves and how to relate to others.
Barbara Stanny and Jerrold Mundis have done seminal work in this area - unfortunately, at the time of publication, their work is not available to download. (However, their work is so valuable that we've provided paperbacks to purchase on this site.) Although Stanny’s work focuses on women, it is also useful for men. Both Stanny and Mundis have their own definitions of underearning but Mundis’ definition I think captures it well when he defines underearning as ‘repeatedly to gain less income than you need, or would be beneficial – usually for no apparent reason and despite your desire to do otherwise.’
The characteristics of underearners are usually the way they attempt to cope with the situation of not having enough money. For Jerry Mundis, underearners are usually ---
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1. In debt – usually incurred to try and cover the shortfall between income and outgoings.
2. Have little savings, few assets – if we aren’t bringing in enough money to survive, then certainly saving or creating financial assets is just not feasible. 3. Are often in financial crisis - being in chaos and drama around money 4. Feel pain, stress and fear over money – as spending causes fear of not having enough or resentment at having to give from a sense of not having enough 5. Do a lot of unpaid work or low paid work – underearners have to learn to relate what they accept in pay to how much they have to spend in outgoings 6. Often come from alcoholic or otherwise troubled families – where inconsistency, irregularity and unreliability is the norm. They carry this over to their income pattern. 7. Usually resent people with money 8. Are good at finding enablers – who will cover the shortfall, so they never actually have to address the problem of not bringing in enough money at a deep level 9. Have only a vague idea of what their expenses are – as looking at what is actually happening in terms of income and outgoings scares them and makes them feel helpless |
10. See the gross and not the net – don’t understand that the net is what they get to live off
11. Are workaholic or work in cycles of excess and collapse or don’t want to work at all 12. May think there is spiritual or political virtue in having no money 13. Are proud of their ability to make do with little 14. Believe their occupation won’t allow them to make money 15. Often have clothes and other possessions that are old, worn out, or insufficient 16. Feel that eventually something will happen to make things better 17. Fill their ‘free’ time with endless little tasks and chores 18. Fear spending money and feel resentful when they must – but sometimes go on buying binges 19. Believe money would cure all their problems Profits are better than wages
Wages will make you a living, profits will make you a fortune -Jim Rohn |
How do we get free from underearning?
Firstly, I use Mundis’ definition of freedom from underearning as meaning to regularly and habitually gain enough income to meet our living costs.
I personally believe to free ourselves from underearning, it is necessary to address our beliefs about our entitlement to money, how to bring it into our lives and our sense of our own worth and the value of our capabilities.
Key beginning practical steps include ---
1. DO NOT TAKE WORK THAT PAYS US LESS THAT WE NEED - underearners customarily take jobs below their educational and skill levels which usually pays less than needed to meet living costs.
2. From this day forward, whatever happens, DO NOT INCURR NEW DEBT
3. Further, we don’t necessarily want to cut expenses so much as work out how to increase our income.
It’s not necessary to settle for less than we deserve. First we must find out what we deserve. I invite you to consider that you deserve to have your needs met, you deserve a sense of your own worth, you deserve power and freedom in your life, you deserve to have your work respected, you deserve to be compensated such that you can cover your living costs.
Resolve today to choose to have enough money and beyond that become a high earner. This is not about working harder or even working smarter, it’s about working your life and finances right.
Copyright ©Bella Enahoro Apr 2011
For more articles go to MORE
Firstly, I use Mundis’ definition of freedom from underearning as meaning to regularly and habitually gain enough income to meet our living costs.
I personally believe to free ourselves from underearning, it is necessary to address our beliefs about our entitlement to money, how to bring it into our lives and our sense of our own worth and the value of our capabilities.
Key beginning practical steps include ---
1. DO NOT TAKE WORK THAT PAYS US LESS THAT WE NEED - underearners customarily take jobs below their educational and skill levels which usually pays less than needed to meet living costs.
2. From this day forward, whatever happens, DO NOT INCURR NEW DEBT
3. Further, we don’t necessarily want to cut expenses so much as work out how to increase our income.
It’s not necessary to settle for less than we deserve. First we must find out what we deserve. I invite you to consider that you deserve to have your needs met, you deserve a sense of your own worth, you deserve power and freedom in your life, you deserve to have your work respected, you deserve to be compensated such that you can cover your living costs.
Resolve today to choose to have enough money and beyond that become a high earner. This is not about working harder or even working smarter, it’s about working your life and finances right.
Copyright ©Bella Enahoro Apr 2011
For more articles go to MORE
