I finally got my hands on Cashflow the E-game. I have been wearing it out! Since I've received the game, I've played it no less that once a day, sometimes as much as four or five times a day! Seriously, it is that much fun and really addictive. It has been said that when you play, you will learn alot about the money behavior of the players. I've only been playing with computer players, so the behavior I have been observing is my own.

I love the way the Income Statement and the Balance Sheet are structured on the game. It was so easy to use and easy to read. Every time something had been bought, sold or changed, I had to update both the income statement and balance sheet. When I played the game for the first time, that was hard, because I didn't truly understand the relationship between the two documents, although I had read about the relationship before. Actually doing it was another story. I finally got the hang of it, and was so inspired, that I finally did my own financial statement for the very first time.

I knew for a long time that I needed to do a financial statement, but I really dreaded the thought of doing it. I made up so many excuses. The best on was, get this, "I'm too broke to do a financial statement! I already know I don't make the money I want. I don't need another piece of paper to tell me that!"

Had to let that go! When I did, another one came up: "I'm not good at math! I hate math. Math was the hardest subject for me at school!"

Once I realized that this only takes fourth grade math skills, the next one was, "I'll make mistakes again and will have to do it too many times to get it right!"

So , I realized that I'm not doing it for my lawyer, accountant or banker, just me. So doing it over and over will be ok.

I finally did! And you know what? It was hard! And I had to do it over and over again. But I finally got it right!
Seeing my financial situation on paper was interesting. I am more aware of my "money holes", where my money is falling out. I had some idea about it, but seeing it on paper makes me focus more energy of fixing those problems. I also see what area I need to focus on to make more money.

I also need a specific goal. You have to choose a goal in the game before you start. Having a concrete goal really pumps me to keep playing and keep track of my progress and not get too distracted by other "money holes". I need a specific money goal, like "I want to make $_______ by (insert time frame). I have never done that before. I always just got whatever came my way and went from there.

Playing this game also made me think alot about my dance career. All this time, I NEVER connected my money to my career. I never had a goal for my money or even the money made from my career. I did things with no plan, no goal, no real direction. I made money, paid off the bills, paid the performers, myself and was fortunate to actually have something left over. I am really blessed that my business was successful. It may not have been profitable, but it was successful in many ways. Yet I knew there was something I was missing, and it did long for that success in profitability.

I have had my eyes opened and I have a whole lot more work to do, but I'm really proud of my progress so far! Learning more is so exciting!
Some other things I learned:
*I don't know enough about stocks and investing. I pass up alot of good investing opportunities, because of my lack of knowledge in that area. It cost me alot in the game. I will be doing more reading in investing.
*An auditor (someone to check your financial statement) is necessary in the game and in life. In the game, the computer was my auditor, and it would automatically tell me when something was wrong. When I did my own statement, I didn't have an auditor, which is why I had to do it so many times to get it right. Next time, I will have some one look over it to tell me what I'm missing.

Off to play again!