Layout:
Home > Archive: March, 2006

Archive for March, 2006

Peer Pressure

March 30th, 2006 at 06:48 pm

For April I've decided to take a much more aggressive route toward paying down my credit cards. Everyone likes to say that they are credit card debt free and I want to too! Too large of a balance to pay off in 1 month, but I can double the payments to $1000 a month and have 3 cards that I do carry a balance on paid off in 5 1/2 months. Will not also be saving $1000 a month like I intended, but this seems like the smarter thing to do.

I've never felt they were that much of a burden but now I'm embarrassed about it. Many of my friends have so much debt and I see how much it makes them worry. I just want to take a proactive measure to stop it before it comes worse.

I need motivation daily to keep my goals in mind, but it's starting to become a habit to try to find ways to spend less. I'm just trying to make the smartest decisions I can. I want to feel like I'm going somewhere.

Bigger Rewards

March 24th, 2006 at 07:41 pm

I've accomplished my goal for this month of saving $1000. It hasn't been a struggle, but some months I think it will. It feels so much better to work and achieve a goal than it would have felt to go and buy a new outfit. (Although looking good does make me very happy.)
This should be a good weekend. Fiance won 1000 at poker last night, so he should be in a good mood for a while. Making money is his favorite thing to do. He'll probably just use this money to keep funding his habit, which is fine because I think an idle man is a dangerous man. He has more than enough hobbies to keep him out of trouble and some of them we do together.
Shopping for the last couple of years has been the thing I did while he was playing golf, but I have to find a new hobby this year. I'm more interested in taking care of the house and gardening than in the past and since we've become closer to the neighbors, it's nice to spend time outside. In the afternoon on the weekends we go out on the boat and relax. Summer is definitely our favorite season. It seems like it will never get here at this point. It was snowing when I came into work this morning. I'm not complaining though because the snow makes me want to stay indoors where there aren't too many temptations to spend money.

New Goal

March 22nd, 2006 at 07:17 pm

I've written about what I've been doing right this year, but I still need to work on the things that I can improve on.
The category that has the most potential for improvement is "Beauty Services", which totaled 298.00 in Feb. this year, and included hair cut/color, 2 nail fill ins, and tanning. I don't tan every month, but I do get highlights every four weeks. I could stretch that out a bit longer, and the same goes for the nails. Wouldn't be so bad if I didn't also have a category for "Beauty Products", but that is usually under $70 per month. Still seems a little high for hairspray and lipstick.
My goal for April is going to be to keep those expenses under $250.

What I'm Doing Now

March 21st, 2006 at 02:37 pm

I've been keeping track since January of everything I've spent this year. I like doing it and it's helped me see where my money is going. I've been able to spend less every month since I started tracking it. Before this, spending and credit cards were getting a little out of control. I feel really proud of myself, but I'm not getting credit from other people that I feel I deserve!

Good things I've done so far this year:
$500 per month toward paying off credit card debt
12% into retirement account
Consolidated student loans
Saving $1000 per month

And the most amazing thing:
Spent less than $100 on clothing

I'm lucky that my living expenses are taken care of by someone else, but now that we are getting married, I feel it's only right that I contribute more to the housing, utility, and car expenses.

On an average day, I don't spend any money, I bring healthy food to work and I've replaced shopping with working out (lost 10 lbs so far this year!). I buy the groceries, but we only eat salads so that only amounts to about $300 per month.

My weakness is shopping, but I'm trying to only buy clothing that I need and that is on sale. It also helps to remind myself that I need to pay for things I've already bought instead of new things.

I've also started transferring as much money as possible into my savings account so that I only have the money I need in my main checking account. It's easy enough to transfer it back in case of emergency. Logic being that I can't spend it if I don't have it. Or I just take cash if I'm going somewhere with too many temptations. It feels good to tell myself no.

Fighting Spending Urges

March 20th, 2006 at 08:26 pm

My #1 priority has become saving money. I'm recently engaged, so I feel more obligation to make good spending decisions. I'm starting out trying to save $1,000 per month which is very doable. I have to cut out some shopping, but I'm finding that easier than I anticipated. I can't cut out everything, because some things would make me unhappy to be without. There are so many temptations, but I'm determined to stick with this for the sake of our future.