Cell Phones

Why do I pay $60 a month for a cell phone? I know...in case of emergencies, I have kids, it's a convenience, who doesn't have a cell phone?

Well, for the sake of emergencies, can't I have a 'prepaid phone' that I can use to dial 911?

The kids can't talk to me on the cell, and the only reason to use my kids as the excuse would be in the event there's a kid emergency, so the prepaid phone that could dial 911 (or my husband) should take care of that.

Convenience? Not really. HAVING that phone on me just means that I'm more inclined to ignore the people and events going on right next to me in order to call and talk to someone who will likely ignore the people and events going on around her just so we can talk about things that may or may not matter.

I haven't fully committed to the idea of getting rid of my phone plan, but I'm looking into it. Seriously, if I look back at the list of calls from my last cell bill, I am sure I won't find one single time or call that was SO necessary that it justifies a $60 bill.

I think if I look hard enough, I will find a marketing ploy that has successfully convinced me I 'need' to pay $60 a month to have a cell phone. (kind of like that great marketing ploy that told me 'these days you just have to have a car payment.')

Another $200 to the CC

Yay!! I now have 2 schools that I proctor for, so the debt's just dropping like crazy now!! Yippee!!!

Payday :-)

I got paid yesterday for test proctoring and my first week of tutoring a new student. Yay!! I'm putting $200.00 toward the credit card.

It is a wonderful feeling to know I'm doing what I can to help secure our financial future without losing sight of my most important job...taking care of my family. I work less than 10 hours a week outside of the house...just enough to bring in some extra money, enjoy some time away from home, and not overwhelm my schedule.

My blessings are abundant.

Changing your Thinking

I heard someone say once that you won't change the way you act until you change the way you think. This is absolutely true. For example, if you want to lose weight, but you see doing so as depriving yourself of the foods you love, you just can't act in a manner that will help you lose weight. You are THINKING about it the wrong way.

The same can be said for money matters. If the idea of a "budget" equates with thoughts of deprivation, loss of fun money, clipping coupons, and so on...you will never want to sit down and write out a budget. BUT, if you start to think about your money as YOUR money that YOU CONTROL, and you want to see where it's going and make careful decisions about WHO you give your money to (i.e. Starbucks, Sonic, Department Stores, etc.), it puts you in control. It's not deprivation. It's mindful spending.

I think the ONLY way to begin to change your thinking, and therefore change the way you act (aka spend) is to READ books on money!!! How can you change your thinking if you don't know what other thoughts are out there?

I would recommend the following (I have read all of these and taken pieces of each to formulate a new way of thinking about my family's money):

The Total Money Makeover
The Automatic Millionaire
The Millionaire Next Door
America's Cheapest Family
The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom
The Budget Kit


Think you don't have time to read these books? Just take 30 minutes a day (that's ONE television show) and chip away at it. What you DON'T really have time for is to continue spending mindlessly.

:-)

America's Cheapest Family

I found this book, America's Cheapest Family, at the library and read it in one day. I HIGHLY recommend it for anyone who thinks there is no way to cut costs and start getting out of debt. I found so much of this book to be helpful in getting my mind set to tackle more cost-cutting efforts. I've already gone through our 2006 spending to see what our pattern has been, and I've made a proposed budget for spending less the rest of this year!

$350 to credit card!!

I put $350 to the credit card, and it felt GREAT!! I start a new tutoring gig in June, and I'm looking forward to adding that amount to the debt snowball.

:-)

Being Honest with Yourself

Are you being honest with yourself about your financial situation? Money matters are like weight issues. We tell ourselves we don't know why we can't lose weight as we take a bite of a BigMac. We say we can't find a way to cut expenses to save money while driving a leased SUV that gets 12 mpg.

We can tell ourselves all the things we want to just to make ourselves feel better right now. But, the true question is this: If your family lost its primary source of income tomorrow, how secure would you be? Could you pay the mortgage? Phone bill? etc. Most of us are only one financial catastrophe away from real trouble. And, the only way to change that is to take control and do something to pay off and OWN our cars, home, etc.