For the past few months I’ve been stressing about money. Actually, more like for the better part of a year off and on I’ve been stressing about it. Last year I was in a pretty good place financially when I purchased my condo, even with the expenses of moving in I wasn’t doing so badly. Then the summer hit and a few things went out of control, unexpected expenses that hit us all at one time or another in life. Without the cash to cover them they went on the credit cards. I spent the fall working to get them taken care of, and then the holidays hit. After the holidays I spent the better part of the winter working on getting them down, only to see them go back up again. Finally realizing this up and down battle is getting me no where…fast…I decided to take charge. To be honest, I’ve been pretty lazy about my financial situation for many years now. Feeling that, hey, I make good money, I can afford this or I can say yes to that has gone on for far too long. It scares me to think what I could have in my savings right now had I just been smarter here and there. I won’t say I regret any of the big things I’ve done (my travels, my condo, etc) those are experiences that have changed my life. I just wish those times when it was the end of the paycheck period before the next one came and I went to that dinner with friends and put it on the credit card, or bought those clothes that probably right now have been given to good will that I regret. I wish I would have thought more about those purchases and said, nope, not this time – but next time when I have the cash on hand.
Finally, realizing in the last few weeks how lackadaisical I’ve been in my own financial future, I decided to make a real change. I’ve done some serious research and taken some steps to get myself set to right. One of my goals on my 101 list is to pay off my credit card. To do that I’ve decided to transfer my balance to a 0% interest credit card and I have until Aug next year to pay off my balance in full. I’ve also started drinking coffee at home, eating breakfast at home, and bringing my lunch to work and for every day I would have spent money on lunch I have set up an automatic payment in that amount to go towards my credit card balance. I’ve also started paying attention to the way in which I shop for food. I don’t price shop, nor do I go to the cheapest grocery store. I go to the most convenient and buy whatever I feel like. This doesn’t always amount to much in the way of saving money. I have made a pact with myself to create a meal plan for every week and when shopping on Sunday’s, buy what’s on sale, what’s cheapest, and this also helps me with staying healthy. Also, stealing an idea from a friend of mine, I’ve started the $5 savings plan. Every time she has a $5 bill on her, she throws it into a savings jar. By doing this it forces her to pull out cash for things she wants to do or buy. She said it’s made her more aware of how she spends her money and $5 adds up faster than say $1 so it’s more incentive to keep doing it. I shall start this as well and at the end of every month, throw that money into my savings account.
With the help of someone pretty fantastic supporting me on this mission and giving me some sound advice (like up the amount you put into your 401k damn it and please for the love of God set up an ing savings account) I think I am finally on a solid path to a secure financial future. Then again, if this doesn’t work, there’s always the lottery!
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