Is It Really Yours?
I frequent a certain Internet message board that is populated with people like me - young, up-and-coming women who are just starting their lives with new marriages, careers, children. I read most everything that is posted on there, and I've learned a lot about their lifestyles. Almost daily, I am amazed at the luxuries on which these women spend their hard-earned cash. And I'm even more amazed when I hear about their relatively modest incomes.
An administrative assistant, whose husband doesn't work, spends $75 online for a package of fancy lotions and soap.
A woman whose husband has cancer is quickly drowning in medical bills, but she buys $25 salon-brand shampoo and eats out almost daily at $7 a pop.
Fancy cars bought with long-term loans or even worse, leased. Haute couture clothing. $300 spent every weekend on mindless entertainment. The list goes on.
So how can these gals afford these fancy things? Do they have rich husbands? Are they trust-fund babies? No. The answer I've found in most cases is credit cards. Yes, these indulgent little baubles can be had for a simple swipe of the plastic. No worries - the bill won't come till the end of the month, and the minimum will only be $100!
I'm being sarcastic, of course. My first reaction is to lecture these girls when they moan about not having enough money for a down payment on a house, and in the next breath gush about their latest find at Tiffany. But then I stop and pity them. They simply aren't educated about good financial habits. And neither is the majority of America, with the average citizen carrying an $8,000 balance on their credit cards.
Good financial habits don't involve paying with plastic at all, unless it's a debit card. Good financial habits mean scaling back until your credit card debt is paid off. It means bypassing that great sale at the mall and heading to the park for a nice walk and a picnic by the water. It means eliminating the expenses you don't care about so you can focus on amassing the buying power to purchase things that matter.
But it's hard to do this. Anyone who has a TV, or surfs the Internet, or reads magazines know that Americans are barraged with ads for frivolous goods every day, from restaurant food to "miracle" household cleaners. It's tough to block them out because their messages are persuasive, all dressed up with pretty colors and glossy paper. However, it's not impossible.
Right now, the financial goal of my husband and I is to get through these next few months while not totally depleting our bank account. My husband is a graduate student and he's not going to have a paid position this summer at the university. He's also taking classes, so he doesn't have time for a temporary job elsewhere. So we're going to live solely on my middle-range income for a while.
We've had to give up some things that we enjoyed, like a nice meal out every Saturday night. We haven't seen a movie in quite some time. We're making economical meals, like spaghetti, rather than the fancy European-style gourmet dishes that I love to cook. But it's OK, because those things matter less to us than having a financial leg to stand on. We remind ourselves what the alternatives would be (living paycheck to paycheck, being broke) and that keeps us on track. I even maintain a "success diary" detailing what we've done to save money. Going back and looking at it is a real motivator!
So in order to spend your money wisely, you have to sit down and decide what your goals are. Maybe you want to buy a house soon. Maybe you'd like to replace your car. Perhaps you want to pay off your debt, build up your savings, or just get new carpet for the house. It doesn't matter - it's YOUR goal, and don't worry if anyone else thinks it's stupid.
If you have trouble or get discouraged, hang a reminder on the fridge, like a picture of the car you want, or a house that you love. Hang them everywhere if you need to. Even put one in your wallet. Remember, it can be accomplished.
