Remember that whole budget mode thing I started eight months ago? While I haven’t paid everything off, I’ve made significant changes in my life that have made quite an impact. Yet there’s one thing I won’t cut out of my life. Some might even call it an obsession.
Since living alone equates to financial responsibility for all expenses, I had to realistically evaluate what defines a want vs. a need. Cable and internet? Gone, replaced by Red Box. Going out to lunch every day? Doesn’t happen, replaced by a brown bag. New clothes? Purchased only when truly needed. Painful decisions, hard to adjust to, that eliminated luxuries enjoyed by a girl who couldn’t afford them: Me.
Incidentally, the same girl who’s traveling to four out-of-state marathons next year, all which involve hefty registration fees, airline tickets, and hotel stays.
My mom pointed out if I stopped doing them for a while, I’d save a significant amount of money. And she’s right. But at the mere mention of this, my head started reeling. So I started working more part-time events, started clipping more coupons, and started watching prices even more closely. Still not satisfied, I brainstormed with friends who referred me to a credit union. Finally, a financial solution was discovered that allows me to both achieve my financial goals and travel for my marathons.
Books like The Secret claim if we think about something long enough, “the universe” will hand it over. Just like that. And while I think this is a load of crap, I can relate to an indirect truth to this theory.
I believe if we want something bad enough, and we think about it long enough, we become obsessed with it. And once we are obsessed with it, giving up on it is not an option. And because we refuse to give up, we are pushed to come up with creative solutions we may not have otherwise spent time researching and considering.
I’m in budget mode. But come hell or high water, those 50 states are getting done. No matter what, that’s the one thing I won’t give up.
What’s yours?
