Tag Archives: Budget

I’m In Love!

Posted on January 12, 2012 | Leave a comment

I’m in love! His first name is “Remote,” last name “Start.” We have a dependable two-way communication that never fails. When the Wisconsin weather is gloomy and cold, he is nothing short of reliable. And quite chivalrous, too! Despite not having a garage, my car is always heated up in the bitter, snowy, and cold Wisconsin winters.

We all know I cancelled cable, internet, and curbed any sort of “extra” spending this year (though I plan to make an exception when it comes to traveling for my marathons). Despite all of this budgeting, I’m quite convinced remote start is one luxury item I could not live without. The other? My Keurig coffee maker.

I may not have a dishwasher, the ability to surf the web at home, a covered spot for my vehicle, or an easy way to catch up on Grey’s Anatomy but my God this woman is gonna have damn good coffee and a warm car!

Yesterday I attended a tourism exchange and had the pleasure of listening to a great presenter. She discussed current studies reflect we are spending less overall, but spending more on specific items. We are choosing carefully, and gladly paying up for those choices.

It got me thinking. What are the things I “can’t live without” and how do I arrive at the conclusion I need  something vs. I want  something. How do I decide what to sacrifice in order to save money, and what factors influence those decisions?

As I become more involved in my career, and spend more hours in the office, I notice many of my luxury items revolve around saving time. I’m willing to pay more for things that make my life easier. In return, I’m able to spend an extra few minutes finishing up emails, or sending out contracts. It’s the checking-book equivalent of the circle of life. Money in from the job, money out on things to cater to a career-minded lifestyle.

Which makes me curious. What luxury items can’t you live without?

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The Thing About Diets

Posted on December 11, 2011 | 2 Comments

In theory, diets are so simple. It’s basic logic, really: eat healthy, exercise more, and the numbers on the scale will decrease.  The same applies to my budget plan: spend less, save more, and the dollars in debt will decrease.

But the thing about diets is they suck.

Turns out, budgeting isn’t a picnic, either. The last official weekend with service, I prepared to cancel DirectTV by camping out in my basement watching all the shows still on my DVR. I sent out some melodramatic tweets, and said goodbye to comfy nights in pajamas and fast forwarding through commercial breaks after long days at work. It was the couch potato equivalent of eating an entire chocolate cake the night before starting a new diet.

Similar to the way I execute diets, on the day I planned to make this big change, I failed. I got home from work much later than anticipated, and it just seemed like too much of a hassle to change into gym clothes and drive somewhere to watch television, never mind workout. After all, wine and a remote control were right downstairs. I needed just one more day.

The next day over lunch, my guilt and determination dialed the 800 number to take care of it. And just like that, I had a television that only worked when watching something on the DVD player. Budget mode, whether I liked it or not, had begun.

It’s only been a week, but I’ve reluctantly managed to make some changes. I now brown bag my lunch every day. Considering I usually eat at my desk, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and an apple will do. Recently, I was the recipient of a Target gift card. In the past I absolutely would have justified fun purchases that I truly don’t need, especially since this was a gift. Instead, I used it to buy necessities and finish most of my Christmas shopping. While I haven’t rented anything from Red Box yet, it’s great to know a movie is just a dollar away. When I need to use my laptop, a cheap cup of coffee down the street gets me a table, chair, outlet, and free Wi-Fi. As for my favorite shows, I made a schedule so I know when to head over to the gym and watch them while working out on a treadmill.

Honestly, the thing about diets and budgets is they are easy to plan. Simple, disciplined, calculated logic helps you reach the results you want over time. But since you got yourself to a place where you needed a plan to undo years of bad habits, right now I have only one thought.

This sucks.

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A Penny Saved

Posted on November 7, 2011 | 4 Comments

As we approach St. Nick’s Day, I fondly think of my baby brother.

Years ago on the night of December 5th, we had just finished explaining St. Nick would deliver coins and candies in any shoes left outside his door overnight. After hearing this, he proceeded to sneak around the house collecting as many shoes as he could find. He managed to swipe several pairs from each of our closets. He then set them all out, pair by pair, in front of his door.

My mom, being a good sport, put pennies and candies in each and every shoe. He was *beyond* excited when he woke up the next morning, delightfully adding and re-adding all of his coins throughout the day. He was convinced he had outsmarted St. Nick and the rest of us.

Cue in 2011. At 31, I’m not a kid anymore. I’m living on my own with my small  petting zoo and a passion for traveling and marathons. Money, or a lack thereof,  as always been something on my mind. I’d like to do Ironman 2013. I’d like to have more spending money. I’d like to have a bigger savings account and a separate “In Case of Emergency” account. To do all of this, I need to pay off my credit card debt. With December 6th approaching, it would be great if I could just set a few pairs of shoes outside my door and collect some extra money. But, the world doesn’t work that way.

Instead, I put the word out to friends who needed cat sitters, dog sitters, house sitters, and baby sitters that I was for hire. I cancelled my online dating site subscription. I then re-evaluated my budget to figure out where to make cuts. A quick call to DirectTV revealed my contract was up soon and I could officially cancel cable as of December 6th. I had to make a decision.

Minor panic set in. Could I actually go *without* television?

After an hour of deliberation, I decided yes – in my own home, at least. I can take the $77 per month spent on DirectTV and put it into debt. I won’t buy the equipment needed to watch free local channels. Anytime I need  want to watch television, there are some perfectly good sets attached to equipment at the gym. Castle on Monday nights? It’s the same show playing on a treadmill as it is from my basement. Grey’s Anatomy? The plot doesn’t change when watching on a stationary bike. And Pan Am and Revenge will come in just fine from an elliptical machine.

Then I remembered work will reimburse us $50 (taxed) if we go to a gym at least 12 times per month. Add that to the $77 additional debt payment and we’re on a roll. Oh and hey – not going on those blind dates will cut down on purchasing new clothes and money spent on drinks and appetizers. And wait a minute…I can brown bag my lunch to work every day and cut down on my Subway spending.

I’m 100% committing all of these financial changes starting on St. Nick’s Day: December 6th. Just as St. Nick is fiction, so is the idea that I can’t make cuts to my expenses. And while my mother may not be sneaking extra pennies into my shoes at night, looks like I found a way to outsmart my own budget.

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