live within my means

I know some people might say that it sounds nice but not reasonable to live within their means. To which I say if it is not reasonable to live within your means, how much more reasonable is it to be able to live beyond your means in addition to the growing interest that comes along with debt?

We refinanced our house successfully. We got 4.875 percent instead of 6.5 that we were paying, so this made a $133 difference in our payments. Also, it simplifies my life because the loan got sold to the same bank that handles my checking and savings account. It will be easy to pay online, set up alerts, etc.

We’ll see how long I can keep from blowing it on something unnecessary.

1. find a job so I actually have income :)
2. develop budget in Quicken
3. complete local requirements for massage out-call business
4. build my massage out-call business into a consistent income stream
5. establish a debt payment plan
6. refine my budget to reflect long-term & short-term goals
7. learn how to do maintenance & repair tasks myself, where possible
8. save for school (tuition, books, supplies, other expenses)
9. follow Simple Dollar strategy to tie work tasks to dreams
10. research frugality, simple living, investing & personal finance
11. pay off all debts (Dad, George, student loans)
12. find scholarship/grants for school
13. pay for school w/savings, graduated payments & scholarship/grants
14. decide on long-term savings/investment strategy
15. research savings/investment vehicles
16. save for boat & cruising kitty

As I read news stories I’ve found one recurring story: ‘Debt’

Is this debt or slavery?

Be honest… Don’t be a slave to a bank. Work for yourself.

I’ve got some student loans, but right now I need to pay off my plastic.

So it’s the end of the year and accounting time. I did rack up some credit card debt over the course of the year. Nothing I couldn’t pay off over time, but still, month to month, I didn’t do a good job of managing my expenditures. I think I just have a problem with entitlement… I’ll be so good for a while and then I get cranky and feel like I’ve been depriving myself and I “deserve” something, and then I wind up spending more money than I can really justify on something.

I’ve gotten the everyday stuff under control, I’m not running out throwing a $20 dvd on the stack every time I go to Target or anything, but the every-so-often and impulse expenditures are harder to rein in … and when I do badly, then I feel horrible about myself (sometimes out of proportion with what I actually spent). So, rather than doing what I’ve been doing—which is having a monthly budget for each category (like, $x for clothes, and $x for music/dvds, or whatever), I’m going to eliminate all those specifics and just say I have a, say, $x “fun stuff” budget, and that has to pay for my clothes and food and whatever. So hopefully that will give me some flexibility to be stupid without feeling like a complete jerk because “that wasn’t in the budget,” but still keep the spending overall in line with income, so I do not add up any more debt.

i hate the fact that a lot of people think that you have to have a lot of money to do what you want and be happy. this is simply not true! i dont make a lot of money, i am by no means rich, but i have a great life, all it needs is a little more management so that i can further expand my horizons!!! it is hard to do, but this is your one shot at life, why not do all that you possibly can?

So getting out of credit card debt is alot closer than I thought, more like June 2009. I’m pretty excited about this! I have also stopped using my debt card so much which is saving me alot of money on small purchases. I instead take out money with my paycheck for food, personal items, and going out. I have done pretty well with the food and going out. The personal items is alittle more than I thought it would be. But i still have money right now which is a big deal! I am looking forward to being able to finally save money each month. I am also moving, so that will save me money since my apartment is sucking my money out of me.

-Stop carrying around credit cards.
-Create a spending plan for every paycheck.

So i have started writing down everything that I buy and what bills i have. I no longer am using my credit cards unless its for a real reason like buying new eye glasses. I still have enough debt to shake a stick at but I do feel better about it. I just wish that I could stay with someone for free,ha, for a couple of months and my credit card debt would be almost gone because of my decent salary. But that is not how it will work I can imagine, so I will continue to slowing get rid of my debt and hopefully in 2 years or so I will have no more debt to speak of. Bring on 2010!