live within my means

.... finding cheap things that still allow me to eat a variety of foods, with good nutritional value. I’ve got eggs, those are easy. Peanut butter and jam sandwiches aren’t too obscenely expensive. Tuna may have mercury in it (supposedly), but it works fine with mayo on whole wheat bread. I’m cooking myself spinach on a semi-regular basis, though I read it’s more nutritious raw.

I’m setting up a (monetarily) sustainable diet. Yay me.

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?

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

I know how much I have to spend per month. If I never let myself go over this amount, even if I could by going further into my overdraft, I’ll try not to.

I’ll be carrying a diary/calendar/organiser notebook with me mostly all the time, so I should get into the habit of writing down EVERYTHING I spend. Every coffee, train ticket, stamp, sandwich… clothes splurge and ebay purchase…

N.B. Unfortunately when I say ‘within my means’ this also means, as a UK student, that I need to live within the means of my student loan and parental contributions and the measly amount [in comparison] of saved money from jobs, rather than truyu within my means.