On a positive note:
– I finally returned my overdue library book.
– I got a free lunch (if I eat 10 times at the company-subsidized restaurant I get my 11th meal free).
– I filled my DCRA claim for a couple months and expect to receive a check back for $1000.00

I hate being in this situation. Our expenses are much too high for our income. We’ve been trying to pack lunch this week but that seems almost like a quaint attempt to solve a collosal problem. Kind of like the dutch boy and his frickin’ thumb.

We’ve had some unexpected expenses in the last month:

– over $2000 in car repair

–over $1200 in house repairs (have to fix a retaining wall)

My husband’s car is about to die. Today it did peter out and he had to have it towed. This means another expense (1) repair and (2) rental car.

One step forward and about four steps back. Should I feel good about even noticing the steps back and forth?

#1. We paid our bills on time.
If you’re like me and work full time, have 2 kids then you are exhausted at the end of the day and probably find it hard to find the time to stay on top of the bills. A few weeks ago I made a note in my calendar at work to pay bills on 15-May. I get paid on this day so I knew I would have the money. I noted which bills to pay and how much. I was easily able to do this from my desk at work thanks to online bill pay.

#2. I didn’t pay for any coffee. (Did Noma?)
Now that I’ve said “stop the madness” I get a sick satisfaction from walking by Starbucks. That little voice inside says “Nope, don’t want to be a sucker. I’ll keep my $3.50, thank you very much.”

#3. I packed lunch for my husband and I two days this week.
So, it isn’t every day but it’s better than nothing. Together this saved anywhere from $25 to $35. That adds up.
#4. I went to the gym 2 days this week.
Ok, so it may not be directly related to reducing debt. But as Tricia from Blogging Away Debt knows there’s a correlation to trying to get rid of debt and get rid of excess weight. Also, as many others have noted there’s a cost to poor health.

#5. I got my husband to close a bank account that had a negative balance.
My husband opened a checking account and was slowly letting it die on the vine. I let him know that he needed to revive it with a cash infusion or close it out. Getting a statement with a negative balance just won’t do. He closed it!

#6. We snowflaked some money.
I have an automatic deposit for health care reimbursements. I received a $100 deposit for a dr. visit. My husband snowflaked this towards our CC debt.

#7. I taught my kids a lesson about spending money.
My daughter LOVES money and she doesn’t like to spend it. She has it neatly organized in a little box in her bedroom. She recently received about $60 from various relatives for her 7th birthday. My daughter and son were at the drugstore with me asking for toys. I normally just say “nope.” But this week I told her that if she wanted to buy them she would have to use her birthday money. She asked me how much items cost and made a decision about how much she would be willing to give up to have an item. When we got home I showed her the receipt and took the money from her box. While I don’t need that extra $15.00 I do feel that she needs to understand that things cost money and that every decision has a consequence. I was happy to have the opportunity to show her this. She seemed to appreciate it as well.

#8. I blogged.
Blogging about the challenges we face as well as our goals has really helped me stay focused on what we need to achieve.

#9. I shopped at the cheaper Grocery Store.
I really like shopping at Gelson’s. It’s a pleasant experience all around. However, as one my friends put it their motto should be “why pay less.” I’m trying to retrain myself….Instead of driving East I’m forcing myself to go West to Albertson’s which offers much cheaper prices. With my Albertson’s card I supposedly had a $10.43 savings today. Who knows? I should take my receipt to Gelson’s and calculate the costs of what the items would have been. If I did that then I would reinforce the need to shop at less pleasant but much cheaper store.

10. I entered our expenses in Liquid Ledger
This helps us know how much money we really have.

We only get the Sunday newspaper delivered. Otherwise I read all my papers online. One feature I particularly like is the New York Times’ “Most Emailed Articles List.”

I would argue that atleast half of these articles cover financial issues and that the topics covered include a desire to rein in spending and focus on what our core values are as individuals, families and citizens.

A sampling of what I’m seeing:

#1 most emailed article — Five Basics for Building a Solid Financial Future
I like this mantra “Index (mostly). Save a ton. Reallocate infrequently.”

#3 most emailed article — “Chasing Utopia, A Family Imagines No Possessions“
While this family’s dream seems a bit unrealistic to me (do they have homesteading skills?) I understand the desire to get rid of possessions. Almost everyone I know wants to stop accumulating things. It’s a burden and it drains our energy.

#7 most emailed article “Hard Roads Ahead“
I think this quotation says it all “The role of the federal government in improving secondary education should be one of the major issues in the presidential campaign, but it’s not. The U.S. has stopped dealing honestly with difficult and complex problems. Politicians (and not just John McCain, by any means) spin fantasies of a wondrous, cost-free future. No investment and no sacrifice necessary.”

In the posting here’s what GRS says:

Kiyosaki divides financial intelligence into five “Financial IQs”:

1. Making more money. This is measured by how much money you earn. If you make $100,000 a year, you have a higher Financial IQ than someone earning $30,000 a year.
2. Protecting your money. Once you earn your money, you need to hold onto it. Protecting your money, especially from taxes, is the second Financial IQ.
3. Budgeting your money. “Being able to live well and still invest no matter how much you make requires a high level of financial intelligence,” Kiyosaki writes. This Financial IQ is measured by how much money you have left after expenses.
4. Leveraging your money. This Financial IQ is measured by return on investment. How well do you make your budget surplus generate more money?
5. Improving your financial information. Financial information doesn’t just mean knowledge of basic financial concepts — it also means detailed knowledge of the investments you make.

So, what’ is our Financial IQ? This is scary to contemplate…I may need to sleep on this…

I’m not quite up to snowflaking yet….but I’m back on track ready to make things happen.

What can I commit to today? Here’s my list for Thursday:

1.) Pack my lunch
– I bought turkey and cheese and will pack a sandwich, an apple and a granola bar. I will try to enjoy it. No promises there.

2.) Drink free coffee
– No fancy lattes for me. The institutional free coffee or the good stuff at home. That’s it.

3.) Pay my bills tomorrow (payday)
– Some of the bills may not be due until the end of the month but I’ll aim to pay as many tomorrow to avoid late fees which I’ve been stung for due to the LONG period of time in which it takes epayments to clear (Don’t get me started on that one!). Another benefit of paying bills on payday is to keep up my financial awareness. Don’t want to think I have more money than I do…

4.) Return my library books!

That’s it for Thursday. If I do more, great. If not, this is enough.

The choices our government has made directly parallel our the poor choices we’ve made as consumers. I don’t know one American who feels proud of the decisions our government has made in the last 8 years. I don’t know one person who voted for President Bush (or admits to it). And yet we have him leading our country. It’s an embarassment at best. I also don’t know many people who think it wise to defer their gratification to live below their means. So many people live at the edge of their means or well above it. We suffer from political and financial amnesia and it threatens us as individuals as well as Americans. How can we let our governments spend so little money on education and healthcare? How can we allow ourselves to become victims of our own greed and take on more than we can afford? Here’s a great quotation from the article:

We are not as powerful as we used to be because over the past three decades, the Asian values of our parents’ generation — work hard, study, save, invest, live within your means — have given way to subprime values: “You can have the American dream — a house — with no money down and no payments for two years.”

I also appreciated the sentiment expressed in the last paragraph of the piece:

Much nonsense has been written about how Hillary Clinton is “toughening up” Barack Obama so he’ll be tough enough to withstand Republican attacks. Sorry, we don’t need a president who is tough enough to withstand the lies of his opponents. We need a president who is tough enough to tell the truth to the American people. Any one of the candidates can answer the Red Phone at 3 a.m. in the White House bedroom. I’m voting for the one who can talk straight to the American people on national TV — at 8 p.m. — from the White House East Room.

Amen. I really want to be hopeful again.

I could spend a bunch of time trying to account for why we lost track of our goal and how we racked up more debt. But I’m guessing that’s a bit boring. And yet, I wonder from a psychological standpoint, is it helpful to review the past in great detail? Will this truly help us or prevent us from moving forward? Hmmmm….I suppose there’s not a straightforward answer to that question. Shrink husband, what say you?

To tackle our debts we clearly need to look back to understand how we have spent our money and what our pitfalls were. In looking for patterns we can identify areas for improvement. But what does it take to move beyond the past and really take control of our financial decisions? Here are some suggestions:

1.) Look at past spending — If you have been using Quicken or Liquid Ledger run some reports to see how you’ve spent your money for the past 12 months. You may be surprised at what you find.

2.) Identify areas for improvement — Be realistic. Don’t go from eating lunch out everyday to packing a lunch every day and never eating out. Being absolute is a surefire recipe for failure.

3.) Remember that every decision you make about how to spend your money is a choice. — Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you need something or that you are entitled to it. Remember that you are in charge of financial choices and every choice has options and consequences.

Snowflaking, as I understand it, is the practice of immediately applying any extra funds, however humble, to one’s credit card balance. Intuitively, this seems to be a great idea. Rather than just make the necessary minimum payments, keep chucking money at the debt, grinding it away by attrition. Another key idea seems to be selling of junk, unneeded stuff, finding other ways to make a little extra cash, and, you guessed it — snowflake it.

Iconic power? LadyDough informs me that there are snowflake icons all over the debt reduction world. Obviously, this is an idea flourishing within a subculture — like a new chess opening, or a surgical procedure — an idea that only a select few are gorging themselves on. It’s time has come?

Carnival, carnival, carnival. It’s so much more fun when subculture concepts emerge out of an organic communication process, rather than medical research or academia. So I’m revving up for debt reduction. Can’t wait for my first snowflake. Don’t hesitate. Let’s get this country out of debt! Get thee to the carnival. Many links!