Fwd: Simple Times - 04/05/08 - Financial denial; drowning in debt

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Simple Times

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Vol. 10, No. 7 -- April 5th, 2008

http://thesimplemom.wordpress.com/

debi

Copyright 2008 Deborah Taylor-Hough

ISSN: 1527-1269

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Celebrating 10+ years of saving your time, money and sanity!

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IN THIS ISSUE:

-- " Dear Readers "

-- Simple Living Quote

-- Drowning in Debt? 10 Ways to Put the Brakes on Your Spending

-- Don't Bury Your Head in the Sand!

-- Letters to the Editor / Reader Tips

-- Assorted Information (archives, etc.)

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< < < O.U.R S.P.O.N.S.O.R > > >

 

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" I have to say I'm so glad I purchased your DebtIntoWealth

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a car loan so I could buy a new home, and get me and my 4

girls out of our 2-bedroom apartment. It worked! It's now 9

months later and ALL of my debt is paid off, and I just

signed a contract on a new 5-bedroom house! There is no

better feeling than to have NO debts, and a savings account

too! Thanks to your system, my family is going to have a

better life by not being enslaved to debt. "

- Katrina S. in Houston, TX

 

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Dear Readers,

 

I found myself wondering this morning how other parents use the

Internet and other modern technologies to further their children's

education. Any thoughts?

 

My kids really seem to understand the whole idea of research due

to having access to the Internet. For example, my son saw a movie

last week that had been based loosely on Chinese folklore. He found

himself fascinated by some of the concepts in the movie, and now he's

spent a great deal of his free time this week investigating the truths

and myths behind the movie's inspiration.

 

I remember being younger and thinking, " Wow, I'd really love to know

more about that. " But it would've taken a trip to the library and possibly

weeks of waiting for books to arrive through inter-library loan, etc. By

then, the desire to know more about the topic would've passed on to

something else.

 

I think it's exciting to see my kids able to follow those " I wonder? "

moments through to their conclusion with just a click or two of the

computer's mouse.

 

Simply Yours,

 

Debi

(Deborah Taylor-Hough)

Editor, Simple Times Email Newsletter

--Author of the popular 'Frozen Assets' series; 'A Simple Choice: A

practical guide for saving your time, money & sanity'; and 'Frugal

Living for Dummies®

--Editor, Simple Times, Solo Parents, and Bright-Kids email newsletters

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Visit my new site!

http://thesimplemom.wordpress.com/

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SIMPLE LIVING QUOTE

 

" Frugality is one of the most beautiful and joyful words in the English

language, and yet one that we are culturally cut off from understanding

and enjoying. The consumption society has made us feel that happiness

lies in having things, and has failed to teach us the happiness of not

having things. "

 

--Elise Boulding

 

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DROWNING IN DEBT? 10 WAYS TO PUT THE BRAKES ON

YOUR SPENDING

Copyright Kathleen Bren

Used with permission from EzineArticles.com.

All rights reserved.

 

 

1) Spend less than you make

 

The first key to putting the reins on your spending is to modify the

way you think about your debt. A great way to feel like you make

more money is to spend less than you take home each month.

 

 

2) Buy in bulk

 

If you normally shop at the neighborhood grocery store, you could

save an average of 10-20 percent on your grocery bill by buying larger

packages and bigger quantities. Also, consider purchasing a member-

ship at a wholesale warehouse like Costco or Sam's Club, to get

discounts on bulk.

 

 

3) Pay cash

 

If you can't afford to buy what you need or want with cash, then don't

buy it at all. Get out of the habit of making purchases with credit cards.

When you pay for purchases with cash, you actually think about the

number of hours you worked just to afford that particular item.

 

When you pay with plastic, there is no mental or emotional link to the

hard work required to foot the tab. It is just plain too easy to make the

purchase today and deal with the consequences later.

 

 

4) Dine in

 

Make a point to make your lunch for work in the morning before you

leave, as well as to eat in at night. Eating out is expensive and if you

do it often you are creating a " leaking faucet " that your money is gushing

out of.

 

 

5) Break out the scissors

 

Cutting up your credit cards will take away any possibility that you will

" slip " or " fall off the wagon " and go on a wild spending spree when you

have had a particularly bad day at the office.

 

If the credit cards are not in your wallet, you won't be able to use them.

 

Period!

 

 

6) Forgo the new wardrobe

 

Some of you are in the habit of buying a new wardrobe every season, or

at least every year. Forgo the new wardrobe for a season or two and only

buy the absolute necessities.

 

No one cares if you show up to work in last year's pants, nor will they

know. Make it a habit of buying clothes that are classically fashionable

and never go out of style. It will save you lots of money.

 

 

7) Ditch the designer labels

 

If you do need to replace a few items, or reward yourself in a small way,

consider buying inexpensive designer look-alikes. You will buy essentially

the same item for a fraction of the price and you can put the dollars you

save toward paying off one of your debts. It's a win-win situation!

 

 

8) Nix the accessories

 

If you have a tendency to buy shoes, handbags, scarves and jewelry to

match every outfit, you might want to ask yourself how many accessory

items you really need. Chances are you need very few and are over

spending in this area.

 

 

9) Use public transportation or carpool

 

Riding the bus or train to work is a great way to save on gas and wear

and tear on your vehicle. It allows you the chance to read a good book

or prepare for the day ahead, and it is less stressful than commuting in

rush-hour traffic.

 

If you must drive, consider carpooling with one or two other people who

live near you. I carpooled with two of my co-workers for several years

and really enjoyed having someone to chat with on the way to and from

work.

 

 

10) Pay cash for the car

 

Car payments take up gobs of cash and last on average from five to

seven years. If you lease a car, it is even worse. Lease payments never

end!

 

Drive a beater if you have to and save the money you need to pay cash

for your car. There are many high quality used vehicles on the market

today.

 

In addition, vehicles readily depreciate in value so they are NOT

considered

a good form of debt. What this means is not only are you paying interest

on the loan value of the car, but the car is going down in value while

your

car payments remain the same.

 

 

Getting out of debt takes time, effort and the willingness to make changes

in ones life. Implementing one or several of these steps will drastically

reduce your debt, worry and stress levels.

 

Give it a try. You have nothing to lose except your debt!

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

--Kathleen Bren is a certified Career and Life Coach who specializes in

helping coaches, consultants and solo-preneurs get out of debt, make

more money and have more fun! Her latest book, Ditch Your Debt: From

Zero to Hero in 7 Easy Steps is a detailed, step-by-step program to

getting out of debt and living a more prosperous life. Find out more at:

http://www.kathleenbren.com/ditchyourdebt.htm

 

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kathleen_Bren

 

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DON'T BURY YOUR HEAD IN THE SAND!

Copyright Jill Cooper and Tawra Kellam

Used with permission. All rights reserved.

http://www.LivingOnADime.com/

 

 

I had a dog once, who when I would scold him, would run and

hide under the bed. He knew he had done something wrong

and thought that by hiding he wouldn't get into trouble as much.

I think he figured if he couldn't see me, I couldn't see him and

he wouldn't get scolded.

 

There was just one slight problem. He couldn't fit under the bed.

Only his head and front paws were hidden but his back half was

in full view. He had put himself in the worst possible position, but

since he had buried himself under the bed, he didn't know that.

 

It's human (and critter) nature to think that if I don't acknowledge

something that it won't come to pass or it will go away and I

won't have to deal with it. We are often like the two-year-old who

thinks there's a monster in his room. He will cover his head up

with a pillow thinking, " If I can't see the monster then the monster

can't see me and it will go away. "

 

We, as adults, laugh and think how silly this is. We know that

if there really WAS a monster, hiding our head under a pillow

wouldn't help us. If anything, hiding our heads would make it

worse because we can't see what the monster is doing, and

so we're unable to come up with a plan of attack to protect

ourselves. Meanwhile, the monster takes a bite out of our

britches.

 

Even though we find the dog or the two-year-old's actions

foolish and amusing, many of us do the very same thing when

we don't deal with our financial situation and our debt. Have you

ever decided not to open a bill or look at a credit card statement

because you don't want to know what the balance is? Clicking

your heels and saying, " There's no place like home " isn't going

to help.

 

How about your bank statement? Do you balance it every month,

or just throw it in with the pile of unopened bills because you don't

want to know how much is in your account?

 

I hear someone saying, " But I don't know how to balance it. " Then

learn. There isn't a bank in the world that isn't willing to show you

how to balance a checkbook if you ask.

 

My grandson in the third grade has enough math skills to balance

a checkbook but I often hear from college graduates, full of pride

with their degrees, that they can't balance a bank statement. It's

just another excuse that helps them keep their heads buried in

the sand. Learning to balance your checkbook is much easier,

much less time consuming and much less stressful than hiding

from the monster.

 

Another excuse many people use is refusing to use cash. Often

when helping people get their credit card debt under control, I

suggest that they get rid of the credit cards and just carry a small

amount of cash in their wallet. The first thing that I always hear

(and I have honestly never had anyone yet say anything different)

is " I can't carry cash because I will spend it " . This statement makes

no sense to me. What do they think they are doing when they pull

out their credit cards to buy something? Lack of self control is lack

of self control no matter how you package it.

 

(If your financial situation is fully under control, but you use a credit

card for convenience or for reward points or some other reason

and pay it off every month, this isn't referring to you.)

 

If you allow yourself $20 cash, don't keep credit cards in your wallet,

and you're shopping you MAY spend the full $20, but when it's

gone there just " ain't no more " to spend. On the other hand, when

you use a credit card, once you spend $20, you can pull it out again

and spend another $20 and another and then maybe even $100. You

don't even have to keep track of how much you spend for the day.

Just stuff the receipt away and put your head under the bed!

 

If you have a credit card problem, you'll end up spending 2-4 times

as much more with the credit card than if you just use cash. But this

is why people in financial denial love credit cards -- they don't have

to acknowledge or see how much they have spent. " If I don't see it,

it won't hurt me. "

 

The Bible says, " When I was a child I talked like a child, I thought

like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put

away childish things. " (1 Corinthians 13:11) We need to put away

childish or foolish actions where our money is concerned and start

using adult reasoning concerning it.

 

If this is you, stop burying your head in the sand! Stop being afraid

and start taking an honest look at your finances. Open those bills,

balance those bank statements and acknowledge how much you

spend! Then figure out how to get it under control.

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

--Jill Cooper and Tawra Kellam are frugal living experts and the

editors of http://www.LivingOnADime.com/ . As a single mother

of two, Jill Cooper started her own business without any capital

and paid off $35,000 debt in five years on $1,000 a month income.

Tawra and her husband paid off $20,000 debt in five years on

$22,000 a year income.

 

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Feel free to forward this newsletter to your family and friends. :-)

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR / READER TIPS

We'd love to hear YOUR tips and ideas for simplifying daily life.

Send your simple living comments/tips to: DSimple

 

 

= Creative Crafts =

I have taught crafts to kids for years, and I find that allowing them

to be creative builds self-esteem and enthusiasm about the craft.

For example, one year I taught a group of kids how to make Santa

Claus magnets out of wood pieces, and rather then having them

paint Santa Claus red and white, I let them pick the colors. They

were so pleased to have made something unique and different and

I think they enjoyed having control over their own creativity.

--Chiki D.

 

 

= Springtime Family Fun =

Two of our family's favorite springtime activities are, 1) watching

silkworm caterpillars become moths (I bought the larvae online),

and 2) running an experiment to see what kinds of materials birds

like to use in their nests (I bought a kit online). The nest kit has

four little hanging cages with various stuff in them, such as yarn

and straw. You could make your own -- I bought mine because

when I saw it, I thought it was so cute and it had never occurred

to me to do that before. Enjoy spring!

--Tabatha

 

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SIMPLE TIMES RECOMMENDED BOOKS

Book list for frugality and simple living

Go to: http://snurl.com/simplebooks

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As always, a special " Thank you! " goes out to Gary Foreman

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Feel free to forward this newsletter to your family and friends. :-)

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EDITOR'S BOOKS AND AUDIO RESOURCES:

Books and resources by Deborah Taylor-Hough

Editor, Simple Times Email Newsletter

http://snurl.com/debisbooks

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DEBI'S ON-LINE RESOURCES:

Personal Blog: http://dsimple.wordpress.com/

Frugality/Simplicity: http://thesimplemom.wordpress.com

Cooking Ahead: http://frozenassets.wordpress.com/

Bright-Kids: http://brightkids.wordpress.com

Tupperware®: http://snurl.com/DebiTupperware

Kids' Books: http://snurl.com/books4kids

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