The Whole Buffalo

January 2009 - Posts

• The Light at the End of the Tunnel

  The Light at the End of the Tunnel               “Why are you always worrying about money?”  “Doesn’t it drive you crazy thinking about money all the time?”  “I could never be so concerned with my finances.”  I get teased all the time for my frugal habits.  The bank tellers at my local branch always laugh when I tell them there’s no need to print the balance on my deposit slip – I know it by heart.  Friends smile when I know exactly what my dinner cost, down to the 15-18% gratuity.  Even my husband gives me a hard time about my “obsession” with our finances.  But all of these people are missing the point, in one way or the other.  I’m not obsessed with our budget or fixated about our net worth.  I am aware and in charge of my financial destiny and the knowledge I have is not frightening, but rather empowering.   For the first time in my life, I don’t worry about money.  At all.  That’s right; with an unemployed husband, a toddler, uncertain economic times and considerable (but getting smaller every day) consumer debt, I have never felt as free from money fears as I do today.  There was a time in my life where every trip to the mailbox was fraught with anxiety.  After blindly swiping my credit card at the mall and jabbering away on my cell phone all day, my bills were crushing defeats.  I was so afraid of seeing how bad the damage was, I stopped opening the mail.  I would tear a stack of letters in half and deposit them in the trash without glancing inside.  My phone would ring incessantly with companies, later debt collectors, looking for a good faith payment that I was unable to make.  My phone would finally stop ringing when my provider would shut off service and I would charge my usurious bill on one of my non-maxed out credit cards.  For years I was single, with two well paying jobs, living high on the hog and digging a hole that I’m still climbing my way out of.  Now THAT was scary!  My pregnancy and the subsequent birth of my daughter were my eye opening moments.  After I returned to work (a three week maternity leave was all my family could afford), my husband and I took a long hard look at our paychecks and had a stunning realization.   We were not working for ourselves; actually, at the end of the day, credit card companies, financing companies (hello, car loan!), late fees, and interest were gobbling up our money faster then we could make it.  I had an unpaid second job; I was blindly and carelessly helping the rich get richer with my unwise and irresponsible spending.  I started opening the mail, making note of balances, calculating interest, and actually paying my bills.  I answered the phone when a collector called and worked out repayment programs.  We became current on all of our accounts and, one by one, started paying them off.  When it was all said and done, by family had about $13,000 in unsecured commercial debt (not to mention a significant car loan) to pay off.  Almost a year and a half later, my end is in sight. No matter how bad things may seem, hiding from your financial problems will not solve but only compound them.  Although we were once drowning in a sea of red ink, next month, my husband and I will be debt free for the first time in our adult lives.  Finally, we will begin working our savings, our retirement, and our dream of becoming homeowners.  Finally, our paychecks will belong to us again.  Finally, I can begin living the dream of a debt-free life.  I have saved each and every letter, bill, delinquency notice, shut off notice, and collection statement that we have received over the past 18 months.  They’re in my filing box, out of sight but never out of mind; they are a reminder of how far we have come and how easily we can go back.   I would love to hear from people who are working towards a debt free existence and know what they are looking to most about finally being out of debt.  I would also love to hear from those who are debt free on the tools they use to keep from slipping back into their old habits.  My next post will be devoted to the values I have established as part of my frugal lifestyle and their application in my soon to be debt free life.   Posted Jan 12 2009, 05:58 PM by MeghanWhitmer with 5 comment(s)

• Tightening My Belt

  Last week, on our monthly Target trip, my daughter and I ran into an unexpected problem – almost everything we were looking for was missing.  Generic diapers and wipes were not on the shelf and the loss leaders we hoped to snare were nowhere to be found either.  I found an associate and asked her to run to the back and grab us some diapers (we were almost out at home) but she politely told me it wasn’t a stocking issue.  “It’s the economy, ma’am.  We just can’t keep these things in stock.”  Looking around, I realized she must be right.  Name brand diapers were neatly stacked and cute but costly knick knacks crowded the shelves.  Fortunately, another local store had our diapers in stock but their supplies were low too.   In these troubling times, people are figuring out what a lot of us already knew – every little bit counts.             But reading the paper and surfing blogs, I sometimes get frustrated at the advice and tips I see to help hard working families like mine save money.  I don’t have a cable subscription to cancel and my grocery budget, for our family of four (big, hearty) eaters is less then $200.  No expensive hobbies or elaborate vacations to scale back or cancel.  Just an ordinary, middle class income, average consumer debt, and a true conviction that frugal living helps my family - and my world - to thrive.  As we enter a new year that presents exciting new developments and difficult challenges for all of us, I really wanted to reflect on small changes that I could make to help my family save even more.  I hope these tips are helpful to anyone who is looking to scale back even further and I would love the comment section to be filled with suggestions from like minded individuals!   Reevaluate my “needs”:  This week, I didn’t buy juice.  Even though one of my favorite brands was “stock up” at the local supermarket, I realized that we just didn’t need it.  Our water filter provides us with endless cold, fresh water and that is good enough for me, at least for now.  Sure, I only saved about $5 this week but I transferred that into my savings account and the savings of approximately $260 a year is nothing to sneeze at.      Waste not, want not:  One of the problems associated with my desire to stock up on good bargains is waste.  A pound of apples for a dollar is no steal when over half the bag spoils!  I’ve begun to take stock of what gets eaten in our house and what gets tossed into the trash.  Although we consume a minimal amount of meat, I try to freeze realistic portions so when I defrost something, there is enough for a meal (with some lunchtime leftovers) and nothing else.  From now on, Friday is Fridge Clean Out Day (Saturday is my grocery shopping day; perhaps another day would work for you).  I’m going to attempt to fashion all of Friday’s meals from food that would otherwise spoil or expire before being consumed.  This saves money, resources, and will flex my culinary imagination!    No more planning to fail:  I’m only human and I forget things all the time.   Without fail, the day I forget the diaper bag is the day my daughter has digestive gymnastics and not only needs a fresh diaper but a new change of clothes.  Now that she is older, we cannot leave the house without bags of snacks (the girl loves variety), a sippy cup, a lovie, a book… the list goes on and on.  I just fashioned an “Oh, Shoot!” bag that I popped into the backseat of my car to help me if and when I find myself in a pinch.  Depending on the ages and needs of your children (or yourself), yours might include different items but this is what I packed in mine:   Diapers, wipes, cream, and an old, clean towel to use as an impromptu changing area Ziplocs of non-perishable snacks (crackers, pretzel sticks, dried fruit) Sealed water bottle (child and adult sized) Empty sippy cup 2 stuffed animals 3 age appropriate books Headache medication (if I forget the diaper bag, I’m not having a good day) 2 full changes of clothing (weather appropriate)   This bag cost me nothing to assemble as I had all of the products in my home and used a reusable tote for packing.  Even if I only use it once or twice, it will save my time, money and aggravation knowing that I have my emergency tools on hand.   Reduce by reusing: This year, I’m giving up paper products altogether (okay, I’m still going to by toilet paper – I’m not that frugal!) in an effort to save money and the environment.  Although I don’t usually like to spend to save, I purchased cloth napkins for use during meals and have cut up some of Maggie’s more stained and lived in onesies, as well as some old bath towels to reduce our dependence on paper towels.  I’m all about changing my life to reduce my consumption of material goods, as well as saving some pennies in the long run, so once my stash of paper products is done, it is not going to be replaced.   Off the top of my head, those are the newest ways I’m saving money in 2009.  My husband was laid off in October (hence the blogging hiatus – I’m working brutal hours) and has yet to find a job so, now more then ever, I am committed to saving aggressively and intelligently.  I recently took a wonderful, relaxing week off from work and look forward to posting regularly on topics that I feel passionately about and am excited about what this year has to offer all of us!  I invite you to stop by again soon, as I'm very excited about some upcoming posts and topics that I look forward to exploring with all of you.   Happy New Year!   Posted Jan 04 2009, 10:50 PM by MeghanWhitmer with 4 comment(s) Filed under: family, savings, sustainable, responsible, frugal, new year, reuse, cutback, lay off, needs