Money Smarts Don’t Always Come Naturally
I owe more money than I make Money is just one of those things that drive me crazy. My mind sees money as fluid – leaking everywhere quickly, much faster than I can gather it up. At other times, money simply becomes a vapor that… POOF! disappears before I even get to see it. Like watching a magician, it’s all illusion. I’m finally understanding that despite this feeling that I don’t have any control over my money, my bills and yes, even my debts – I DO have absolute control over every cent I earn and spend. One way or another – the money comes in then goes out.
Being smart about money doesn’t come naturally for me. I don’t think it’s because I’m a woman – instead, I just never took the time to figure out how and where I lose money then stop those money leaks.
The question then is….
Where do I want MY money, My earnings to go?
Actually, since I moved back to Northern Maine and started a new job – I’ve done a much better job of controlling where money comes from AND where it goes. It’s all in my BUDGET.
Always before I seemed to fly by the seat of my pants – buying things my kids asked for, lending money to others that were worse at budgeting than even me and simply not keeping track of where my money goes.
Now I keep track of where my money goes – every day AND I stick to my budget. It’s still a losely defined budget because I’m adjusting to living in a new place with winter just arriving (heating oil, YIKES!)
The Good News
Because I have been so cautious about where my money goes and in what order I pay my bills, I was able to take advantage of a big blowout sale at JCPenny here to get a winter coat for Caleb plus several pairs of pants for both of the boys. They had a buy one, get one for .99 cents so each pair ended up being $8 – I even got a couple shirts with the same deal.
It was nice to know I was getting a good deal – great price, high quality AND even better, that I had the money set aside so I could buy what the boys needed. I saw lines of people there paying these great SALES prices with credit cards.
Unless they pay those purchases off within the same billing cycle – they will end up paying MORE due to interest rates and compounding interest. The great deals wouldn’t look so great in the end.
I plan to do Christmas the same way – very carefully 
Tags: bills, budget, Budgeting, Credit Cards, debt, feature, money, money smart, saving money, Women
