Jul
5
Resisting the Computer Temptation
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Well the other day I went to Best Buy, and decided to browse. My laptop battery is gone and so it requires me to keep things plugged in all the time. Not too fun, but not anything that will kill me.
So I start getting the idea in my head that I want to get one of those little mobile internet PC’s that are good for mainly browsing.
Could I justify that I should get one since after all my laptop wasn’t so mobile anymore? I stopped to ask myself some serious questions.
Why do I need this? Can I live without it? Will it really be of great benefit or is it just a novelty that will wear off like everything else? (Thats a long one) Will I really just be blowing money I don’t have to spend?
I am proud to say that after looking over the sleek and cool small PC’s, that I have resisted the temptation to buy one. In all honesty, I really don’t need one, and when do I actually not have a plug when I take my laptop with me to a friends house or stay at a motel occasionally?
If you don’t need it, resist the temptation to spend money that you can’t recoup in some valuable way. That makes me think of all the other gadgets which we could forgo. Hmm…… I may have to talk about that next time.
Jun
16
Well I haven’t written in a few days, and I thought I would write about being broke. It’s not something that we like, but it is a fact of life. The question is can we take something positive away from it once we get money?
Here is what I would like to propose to all of you that have debt, and are broke right now. Take this as a learning lesson. Lets break this down for a moment. When you have money in your pocket, you can easily spend it on things you think you need. When you all the sudden are broke you are able to somehow get by. It really comes down to having options.
Here is what I want you to do. When you get your next pay check or get money from somewhere, I want you to continue in the mindset you had when you had no money in the bank or in your pocket. Pay all your bills first, then buy groceries, then whatever you have left, put it in a jar, or put it all in a savings account. Make sure you have just enough for gas to get around for the next week or 2, and live broke!
This is going to accomplish several things. It is going to prepare you for when you really are broke, and it is going to teach you to live within your means. living within our means is probably the thing that gets so many of us in trouble and in debt. But enough on that. That for another day.
Jun
9
My budgeting talk may not be as snazzy as J over at BudgetsAreSexy.com, but I can tell you one thing. I did bring lunch today and yesterday. The new article he wrote on bringing lunch or buying lunch reassured me I was doing the right thing when today all my co-workers asked me if I was going to eat Quiznos (chicken carbonara fan), and I replied with a…”I think I am going to eat my bowl of soup I brought.” Yes it sucks sometimes but you gotta do it. I can’t even begin to tell you folks how much loot I was spending on eating out before I came to my senses.
Lets just say on the low end I was spending 6 bucks a day on food. Multiply that times 30 days a month. Thats $180 bucks just on lunch. Wowsers!
But lets just talk about the type of food you eat at work if you BYOL (bring your own lunch). I ate soup today that consisted of lentils, celery, ham pieces, spices and garlic. This meal in all cost about $6 bucks to make and will last me at least 6 meals. Now I don’t know about you but I can’t stomach PB&J all week like J can.
What I can tell you is that you can still have a tasty meal despite the fact that you aren’t going to eat with your co-workers during the week. Another great meal that I am going to eat tomorrow is pasta with italian sausage. The total cost of that meal was 8 bucks and will feed me about 5 times.
Enough about what I am eating, the point is that unless you want to throw away money that you will never see again eating lunch then “BYOL”. Here is how I try to look at things. Lunch is cheap, but Dinner time can be nicer. If you are already blowing money eating out for those 2 meals, at least cut back on one. In the process you should be able to save yourself a cool $150-250 a month. Good thing I don’t drink Starbucks or I would really be screwed 