This week I have come to the conclusion that I am definitely an emotional spender. Statistically more emotional spenders are women, but there are a few men in there too. They spend not because they need something, or even because they really want it, but because they have stress or problems in other areas of their lives.
People respond to stress in many different ways that are satisfying in the short run but devastating over time. I'm not one to go out when feeling sad, happy or frustrated to spend money on unnecessary clothes or shoes or even stuff for the house (the good thing about these items is you can return them to the store when you come to your senses) but I would go see a couple of movies and get the nachos, soda and probably popcorn - or I would call my friends until at least one would agree to go to dinner.
Since I’m from the South, as most of you may know food is celebrated. Think about it… a baby is born, there’s a wedding, a relationship ended or even if the world was ending. What do you do? Have a good meal with friends and family. I mean really, how can you celebrate without food? For the most part any type of celebration you can think of, there is food involved. Take a look at Cassie, Willie, and Owen’s Food for Thought blog. That’s what I do. This month alone, I’ve been out to celebrate two birthdays, a wedding, and getting a job offer. “I am feeling sad and need a pity party”, “I haven’t seen you in forever”, “Let’s just do something” and an “I’m just hungry and too tired to cook” celebration. Ok so maybe the last one was a celebration that only included myself but the point is that eating out adds up to a big problem—not only for my budget but for my waistline. Since I have exceeded my food budget this month by $6.88 I have to say no to food. :) I will be in retail therapy rehab. So far when I get the urge to go out or see a commercial for my favorite restaurant I will do something else for 10 minutes and revisit the idea later. So far it works.
Carrie sent me some articles on emotional spenders and this one lists a few great tips to work through these situations. Check out the article.
Coupons can be dangerous (with great power comes great responsibility) or at least they definitely get me into trouble. There was a point when I would cut out all of the coupons from the paper “just in case” I bought a particular item. To some extent I might have even felt obligated to try a new product when I had a coupon. This created a big problem because I was spending quite a bit on items that I did not always use. I got a little smarter and started going to Doubledays (double coupon day) at Copps, but sometimes I did not buy sale items or I would get carried away. Finally, I got smart in my grocery shopping planning. I still cut coupons but only for items I actually use. Once I cut the coupons I look through the sales flyers for the stores I typically shop. A lot of stores have those same items on sale and when you add all of this in conjunction with double coupon day…instant savings. :)
According to my astrological sign I am supposedly an indecisive person — which is quite honestly true for the most part. Not only do I have a problem with the coupons, but I am a sucker for a good sale. Thus my grocery list tends to be very fluid. The other week I went into the store for milk and eggs but ended up with milk, eggs, fruit, vegetables and a host of lunch items for work. Although, I needed these items, but I was planning to get them at a later time. The next couple of weeks, I plan to work on sticking to my grocery list.
The end of the month is near, all the bills are paid…and I’m scrambling not to use my credit cards. So far, so good, however I did have a minor set back the week before and went over my food budget by $6.24 which means the budget for this week is $43.76 not $50. Not to mention the charitable magazine subscription that I bought from a student who knocked on my door Sunday (definitely not in the budget).
It seems like when it rains it pours…not sure if I mentioned before but my sister was laid off earlier this year, my nephew graduated college and has been unsuccessful in locating full-time employment so as of last week my mother is unemployed and my Godmother is in the hospital not to mention Michael Jackson died on Thursday. Needless to say this week has been fairly stressful. I am planning to travel to Indiana this weekend to visit with my Godmother which is totally not in the budget and it is at the end of the month.
So far, things have been going well. By tracking my expenses, we discovered that I was spending a huge proportion of my expendable income on food. That includes both groceries as well as eating out, which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, considering that I was buying groceries with the intention of eating them but I was still spending money almost daily eating at various restaurants.
My financial coach, Carrie, and I set a food budget of $50 a week, which comes out to $200 a month. This includes eating out and groceries. Fifty dollars buys way more groceries—especially on double coupon days.
Also, I have been entering my receipts on a daily basis which, I must say, really discourages some of those more impulsive purchases. I used to hold on to receipts with the intent of entering them into the computer at some point, but in reality, I never got around to doing it. This will help me keep better track of my true day-to-day expenses.
This is such an exciting time in history, a time of change, and there couldn’t be a better time to change my lifestyle. I am so fortunate to have been selected for Project Money. And with so many of my friends and family losing their jobs, I am very blessed to have a position in which I enjoy and work with such great people.
Over the last few weeks I have been thinking about my family and how we deal with finances. I come from a family of hard workers, and just like my family, that is what I know how to do. Unlike my parents, I come from a generation of “buy now pay later” thinking and although I was not raised in such a manner I certainly got caught up in the same struggle as our government.
I moved to Madison almost five years ago and watched my debt balloon out of control. I am fortunate to be able to pay everything on-time; however, if there are any changes in my income or situation I certainly could be that person on the street asking for spare change. My family is excited and wishes me the best; but times are hard for them right now, so I imagine there are some mixed emotions. I embark upon Project Money with the hope of changing my financial situation but also with the hope that someone else can benefit from my experience.
I met with my financial coach, Carrie, for the first time, which was somewhat of a daunting experience only because now someone else knows all of my good, bad and poor decisions that I have made over the years. However, I must say I feel quite liberated and humbled by it all. I wrote out some of my goals for the future and Carrie set one concrete goal for me to begin my challenge. I must first pay off the credit card with the highest interest rate—which by the way is a card from my favorite clothing store. I had been paying a little more on all my bills, but this way we can pay the minimums on everything else then focus the extra money on the one bill to eliminate it the fastest. Now the hard part will be staying out of my favorite store because “who needs cute clothes?” I wonder how I will feel when the weather really starts to get nice…..
