A Response To June's Topic of the Month

Hey Ladies,

I hope the start of summer has been great for many of you. As we approach July, and living through a recession and all the other host of summer activities I thought it would be a good idea to talk about cutting expenses while still living a comfortable life.

Many have called, text or simply responded by phone and shared how things are really tight for them this year. Many of my circle have been laid off from their jobs, thankfully most found all new career opportunities, but much like myself either took a significant pay cut, or some got a pay increase but no longer receives a bonus. Some have even taken a career change by choice to be more fulfilled and happy but in doing so took a financial cut. So lets talk about some cost saving alternatives for the summer. Budgets are tight, and prices are rising. The first thing you want to do is be honest with yourself and your current financial situation. Get to the root cause of why are you in this situation. Not the surface issue (I just lost my job, paycheck is less), no get to the root cause so this wont repeat itself again. Did you over extend yourself in credit, did you buy new items because they were fashionable but did not need them, did you over indulge your children when you really did not have it, did you buy a new car when the old one was just fine, does your spouse not work, is their a viable reason why he does not work, are you enabling a family member by always financially supporting them, and coming up with excuses for why you are or have to help them? Again ask yourself the root cause of the problem, then develop a plan for tomorrow to correct past bad habits. Get yourself an old excel spreadsheet, or go to Susie Orman website and she has a financial worksheet to help. Write down every single thing you have to pay (lights, gas, phone, cell, insurance, car notes, credit cards, mortgage, lunch money, salon appt, movies, drinks, grocery, gym, kids camps etc) and basically go old school add up the bills per month, then add up whats coming in the door. If you have a negative balance in the end, go back up and look at your list and look at things you could cut in half or remove. Remove them temporarily until you can get back on your feet. If your financial hole is greater than 100.00, something will have to change, which may involve you working a part-time job, or your spouse working a part-time job, or even Hell, you both working a part time job. Now I can not lie, working a part-time job is not appealing, but losing your house, apartment, car is much worse then working a part-time job to get your household in order. If you have dead weight which is extracting from your incoming an causing this negative impact on you financially you may need to think about why you insist on holding on to the dead weight. Usually you will find this has nothing to do with the other person or your circumstances, it is usually fear of letting someone down or even being alone. Never a good reason to let someone drain you. Set some financial boundaries and if they can not comply you decide with the help of praying how you want to live the remainder of your life.

Some cost cutters, if you have a cell phone, change your cell phone plan, get unlimited texting, and text more than using the phone, and only use the phone for emergencies, or after 7pm or 9pm depending on when the plan starts calls for free. Talk on the weekend when its free, join a friends and family free plan, or talk unlimited to those who have the same carrier as yourself. Cut that cell phone bill down by 50-60 dollars. Do you have to have cable? If so do you need 500+ channels, probably not. Shrink that cable bill down by 50-60 dollars with basic, or basic with one premium channel. Do you have a house phone but you talk on your cell phone majority of the time, cut that home phone bill from 70.oo to 11.00 dollars by having a basic line, do you really need 3 way calling, call waiting etc. Probably not. Do you buy a new outfit once a week or once a month, cut that bill down to every 60-90 days and stay out of the mall. If your pants are too big, take them to the cleaners to take them in, if they are too small or worn, try shopping on line through Ebay, Overstock or other online discounters. You can find a designer pair of pants for 20.00 with shipping 23.00 versus going into a mall. Do you eat out, cut that out completely for right now. Make your own pizza, make your own chinese food, grill your own hamburgers, shop on a budget, use coupons on line or in the paper, don't be afraid to buy Great Value or Safeway products. Don't buy unnecessary wants, get the necessities right now, remember you will not have to live like this for ever, this is temporary. Unplug your computer when you are not home, turn off lights and TV's, keep your blinds closed until after 6pm so the sunlight will not overheat your home. Take a shower instead of a bath, wash your clothes with cold water instead of hot water. Shorten those hair salon visits from weekly to bi-weekly, or from bi-weekly to monthly, ensuring you use good products on your hair in between those skipped visits. Again these are just some small changes which can add up big. Instead of your children going to several summer camps, shorten this down to one or two. If you pay for day care, see if you can pay a family or friend to watch them for 50-60 dollars less, or a registered income day care which could be significantly less.

Regardless of how you chose, create a plan. If you can consolidate your loans into one payment, or work with a debt management service to work out pay off and payment plan try them also. If you have family members you could get a loan to pay off your debt, then you write a contract and you all sign and you pay them back monthly, try this (but only if you are serious and intend on paying them back, if you are not, then don't ruin a relationship over money you can not or don't intend on paying back) Most of all if you are going to pay day advance locations STOP! They are rip offs and this does not fix your problem long term, only fix the problem for today, tomorrow you owe them plus extra.

Lets make this summer the best financial move forward planned summer as possible, it may take a little discipline, a little sacrifice, but remember this is temporary, not permanent. Temporary could be any where from 6 months to 3 years, but it is not your life time. God wants to see what we can do with a little to ensure when he gives us a lot we will appreciate it, and not foolishly squander it. He is waking America up, the world up, and all of the readers of Our Hearts 2 Yours up. Lets be obedient and listen to his instruction, then see how we are doing in July of 2010, I bet we all will be in a much better place financially tomorrow than today, by making some slight changes for some it may be major life altering changes as we remove dead weight. In the mean time, can I get a financial gift of 10,000???? Okay, ok, I get it too. My family and I have much work to accomplish, but all good things are worth the sacrifice, just a little uncomfortable for right now!!!!!

Our Hearts 2 Yours~