...going out the back door.

Greetings all and welcome to my blog. I named this site fifty-nine cents because all the good names were taken and I remembered a little rhyme we used to sing about trying to make a dollar out of fifty-nine cents. With the economy in the toilet these days many folks are squeezing their dollars to get the most bang for the buck. I thought that it would be a great topic for a blog. My first post will speak to bad spending habits. The bottom line is that if you spend more money than you make you are broke. It doesn't matter how much you make if you spend more than you make you are BROKE!!!! It doesn't matter how much credit you have or can get. If you owe more money than you have you are essentially BROKE!!!!! A woman earning minimum wage who saves a dollar every payday is richer than you even if you earn six figures. So stop kidding yourself. When I see fancy cars or homes I think nice, but how much did that cost them? People can acquire all kinds of stuff, but the trick is keeping it. As the recent housing market decline showed us, many people are living beyond their means and got caught when the bottom dropped out. I realize that it was difficult in some areas to purchase affordable housing. But, remember the market was driven up by people who were willing to agree to almost any term to get that dream house. And for what? Who did you impress? How impressed were they when the foreclosure sign went up? Did they offer to pay your mortgage? I don't think so. Chances are they were covering up the foreclosure sign on their own doors. So, robbing Peter to pay Paul to please Mary is just STUPID!!! Okay enough of the soap box, let's talk about how to get and stay on your feet. The first step is to clearly understand where you really are financially. No fancy equipment or software needed. Get a copy of your credit report(s). Get all three if you can afford it because they sometimes will vary. Don't be scared. If debt collectors are on your trail, then go to a car dealer and act like you are buying a car. They will pull your credit report and it they are nice may even give you a copy. We'll talk about evasive maneuvers in another post. Okay, back to business. Sit down and review your credit history. If you need a box of tissue it's okay. Believe it or not once you face that fear it gets better. The next step is to write down a life plan. It should be at least one year and no more than five. When you write out your plan, put down all the things that you want to do and could feasibly do within the time frame. Don't cheat yourself either. Once you make your plan go back to your credit report and make a plan of how you plan to pay off your debt. Keep in mind the things that you have already written down on your life plan. One thing that I discovered when I was fighting bills was that I needed to reward myself after working hard every week. I went through several years of denying myself and felt extremely guilty when I bought anything for me. Now I'm not talking about expensive bling, fancy cars or such. Sometimes something as simple as a specialty cup of coffee will do the trick. One of the things that you will learn by writing down what you owe, how you plan to pay for it and what you want to do, is where you are wasting your money. Another thing that you must determine is what is a need and what is a want. For example, cable TV, manicures, pedicures, the regular trips to the barber or beauty salon, cigarettes, beer, and wine ARE NOT NEEDS!!! A roof over your head, food (and I don't mean eating out or take out) clothing, and basic transportation are modern day needs. By the way, a beige Mercedes is not basic transportation get over it. For those of you who are people pleasers you should start asking yourself, Why? The bottom line here is that if you earn $100 and spend $75 you have $25 to the good. Just basic math. If you train yourself to spend no more than a set limit that is less than what you can afford to spend you should do okay. What can you afford? Well a simple rule is if it takes you less than six months to pay back, think about saving up for the item if possible and paying cash. A clear sign that you are broke is that you can't afford to save. If you can't afford to save, then you can't afford that item that is most likely a want and not a need. Grandma always told us, "It's not what you have coming in the front door, it's what's going out the back. Think about it! I'm not a finance professional or a self proclaimed economist. I am just an average woman who has survived and conquered being in debt. Please stop by regularly and join in on my blog.