I was born in the late 60's, which meant I grew up in the 80's...and boy did I love the 80's! Big hair, big clothes, big make-up. What is there not to love??? It was also the decade of credit cards and personal loans, at least it was for me. I got my first major credit card at 19 years old and I was very excited to say the least. First thing I did was book a trip to Florida to visit my aunt and uncle. I had lots of other credit cards before that one, but a major card like this gave me the freedom to do things I was unable to do before like take a trip. From that point on I was hooked. I was a clothes horse and pretty much my favorite past time was shopping for anything that I was in the mood for. Dirty clothes no problem, I will just go buy more. This was just the beginning.
The first time I was married was at the ripe age of 22 and soon after the glitz of the wedding wore off, I realized what bad shape I was in financially. I brought all the debt to the marriage, but now it was ours and we sat and decided that we would quit using credit and pay off everything to save for a house. And believe it or not we did. Well, we paid everything off but we did not save for a house because we wanted one fast. So we borrowed the down payment of $15,000 from my brother-in-law, and in doing so set ourselves up for failure. We now had a reasonable mortgage with an unreasonable side note to pay every month. So each month we would slip just a little bit into debt because we did not have quite enough to pay for everything. We certainly did not want to default on our loan from my brother-in-law, so we started using our credit cards to fill the gap. Fast forward 2 years: I lost my job and we almost lost the house, but instead we listed it and sold it in time. We had to move into my in-laws house to save for another house and I remember thinking that I felt homeless. I know I should have seen this as an opportunity to save, but my relationship with my in-laws was so bad that it was like a punishment for not being financially prudent. We stayed there for just under a year, saved for a house and moved to Florida. No jobs, just dreams and 15 years later I am still here, remarried to a great guy and still in debt.
I never want to put myself in the position again that someone could come along and take my house or feel homeless. I want to own my house outright so the only expenses will be taxes, maintenance, and repairs. I used my credit twice this week and I keep going over it in my head of why I would do this? Both times it was for food; either restaurant or prepared food from the grocery store. Not unlike most people, I work long hours and I do not want to always come home and cook. I find that I will have to either create a budget for take-out or I will have to find a way to make meals ahead of time so I can just warm them up when I get home. I use the slow cooker a lot, but the types of food you can cook in them can be boring.
So, this week I have found one of my "triggers" for overspending...convenience. I am going to work on that from this point forward. What are some of your triggers when it comes to overspending? Traveling, clothing, electronics....
Thankfully I've found post surgery that eating out and pre made foods are usually a problem for me... I usually get sick or waste money bc its too muuch food... I have def become queen of the kitchen but easy slow cooker stuff is my fav! And bc i eat so little and things need to be moist enough to not get "stuck" I love condiments and things that are reallllllly tasty! I recommend allrecipes.com or the all recipes dinner spinner app on android phones... You can always email me I can send u some good ideas.... Make chicken cacciatore last nite in the slow cooker!!!
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