Oh and to clarify a bit, "crap" is defined as: Things I don't really need, but would die if I didn't have.
how can I be so poor?
by jwbot 28 Replies latest jw friends
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TallTexan
I bring home almost $7,000 a month and I'm usually broke too....lol. Maybe it's that damn child support (not that I resent it - I love my daughter and would never think of that as 'wasted' money). I was going out all the time - not to eat, but to clubs/bars, etc. I could easily burn through $300 between Fri/Sat night - every week. Actually, over the last six months, I've gotten ahead. Here's what I did -
1) I joined NetFlix - all the movies I want for $20/month w/ NO late fees (which were killing me).
2) I bought a big-screen, surround sound, and an XBOX. So now, instead of going out, I'll have some friends over to watch the game, or play XBOX live, or whatever (sounds expensive, but honestly it has saved me a ton of money).
3) I ditched my debit/ATM card so that now I have to go to the bank to get cash. It's a pain in the ass, so instead of spending that $15 or $20 (which was easy on my debit card), I just go home. Also, I got rid of all my credit cards. I went to ACE Check Cashing and got a reloadable Mastercard. That way, if I need to use it (for hotel reservation or whatever), I put the cash on it and use it. It's inconvenient, so it's hard to buy stuff you don't need 'cuz if you don't have money on it, you can't spend it, and you don't want to put $$ on it 'cuz it's a pain in the ass....lol. Amazing how my balances have dropped.
4) I buy all my movies, video games, CD's, and books off of Ebay, half.com, Half-Price books, or wait until the video store has a sale on pre-viewed DVD's.
5) I dumped my expensive girlfriend....lol. (Just kidding.) But seriously, if you're a single guy, dating is EXPENSIVE! And I'm bad about wanting to pay for everything and buy stuff for whomever I'm dating, so I'm just chilling on my own until I get a handle on my finances.
6) I upped the minutes plan on my cell phone. More expensive up front by about $30/month, but WAY cheaper than going over on my minutes at 25 cents per.
7) As all of you have said, I STOPPED EATING OUT!!!!! It's amazing how expensive that is. What's really cool is that if you have a gas grill and invite people over, usually they'll provide the food if you cook. (I know, I sound like a cheap bastard...lol).
Ditching my debit card was probably the best thing I've ever done. True, it's inconvenient sometimes, but where my bank statement used to be four pages long, it's now two. It keeps me from nickel and diming myself to death. Basically, we're all broke, no matter how much we make...lol. I remember back in the late 80's I was supporting a family on $6.45/hour while I was in school. Now I look back and have NO CLUE how I did that......
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jwbot
DireStrait: Thats the point. Its that we ARE doing good, but because we are being irresponsible about our money and spending it not wisely...its that we FEEL poor...but we are not.
We spend probably $500 a month eating out! Thats rent for a cheap apartment around here...or a really nice car payment! Thats bad! Mike and I was to finally be adults about this, and simplify our lives, be responsible... We can do better than what we are doing. We have no excuse to not have money saved at the end of the month.
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jwbot
Also, I need to burn my check book...bad bad bad.
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Elsewhere
Bad check book!!! Bad!!!
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RandomTask
Eating out is bad for the pocketbook. I know this from experience. But it hasn't really stopped me!
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Prism
I joined NetFlix
Netflix rules! We joined it a few weeks ago and love it.
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confusedjw
Hey look at it this way. When you give at the local KH now you will be righteous like the widow with two small coins...
Just doing the Lord's work
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desib77
Netflix rules! We joined it a few weeks ago and love it.
Netflix is cool but it was actually one of the things that went bye bye when I starting cutting on our budget. That and an extra cell phone. I work at home so really it is rare that my husband and I need a cell phone seperately. Now, we share.
All of those things helped but in the long run the eating out all the time is what is killing us. I guess I need to invest in some cooking lessons.
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jwbot
Another thing to cut costs would be (when my credit gets better) to replace a land-line with a cell phone for Mike and Me. Land-lines are so expensive! but there are some great cell phone plans out there....
But we have to wait for the cable high speed to get better because we can not sacrifice internet speed because of my job. Thats probably the most important utility (right under Electricity of course). Right now, DSL is way fast than cable because in the area, cable is still spread too thin..uugh so slow sometimes...