Beating Broke

Personal Finance from the Broke Perspective

Frugal Christmas Tips

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Close Up of Christmas TreeI don’t want to panic you or anything, but Christmas is just around the corner.  Inf act, it’s only a hair more than 10 days away.  Some of you are way ahead of the curve and have had your presents bought and wrapped for months.  Others, like myself, are still finishing up your shopping.  For me, it’s a procrastination problem.  Others, it’s a funding issue, and they just have to wait until they have the money to spend on all those presents.

If you ask me, the presents are the worst part of the season.  I enjoy the holidays, but I truly despise the commercialization of them.  I’d rather not do any of the presents schtick and merely enjoy the time off work spend with family and friends.  Never mind that it would save us all from having to endure the marketing blitz that is the month of December, or the horror stories of those who risk life
and limb to get that super cool toy at 3 a.m., only to have their children play with it for five minutes and then go off to build a fort out of the box.

But, unfortunately for most, that part of the holiday has become so ingrained into the holiday that it is impossible to remove.  For those, I offer a few tips to help lessen the burden.

  • Give Homemade Gifts.  Maybe you are an excellent baker, or a scrapbooker extraordinaire, or maybe you’re handy with a tool.  Not only will making your own thoughtful homemade gifts be cheaper, but they also show that you put more thought into the gift than just perusing the circular and finding the latest thing.
  • Go in on gifts.  Many people, including myself, don’t have a very long list of smaller priced items that they want or need.  But, most have at least a thing or two that is higher priced that they either want or need.  Go in with a group of relatives or friends and buy that one big item.  You’ll get away with paying a lesser amount, while the person will receive a bigger gift that they want rather than a bunch of smaller gifts that they don’t really want.
  • Go dutch.  Instead of hosting a big meal and cooking it all yourself, make it a potluck.  Not only will you get the best that your friends and relatives have to offer as far as holiday food goes, but it will significantly reduce the amount you’ll spend on groceries.
  • Fill the holidays with activities.  It sounds silly, but the more down time you have to ponder the lack of presents, the worse everybody feels.  If everybody knows they’ll only have a little bit of free time before going off to play board games, they won’t notice a few less presents.

Whether you take advantage of ways to save money this holiday season or not, do try and keep in mind that the season is about spending time with those that you care about.  Try to overcome any of the usual holiday squabbles and enjoy their company, and enjoy the season!

photo credit: Tatiana12

The Debt Free Treadmill

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Treadmill WorkoutWhen you’ve got bills and debt to pay off, you are constantly feeling like you’re running a personal finance marathon.  Each month is a sprint to the finish to see how much debt you can pay off.  We do it to get to that finish line.  To send that last check (or bill pay payment) and then run into the streets screaming.  Some of us may even follow that up with a call to a certain Mr. Ramsey.  With any luck, most of us will reach that point sooner rather than later.

But, then what?  We’re done paying off debt.  We don’t need this silly budget thing anymore right?  And we certainly don’t need to be worried about how much we’re spending.  And so what if we leave a balance on our credit cards now and again.  Wrong.  Oh so wrong.  If your years of debt repayment hasn’t conditioned you to it already, you’ll soon find out that you still have to do all of that.  You might be able to loosen the strings a little, but keeping those habits is what will keep you from ever going back there again.

Just like any physical trainer will tell you; if you want to keep in marathon shape, you’ve got to keep maintaining your fitness. You can’t expect to stop and then still be able to run another marathon. In short, you’ve got to keep on the treadmill.

With all of your debt paid off and only your monthly expenses to worry about, you’ve got to get on “the Debt Free Treadmill”. You’ve got to use it to keep your self in financial shape. However, in this case, it is so you never have to run that marathon again. Debt is an easy trap to fall into. It only takes one lazy month to leave a little balance on a credit card and start the cycle all over.

Get on “the Debt Free Treadmill”!  Keep yourself in financial shape by continuing the same habits of saving, budgeting, investing, and frugality that you used to finish that marathon.  Use it to your advantage.  Unlike a large majority of the people in this world, you aren’t running that marathon.  Best of all, you get to use that financial fitness to benefit others.  Share your knowledge, and help people reach the marathon finish line so that they can jump on “the Debt Free Treadmill”!

Image Credit: Treadmill Workout by sirwiseowl, on Flickr

You Are Your Own Worst Enemy

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When it comes down to setting your budget, saving your money, spending your money, and acting responsibly with money overall, you are your own worst enemy.  You and only you are responsible for keeping your self-made goals.  There are tools that you can use to help yourself, but the only enemy that you need to worry about is yourself.

Your spouse is not responsible.  Let’s assume for a minute that you don’t have a spouse that is running around buying up all the $700 pairs of shoes in town.  Stop blaming your spouse.  He/She is not responsible for the debt that your in, your blown budget, and your lack of an emergency fund.  Your spouse, however, is an excellent tool to use to overcome all of those problems.  Get on the same team as your spouse.  Your spouse can keep you accountable better than anyone else.  Discussing the finances with your spouse is a good thing.  Get them on your side.

The Credit Card companies are not responsible for your debt and the lack of paying it off.  They may hold the note on that debt and encourage you to use your “credit”, but ultimately, it is you that uses it.  And it’s you that chooses to sign the receipt.  And it’s you who chooses to continue to carry that plastic in your wallet. If  you can’t use credit cards responsibly as a tool, get rid of them.  No Excuses.  Everytime you sign the slip, you accept responsibility for the damage you’re doing.

You have taken responsibility for so many of the things in your life from feeding yourself (I assume) to cleaning yourself (assuming again) and even to dressing yourself (yep, assuming.).  Why, then, do you blame everyone else for your financial woes?  Would you blame them if you fed yourself cardboard?  If you tried to bathe with sewer water?  Or if you forgot to put your shoes on and walked on sharp stones?  No, you wouldn’t.  Stop trying to pass the blame for your monetary faults to someone/something else.  Your actions are directly responsible for where you are.  The moment you take responsibility for those actions and their results is the moment you are free of their bindings.  It’s the moment you can begin to feel free of them and can begin to correct them.  And once they are corrected and you have broken those old habits, you will be free to develop new habits that will set you free from that old life.

Take responsibility.  Change yourself for the better.