WalMart is not the only store, or is it?

Walmart just sent me a "pre-approved" application for a credit card. Oh my! What should I do? Seriously, I don't need another credit card, but Walmart did stop their layaway plan. Seriously, layaway is the best thing retailers have ever done to try to help the credit-card-challenged.

Well, I'm going to think about what to do and I'll write about it in later posts. Hey, if I get it, it doesn't mean I have to use it, right?

How can you spend what you don't have?

How could I have spent money I don't even have? My computer has been acting a little wacky because my hard drive is completely full. So, when I saw a sale on external hard drives (yes, that dreaded word -- sale), the money just leaped out of my pocket.

It was a good buy; $79 for 250gigs and it's a Seagate. What!? Does that matter? I don't really have the money and it would have been better used going to pay down a credit card. Well, maybe that's not true. If I don't have access to my computer, it makes my life (professional and personal) a lot more complicated.

There, I just did it. I should have called this post, "how to justify spending money". Hopefully, this purchase was not a mistake. Now, if someone could only talk me out of purchasing an iPhone. I am with Cingular and my contact is up.

Travel Plans: Be Prepared

This is a weird posting, I know, but it is relevant to budget planning and being prepared. My company sent me to New York for training and all was well. That is, until the weather wrecked havoc with return flights and mine was cancelled for two days! Yes, that's right -- two days in New York city without a company credit card.

The good news is I was prepared. I wasn't traveling on my last dime and my bank account was not empty. The company will reimburse me. As a matter of fact, as soon as I walked in the office, they were ready for my expense report.

Point being, if I were living from paycheck to paycheck, I would have been sleeping the night in the airport and extremely embarrassed (it's a new job). Not that long ago, my bank account would have been empty and my pillow would have been my luggage.

Those dimes are adding up!

Debt is not cute

It's only been recently that I've asked myself how did I get into this mess. The question is, really, why didn't I ask that question years ago. Although I'd like to think the luxury cars, designer clothes and leather couch was a necessity, the reality is my grandmother would not have thought these things were relevant or important or cute. Debt is not cute.

Using a gold, platinum or whatever color credit card when you aren't sure it's going to go through, or when the credit card company takes that priviledge away (over the limit fees, late fees, you-can't-use-it-any-more-fees), it's time to realize that debt is not cute.

I hope this is something that motivates me to get out of debt; I'm tired of being ugyly.

If you don't need it, don't buy it.

I didn't buy it! Whew, that was a test. As I try to adhere to the lessons my grandmother lived by and ultimately, taught her entire family was, if you don't need it, don't buy it. Well, I followed that lesson tonight and I'm kinda proud of myself.

I'm going on a trip to New York for work and my mp3 player is acting weird. Well, I love music and I can't imagine the trip without some tunes. So, it must be time for me to buy an Ipod; I mean, everyone around me has one and it's just time.

Well, guess what? I didn't buy it and that feels good. At the time, I was feeling a little dejected because I really, really wanted one, but instead, I bought a cheapo-deepo that will last, and I can probably re-sale on Ebay when I'm ready to get the Ipod.

Good job!

Money is not Stressful

It's not the money that makes our lives stressful. It's the improper use of money that causes the stress and strain we sometimes associate with money. I'm struggling trying to pay down my debt; well, honestly, I'd like to be debt free. But the struggles isn't just from the money, although more than not that's what I think. Really, it's the fact that I use my money incorrectly.

A few years ago I went to a seminar about motivation and one of the things they asked was how we felt when we get ready to go to work everyday. Well, at the time, I didn't like my job very much, and had lots of vacation. There were days I would wake up and decide this was not the day for me to go to work. I wasn't motivated to complete any work that day and therefore, no need to go.

Spin it. How would you feel about going to work today if you won the lottery? Would your attitude change just for that day if not future days? Well, of course, it would. That's motivation. When you think you can't do something (become debt free), it's all about your motivation. That's why I like reading the forums at Dave Ramsey. Believe it or not, I'm not the only person in debt.

My grandmother was never stressed about money, because money is not stressful. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

It's not about how much money you make

Really. I think about how much my grandmother made and how much I make. No matter how you look at it, I make probably 20 times more than she did. Seriously. She just knew what to do with what she had. Happy, content, peaceful, giving, caring - all the kinds of words that come to mind when I think about her.

Does money make you that way? Of course not. It's not about how much money you make.