Click here to read all of the 33 Days And 33 Ways To Save Money And Reduce Debt posts.
Irony:
I want to have enough so that I can send my kids to college, retire, enjoy my old age, and live out my years in relative comfort. I also want a new HDTV, faster computer, newer car, nicer furniture, and steak for supper.
If you are going to create change, you must be willing to sacrifice. Plain and simple, habits must be changed and ideas about ‘comfort’ must be adjusted.
By reducing (or eliminating) unnecessary expenses, you can free up more cash for savings and debt reduction. (Spend less… save more…) This sounds easy, but when faced with real life decisions to make, it can be difficult.
Think about why you buy the things you buy. I’m convinced that you will find out, like I did, that you are motivated more by the external opinions of others than you are by the internal plan you have for yourself. This must be reversed.
I reduced (or eliminated) the following items / hobbies / services from my life while I was getting out of debt:
Dry cleaning, golf, DVDs, Netflix, CDs, movies, purchased books, eating out, new clothes, new electronics, new power tools…
Each person’s ‘list’ will be different, depending on the amount of income you have, the lifestyle that you are accustomed to living, and the intensity with which you choose to attack your debt.
Bottom line: Are you willing to sacrifice some of the things that you have, some of the things you like to do, some of the places you like to go, and some of the conveniences that you’ve been using – so that you can get out of debt and focus on improving your financial future?
What have you been willing to sacrifice, so that you can get out of debt? What have you been unwilling to sacrifice?. Leave a comment and let us know. If you are a blogger, write a post about sacrifice and contact me. I’ll be more than happy to link to your post.
Resource associated with this tip:
Click here for the online Savings Calculator to calculate how much you could save if you invested this money instead of spending it on unnecessary goods or services.
Click here to read all of the 33 Days And 33 Ways To Save Money And Reduce Debt posts
This balancing act is something that swirls around in my head and I ponder on my blog a lot. Today vs tomorrow and how I want to live now vs what I need for the future. Great post.
I wrote a blog post on what we’ve given up.
http://paulab52.blogspot.com/2007/08/sacrifices.html
I have a sibling who is underemployed and a recovering alcoholic – I find myself overindulging her kids at Christmas and this is going to be the hardest part to control in my new budget.
What have we given up. New cars, we stick to two old cars that are completely paid off, even though we would both like to drive something newer. We cancelled cable TV. We get our books from the library rather than buying them. We have no long distance service on our phone, or call waiting, caller ID etc. Buying new clothes. We wait for Christmas or birthdays and ask for money then to go shopping for our clothes. Or I get hand-me-downs from relatives, or friends who have kids that have outgrown their clothes.
What won’t I give up and should. The Netflix. I might not be able to afford to go out to the movies anymore, but this is my small compensation for that. Plus I am in the middle of two series’ that I cannot watch normally because they are on cable.
girly… I’d probably go ahead and spoil the kids! (And find some other areas to cut…) I’m a sucker for a kid’s smile 🙂
NCN
My cable costs $86 a month. I need to give this up, but I’m hesitating. I’ve always been a tv person. If I’m home, the tv is on. I could cut back to just basic cable, but then I’d lose the dvr, which I have grown too accustomed to. Still, $86 is a lot of money that could be put to better use.
I wish I could give up the TV, Movies and Netflix like you NCN but still having trouble with that type of entertainment.
I was thinking about this today – all the things I could cut out and how much i could. I guess I just psych myself out with “what difference would $150 a month make?” I need to be patient and do it.
I wrote have a post at
http://tjs1331.wordpess.com/2007/08/23/random-acts-of-self-control/
about how giving first with your money will change your perspective on how you spend it and save it.
Sacrifice. Sacrifice. Sacrifice. This is a very strong word. And it is a very difficult thing to do. I just downgraded yet again and I chuck it all to sacrifice. I try to keep my mind on the end product. Better to suffer now than suffer later (and older).
I am millimeters away to finally discontinuing Netflix. Gulp!
Sadly, one thing I have not yet been able to give up is one of the more expensive items in my budget. There are times when I commute to work by car service. I have sciatica, and there are some days when I just cannot do a two-hour three-bus commute.
So, I did what I could to reduce it. I got my morning car service to give me a bit of a discount because I use them not only for this but regularly for things like doctor trips, and my roommate uses them when she needs a car service too
I also made an arrangement with the fellow the afternoon car service usually sends. I call him first. If he can take me, he does so “off the books” for $5 cheaper than the car service charges. If not, I call the car service.
I am working on being able to commute like a normal person again, but meanwhile, I have done the best I can to reduce the costs of a huge part of my budget.
Sacrifice is important, and there have been lots of things I hae been able to give up to help me along the road.
Sadly, one thing I have not yet been able to give up is one of the more expensive items in my budget. There are times when I commute to work by car service. I have sciatica, and there are some days when I just cannot do a two-hour three-bus commute.
So, I did what I could to reduce it. I got my morning car service to give me a bit of a discount because I use them not only for this but regularly for things like doctor trips, and my roommate uses them when she needs a car service too
I also made an arrangement with the fellow the afternoon car service usually sends. I call him first. If he can take me, he does so “off the books” for $5 cheaper than the car service charges. If not, I call the car service.
I am working on being able to commute like a normal person again, but meanwhile, I have done the best I can to reduce the costs of a huge part of my budget.
Feh. Sorry about the double comment. Please remove one. This puter is being a bit wonky today.