Wants/Needs

As part of my spending fast I can only spend money on things I need, not just on random stuff that I want.  This means I will have a lot of money left over at the end of the month to spend on bills!

Needs:
Rent/Utilities
Internet - We have to have it for school and whatnot.
Gas - I spend so much money on gas! But I have to have it for work.
School expenses
FOOD! - This is my favorite thing to spend money on. And I buy nothing unless I have a coupon for it.
T.V. - It's our only form of entertainment now.  And we're getting rid of cable and we will be using Hulu (Yay $7.99 a month instead of $50-some).

Wants:
Clothing
New books - No Barnes and Noble :(
Bath and Body Works - My biggest addiction. I have go there everytime I go to Wichita.  And I never seem to have enough good smelling things.  I have enough to last me for a long time already though.
Movies - Both in the theater and from Redbox
Eating out - I guess no more taking the easy way out.
New washing machine - I can last another year of mooching off relatives for laundry.
A working dishwasher - Oh wait! That's why I got married..
Sonic Drinks :(

All of the things on my wants list are totally things that I do NOT have to have.  And I'm sure that I can come up with more things that I don't have to have.  I'm so excited to save money!

What would you do?

What would you do if you didn't have to do anything? If you didn't have to work and you had enough money to do anything at all? Well, not having to do anything is my motivation for getting my finances in order and starting to save.  Curtis and I both have nice little lists of what we are going to do when we no longer have to work our lives away.

What I would do if I didn't have to work.
I would write.  I love to write and I want need to get my stories down on paper. Both the true stories and the ones that are just in my head.  I would ride my horse.  I never seem to have time for it, and there is a freedom that comes with it that I miss so much.  I would travel the world.  I am in love with discovering new cultures and I am so fascinated with the history of things that to me are only pictures.  I have to see them and experience them for myself.  I want to go everywhere and see everything.  I want to read books in ancient Byzantine libraries and appreciate art in the Louvre.  I want to learn new things.  I want to learn to golf and snowboard and sail.  I want to go to school just for the fun of it.  I just want to take my time and enjoy life instead of doing what someone else tells me to do.

What Curtis would do if he didn't have to work.
Curtis informs me that if he did not have to work he would snowboard all the time and all over the world.  In the Alps and the Canadian Rockies and the Appalachians, as well as at home with his family and friends.  We would live near the water somewhere so that he could go boating and wakeboarding whenever his heart desired.  He would probably golf all the time.  And, like me, he wants to travel, to see the world.

Wouldn't it be amazing to not have to do anything? To truly enjoy life? It will be an amazing thing indeed.

What would you do?

My Spending Fast!

Curtis and I have been talking a lot lately about getting our financial house in order.  It's a real pain in the butt that every time we feel like we're getting ahead (or at least caught up) something always happens to put us behind again.  We don't necessarily spend our money in an unwise fashion, but we don't always think about where we're spending it.  And of course there are always bills! We don't have a lot of debt, but with my student loans (which I know most people don't consider debt but it does eat up a chunk of change each month) and our emergency credit card (first it was an emergency trip to the dentist, then wedding stuff, then school stuff...) we're spending too much money every month on "just getting caught up."  I don't want to be spending my money on this crap for the rest of my life.  This is a car payment or a vacation twice a year or just things that we want to improve our standard of living (a washing machine that actually works perhaps?) that we're spending on bills! And I'm ready to end the madness!

So the other day I was messing around on the internet and I found this blog where a girl got rid of her debt in just over a year by doing a spending fast (you can see her post here). I talked it over with Curtis, and by talking it over I mean I informed Curtis, that we are going to go on a spending fast for the rest of the year.  This means no spending money on anything that is not a necessity.

Here's How We Do It:

1. List out debt and interest rates in order from highest to lowest. 
2. Write down how we would live if we did not have to work.  This serves as motivation for those times when we just want to give up.
3. Set a time frame.  We decided that we're going to do this for the rest of the year.
4. Make a public declaration.  Which is what I am doing now.  Hopefully this will give me the support I need to stay strong.  Also, when I told my mom about this she said that she is going to do it too, so we can work together and be the support team for each other.
5. Write out a "wants and needs" list.  This means putting down, on paper, the things that are needed ever month and the things that you just want.  And then you're only allowed to spend money on things from the "wants" list.
6. Focus on the things that you can buy instead of the things that you cannot.  Focus on the reason you're doing the fast.  Have fun, just have the free kind.
7. Attack the debt! At the end of the month throw all of the money you have left over at the debt with the highest interest.  Continue to pay on your other bills as well.  You'll start to see a snowball effect as you pay off one thing and have extra money for the next item on the list.  

I know this is going to be tough.  I think we can get everything paid off by the end of the year, though.  We're going to need support.  Please don't tempt us to spend money on anything! This means I will not be going to parties to buy makeup and candles and whatnot.  We will not be going out to the movies or eating out.  We can still have fun though! And when this is over we'll be able to have even more fun because we will be debt free!

Toms #86.

Ever since I saw Toms Shoes on commercial on T.V. I've wanted a pair of them.  I loved the idea of me getting a cute pair of shoes and a sweet little kid somewhere else getting a pair too.  However, I haven't bought a new pair of shoes (except for my wedding shoes) in about three years so it took me awhile to get a pair.

Anyway, last Saturday I went on a little shopping expedition for Galentine's Day. Galentine's Day is a celebration of the love between girl friends.  We went to Wichita to the mall and got the most excruciating massages ever, seriously I thought I was going to die.  I couldn't touch my back for three days.  And we went out to eat at a delicious Mexican restaurant.  And we went on a shopping extravaganza.  I really didn't buy very much, but I got the cutest pair of Toms that I have ever seen!  I'm pretty happy with my purchase.

My cute shoes

Anyway, this is the last thing I'm going to buy for a very long while, you could call it my last hurrah.