Goals For Cutting Corners

[Minnymouth]

All of us who have been thru BK whether 7 or 13 need to set reasonable and obtainable goals for our future to prevent us from suffering financial stress again if possible.
There's many things we can do to improve our financial status. To get us "back on track" for a better future!

1. Take a look at your lifestyle. Can I afford this? What can I do without for a while till things are better financially?
2. Make a budget. Budget out all household bills, gas, food, etc. Get an average of what you payout each month on each one. See where you stand with your expenses against your income coming in.
3. Limit yourself to 1-2 credit cards in the future to help rebuild your credit score. Pay them off monthly, do not carry over balances (this eliminates finance charges, etc)
4. Pay your bills on time or ahead of time. A good rule of thumb is when it comes in - mail it back out.... This way you will never be late on a payment.
5. Don't rob Peter to pay Paul on your bills.
6. Carry you lunch to work, instead of eating out. Remember $10 a day for food and pop is $300.00 a month extra going out in food expenses..... (and how many times have you eat half your lunch and throwed the rest away?)
7. Where you buy lunch out makes a big difference also.
Specialty stores like Chinese, Pizza, Fish ad Chips, will cost your at least $10.00 a day... compared to McD's or BurgerKing dollar menu....
8. Don't buy items out of snack machines....... $1.00 a day runs into $30 a month on the snack machine.
9. Throw you change back everyday in a coffee can. Make this your "free money" for the month.... it will add up.
10. Start a savings account and a Christmas Fund....
11. Have a checking account for Household Bills only... you will know from your budget how much absolutely has to go into this account. Always allow more to help create extra for emergencies. Do not touch this account for anything else...
12. Have a yard sale, eliminate stuff you need to get rid of, put this back for vacation time.
13. Buy food, clothes, etc on sale..... as you can find them.
14. Always round your checking account up to the next dollar, will create extra funds you don't even realize and quickly.
15. Think over nite before you really go buy something you see or want. We all have the "I want's"............. it's the "do I need?" that is important right now in trying to repair our financial situation.
16. Be continous in accomplishing your goals.... don't be on one day and off the next.
17. Don't be so strict on your budget that you can't enjoy life..... but also don't try to keep every dime you can out to play with.... Life often has little surprises on those rainy days we need to be prepared for.

It's amazing where you can "cut a corner" or "find an extra buck" to enjoy the things you want too. Its the stuff you can live without that will help you acheive your goals.

Many of us are really spoiled in life.... We like our eating out, our 3-4 pepsi's a day, our weekly trips to the Mall (even window shopping can get expensive when we slip and buy). Some of us think we have to buy the best cars, name brand clothes, and shoes that cost $125.00.......

Be aware of WHERE your money GOES and WHAT FOR!!

REMEMBER how hard it was to make that dollar.... AND make it just as hard to spend it on something foolish!!!

Make your budgets, set your goals, and gradually work towards them.... And soon you will reap the benefits from all your efforts.... And you will be so surprised how easy it was!

My thoughts,

Minny

[jane taylor]

We're doing better on most all of these, but I've really got to work on my diet Coke "addiction."

[Minnymouth]

Now me, I'm coffee and a Pepsi addict...... BAD.........
Been trying to subsitute water for some of my daily Pepsi at work - NOT EASY..... never have been a water drinker...
LOVE MY PEPSI........

[13inOR]

In our case we are really trying to build a savings account so we aren't caught off guard when emergencies like car repairs come up. Those were the kind of things that drove us to BK before so we are really trying to change our ways and plan ahead better.
That and of course trying to pay cash everywhere we can. We tended to do that anyway, never really had a CC problem, but still spent money where we shouldn't have. Now, the savings comes first, and since the chapter 13 got us used to living within a budget, now that we are done, the good habits should continue! : )

[jane taylor]

Last month we did so well! We have been for some time writing down every penny we spend. Before filing Chapter 13 we got used to living on a very strict budget so hopefully it won't be too hard. We are really trying to save every little bit we can for emergencies. Speaking of savings, do they allow that in Chapter 13? We know what got us into this mess and are determined to not let it happen again!!

[Minnymouth]

Don't know that I'd open a savings account while in Chapter 13. Trustee just might decide that is "disposable income" also........
Create your own savings account at home..... Save and turn it into big bills (less likely to grab and spend) and tuck away in a safe place.... (hole in yard, garage, shoe toe, etc...... somewhere safe)... till you can get out of the Chapter 13.

My friend right now is trying to save money. She has no checking account and does not fool with a savings account SOOOOO I'm her banker....... She gives me so much to put back for her each pay period.... and she can't get too it!!! We keep a running bank total we both sign off on as too how much is there.....

If she needs money and its NOT A GOOD REASON, she don't get it................ LOL - that's her own words..........!!
She is a "impulse shopper"......... buys anything and everything.............
After several months she has almost broke her bad habit............. And she has saved quite a bit also.....

Everybody needs an emergency fund or rainy day money..... that way it doesn't take away from the every day expenses.

[jane taylor]

Good idea, Minny! We are doing the "envelope system" and since my husband just got a promotion we will sock away that money. I didn't even know he'd applied for the promotion and was shocked when he told me he got it! We filed Ch. 13 ten days before they offered him the job! While I do want to pay my debts, I feel that the CC's have made their money off us and we need to put money away. Any other ideas on this?

Oh, and I love coffee, too! Coffee and diet coke: --the breakfast of champions!

[SinkingFast]

When my Mom and Dad first built their house, they nearly lost it and their butts. They were on propane heat the first winter. Then my dad had to have surgery and there was no medical insurance or short term disability in those days. Keep in mind, we're talking 1950's here.

My Mom told me how she made it was she carried a little memo notebook. Everytime she spent a penny, she wrote it down in that memo book. One of those small, pocket type, the kind that flip over the top. Stick a little pencil or pen thru the wire loops and you're good to go.

If us kids got a piece of gum, she wrote it down. When she paid a bill, she wrote it down. Shop at the grocery store, write it down. Go the drug store, write it down. That way, she had a running tally of where the money went all the time. At any one time, she could compare her little memo book to cash in the pocket and checks written on the bank account, and know where every penny had gone.

It wasn't fancy Quicken or Money software, but it worked.

You're right, Minny, it's easy enough for lots of little expenses to add up to a significant amount by the end of a month.

[Anassa613]

I think that is such a great idea I spend like 15 a day on lunch and breakfast. But I have made a copy and stuck it on the fridge

[SinkingFast]

Reuse those plastic bags they bag your stuff in at Wal-Mart, or the Dollar Store, or the Grocery.

You can use those bags to line small garbage cans instead of buying the liner bags.

Wadded up, they make great packing material if you have to ship something somewhere, plus all tolled together, their light. Keeps your shipping bill down on the whole package.

Those bags are great to scoop the potty into if you have a cat.

If you need a trash bag right handy for prepping veggies or what not, you can hang one on a cabinet door knob or drawer pull. Your trash is right there and you don't have to keep running to the garbage can.

Just make sure you pick ones that don't have holes in the bottom!

[baybreeze]

..try to get a job with health insurance benefits (this is partly what got me to bankruptcy..medical bills w/o insurance and racked all the doc bills onto my credit cards)

..find a good mechanic who won't rip you off and that can actually fix a problem correctly (the other half of my credit card debts...too bad I couldnt afford an attorney at one point with what I went thru getting ripped in repairs)

[Minnymouth]

baybreeze,
That is some "excellent" advice.
Insurance is soooooo important.............and a good auto mechanic is really a necessity.....................

Minny

[kydiv]

Staying out of debt

I'm gonna have to promote the website of one guy I've found very inspirational and helpful.

I'm on a budget now, I have money in savings, I'm building my 401k, I have no credit cards, I live on a cash-only basis now, and I have a plan to pay off the car and home in just a few more years.

GO DAVE!!!!!

[13inOR]

NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER NO MATTER HOW BROKE YOU ARE, TAKE OUT A PAYDAY LOAN!!!!!!!! If you can't afford it that payday, you wont be able to afford it and interest the next. UGH Been there, done that, LEARNED FROM IT!!!
Its a never-ending cycle of horror!!!!! (can you tell I hate payday loans?) LOL

[Minnymouth]

ahmen!!!!