Money Money Money~

The New Year is upon us, and boy are the retailers hitting us hard with all manner of temptations! I lost my lap top after a short year and half of heavy use about a week ago and so we went shopping before and AFTER Christmas for the best deal possible~ha! There were some "lures" out there for inexpensive models, but find them at the store or sales help to discuss the options.  I am thinking I can do without for a month or two and keep shopping the prices to see when it will be the best price to purchase.  This is an excellent strategy with most things that we need to purchase that are not emergency items that are NEEDED right away! I have been with my parents, and they have taught me so much about thrifty living over the years.  It's been great to feast away on television, something I don't usually do because for several reasons we don't have it~one being cost.  But let me say that what I have watched has made an impact on my thinking.  So much on the channel about home shopping that it showed me some current thinking, and since we are selling a home, this is beneficial.  There was a couple home shopping who declared that they were willing to wait to get at the price they wanted to pay.  Hmm....and then there was another couple with a beautiful wife with great big eyes who laid her head on hubby's shoulder: "Please buy me this house!"  She said this twice~it was powerful to see that she was able to negate her husband's concerns over the home for what she perceived as the home for them.  Don't get SisterT wrong, I am not dissing this gal for knowing her own mind, but watching the emotional connection at work to something as huge as HOME PURCHASE was amazing!  So is our money somehow attached to our emotions?

I know food is for me...I love it when I'm sad or happy~celebrating or mad...love it soooo much! But my money???? Does it hold the same? I am guessing that it does for many of us.  So much is tied to our perceptions and beliefs about wealth and well being.  Our emotional side is spoken to on so many levels by retailers...the perfect example was a home shop network where the hostess urged buyers who had called in with "Oh you deserve it so much! This is for you? Wonderful! HOW NICE to give it to yourself..." I began thinking long and hard that I was being "led" straight to my money to exchange it for the feel good  of those kinds of purchases.   When my budget became the issue that NEEDED and DESERVED strict management, I gave up such indulgences~how much is ENOUGH? 

With enough, the emotional tie is not so strong to pull my money out of my pockets~logical and rational thinking is really needed in these economic times.  But we don't have to go so bare bones UNLESS WE NEED TO~there are ways to do on less~

REMEMBER to pay a fair price if not a very low price for most items!

To do this we must know our prices first then shop til we find the best price.  Don't settle or purchase too quickly, but wait and watch.  Prices often fall, especially AFTER Christmas, but not immediately! Retailers played a trick this year and lured in with some deals, but kept many prices the same as before~KNOWING PRICES is crucial~then shop and wait! I am thinking it may be mid February before prices drop on my laptop.  Winter Semester students will have returned to school already and Christmas long gone...new models will be out as well~hmmm....

I dye my hair.  No secret but to some this is a waste.  But I want to share some of my tactics for hair care that may not readily be known.  I do one of two things generally.  I either purchase a box home job for about $4 (I need two) equalling $8 OR I hunt down a beauty school.  I could go without, and I've done this too,  but I like my hair colored....IF I were in danger of loosing utilities or home or some other malady, this would be extravagant for me, but so far so good...and I save loads.  If you are afraid of the academy thing, just remember that the students WANT to please you, and if they mess up, the instructor will help them fix it.  What's better than an instructor making sure it's GREAT for a fraction of the cost?  See how emotions will spend our money? Here I am spending on something like a dye job for my hair...silly I guess, but why not IF I can afford it.  Thriving isn't about total denial, but about finding ways to live on less~for me, dye jobs are living LOL!  It's an essential~and I FEEL better when it's done.  We are talking emotions now!

Eating out is a budget buster isn't it?  But I like to do it.  I prefer eating out to home cooked food, but it's got to be an emotional thing, because really our home food is pretty good. . . I think it's like a date or celebration for me.  Emotions are spending my money again, so this is one we reign in a good bit.  One of the TV couples spent something like $250 a WEEK on eating OUT~OMgoodness~this is huge! AND NOT ME...I hope it isn't you either, but if you do splurge, just be sure you can afford it.  We must all make those DECISIONS that effect our spending and our well being!

So since M O N E Y is so important~let's think about ways we are spending and how we can find new alternatives to the amounts.  Any resolutions out there? I am going to use the beauty academy for haircare this next year.  I don't spend much on this as it is, but the savings will be there~maybe I can reroute my money towards a "pro" pedicure!!

Happy New Year~AND tell me what you are doing with your MONEY in 2010~HEY, WE should be CREDIT CARD FREE this YEEEEEEAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!!!! whoohoo!
SisterTipster