I love pay day—seriously love it. New possibilities, new options—it’s like waking up and unwrapping a new present to do with as you wish.
As of late, though, my pay days mean more that I get to see my credit card balance reduce at an accelerated rate more so than getting the shiniest new whatever’s out there. With my regular income, I’ve devoted myself to getting rid of the invisible shackles that hold me down and being able to go into the future a bit more carefree and content 😊
I remember the days of living cheque to cheque—I mean, I’m 26 with no kids or mortgage, so thank goodness I didn’t really have anyone else relying on me to feed or clothe them—it would’ve been a horrible situation. No, oftentimes it was because of that desire I just mentioned. To be the best dressed. Have the new toy. Eat the finest foods. It was really just me valuing all the wrong things and doing whatever I needed to do to get them.
On one hand, I think that these are the kinds of lessons we all need to learn in our lives at one point or another—and for me, I’m glad that it’s something I came across early on—but at the same time, one would hope that people are given enough teaching that they can avoid falling into similar pitfalls. Not everyone gets the same opportunities in life, as we can often see from the disparity between the rich and the poor in our world. I can remember from my time spent as a Financial Sales Representative that I’d often have to counsel people twice my age on their finances, simply because they were never given the same access to knowledge about investing, credit, budgeting, etc. that I had. Now that I’m at a point in my life where I’m purging items more than I am collecting, I can see the benefits of all this and hope that I can eventually pass on what I know to others in such a way that it very practical and easy to follow.
Some easy tips come to mind:
- Don’t spend what you don’t have—if you must do so, find the method that costs least (borrowing interest, especially) and/or can be paid off the quickest
- Try to make do with what you have—mend a tear if you gotta—make notes on envelopes—reuse jars like crazy—do what you gotta!
- Shop smarter, not cheaper—cheaper isn’t always better—example: dollar store batteries versus a solid set of rechargeable batteries, especially if you have a charger! Over time, the money you save from not having to dash out to the store repeatedly to replace those batteries will start to look pretty good once you keep using quality rechargeable batteries through their lifespan—they can last a VERY long time. There are a number of instances like this in life where what seems like a massive investment compared to alternatives, in the beginning, may turn out to be the better option.
Just some food for thought.
In other news:
- I did sell that RAM, but my friend discovered that their computer won’t actually accept anything higher than what they already had, so we’re trying to figure out what we can do to fix the situation
- The last chart I released in my other blog (chart is NSFW!) became more widespread than I’d expected—about 240 diggs, 70 total comments, 40 notes on Tumblr and 3,250 views on Huffington alone. I’m pretty encouraged by that, despite the rather embarassing nature of the chart itself, lol—I’d like to create something Olympics-related, but nothing’s come to mind just yet that really knocks my socks off. If anyone has something they’ve always wanted to see in chart form, please let me know!
- I got those three resumes that were on my plate out of the way, and I’m happy to say that the clients are all very happy with the new products I put together for them. I got one person a job in two months after years of looking—maybe I can do the same for you? Let me know!
Otherwise, it’s been your regular sort of week—I have a cousin getting married this weekend, so the work time will be reduced significantly, but other than that, the hustle continues as per usual. I have noticed that I haven’t quite made it easy to share my blog posts on Facebook, Twitter, what have you—so worry not; new functionality will be on its way!
So, in closing, thanks for joining me once more—please feel free to contact me with any questions, concerns or ideas—they’re always welcome in the 2010 20K. I can’t wait till this cold is over and it gets dark later so I can get out in the world and REALLY do some stuff!
The 2010 20K Running Total: $192.14
Winter, you can’t stick around FOREVER, homey!
Have a great Friday, y’all,
–case p.
