Fabulous Femme Finances
January 4, 2007 by Kristen King
Filed under Women's Health
What better time to take charge of your financial health than the beginning of a brand new year? January is a perfect time to pull your credit report, dispute errors and derogatory information, and create a budget and financial goals for 2007.
After a visit with my lender this evening, I’ve decided that it’s time for me to enlist the services of a professional financial planner. I’m newly married, self-employed, and a student, and frankly I could use all the help I can get–especially with all of the changes coming up in the next few months. (More on that soon, and no, Mom, I’m not pregnant.)
Sure, I know what I want (fame, fortune, a beautiful new house, the basics), but how the heck can I get it? Hubby and I sat down for a serious talk when we got home from our meeting tonight, and we came to an important conclusion: We need more money. The thing is, we have enough, but it’s going to the wrong places. Hence, THE LIST.
- replace all lightbulbs with efficiency bulbs
- lower thermostat to 66 during the day and 57 at night
- switch the cats and dog to cheaper food
- make a grocery list and meal plan each week
- limit meals out to one night a week and make it a fun date
- cancel Netflix, which we hardly ever use anyway
- utilize our Costco membership
- stop buying clothes for the puppy, who, after all, is just a dog
We’re also pulling our credit reports and prioritizing our bill paying based on interest rates in the hope of saving money everywhere we can.
More on money-saving ideas and tips to maximize income and improve credit in future posts. What would you like to know? What knowledge can you share with the rest of us?
Contents © Copyright 2007 Kristen King
Good for you! Managing money is definitely a high priority on my list.
And double-good for you if you can go to Costco and save money!! I know the deals are great but you need self-restraint to leave that place with a bill under $200 and stay away from the non-food items.
I can’t relate to the dog clothes though – I don’t think they make anything that would fit my chocolate lab!
http://writer-in-the-making.blogspot.com/
We’re trying to use Costco for everything except fresh foods like small amounts of produce. So that frees up pasta, meats, cheeses, orange juice, lunch meats, breads, snack foods, paper products, cleaning supplies, personal care products (who couldn’t use a box of 72 tampons or two gallons of shampoo?)…
You might be surprised at some of the dog clothes out there. I was at a small local shop this weekend and found a Redskins jersey big enough for a Doberman. It was like $60. I laughed out loud. :]
kk
I had to do the exact same thing when, on paper, my salary was great, but in practice, it seemed like my wallet had a big hole in it. So I started downloading my transaction history and using Excel to categorize my spending. Turns out I was spending $350+ on food each month – we’re talking groceries PLUS eating out PLUS random trips to the store to pick up a “few” items. I moved to a cheaper apartment, stopped buying so much food, increased my disposal income by 600%, and lost 5 pounds! I’m using the extra money each month to pay off some credit card debt.
Latoya, what a great success story! I bet you’ve inspired some folks to make changes just by sharing it.
kk :]