Monday, May 21, 2007

Out of control spending

I ran across this today on bankrate.com and it just irks me that this soldier is probably going to get stuck with this huge bill.

http://www.bankrate.com/nltrack/news/debt/20070511_soldier_credit_card_debt_a1.asp?ec_id=brmint_ns_cc_20070521

I guess we only get to ready 1/2 of the story as we hadn't heard from the wife.

Saturday, May 12, 2007

"It's Only"

How many times do you say to yourself "it's only" when you try to buy something. "It's only $10.99." Or, "It's only $6.99/month". Or, maybe you hear it from you significant other when they buy something they want (but don't need). First of all, stop buying things that you simply "want". Buy things that you NEED. I'm not saying to not treat yourself to things once in a while because you should. But, you must stop buying little knick-knack things that are only valuable to you at the time you see them. Before long, those things that seemed so desirable will be collecting dust in a closet. So, there are really two points here. Don't buy something just because you want it (using the "it's only" argument to justify the purchase to yourself or to your partner). Secondly, it's extremely important to realize that all those little things add up over time. Figure out how much you could have left over at the end of a year if you didn't buy the little things that you didn't need!