We were arguing about the best way to weight loss and the definition of a “diet.”

We both had started Weight Watchers about a month ago (it’s one of my New Year’s Resolutions to get my “pre-baby” body back!), and we disagreed about whether I am officially “on a diet.”

She says I am.

I say I’m not.

Those points aside, since they’re a little off topic……

…..I went to her yesterday, moaning about how I had “only lost 2-3 pounds” in this last month since starting the program. Instead of supporting me and congratulating me on the progress, albeit slow, she insisted I needed to be on a restrictive diet instead of the “just-trying-to-create-a-healthy-lifestyle” route I was taking.

Then she rubbed in my face the fact that she has already lost 9  pounds, compared to my inconsistent 2-3 pounds.

I began defending those same 2-3 pounds that I had just finished moaning about.

And the “Aha!” moment was when I remembered a favorite quote from Chris Gardener, from The Pursuit of Happyness:

Why was I complaining over “only” 2-3 pounds??

My pants are fitting more loose…..I feel amazingly healthy…..I’m eating better and getting some exercise…..and best of all, my nasty “mom gut” is shrinking and I no longer fear someone will mistakenly say, “Ooooh! Yay! When’s the baby due??”

My baby steps are PROGRESS! I am moving in the right direction! I’m 2-3 pounds closer to my goal this month than I was last month!

After realizing that my perspective was totally out of focus, I thought about the rest of you that may be condemning your baby steps, instead of celebrating them….frustrated that you’re not getting where you’re going fast enough.

This post is hopefully going to help you see that you’re getting there, too!

Baby steps DO count!

How to Make Your Baby Steps Count in Goal Setting

What are the things that you’re working on that aren’t moving fast enough for you? Are you trying to pay off debt? Losing weight like me? Maybe you’re saving up for a special vacation or something and the balance just doesn’t seem to be growing fast enough.

I’m here to tell you that your baby steps COUNT!

These are the things we should probably keep in mind as we work on our goals so that we don’t get discouraged:

Stop comparing yourself to your friends!

You are not your friends. Their life, situation, motivation, opinions–everything–is totally different from yours, even if they’re your best friend. So don’t measure your success against them. Every time my friend would tell me how much weight she lost for the week, I felt worse about my own weight loss. But her body, her goal, her eating habits–are not my own. I can only compare myself to myself. Whether you’re losing weight, paying down debt, saving for retirement, starting a blog–whatever your goal–celebrate your own progress. We must remember:

Be realistic!

I’m not a goal-setting expert, but I do know that goals have to be realistic.  I’m 35 years old now. And I’ve got 3 little boys. And I weight about 170 pounds (yep, I was 173 last monh–progress!!). I need to get out of my head that “150 pound” standard when I was 25. I probably looked anorexic! Realistically, I should strive for 160; hell, I’d even look great at 165. You’ve got to be realistic, too. If your goal is to pay off your $5,000 credit card, can you really get it paid off in 3 months?? If not, don’t set yourself up for failure. Set a goal for a year….maybe even 2 years. Whatever is realistic. And stay positive when you see the balance going down, albeit only a few dollars each month. But, it’s going down! You’re moving forward! 

Measure it!

So because I was getting discouraged about the number on the scale, I started taking my measurements, and saw half an inch gone from my big ‘ole hips! More reinforcement that I’m making a difference! I write down my measurements, too, and track the numbers. You can do the same with your goals. Hang up a sign that shows your weight, then cross it out and write the new number below it! Or if you have a savings goal, every month write the new balance on a sheet of paper! Seeing where you started from is a lot of motivation to keep going.

Celebrate 10 Percent!

Recognize the “small wins.” When I signed up for Weight Watchers, they set small wins for you, like when you lose 10% of your body weight. I think that’s a great Rule of Thumb for all your goals! Imagine if you’re 300 pounds and you want to lose 100 pounds. Daunting, right?? But, going for the first 30 is sooooo much easier and more attainable in your mind! And when you get there, don’t pout, “UGH, I’ve only lost 30 pounds so far!” Celebrate it! Treat yourself to something nice. If you’re paying off that $5,000 credit card bill, reward yourself when you’ve reached $4,500 (10% paid off)!

So What About You….?

Do you give yourself enough credit for your BABY STEPS? How do you manage the baby steps?

Photo courtesy Free Digital Photos

The post Goal Setting: Baby Steps DO Count! appeared first on Get Your Life Straight.

We take care of others and make sure that their needs and happiness are taken care of, but put our own needs and happiness on the back burner because there just isn’t enough time in the day to “get it all in” and have anything left to give ourselves. And when we do give ourselves a little attention we feel guilty, as if we’ve done something wrong, when we haven’t.

When do we ever sit down and just relax and sip a hot cup of coffee without worrying about staying on top of everything??

With 3 small boys, a hubby, a full-time job, this blog, and my DIY craft blog, I’m usually left with little time left for myself, which makes me feel frustrated and unbalanced.

So I tried a little experiment recently: I let go of the proverbial handle bars and waited to see if I would crash.

Guess what??

I didn’t!

In fact, my husband became the “training wheels” that continued to support me! He picked up the slack. And in return, I reclaimed some time for myself! 

Taking Back My Morning (and Evening!)

So recently when I just decided to simply STOP striving for “Super Mom” status, I was able to take back my morning.

Morning routines in our household had always been stressful. We’d rush around and bark at the boys to “Hurry up! We’re going to be late!” And hubby and I would barely notice the other as we shuffled alongside of each other, too focused on just trying to survive another crazy morning to even notice each other.

I was finally able to pull myself together and initiated “night-before” planning: lunches packed, clothes ironed, floors mopped, toys stashed, and–best of all–counters were “crusty-stuff” free!

Perfect solution, right?

Wrong.

Although our mornings were a bit more stress-free, sacrificing my evenings to “get it all in” and prep for the next day left very little time for blogging and my DIY (do-it-yourself) projects.

Again, I found myself frustrated and unbalanced.

So, I simply…..STOPPED.

I stopped packing the kids’ lunch, stopped picking out their clothes, and I stopped cleaning the kitchen.

And guess who stepped up to the plate to do all these chores that I decided I no longer wanted to do?

Yep. Hubby did.

As a result, I had a lot more free time in the evenings AND time in the morning to just RELAX while getting my day started!

So, not only did I take back my evening and have more time for blogging and projects….BUT I TOOK BACK MY MORNING, TOO!

Relax and Have a Cup of Coffee, Will Ya?!

I’m not going kid you….it feels awesome basking in this “domestic liberation” each morning! (Yes, I’m coining that term!). And there is no room for guilt! To honor this liberation, I wanted to go to Wal-Mart and treat myself to some Seattle’s Best Coffee and a new coffee maker.  Settle’s Best Coffee has this new initiative going on, Take Back Your Morning (you can even share with them how you take back your morning, too, and win daily prizes).

Oh, let’s not forget the $1.50 off coupon they email you when you enter to win. Considering that the Seattle’s Best Coffee is only about $5.00, that’s a nice little savings!

Around my house, we’re known sip on–GASP!–instant coffee, but we all know that it pales in comparison to the freshly ground stuff, like Seattle’s Best, so we really needed a coffee maker. Plus, the smell of hot brewing coffee is so wonderful and “homey”….mmmmm…..sorry, but instant coffee doesn’t have anything on that! I love the way it makes the house smell in the morning!

It was hard choosing between all 5 Levels, ranging from Light & Crisp  to Dark & Intense, but I like to sip on something a bit light, so Medium-Light & Lively was perfect.

 I love my new Mr. Coffee maker! I usually buy everything from the thrift store, but this was a special treat to myself, and sometimes, you just wanna buy something NEW!

Check out my coffee mug!! I picked it up a few months ago from one of my favorite stores, Home Goods, for just a few bucks. Isn’t it great? How perfect of a daily reminder of how AWESOME life is, as I start my day, hmm?

Yep, and there I am…..looking quite….in need of a cup of coffee! (Did I really just post an early morning pic of myself for the world to see?!) But this is how I like to start my morning now! Just taking a moment to sit down an enjoy a cup of coffee with breakfast, uninterrupted, before I start my day.

Also, I now get a few more winks of sleep each morning, and actually get to apply my makeup in front of my bathroom mirror instead of in my rear view mirror! YES!!!

Ahhhh……

Selfish move?? Maybe.

Necessary move?? Most definitely!!

…And now it’s up to YOU to decide, how are YOU going to take back your morning?

Leave a comment below and share how you take back your morning!

And if you’re struggling with your mornings, share what’s holding you back!

For more information on Seattle’s Best Coffee, follow them on Facebook and Twitter #TakeBackYourMorning.

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and Seattle’s Best Coffee #cbias #SocialFabric. All of my opinions are my own and nooooobody else’s  

The post Take Back Your Morning With Seattle’s Best Coffee appeared first on Get Your Life Straight.

Although he and I, unfortunately, weren’t close, the news rendered me speechless, and as clear as day, I remember that huge lump that formed in my throat, cutting off my vocal chords as I struggled to respond, but literally couldn’t.  The only thing I could do was pass the phone to my husband.

My dad was only 48 years old.

And he had diabetes.

At the time, my brain couldn’t comprehend just how young he actually was. When you’re in your early 20′s, mid-40′s just sounds like a thought on a distant horizon.

As I turned 35 years old recently, 48 is staring me in the face, and I’m realizing just how prematurely my father died.

And I am my father’s daughter.

So what does that mean for me?

It means I am at risk, too.

No, I’m not overweight (although Lord knows I need to drop these last 18 pounds of postpartum weight gain!)……My fasting glucose is normal, too. And I eat a somewhat healthy vegetarian diet (Oreos are my weakness). But my A1C, which is a test that measures a person’s average blood glucose level over the past 2 to 3 months, is always slightly elevated during my yearly physicals. This means that I am certainly at risk for developed diabetes, which is a major contributor to heart disease, if I am not mindful of my lifestyle choices.

The good news is that there are now so many resources and tools for helping people like me (and you) take charge of their heart health so that we don’t have to become another tragic statistic.

It’s Walgreens Healthy Heart Month!

It’s time to take care of your hearts, guys! Because according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (DCD), about 600,000 people die of heart disease each year in the United States. That’s 1 out of 4 deaths. In fact, heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States.

And if that’s not shocking, I don’t know what is.

And we don’t have to live with stats like that. And we don’t have to become a statistic because of our family history. Seriously. We can do something about it. And I have decided that now is the time for me to get my healthy heart on track, so I don’t have to end up like my dad.

One company that is striving to make a difference in how we all take care of our heart is Walgreens.

I had an opportunity to stop by my local Walgreens to pick up some heart healthy items, including testing out their awesome new mobile app and Walgreens Pandora channel (more on that in a sec).

I’ve been wanting to get one of those pedometers for the longest time. You know–the ones that count the number of steps you take each day. I know that at my “9-to-5″ desk job, I don’t move nearly as much as I should be during the day! Now it was time to find out just how much I move.

Walgreens Mobile App — A Look at What It Can Do:

I’d heard that Walgreens had a new mobile app that provides a lot of value to its shoppers–everything from locating your nearest Walgreens, clipping store coupons, and–

Wait–what?? I can refill a prescription by scanning it??! That’s awesome! I am not on any medications, thankfully.  However, half of all Americans take at least one prescription medication, some of which are medications to keep their hearts in good working order, and I like that the Walgreen mobile app prescription refill could help encourage people to refill their prescriptions in a timely manner, which is always important when taking prescriptions. Plus, it saves time! And let’s face it–the easier it is to refill a prescription, the more likely that someone is going to follow the doctor’s orders and take it when prescribed. When you refill with this app, you can pick up your prescription only 20 minutes later. Super easy!

Plus, there a pill reminder. No reason to ever forget! Love that!

Using the app’s “SHOP” features, I searched my local Walgreens’ to see if they had pedometers in stock. I’ve been wanting one for the longest time! The truth is that my life is pretty sedentary. Well, lately it has been. I suffered with tendonitis in my ankle for a couple months, which began back in December, and that really put a dent in my activity level.

I’d taken to sitting down all day at work, with little ability to move as vigorously as I would have liked. So now that it’s begun to heal, I’m ready to start holding myself accountable again for making sure that I’m staying heart healthy and getting some daily physical activity.  Physical activity, along with a healthy diet, of course, is two of the most important things for me to do to make sure that I don’t develop diabetes like my dad, and to continue to maintain my fairly good health.

But first, I needed to find the right tools. I had no idea if Walgreens would have pedometers in stock, which will be key to  keeping myself in top shape. Loved that it was easy to look for what I needed with this app, by using the “SHOP” feature. Plus, any other things I’ll need to keep my heart healthy and in good shape, I can easily locate with the SHOP feature (and then add to my shopping list), such as omega-3 rich walnuts, and vitamins (including Vitamin E, garlic supplements, and Vitamin C).

After searching to make sure that Walgreens had pedometers (they did!), I drove to my local store to pick one up. I was excited to get one! I always get excited when I start a new “project.” And right now, I’m in “Project: Get Healthy” mode! I’m sure this extra 18 pounds of baby weight is negatively affecting my health, even if I feel totally fine. Time to get healthier!! I really want to live a long, healthy life….to see my 3 young boys (ages 6, 3, and 15 months) grow up.

I found the pedometers in the Diabetes Care section. Isn’t that telling?? It says, “Use a pedometer, and you can help prevent or thwart diabetes.” Well, that’s what it says to me

I noticed those “Balance Reward” signs hanging down and I was curious about what that was. Does it mean I get free stuff? I’m DOWN!!!

After a few minutes I decided to ask a staff member where I could find the pedometers. She replied that they “didn’t have any” and that I could “only find them online.” At that point, I pulled out the handy mobile app and said, “Yeah, you do. It says so right here ”. Maybe she was just confused, because another staff member pointed me back to the diabetes care section.

Speaking of pedometers, you DO know that you’re supposed to get about 10,000 steps a day, right?? That’s about 5 miles. I think the average person only gets about 2,500 steps per day. YIKES. It’s time to get moving!!!

Walgreens had several options of pedometers, but I went with a reasonably priced one that resembled a kitchen timer   No frills! In my opinion, you don’t need something with a million different buttons and options. Yes, this was going to suit me just fine!

I also picked up another toothbrush….because did you know that tooth decay is linked to heart disease???? When I first heard that news, I was pretty shocked. You never think that your teeth could be linked to heart disease. But, yep, it’s true. Inflammation in the body, including in the mouth and gums, has an important role in the build up of clogged arteries, which can lead to a heart attack. Make sure you’re brushing at least twice a day, and going for routine dentist visits. I know that exercise and getting in enough movement in the day can be challenging, but making sure to brush twice a day is something we can all do to help prevent heart disease.

While paying for my pedometer and new toothbrush, I signed up for the Balance Rewards program, which is cool because you save money on sale items, and you earn points. For example, if I fill a prescription at Walgreens, I earn 500 points. And for each mile that I walk, Walgreens will put 10 points on my Balance Rewards card. One I reach 5,000, I can start saving $5.00 off my next purchase. Who doesn’t like to get free money just for filling prescriptions and logging your steps??!

I also thought  it was pretty cool that, once you downloaded the mobile app, Walgreens offered to donate $1.00 to the American Heart Associate this month if I connected my Balance Rewards membership to my Facebook account.   Why, yes! What an easy way to contribute.

 Walgreens Pandora Radio

So did you know that Walgreens has a Pandora radio channel? I was a bit shocked to learn about their channel, but I couldn’t wait to find out more about it. When I logged into Pandora, the channel was playing artists like Katy Perry, Calvin Harris, Mumford & Sons, Luke Bryan, and Phillip Phillips — hits that were upbeat, positive, and high energy. What an awesome way to put together a collection of artists that you can listen to, for free, while you’re out on your walks, racking up pedometer steps! Great idea, Walgreens! You’ve got a new listener!

By the way….don’t you LOVE that song, “Home” by Phillip Phillips?? Ahh…I love it!

Walking 10,000 Steps Per Day

The next day at work, I was super excited to get started with tracking my activity level! I’m in a sit-down job, so I knew it would be challenging to get it all in. But I couldn’t wait to see…..

Wearing a pedometer is the best way to gauge how active or inactive you are. Be prepared, because you’ll discover that you’re probably a lot more sedentary than you even realize!

And yep, the one I bought looks a bit like a kitchen timer, but I could easily conceal it under my jacket and no one had to see. And even if they DID so, who cares?? If I’m being healthy, it doesn’t matter!

I’d like to say that I was successful in achieving my 10,000 recommended steps per day on the first day, but sadly….I fell short a whopping 4,755……Just goes to show you how sedentary I really can be!

I wasn’t discouraged, though!! It was a good assessment of my baseline. And I didn’t try to do anything differently that day.

However, fast forward a few days…..
I went running today, for the first time in what feels like forever, now that my ankle is healing. The weather was beautiful, and it felt freeing to get out there and push rubber to the road. Of course I was wearing my new pedometer, and I couldn’t wait to see how I would fair by the end of the day. I even found myself parking super far in the grocery store parking lot, in an attempt to rack up more steps! And I’m proud to see that I achieved 11,062 steps today! A whopping 1,062 greater than the recommended 10,000! If I keep this up, for at least 4-5 days a weeks, I will feel so happy that I am doing something to prevent myself from being a heart attack video, just like my dad.

If you’re interested in getting healthy and getting your heart pumping a little bit more, here are some ways to rack up steps:

Ways To Get More Steps

1. Talk a walk during lunch…..Chatting on Facebook while chowing down over my keyboard is not really an ideal way to spend my free time, don’t you agree?

2. Take the stairs……I usually don’t take the elevator, but adding a few more sets of stairs into my day could help boost my steps.

3. Park further away…..If you do this, you’ll always find a parking spot All the other lazy people are wasting their time waiting for someone to pull out!

4. Run around with the kids…..I’ve got 3 young boys who, gladly, will help me stack up those missing 4,755 steps!

 So What Are YOU Going To Do to Make Your Hearty Happy and Healthy?

It’s easy to fall into the cracks of laziness and keep doing the unhealthy things that have become poor habits. Trust me, I do them, too! But now is the only time we have to change things. Later may be too late. Everything we do now is going to affect our healthy tomorrow. As I approach my 40′s, the threat of heart disease can be stopped in its tracks if I exercise, eat right, and do all the heart healthy practices to keep me healthy.

If you’d like to find out more about getting your heart healthy, check out #HappyHealthy on Twitter! Go check out Walgreens on Twitter and “LIKE” Walgreens on Facebook, too.

Here’s to getting our health straight!

SALUD!!

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and Walgreens #cbias #SocialFabric. All of my opinions are my own, and will always be from the heart

Photo: Courtesy of Free Digital Photos

The post Keeping Your Heart Happy and Healthy appeared first on Get Your Life Straight.

Maybe you’ve just started a new business initiative, and you’re fired up about it.

Or perhaps you’re an avid blogger or crafter or gym rat, and you invest numerous hours into perfecting your craft.

But have you ever considered that maybe your passion is ruining your life?

Let me explain:

The other night, as I sat hunched over my computer, my face wrought with fatigue from too many late nights blogging into the wee hours of the morning, my husband begged me:

“Please come to bed! I just want you in my bed!”

I scowled at him, upset over his apparent “selfish” demands for attention when I clearly had important things to do. Didn’t he see I was busy?

I spat, “I’m not blogging right now, I’m paying bills! If you want the mortgage paid, you need to let me get this done!”

(Well, I mean, I was going to be blogging afterwards…..and probably really late into the evening….so he wasn’t too far off).

But this wasn’t about money or bills. And it wasn’t even about blogging.

The real crux of the matter was that I have become so consumed with my passion for my blog and my creative outlet that my life has become unbalanced. My passion has turned into a slight obsession and has begun to interfere with relationships with the most important people that I love: my family.

And don’t get me started on the chronic sleep deprivation from only getting 4-hour “cat naps” each night…..

The fact is, passion is beginning to ruin my life.

But Isn’t Passion a GOOD Thing?

Definitely.

But first, let me just say that if you have found your passions in life, you are so blessed. Passion is life’s blood.

There are so many people in this world that get up each morning and drudge through the weary monotony of their day….only to come home and plop down in front of the TV or computer and waste the evening away with hours of reality non-sense or pointless Facebook statuses….only to wake up the next day to do it all over again.

They may be afraid to embrace their passion. They may not have even discovered their passion. Some may be facing serious problems or concerns in life and their passion has taken a nose-dive.

Or, maybe they’re just too lazy or busy to actively pursuit it.

Who knows.

But those people feel empty because their life’s passion is so elusive.

And then there are people like me…

You know the ones: we wake up each morning and can’t wait to get the day started, because there’s so much to see….so much to do….so much life to experience….and we can’t wait to further explore our passions, because, after all, we live it and we breathe it.

(We’re actually pretty annoying sometimes, right?)

But some of us—just like me—start letting this passion consume our life.

It’s obsessive.

We become so enveloped in our passion and goal-chasing, project-completions, or never-ending “To Do” lists objectives that we start to struggle with balancing this passion with all the other important compartments of our life–family, marriage, health, and friends.

We stay up like vampires while the world sleeps and plug away at our craft, until our heads ache.

We think incessantly about how to get to the next level. At 3 a.m. we’re wired, and early anticipating the sunrise so we can get crackin’ again.

We cut off friends and family because they don’t share the same vision that we do. We don’t like their criticism. We say they’re not supportive.

We shun quality time with our significant others and children for the sake of productivity.

In short, we’ve become obsessed.

And although passion is indeed a very good thing, clearly it’s possible to become much too consumed–to the point that our relationships and health become sickly.

And the reality is that in all this glory of passion, we’re suffering, too.

We just don’t know it.

WHY Do We Become Unbalanced, Anyway?

I’ll agree that when you’re starting a new venture–be it a new business, a new blog, or even a new healthy eating program, there’s a certain amount of focus and dedication necessary to get you to the next level. It involves a great deal of sacrifice of time, energy, mental power, and sometimes money. But at what point does it become “too much”? And why did it get that way? Here are a few reasons why:

1. It feels GOOD! We gravitate towards things that feel good. Passion feels good. It gives our life purpose, and who doesn’t like to live a purposeful life? Our soul craves it. We want more. And more….
2. We lack structure. We fail to set clear boundaries and our passion begins to tromp all else.
3. We are afraid to relax. If we relax, we fear that we’ll lose our momentum.
4. Selfishness. Sometimes we feel entitled. How dare someone or something prevent us from doing what makes us happy?
5. Desire for perfection. Nothing is perfect. We know that. But it doesn’t stop us from wasting our time for the pursuit of perfection.

So HOW Do We Fix It?

Clearly, I don’t have all the answers; if I did, my life would be perfect, right? But I’m suffering, just like you: torn between my passion and all the areas of my life that need me to be alert and ever present.  However, here are some things that I am going to do to try to put my life back into perspective, while hopefully still being able to thrive in my passion:

1. Keep life in perspective. As morbid as this sounds, one day I am going to die. So will you. And when you’re on your death bed, what will matter the most are the family and friends you love, and that love you, too. You’ll wish you had more time with them. You may even regret the time that you gave up with them to pursue something that once seemed so important but now seems trivial. Make today count. Lighten up and don’t exclude the people that matter the most.
2. Create a schedule. Pencil in your passion. Allot all the time you’ll need. Give yourself ample time to feel satisfied. Try using a timer.
3. Get disciplined. When it’s time to stop, then stop. Regroup and refocus.
4. Drop the attitude. Your loved ones are not necessarily attacking you or your passion. They’re trying to make you understand that it’s okay to lighten up, or genuinely may not understand. Drop the attitude.
5. Get some help.  It’s okay to say you need help. Maybe get your hands on a copy of How to Balance Your Life when you need more tips on balancing work/life.
6. Embrace imperfections. Life isn’t perfect, so stop trying to make it so. Embrace the imperfections.

Do you have any additional suggestions?

POLL:

Have you ever been obsessed with something?

Did it start to ruin your life?

If you’ve liked this post, please take a moment to leave a comment.. Let me know what you think of this article. I value and respond to all comments. When you respond, it let’s me know I’m not talking to a black hole. THANKS!

Photos courtesy of Free Digital Photos

The post When Passion Ruins Your Life appeared first on Get Your Life Straight.

Seems everyone was in agreement about these money lies and that change is needed in order to better manage our money.

That is, except a reader who commented that he totally disagreed with Lie #2:

 “I’ve been wanting it for so long, and it was a good deal, so I had to buy it.”

He commented:

“I disagree very much with #2, “It’s such a good deal; I’ve wanted it so long.” I have lusted after an Airstream for decades – since I was in Kindergarten. If I found a used Airstream for $200, I would break the speed of sound to go buy it! It’s not in my monthly budget, but if I found something I “always wanted” on sale for less than 1% of it’s value, I would hate myself if I didn’t buy it! I would be happy to go hungry for a month!”

Now,  I have no CLUE what the heck an AIRSTREAM is. Nor do I really need to know. (I’m sure it’s pretty cool, though! But let’s take this idea a little further, because it’s an interesting thought…..).

What’s important here is:

a. He’s always wanted it.

b. It would be a rare find and a good deal.

c. He’s willing to sell his soul. Oh, I mean, go hungry for a month, just to get it.

And as I mulled his comment around in my head while I was showering this morning (because you know that’s when you do you’re best thinking, right?), it made me realize that there really are all these “gray areas” of money management. And it made me question, when you’re trying to get your money straight, are there any splurge purchases that are ever truly OK?

Not Just Black and White

Think about the big financial gurus we all know and love, and their advice:  stick to cash-only…..never use credit cards (heck, doesn’t Dave Ramsey say you don’t even need
credit?)…..never buy a new car……never borrow from your 401(k)……never, never, never…..always, always, always…..

And although it’s great advice, it’s very black and white.

We soooo want to do well with our money, so we try to follow their well-meaning advice, but the minute we break their rules, we feel like financial failures. Maybe that’s why some of us give up on New Year’s Resolutions so quickly because we’ve slipped into the “gray areas.” And because no one talks about the “gray areas” and gives us permission to fall into them occasionally, we feel like we’ll never be able to succeed.

Or, maybe it’s those “gray areas” that got us into a financial mess to begin with and that there’s a reason it’s so black and white.

Who knows.

Consider diet plans.

You’ve got diet plans that absolutely forbid you to eat certain foods (i.e. “bad” foods). Then you’ve got Weight Watchers that allows you to eat anything, so long as you stay within your daily points goals. Plans such as Weight Watchers allow people to easily slip in and out of the “gray areas” of healthy and poor eating, while not penalizing you.

Why can’t we have a budgeting strategies designed to allow us to slip into the “gray areas,” too?

The key is to manage those “gray areas” to ensure financial success.

Just like weight loss.

What Are “Gray Areas”?

The “gray areas” are simply life.

They’re the things we can’t plan, per se; things that come up that are rare, unexpectedly, maybe even once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. They’re exceptions to the rules. They’re deals….they’re experiences that may have more value than money. It could be that rare AIRSTREAM, like our guy above….it could be taking a last minute vacation to spend time with a dying uncle….. They’re moments with family and friends. They’re opportunities that, if we missed them, the cost of missing them would be greater than the cost of acquiring them.

How Do We Manage the “Gray Areas”?

Very carefully, that’s how.

Because there are so many “gray areas,” it’s easy to justify every splurge, when really, all you’re being is financially irresponsible.

For example, I was financially irresponsible the other day.

For any of you that know me, or read my other blog, Thrift Diving, you know that I LOVE me some thrift stores! It’s how I have been able to decorate my house on a shoestring budget, while at the same time, expressing my creativity and trying to build a business around my blog.

So when the thrift store lured me in on their 50% off day, which only happens on Federal holidays (e.g. Martin Luther King Jr Day), I felt that I had to go–not just for the great half-off deals, but because I consider it a “business trip.” My blog thrives on thrift stores and my experiences with them.

Did I plan to spend? Probably. But only about $20 or less on small trinkets for my craft room, which I am currently decorating.

Had I budgeted for it? No.

Did I have extra cash? Well, no.

I had $120 in my wallet, and that money was slated for food, personal, and any household things I would need until the next payday, nearly 2 weeks away (since I had just gotten paid).

Yes, I could have stayed home. But because of the rarity of the 50% off sales event, I felt I had to go.

I ended up buying this vintage Singer sewing machine for $40.

Buying this sewing machine consumed ONE THIRD of my cash, and I ended up strapped and couldn’t buy as much food later when I went grocery shopping.

In other words, I traded my weekly grocery allowance for an old, maybe-it-works-maybe-it-doesn’t-hope-I-can-make-some-money-off-of-it sewing machine, that I plan to restore and eventually sell on Craigslist or eBay. I kept monitoring my grocery cart, irritated that I had $40 less to spend on necessities.

It was not a good move financially. Not unless I can turn this machine around quickly and pull out my $40 along with a profit. But until that time, it wasn’t a good decision for my budget.

Ask Yourself These Questions Before Making a Splurge Purchase

I wish I would have had these questions at the time, before buying the sewing machine. Considering I hated having to curb my grocery list because of my purchase, it was very telling that I shouldn’t have boughtthe sewing machine. Next time, I’m going to ask myself the following questions before buying anything in the “gray areas” of spending.

• Is this item or opportunity so rare, or can I get it at any time? (If you can buy something at any time, regardless of its cost or sales price, then consider walking away; it’s not rare enough to risk blowing your budget and going hungry!)

• Will I regret walking away from this? (If not, then you weren’t meant to buy it or do it.)

• Is it going to improve the quality of my life or others’ lives? (If not, you may not need it.)

• When we the last time I splurged away from my budget? (If you’re splurging often, then you’re clearly just making bad financial decisions).

• Would I let my family go hungry if I get this? (I sure hope you wouldn’t truly let your family go hungry! But hypothetically speaking, if you would say no, then keep it movin’.)

In conclusion, there’s definitely a need for the “gray areas” of life to be defined so that we don’t always have to live by unrealistic black and white rules. Yes, we need to respect that the black and white rules exist because they are the meat and potatoes to any successful financial plan (or even weight loss plan). But managing the “gray areas” of life and not beating yourself up for the occasional splurge, is totally acceptable. And if you can find a rarity like an AIRSTREAM, then by all means, don’t let anyone stop you.

If you liked this post, consider leaving a comment and let me know what you think. I read all comments and love to hear what’s working and NOT working in your own life.

Photo courtesy Free Digital Photos

The post Is It Ever Okay to Splurge on A Budget? appeared first on Get Your Life Straight.

The comments that you all posted in response to the post were pretty awesome. It was comforting to hear that some of you all are living paycheck-to-paycheck, too.

(But shout out to Holly, from Happy Food Healthy Life who commented that her family is DEBT FREE thanks to her success in using the Dave Ramsey plan!)

Some of you have families that took pay cuts, and some of you are just trying to pull yourselves out, too.

But I know it doesn’t have to be this way.

There are things we can do to get our “side-hustle on” for 2013. Here’s just a list of things that I’ve identified that I am going try, and hopefully there are some suggestions in there that you’ll find helpful, too. By all means, PLEASE leave a comment and add some additional suggestions! We all can benefit from a little extra cash in our pockets

Ways To Make More Money

1. Find a new “9-to-5.” Do you have the skills you need? Can you command more money if you find new skills? My “9-to-5″ salary has been so stagnant the past few years, so I definitely am going to start looking!
2. Sell stuff around your house. We all have clutter sitting around that we’ve stored in the basement or garage. Don’t just donate it if you’re de-cluttering. Why not sell is on Craigslist? Try a consignment shop, especially for baby clothes and baby gear. eBay is an option for selling, but careful with the fees they charge. Sometimes you end up making very little profit. Be sure to calculate in shipping costs when you list your item on eBay. Use flat-rate shipping if you can!
3. Be a guinea pig. Do you live near a teaching hospital or university? I work near the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, and I used to do MRI studies and got paid a handsome amount just to fall asleep in the MRI scanner By all means, take pics of my brain. MRI studies generally aren’t invasive. If you do decide to do participate in research, be sure to understand the full benefits and risk before consenting. To search for available clinical trials in all 50 states, check out ClinicalTrials.gov.
4. Become a babysitter. A coworker recently pointed me to Sitter City, an online site to find babysitters, nannies, and nanny services. She found her sitters there–elementary school teachers, parents, etc, who needed extra cash. I’ve got 3 kids of my own. What’s one more for a few hours? Can we say, “paid play date”??
5. Make something and sell it. This option is great for crafty people. I used to make baby carriers, cloth diapers, baby shoes–you name it. It’s time to start making and selling. Etsy is a great place to list these things.
6. Sell your services. What are you good at? I’ve got a good friend who is majored in Engineering and now has a tutoring business helping young students with math.  What crafts do you do? Teach someone else your craft. I taught myself how to sew over the last 12 years, and I think I am also pretty creative at making over thrift store furniture, so I’m trying to put together some furniture painting classes. No one has registered yet, but at least I am trying, right??
7. Check out Inbox Dollars. Trust me, I’m not trying to sell you some website; I’m not making a profit recommending this online reward club. I actually use this site. You get a few dollars here and there for signing up for trial offers for things like Netflix, or trying some product, or even taking surveys. I have only done the trial offers, where you can make $5.00 or something. I usually cancel before the free trial period ends. The surveys only pay about 25 cents, or something so ridiculous that there’s no way I would waste my time on it. They also send you “Paid Mail” where if you click on the link, you get 2 cents. Okay–not a lot. But for just a click, why not? And once you reach $30 or so, they will cut you a check. It’s legit. This year, I am going to do more trial offers and see how much I can rack up from this site!
8. Do your own fundraiser. When I was in middle school, I used to sell candy to kids while at school. I was an entrepreneur even then! Pack of gum cost me $0.25….lollipop cost me $0.10….and I would sell them for $1.00 as a package deal. Whoa, $0.65 profit was pretty good! I upgraded to Sam’s Clubs Reese’s Cups, but I ended up eating all my inventory. HA! But why not try something similar as an adult? Bake cookies and sell them at work, 3 for $1.00? I wouldn’t be surprised if people started hunting you down at 3 p.m…..
9. Sell your blood. Okay, slightly unethical, considering that you should donate from the kindness of your heart. Do they even PAY for blood anymore? When I was in my 20′s and worked at the National Institutes of Health, I actually participated in a procedure every few months call apheresis, a procedure where they run your blood “through an apparatus that separates out one particular constituent and returns the remainder to the circulation.” Um…Okay. I was 23 at the time. It wasn’t dangerous. They gave me free snacks afterwards. I got to watch a movie. It paid $50. Sweet. Where can I sign up again?
10. Start a blog. HA! I’m kinda joking, because building a successful monetized blog takes time; it’s not a get-rich-quick solution, by any means. I’ve been blogging (on a serious tip) for almost a year. It’s definitely not paying any bills (yet!). But with good content, networking, Google  AdSense, and other affiliate marketing, I will eventually start to turn a profit. Eventually. And you can, too, if you’re willing to put in the hard work. It’s got to be your passion, though (and it’s definitely mine!).

Ways NOT to Make Money

And while there are things you can do to make more money, please don’t try these things. ;-P

1. Sell ad space on your head. Or your face. Or Legs. Okay–NO WHERE on your body. Yes, this man actually sold ad space on his head. What was he thinking?!
2. Sell prescription pills. A friend’s daughter was recently diagnosed with ADHD, and we were talking about people are taking ADHD meds for weight-loss reasons. Her daughter joked about selling them. Um, yeah, don’t do that, unless you want to go to jail. LOL
3. Anything illegal. Jail time is NOT cool….follow the law!
4. Sell your kids. Mine work my nerves to no end. But I love them. They’re staying.
5. Sell your body parts. You need those kidneys. They can have them when you die. But not until that time.

Ways To Cut Your Expenses

If you’re going to be bringing in some extra loot, you may as well find ways to cut your expenses. Here’s what I plan to do. If you’ve got some cool ideas, by all means, please a comment!

1. Check your bills. Are you being overcharged for things? Comcast does some questionable stuff. I recently discovered they’d been charging me for services that I shouldn’t have been charged for. Thankfully, they credited my account. But had I not checked, I would have continued to be charged. Check your other accounts where errors could be happening, too.
2. Cut OFF your cable. Just cut it off. It’s got to be cheaper to do Netflix, or Hulu (some content is free), and even Amazon Prime has unlimited streaming with its yearly membership. Cutting off cable has been hard for me to do, even though I don’t even watch TV (it’s hubby and kids that are addicted). I’ve decided, though, that I’m going to try to do this for one month, if I can get the cajones to do it! Keep you posted on this one!
   

   Say NO to cable.

    

3. Track your spending. It’s easier to cut back when you know where your money is going, right? Then use those tracked figures to create a realistic budget.
4. Stay HOME! It’s true–if you stay home, it eliminates the ability to spend (not counting shopping online). It means you have to pass on activities with friends, or not taking your kids to cool places. Don’t deprive yourself or your kids, but PLAN those outings by working them into your budget. When there’s no more “fun” money, then you stay home!
5. Use coupons. But only clip the ones for things you already use. Clipping coupons for crap you don’t ever buy, in my opinion, is a waste of time and creates a cluttered wallet. For example, if you love Pantene condition (like me), do a Google search for “Pantene coupons” and see what comes up. Use sites like Coupon Mom or Coupons.com. I like using Targets mobile coupons where they text them to you and the cashier simply scans the barcode on your phone.
6. Use Ebates. Again, this isn’t a sponsored recommendation. I try to use Ebates.com when I buy anything online. How it works is, by accessing a website (for example, Kohls.com) via Ebates, it creates a tracking cookie on your computer. That retailer offers a % rebate (e.g. 4% back) on your total (some sites offer rebates up to 20%). If you spend $100 at Kohls.com, your eBates account is credited $4.00. Once you reach a threshold (e.g. $30 balance), Ebates sends you a check. This is helpful for purchases you already make online. Don’t go buying unnecessary stuff just to save a buck or two.
7. Decide what you can live without. Do you really need that Weight Watchers membership for $18 a month, or can you just find an awesome free online weight loss site? I just cut off my Weight Watchers and signed up for 411 Fit, which is free. I’ve used it before and really liked it. And can you cut your gym membership and walk with a friend at lunch? I love the gym at my job, but at $40 a month, I just can’t swing that. I’ve taken to doing stairs at lunch. I also stopped buying the expensive hair gel for my hair, and have bought a gel that works just as well, for a fraction of the cost.
   

   Run stairs instead of joining a gym.

    

    

8. Use your programmable thermostat.  I’m not kidding when I say for the past year that we’ve had our programmable thermostat, we never “used” it; we just set it on “hold” and forgot about it. Granted, I only set the heat on 70, which is still low. But I just recently (like, last weekend), set it up to adjust to 65 at night when we’re sleeping, and to adjust to 68 when we’re home and during “wake” hours. I can’t wait to see how this affects our gas bill this season!
9. Buy in bulk. Yeah, shopping at Costco or Sam’s Club is awesome. I’ve started going there to buy bulk broccoli, TP, sugar, grapes, and a few other things. But even if you don’t have access to a warehouse membership, buy bulk at your local grocery store. I can’t tell you how many times my stupid ass would buy, like, one box of Cheerios, only to run out a few days later, and then have to waste time, money, and gas going back to buy another box. I would end up buying 5 other things, in addition to the box of Cheerios. Talk about wasteful! This is common sense. But trust me–I was doing this *blush blush*. No more!
10. Menus, menus, menus. I think this is pretty common sense, but I’m going to be honest with you–I’ve never kept a successful menu. The reasons why could be a whole ‘nutha blog post. But for the past 2 weeks, I have kept one, and it’s been working out! More on that in another post!

Ways NOT to Cut Expenses

Since there are some suggestions above about how NOT to make money, LOL, here are some things that you really SHOULDN’T do to cut your expenses

1. Turn 2-ply toilet paper into 1-ply. It’s okay to use 2 sheets! Promise!
2. Go through McDonald’s drive-thu only for condiments. HAHA, I’ve actually done this, eons ago. But yeah, in a pinch…. Still…just put it on your grocery list! LOL
3. Cancel your trash bill. Then drive your trash over to the nearest apartment complex. HA! (We actually did this when we first moved in, ONLY because we hadn’t set up the trash account yet! But definitely don’t do this on the real!)
4. Flash your college ID to get discounted movie tickets. You’re 35 now. And graying.
5. Sneak into Costco or Sam’s club ONLY to feed your kids lunch from the samples. Those employees are membership ninjas! They WILL call you out! Trust me, they almost kicked me out last week! Long story….
6. Steal toilet paper from public restrooms. It would be even worse if you’re stealing it and THEN pulling apart the ply-sheets.

Okay, sooooo……HAHAHA, there ARE some serious suggestions above! And clearly, there are not the end-all, be-all solutions, but they’re just some things that I identified that I’m going to try to make more money and cut our monthly expenses.

Please leave a COMMENT below and tell me what things YOU do (or are planning to do) to make more money and to cut expenses! Can’t wait to hear them!

The post 20 Ways to Make More Money and Cut Your Expenses appeared first on Get Your Life Straight.

‘Cause we are.

(And if you’re not living paycheck-to-paycheck, pray tell what in the hell you’re doing so we can do it, too.)

I bet half, if not more, of all the people you know are secretly living paycheck-to-paycheck.

I mean, it’s not something that most people want to shout from the roof tops. *I* just tend to be so open because I am a blabber mouth a blogger and TELLING is what I do, in hopes of opening the lines of communication.

People are so secretive about their money: how much they make, how much they owe, how much they’re saving (or NOT saving)–and the list of secrets go on. And it’s those secrets that perpetuate the lies that we tell ourselves about our money and our financial situation.

So let’s have an honest discussion about money, or lack thereof.

Because this living paycheck-to-paycheck cycle sucks. And it’s time to do something about it.

Once Upon a Time…

…we were doing damn good: we had money in the bank (ahhh….security), we had an affordable small 2-bedroom condo, and we had no kids (no daycare costs, which is a freakin’ mortgage!). We also had no car payments because we’d kept our cars after paying them off.

Life was easy.

But somewhere along the way……..we had a baby…….and then another………and we began needing wanting more space……..and we bought a 4-BR single-family home………and then baby #3 popped out (SURPRISE!)…….and…..and…..and….and…..

…..aaaaand you get the point.

My 3 beautiful sons!

Life became more complicated, and expensive.

• Our “new” 1973 single-family home needed tons of repairs and updates:  cha-ching!

• We had 2 kids in daycare at the same time (still do): double cha-ching!!

• Add in the cost of furnishing a larger home, and the monthly expenses have risen–so much so, that it’s hard to keep up. (Thankfully, I’ve kept the furnishing expense low because I hoard furniture and home wares from the thrift store and make it look as kick-ass as possible for mere dollars. But it still adds up.)

And now here we are, living paycheck-to-paycheck.

Why People Live Paycheck to Paycheck

If your expenses are greater than your income, you’re in trouble. When you begin shelling out more than what’s pouring in, it’s time to change it.

Some of these expenses, regardless of whether they’re fixed expenses, like mortgage or life insurance, or variable expenses, such as groceries or gas, you can cut back.

You can even make more money.

But even if you make more, and cut back, the heart of the matter is to manage it better.

You’ve got to set a realistic budget.

I’ll be honest with you, I don’t think I’ve ever budgeted my money. Budgets have always made me feel restricted. Sort of like dieting. When you’re on a diet, all you can think about is chocolate cake. Or bottles of wine. And you hate feeling like you can’t just splurge when you want to.

I’ve always paid my fixed expenses, and then just lived off the rest. The problem is that I would use some of that “what’s left over” pot of money for, say, cans of paint to redecorate my house (which is fine), but come the end of the pay period, I’d be struggling to pull together enough money for a small trip to the grocery store for that night’s dinner.

It’s not a problem spending money on things like cans of paint, or whatever hobby or fun “latte factor” you’ve got going on, but when you’re not budgeting for it, you totally throw yourself off, and then you find yourself living paycheck-to-paycheck.

So here is what I am doing to break this cycle:

1. Track my spending to get a realistic idea of what I spend money on. I’ve been tracking forever, but now I’m actually USING the data.

2. Create a “CURRENT” budget using the average of those tracked expenses in all the categories that I spend. I did this last week and was SHOCKED to see that I was in the hole several hundred dollars and was operating at a LOSS.

3. List ways that I can make more money, such as these 20 Ways to Make More Money and Cut Expenses.

4. List ways I can cut expenses.

5. Get off my ass and actually make that extra money and be courageous to cut costs! It’s easier said than done!

6. Create a new budget based my new income and lower expenses.

7. DISCIPLINE myself! Budgets won’t work if I won’t stick with them.

So I want to know, are you living paycheck to paycheck, too?

And if so, when did you first start noticing the squeeze?

And what are you doing to correct this vicious cycle?

NOTE: If this post has resonated with you, and you’d like to add to this discussion, I would love to hear from you! Please consider leaving a comment Or find me on Facebook and say “hi!”

The post Are You Living Paycheck to Paycheck? appeared first on Get Your Life Straight.

If you’re like most people, you don’t. You’ve got a vague idea, but you don’t know the specifics.

Of course you already know that you should track your spending, especially if you’re trying to create a successful budget. Every financial guru and their mama has shouted it from their soap boxes since preaching personal finance had become sexy.

So yeah–we already know we should track.

But how should we track our spending?

What are the best methods, tools, and tips for success?

I started tracking my expenses in high school. What the hell was I thinking? I surely didn’t have any major expenses or a need for a budget. I guess I was just a nerd and loved personal finance. Who knows.

As an adult, I’ve continued to track my spending.

You would think with all those years of experience, I’d be the Master of Tracking. My game would be financially sound; I’d have the tightest budget, and there would be no reason to “get my life straight.”

Not true.

There are psychological reasons why people are unsuccessful with tracking their spending. My reason is because of the money lies that I tell myself so that I can keep spending however I please. And if I know where my money is going, it means I will have to change my spending habits.

And I haven’t want to do that.

Until now.

Getting past the psychological reasons why I was unsuccessful at tracking my spending effectively, there are logistical reasons why I failed: procrastination, lack of tools, and poor feedback.

With my New Year’s Resolution to get my life straight, I’ve made a fresh commitment to improve my family’s financial standing, and with this new-found attempt at efficient tracking, here are some of the tools, tips, and tricks I will be using to track my spending:

1. Use the Money Monitor app.

Do you have a smart phone? If not, GET ONE. Track your spending with this free app and you can see what you’ve spent in any-which-way your heart desires: by category, by account, by payee….etc. It’s got all the reports and feedback you need in one place. This is NOT a sponsored recommendation; I just discovered it recently when rooting through my iPhone App store. There’s a free version, and the $1.99 version. Honestly, the only difference, from what I can tell, is that the paid version allows you to password protect it. But if you’re not entering account numbers, who needs to protect numbers, really? I love how easy it is to use, and the feedback it provides. Here are a few of my screen shots:

 The interface is clean and well-organized.

 Adding transactions is easy. You can specify TYPE of transaction (e.g. Expense or Income), and link the transaction to accounts, categories, and budgets. I like that you can name Payee’s, too.

This is handy: being able to schedule all your bills and then get reminders about those upcoming bills. Cool! All the GREEN dots are bills you’ve marked as “PAID” and all the RED are coming up.

Set up budgets so you’ll know how much is left in each budget.

This is the best section–the REPORTS. It allows you to see your data in so many ways. With this app, you have NO REASON to know know the full scope of your spending and income!

      And seeing it in a pretty little graph is perfect! I love that you can see your expenses and incomes by WEEK, MONTH, QUARTER, and YEAR.

Oh! And it’s also cool that you an set general reminders!

2. Track in real-time.

Enter your expenses while actually standing IN LINE. Seriously, it only takes a second. At the very latest, set a reminder to track at night before you go to bed. Be sure to hold onto your receipts during the day, and then toss them when you’re done. No need to hold onto that clutter! Or jot it down quickly and then enter when you get to the car.

My method of tracking my expenses used to be shoving those annoying receipts into my wallet, and at the end of the month when I couldn’t close my wallet, THEN I would pull them all out and painstakingly enter each transaction into a cumbersome Excel file that I’ve been using for years. Sometimes it took HOURS to do this!

Tracking at the end of the month offers no feedback to help mitigate your spending habits during that month; if anything, it would only help you with the following month. And that’s not an effective way of monitoring. Monitor real-time, and you can make smarter spending decisions.

3. Track every single dime.

Yes, you must track even the 50 cents you gave your kids for the gumball machine. Tracking means EVERY EXPENSE. I know it seems a bit frivolous, but 50 cents here…..a quarter there….it all adds up.

4. Assign a category to each expense.

There are just some categories that are sooooo miscellaneous, that you can’t help but want to just mark it off as such and keep it moving. But it’s really important to assign each expense to a category so later, when creating your budget, you have accurate categories of where your money goes. I’m terrible at this. I never know where to file purchases like “batteries” or “postage stamps.” So I usually just stick them into some Misc category. And from what I can tell from my previous Excel budgeting sheet, I spent about $40-$50 a month on crap I’ve labeled “Miscellaneous”! Don’t do what I’ve done. This kind of labeling won’t get you anywhere!

5. Ask your spouse to track their spending, too.

Seems like common sense. But if you’re trying to change your family’s financial status, you really have to be on the same page with where you’re money is going.But our family has done terrible at this. Hubby and I keep separate accounts, and we usually don’t interfere in each others’ expenses.  I will begin asking hubby to track his spending as well (which is sooo much better than mine). That’s the only way we’ll come up with a realistic budget and spending plan.

6. Track for longer than 1 month.

What I mean is…..don’t stop tracking after a month. In fact, keep tracking indefinitely. It might seem like a hassle now, but after some time, it will become second-nature, and you won’t even notice; it will just become “what you do.” People that do Weight Watchers and have lost 100 pounds from tracking and modifying their food intake don’t suddenly stop tracking just because they’ve hit their goal weight. They keep on tracking, in order to monitor their intake and ensure that they are sticking to their goals. Same thing applies to tracking your spending.

7. Use your data.

None of this tracking means anything unless you actually use your data for feedback, to make changes in your spending habits. In real-time, you can see where your money is going. And at the end of the month/quarter/year, you can ask yourself: Where is the majority of my money going? How much am I spending on eating out and groceries? Can I afford to cut back? Am I not spending enough in some categories, like entertainment? What surprised me the most about my spending? What changes can I make going forward?

So, those are just some tips that I have found to be successful–some of which I am doing, and some which I still need to work on.

What what about you?

Do you track your spending? What are some of your tips and tools that you use to track?

Please feel free to leave a comment and share! I love comments

The post How to Track Your Spending appeared first on Get Your Life Straight.

Where do these lies come from?

From two places: fear and laziness.

When you tell yourself the truth about your money, particularly your lack thereof, suddenly it becomes reality–“Oh, man, I’m a financial mess!” when all this time you’ve been fooling yourself into thinking that you’re doing just fine.

And you’re feeling lazy; not up to the challenge of turning your finances around. And once you’re truthful about your money, it means you have to do something about it

And THAT is the scary part.

It means we’re going to have to start watching our pennies and telling ourselves “no” to things that we once just gave to ourselves because we felt we “deserved” it, or because we said that “it’s just a $1.50 cup of coffee every day. What’s the big deal??”

The big deal is that it’s all built on lies.

The truth is, you’re really broke. You really have no emergency fund. You’re really only one paycheck away from being homeless. The truth is that you suck at managing your money.

You’re really in trouble.

I confess that I’ve been lying to myself about my money, too.

I’ve been telling myself that we’re doing okay because we have have a little stashed away in a CD and company stock. But we don’t have the recommended 9 months of living expenses should one of us lose our jobs. But the fact that we’re not saving any money, and hubby has to work 2 jobs in order to pay for daycare, we’re not doing okay. In fact, we could be doing much better.

So let’s take a look at some of the lies that I have been telling myself. Have you been telling yourself  lies, too?

1. “I’ll charge it now and just pay it off when I get paid.”

Yeah–right……And even if I DID pay it off when I got paid, it was only a short time before I charged something else, and started the cyclical pattern of charging…then paying back….charging…then paying back. So essentially what happens is that I’m JUST paying for what I’ve bought; I’m not even close to making a dent in the other debt that is sitting there, collecting interest.

2. “I’ve been wanting it for so long, and it was a good deal, so I had to buy it.”

Just because I’ve been drooling over something for a couple months (or even years!) doesn’t justify buying it on credit. It doesn’t even justify buying it with cash, until I have specifically saved up for it. The amount of time you’ve wanted something doesn’t justify when you get it. It just doesn’t.

3. “My $5,000 credit card debt isn’t THAT bad. Some people’s debt is $30,000! So I must be doing pretty good then.”

No, you’re not! I know it helps to keep things relative, in order to feel better about my own situation when I compare myself to people doing worse, but why not compare myself to people doing better? There are people with ZERO credit card debt (I know–I used to be one of them). So compare my situation to them, and the truthful statement is, “OMG, I’m really screwing up!”

4. “But it’s not like I’m spending money on frivolous stuff like massages, manicures, pedicures, or shopping for name-brand clothes every day of the week!”

You know what? That doesn’t even matter. Just because I am not buying these things, doesn’t justify all the other things I over-spend on. A dollar spent is a dollar spent, whether it’s on makeup and a “pedi” or on a last-minute dinner at Trader Joe’s because I didn’t plan a weekly menu and now I’m scrambling to feed my kids. It’s still over-spending, however you look at it.

5. “My paycheck isn’t enough.”

The truth isn’t that my paycheck isn’t enough. It’s that I’m over-spending. I’m paying for cable channels I don’t watch. I’m wasting money on money leaks that I haven’t plugged up, I’m pay on credit debt, I’m buying food without a weekly menu to guide my buying decisions, then throwing out things that go bad before we eat them…and the list goes on. My paycheck could suffice.

So there you have it, folks: the money lies I have been telling myself. The next challenge is to figure out how to live a financially truthful life, so that my family can start saving again. My goal is to build a reliable emergency fund, plug up those money leaks, learn to create a weekly menu, and curb my over-spending habits. Stay tuned for more!

I would love to know what lies you all have been telling yourself. And aren’t you ready for financial honesty again?!

If you want to see more money lies we tell ourselves, check out these other 9 money lies that we tell ourselves.

The post Top 5 Lies We Tell Ourselves About Our Money appeared first on Get Your Life Straight.

Really, dude?

I find this misleading. Depressing statistics like this is the reason why so many people, when you ask them if they’ve made some New Year’s Resolutions,  scoff, “Naaahhhh…..I’m just going to try to do and be better.”

When people see statistics like this, it only reinforces their belief that it’s self-sabotaging to even set these high expectations on themselves, only to know that they’re probably going to fall flat on they face when they realize that it’s unattainable. After all, only 8% are successful, right?

WRONG. And I’ll tell you why–

First, I’m not kidding when I say that this is my favorite time of year. I freakin’ LOVE the new year!! It’s a time to start fresh and really get your life on track from where you fell off in the previous year. It’s a time to reflect on what you’ve been doing that has and hasn’t worked, and then resolve to keep doing the same, or to head your ass in a new direction.

Setting resolutions creates FOCUS and ATTENTION to that which you want to change! And I think it’s something that everyone can benefit from.

But to claim that only 8% achieve their New Year’s resolutions is too black and white. It disregards all the amazing progress that people make in between on their way to their goal. Can’t we get a little credit for THAT?

We are people headed down the path to better health….better credit and money management….better relationships….All because we said that we were going to. And just because we may not reach our precisely stated goal, doesn’t mean that we haven’t been holding it down!

If  you’re fat, and you’ve resolved to lose 100 pounds, and you “only” drop 50 by the end of the year, can we call you a failure who hasn’t achieved her Resolution?

NO.

You’re “In Progress.” Baby steps count, as long as you’re moving in the right direction.

Don’t let some negative statistics bog you down from being clear and focused on what you want, and then going after it. Trust me, you’re going to be in a better place tomorrow, even if not the place you said you weren’t going to be.

In fact, that same article on Forbes highlighted things that those 8% did to achieve their goals, which I find valuable, such as keeping your goals simple.

By all means, go read the article. Let it guide you into healthy habits.

But just understand that your success isn’t measured in whether you meet the goal; it’s measured in the baby steps you took along the way.

Now go make some New Year’s Resolutions.

It’s time to get our lives straight.

Let’s get it.

P.S. Please feel free to leave a comment and share what you’re goals are for 2013! I’ll be sure to let you know mine!

The post Yes!…..You SHOULD Make New Year’s Resolutions! appeared first on Get Your Life Straight.