MONEY SAVING DON'TS: PART TWO

Welcome back, this is part two of Moving Saving Don'ts. Please go here for part one.

Sometimes saving money isn't about what you do. It's about what you don't do. Here are some more of my thoughts about money saving don'ts:

You don't impulse buy, at least not often and not on big items. I have said in a past post that when we first married and were both working, my husband and I agreed to not spend more than $100 on an item without talking to one another first. And both of us had to agree to the purchase.

My hubby and I still adhere to that principle, although the $ amount is much, much less. I won't even buy a $19.99 dvd without talking it over with him, and vice versa. If either of us says no, it's no.

It isn't because I "need" his permission to buy it, or that he needs mine. It's because of the principle we laid out at the beginning of our marriage, that of talking over purchases. Do you know that we really don't fight over money?

That principle is why. BTW, I am not talking about spending money purchasing groceries, or hubby paying bills. I am talking about individual purchases of things (not groceries).

I'm also not saying I don't, say occasionally, drop $5 or $10 on shoes or something at the thrift store or somewhere. I may pick something up but will check with him later to make sure it's within budget. We do this by choice! It keeps our "wants" in check by discussing it with one another.

You don't buy everything based on the decision that you "deserve" it. That is usually a poorly based decision. Because it means we are buying something that we know, deep down, that we probably can't afford and shouldn't be buying. But we are letting our emotions overcome our good sense.

The problem is, we tend to believe we are doing alright, as long as we can pay the bills. And it is certainly our right to live that way. It is also our right to charge up our credit cards, if that's what we want to do.

However, we can't say we want to get out of debt, and continue to live a lifestyle that keeps us IN debt. We can't say that we are tired of being stressed out over bills, and then keep making more and more bills.

Some people can truly support their lifestyle. But there are alot of people who are supporting their lifestyles by their credit cards. And they really aren't concerned about their debt. They feel like they are doing o.k. because they can pay their monthly minimums.

But what if someone loses their job? What if someone gets sick? That would affect all of us, of course, but even more so if you have lots of credit card debt.

If you have credit card debt and are able to make the minimum payments each month, ask yourself if you can afford to pay off the whole credit card. Ask yourself if your credit card debt is going down each month or is it going up?

If you have a desire to get out of debt, but you keep charging more and more each month, perhaps it is time to sit down and determine just how serious you are about getting out of debt.

Sometimes the desire to get out of debt is there, but the desire to continue the lifestyle is stronger than the desire to get out of debt.

We have to make a decision to get out of debt, and stick with that decision. No matter how hard it is to say "no" to want we want. Saying "no" to more debt is actually saying "yes" to having more money and being free of debt.