There have been many posts of late - many very touching - about the sign business, the economy, debts, and family struggles and the "steadfast" relationship of a husband and wife.
Nobody knows more than me (used VERY loosely- compared to others) of the past few years and the drop in both sales and nett income.
Having been a Bank Manager in a past life, I thought I MAY be able to offer a straight forward way of looking at things - and life in general - in monetary terms.
The first and foremost thing to realise, accept and not deviate from are a few basics. Let's start with the simplest:
1) Prices go up 2) Governments lie and can and will change or move the goalposts at will. Often this changes the economy and how individuals react in spending terms. 3) Life gets more complicated with each new technology in a world of wants versus needs.
Lets start by grabbing 3 sheets of paper folded in half vertically.
On the first sheet - write down EVERYTHING you own on the left hand column. Not so finicky to include knives and forks - but anything you would consider a saleable asset: house, car, boat, personal equipment (gym, sporting, electronic )etc etc.
Now... here is an important step. Highlight what you NEED.
Let's move on to the right hand side and write down everything you owe. Preferably put in ascending order lowest to highest, including all bills such as utilities, credit cards, vehicles, home mortgage etc. Once again - highlight those debts which you need - as an example electricity would be highlighted, home internet would not. Now before you think "well no I NEED home internet" - if you get it cut off you won't have it at home anyway.
Let's move on to the second sheet.
In the left hand column, write down all income, either weekly, monthly etc from all avenues, be it a wife's (husband's) employment, investments, second / part time job etc.
On the right hand side write down all outgoings - EVERY last one. Credit cards, music lessons, mortgage, car repayments, newspapers, EVERYTHING. Highlight only those that you NEED.
The third sheet is a little different.
On the left hand column, write down EVERYTHING that you need in terms of personal survival. List these things and these things only. Examples may be soap, shampoo, conditioner, dishwashing liquid etc etc. Here is a VERY large secret to this list: When you get to food for example, write down sauce and DO NOT exceed two varieties.
Let me explain: You can buy tomato(ketchup), BBQ, chilli, mustard, honey soy, worscester, smoke, and probably a hundred more. The same goes for all kinds of ice cream, cereals, breads etc. YOU ONLY GET TO CHOOSE TWO and DO NOT replace until one is gone - empty - kapput.
Agree on a shopping list and when going to the supermarket, buy ONLY what is on the list - nothing else. It is a good idea to buy from the catalogue of weekly specials. Set limits on what portion of income is going to be spent on each department. Stay away from expensive items - even if on "special" or "sale". Set these limits in $$$ terms - ie $20 on meat, $15 on fruit & veg etc.
On the right hand side list all things that you could sell and put a fair price on the item. This is the price that you should not deviate from - SOMEONE will pay YOUR price. This is not a fire sale. You are in control - and on a mission - to limit debt or be debt free.
The idea of these lists when looked at is this:
Establish what you NEED. Everything else is either secondary or surplus.
Sell what you don't need, don't buy what you don't need. Apply all funds or savings to outstanding debts - lowest first. Eliminate them one by one. It will be easier to control by having 10 then 9 then 8 then 7 etc rather than still having 10 debts with lower amounts.
Lower on going costs (debts) each and every day. Turn those lights off, walk to the shops, limit cable, don't make that phone call, borrrow a tool, cook 2-3 days meals at a time. Remember - it takes the same elecricity to bake 1 or three pies at a time.
Getting the picture?
By eliminating the surplus and re establishing necessity the picture gets much clearer and much simpler.
It wasn't until things got complicated that the financial burden seemed to grow, and down the track - cause concern.
NEVER be embarrassed to sell a vehicle 12 months old at YOUR price for a vehicle 12 years old at YOUR price. Both will get you from point A to point B at the same speed and same time. It's only the comfort that varies. But there is a lot of comfort knowing that the selling of this vehicle no longer has an ongoing monthly commitment.
How anyone ever gets into a financial "hole" is unimportant. How to get out IS.
And getting out on YOUR terms is much more self fulfilling.
This post is not meant to offend anyone, nor any of the content probably anything most don't know.
But sometimes it's worth a revisit to the things we already know - we just need a reminder.
In Australia, house bricks are around $350 per thousand. When building our house we would always equate spending money to "bricks". If we were going to buy that shirt for $35 - we would bypass because we didn't need it and wasn't really a shirt - it was 100 bricks.
Hope someone may get something out of this post Christmas rambling.
Cheers - Gregg
Posted by Joey Madden (Member # 1192) on :
Some years back I foresaw things some just never paid attention too or just shrugged their shoulders about as if things were going to be terrific always. I myself learned to live on a certain amount of food as well as money with my certain amount of talent. The way I look at life is simple, you can live a sustainable life or you can try and make ends meet, your choice. Dictionaries provide more than ten meanings for sustain, the main ones being to “maintain", "support", or "endure”
I am not an environmentalist by a long shot as I am into leaded paints, fast cars and faster women but I do find comfort and rest soothing when the worries of bills and food are in the past and those around me are smiling.
Posted by William Desrochers (Member # 7508) on :
Very knowledge post Gregg~! Thanks for posting this for everyone!
Posted by Craig Sjoquist (Member # 4684) on :
My grandfather cleaned his plate of food every crumb, asked him why, because we were lucky to get any during WW1 when he fought. Because of this I'm happy to be alive anything else is a bonus, and try my best to take only what I can eat not what my eyes want. I try to follow this simple guide line in everything.
Posted by Dave Grundy (Member # 103) on :
I'm sorry Gregg...You lost me at...
"Lets start by grabbing 3 sheets of paper folded in half vertically."!!!
I grabbed half a sheet of paper and tried to fold it in three sections horizontally!!!
Then I couldn't find the left column nor the right column.
I gave up.
Seriously, it was a good post and did make sense.
Posted by Duncan Wilkie (Member # 132) on :
[ February 08, 2022, 12:00 PM: Message edited by: Duncan Wilkie ]
Posted by Duncan Wilkie (Member # 132) on :
I came across this post. Just as relevant today.
Posted by Alicia B. Jennings (Member # 1272) on :
When you are young, you dream about all the stuff you want. House, cars toys etc. Then it becomes a burden, you sell it, then buy more stuff. Then you get to a point in life where you don't need the stuff anymore. You are content with what the Lord has given you. Maybe spending money and being young go hand in hand.
Posted by shon lenzo (Member # 1364) on :
I am amazed at the volume of stuff I have now When at one time it was just me and my backpack Then later me in the car . On the road both alone and together . Our life / time is truly the most precious resource we have .
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