I am obsessing!

[veronak]

Re: I am obsessing!

Just recently I have found myself obessing, especially since I havew taken this stand against debt. I guess it's a good thing

[Ima saver]

Re: I am obsessing!

If I talk even a little bit on the other forum I am on, about saving, or frugal tips, I get a lot of flack from most of the other members on the forum. They say, they have never seen a hearse with a u haul behind it! I don't want to take it with me, I just want to have enough to enjoy life while I am here. That means, to me, having a nice home and cars, living well and having no debt.

[Bookie]

Re: I am obsessing!

Ask them if they've checked the rates to hire a hearse. And, no, you can't use a credit card for a one-way trip.

[Ima saver]

Re: I am obsessing!

I will. Actually the two that give me the most grief don't even have savings accounts, they live paycheck to paycheck and drive $500 cars. (I am not knocking a $500 car, but I still don't want one)

[Bookie]

Re: I am obsessing!

I will. Actually the two that give me the most grief don't even have savings accounts, they live paycheck to paycheck and drive $500 cars. (I am not knocking a $500 car, but I still don't want one)

And that, my dear Ima Saver, is exactly why they give you grief. You are a living, breathing reproach to them, and they don't want to be reminded.

Good for you.

[Ima saver]

Re: I am obsessing!

I guess. I was just trying to encourage one of their daughters to start saving her money now that she has graduated from h.s. and has a job. The fact is, I know these people make as much money a week as we do, they just don't keep it. I was trying to get the young lady to open a roth ira while she was just 18. Of course, since mama doesn't have any in the bank, the young lady has no role model.

[lrjohnson]

Re: I am obsessing!

I take comfort in knowing that I am doing the best I can do and calling it good.

When I did have debt I worked to get it paid off, and did think about it a lot. It did get me to the point where being debt free is a luxury I've become accustomed to.

There's a saying, that I can't remember the phrasing exactly...something like:

If there is a problem, and there is something you can do about it, why worry?
If there is a problem, and there is nothing you can do about it, why worry?

(If you can change it, take action instead of worrying, if you can't change it, worrying won't fix it.)

If you have done what you can with your budget to increase debt pay off, well that is the answer, you have done what you can.

[tgavin71]

Re: I am obsessing!

I think it is a good thing that you are obessing about money. Its just to what degree will determine if it is a problem or not. Too many people get into problems because they don't think about money at all. I'd rather be the person at the party who bores everyone to death talking about budgeting, saving money and simple living than the one boasting about thier new car that was bought on credit.

[Harry00]

Re: I am obsessing!

Ditto tgavin71!

[Kris10Leigh]

Re: I am obsessing!

I am in the right places! It is nice to be around like minded people!

Bookie, I like to play with numbers on Excel too. I do that frequently and then just delete them. Sometimes I keep them. I play around with the tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet and I name each tab something crazy for whatever ideas I decide are good enough to keep.

LRJohnson, I like that phrase. I have one for when I am worrying about being late for something. "Wherever you are, that's where you are." In other words, I'll get there when I get there. The same goes for finances I suppose. I'll get there when I get there, but there's no harm in helping myself along.

Ima, it's hard changing someone's financial opinion. Finances are really hard to talk about! You guys know way more about my finances than my closest, dearest friends! They would be shocked to know how much debt we are carrying! We don't come off as wealthy or anything, but I think we come off as doing fine with what we have. Keep talking to your friends. I certainly think your message with is worth hearing.

[LuxLiving]

Re: I am obsessing!

I obsess in searching the web - for money ideas! It seems there must be some SECRET that others know and I don't! I feel as if I'm searching for clues to a grand mystery. We have no debt other than our smallish mortgage - how are folks paying these huge mortgage payments????? Yet, I still slug away trying to find out more and better money saving, stretching and budgeting tips. Looks like there are many of us in the same mindset!! Go US!!

[Jewelfine]

Re: I am obsessing!

Hey guys

I love this topic! I am a financial coach and I have a couple of clients that are like this. either obsessed with saving or with spending or whatever. I always advise them to sit down and look at their lives and what it is that is important to them. It is a concsious effort to keep balance in your lives. It seems that people create habits that are obsessive and alot of the time it is just a matter of creating new habits to replace the obsessive ones. So if you are looking at your bank balances and feel that it is too obsessive then look for something to replace the habit. Like take a walk, or call a friend. Just remember that just as fixing your financial situation takes time, so does changing habits. Studies show it takes 21 days to create a new habit and 3 days to break it :-)

Hope this helps

[Ima saver]

Re: I am obsessing!

Luxliving, I wonder too how people pay such big mortgage payments. I guess they make a lot more money than we do. I started kind of small and sold every 10 years or so. I made enough money on my first house to pay cash for my second, sold second build 3rd house for cash and 10 years ago, I sold th 3rd and built my present house for cash. (Of course it helped that I got the first house paid off by scrimping a lot)

[Gruntina]

Re: I am obsessing!

Luxliving, I wonder too how people pay such big mortgage payments. I guess they make a lot more money than we do. I started kind of small and sold every 10 years or so. I made enough money on my first house to pay cash for my second, sold second build 3rd house for cash and 10 years ago, I sold th 3rd and built my present house for cash. (Of course it helped that I got the first house paid off by scrimping a lot)

Ima, I also wonder the same thing! I live in an area where the median price of a home is between 700,000 and 800,000 if not more. There are so many beautiful homes here worth a lot more and I still wonder how people pay for it. Except for those that own their homes for quite some times. New ones keep getting built everyday. Even rent in a luxury apartment can go for 3000 a month here. (I wonder why they choose to rent that when they can buy.) There are so many of us that don’t even make more than 60,000 a year! Adding money to pay for nice cars, having children and so on on top of the mortgage is beyond me.

[Ima saver]

Re: I am obsessing!

Well my husband doesn't usually make more than $60,000 a year, so i could never live in California. Houses here are unbelieveable compared to less than 5 years ago. You can still find something nice in the $200,000 range, but real nice ones are $400,000 and up.