It takes a lot of time and patience to change how you choose to spend your money. Yesterday, I was tired at the end of a week of work, but I had a chicken in the refrigerator which I had defrosted to cook one day this week. Now, I do not like to cook at all on Fridays: it's my "tired" night; I'm sure most people know what I am talking about. You work all week, Friday night, some of you might enjoy going out, but I like to do pretty much nothing. I read, relax, watch t.v., have take-out, usually, and go to bed. Then, I am ready to enjoy the weekend productively.
I have always been a no show on Friday night festivities since I began teaching almost seven years ago. Before I taught, I got up at a reasonable, 7:00 or 7:30 a.m.; but now, I'm in a classroom by 7:30 a.m. and need to be high energy. With a 1/2 hour commute, and a little time to remember what exactly I am doing that day, I need to get up at 5:00 to get ready and be in school on time. Unless you have to, no one gets up that early. It dark when I start my day, but I am used to it; it takes it's toll on Friday, though. A full week of 5 a.m.. wake-ups plus doing all of my work at work and at home, makes for a long week. So, I take Friday nights off.
So, here I was, with a chicken that I could cook, or a husband who could pick up take out for about $25.00 last night. Now, I got a refund check on Thursday of $166.00 thanks to my home state, an unexpected check because, if you can believe it, we had a budget surplus, and our legislators decided to send most property tax payers a refund. Unexpected money: what to do with it? A while ago I decided that on the months where "extra" money comes in, I would use it in a proper way: in thirds. One third to my money market to build up emergency savings, one third to paying off whatever debt I am working on, and one third to add to my checking account for fun, unexpected expenses, whatever. That way, on extra pay day months (2 for me, 4 for my husband), and when I get paid chaperone pay or whatever extra payments I make, I would not just automatically integrate the money and "waste" it; instead, I would actually utilize it in a way that is helpful to the family.
So, when I deposited the check, I put it into the checking account and promptly transfered $55.00 to the money market account along with the $50.00 I put in there with every paycheck! It is very gratifying to watch that balance grow since I started doing this to over $400.00. I am now going into my web site to pay $55.00 to the debt I owe (even though they have gotten their payment this month). Thus, I still have $55.00 extra dollars. Of course, by now, you have all assumed that I spent $25.00 of it on that take-out. But, as I sit here Saturday morning, I am proud to tell you that I did not: it would have been a waste of that extra money.
I actually thought it through: I had the money to "burn" so to speak; however, my husband and I are spending the day in the city with my cousins and we are already planning on spending a bit more cash this week than we have been lately: not budget-busting cash, but, certainly, something. There are some bills this week that I need to take care of: one shots (once a year membership dues for my homeowner's insurance and a maintenance fee on my time share), plus, next week I pay the mortgage, which leaves us very little for the following week. So, I actually thought that the $55.00 would be better used today on our city jaunt, than last night on take out for two. And, I proceeded to cook the chicken. Since we are going out today, we would not have cooked it tonight, and it may have been in the fridge too long to cook it tomorrow. Thus, I saved not just $25.00 but the cost of the thrown away chicken.
You may think that it is a ridiculous thing to think about: what's $30.00 in the scheme of things? But for me it was an affirmation that I have changed my habits, a process that has been long and difficult. I started this process in August with the notion that we could not just keep spending whatever we wanted. Like all habits, though, sometimes, spending habits are not easy to change. Had I thought it through and decided to get the take out, I guess I would not feel bad or guilty -- I just would have had $25.00 less in my pocket for today's trip (which may have meant I would have to watch what I spend more or another trip to the ATM, whichever). However, I would not have felt guilty.
I do feel good about cooking the chicken though and having that $25.00 for today. Our $200.00 that we budgeted for today is now only $145.00 of our regular money (because of the state rebate) and we "theoretically" have "extra" money. I am glad that I do this: it makes me feel so much more in control and so much more likely to succeed in my goals of eliminating debt and gaining financial freedom. But, it is hard work and constant.