Money Matters

"Money is only a tool.  It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver."

~ Ayn Rand

"Money often costs too much."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

"A penny saved is a penny earned"

 ~ Benjamin Franklin and my mom

"Many people take no care of their money till they com nearly to the end of it,

and others do just the same with their time"

 ~ Johan Wolfgang von Goethe

"We don't have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven't taxed enough;

 we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much"

 ~ Ronald Reagan

There are so many good quotes out there about money.  These are just a few I picked that I can relate to- especially these days.  With the big move, a new baby, a home mortgage (America)  and rent (Australia), a dud car, and only one of us legally allowed to work- money has been on our minds.  A lot.  Not in a stressed out worried kind of way- actually- but more of a challenge, or a game almost.    We are learning some very useful lessons:  how to change our attitude toward money and how to cut back on spending.   In the past, we have been pretty fortunate.  We have worked hard and done pretty well.  However, these days working hard just leads to needing to work harder.  Its really simple, right?  Money in should be greater than money out.  We learned this in like second grade.  So why is it so hard?  For us, something had to change.  The first thing we decided to change was our attitudes toward money.   Money is only a tool- to help us achieve what we want to achieve.  I cant tell you how many times in the past week we have both said to each other "if we can't pay for it today, then we can't afford it".  This has been a great quote for us..  and its totally worked.  We cut our credit cards up so there is no more paying for things later.  Over the past week or so we haven't spent a penny on things the "little things" we used to like:  coffee, candy, gas, eating out, shopping, movies, or music. And you know what?  It actually felt great.  Its been out little challenge, a game we play with each other... to see how well we did that day. 

I have learned that I may think I need something today.. then when I dont actually buy it- I end up forgetting about it or making do with out it all together. For example- last week our fan broke in our bedroom - and both Dan and I have a hard time sleeping unless its cool - and my natural thought was.. I will just go to Kmart or Vinnies (thrift shop) and pick up a new one. But, wait, I actually couldnt.. so we have gone wihtout a fan for a few nights and suprisingly all nights (except last night) have been fine- there has been a breeze outside and we didnt need the fan. (Last night was an exception- and we were both up most of the night because we were too hot..) A few other changes that I have made include: using (gulp) fewer diaper wipes- we are nearing the end of Dyllan's wipes- so instead of using like 30 wipes for every poopy diaper- I use 15 (hah which is still a lot- but I dont want the poop to touch my fingers..) and instead of changing Dyllan before a meal- I just let her sit in her wet/ damp diaper (not poopy ones) while she eats- because after she's done eating she needs a new one anyway. You know how you use less toothpast as you near the end of the tube? (something like 50% of its life is used on the last 5% of the tube- I made that up, but something like that?!) Well- I noticed our kitchen soap was almost out- the pump could no longer reach the soap- so... I filled it up with some water- and vuala! enough soap for another few weeks  (it was too thick anyway)! I have learned to make grocery lists- so that I am not running down to the store everyday for just 2 things- then actually coming back with 5 or 6 things (4 of which i really didn't need at all- like magazines or candy). Dan and I have mastered BYO (bring our own)- we pack picnics or snacks if we go out for more than a few hours- we bring our own drinks (in Australia bringing your own bottle of wine or beer to a restaurant is very popular and much cheaper). We fill up on samples, and graciously take day old bread that would otherwise have been thrown away. NO- we are not dressing in rags and living in a cardboard box... we are just playing the game- challenging ourselves to cut back, cut out, and spend less than we make. And you know what? Its totally working!

Money Game
photo from here

When you dont have it, you cant spend it... and for the first time in both of our lives- we have actually gone without.  Dont feel too sorry for us though- we are doing just fine and this little $0 balance streak is almost over.

Dan gets paid tomorrow- and we just sold our car today (thank god!) - so as of a few hours ago... "we can pay for it today, and we can afford it"  BUT, that doesnt mean we will quit living like we have over the past week.  We have things to save for now.



Smart Pig, saves money. 
(Photo from here)

 When Sean and I were young- mom used to go around our old neighborhood collecting bags and bags of aluminum cans. We had a few neighbors who donated their cans to us- because mom used to take them downtown Seattle to the big recycling center for crushing. Sean and I used to love watching as the men poured bag after bag of cans into the machine that crushed all the cans and turned them into one big aluminum block. In exchange for all of our cans- we would get cash. Usually only a couple dollars- but mom used to tell us that the money was going straight into our college savings account.



Recycling Center Belt
Photo from :Seattle Times


Looking back, mom was very smart. Not only did she engrave the fact that we were going to college in our minds at a young age- she taught us the importance of saving money and planning for the future. I hope that one day we can teach Dyllan (and our kids) similar lessons.