Average Jane Economizes

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I received another call yesterday from a financial planner who would love to help me take my vast riches and parlay them into a jewel-encrusted cave full of treasure chests. The only problem with that plan is my complete lack of vast riches, including the vast riches it takes to, say, pay more than the minimum on my bills.

Three years of inefficient self-employment left a big dent in my financial wherewithal, which I am now working valiantly to correct. I always thought that I lived pretty frugally to begin with, but now that all of my income is going directly to bills and food, I realize that I’d come to appreciate a few luxuries after all.

Rather than complain like the spoiled yuppie I am, my plan is to get together with my husband, finally make a spreadsheet to get a realistic budget put together, and see what we can actually do to get things put right. Even though my husband and I are the grasshopper and the ant, respectively, I think we can reach a compromise and at least take some of the mystery out of each other’s financial situation.

In the meantime, I’ll paint my own toenails ($25 savings, but no foot rub, darn it), put Flexall on my back when my muscles are sore ($80 savings over a deep-tissue massage, although much less therapeutic), find a cheaper hairdresser so I can stay blonde (I spent years in the nineties with a dark spot on the back of my head from dyeing my own hair – I’m not doing that again), and rely on Rodney Yee for exercise instruction each morning (at least until the VCR breaks). If all goes well, I’ll be back to wasting money on cafe mochas and unnecessary pairs of shoes in no time!

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5 responses to “Average Jane Economizes”

June 29, 2004

Pharmgirl

I found a good Excel spreadsheet I’ll send you…I have yet to fill it out myself! AND, I’ll send you the info. on a massage school in the area that does Sports Massage. Yeah!

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June 29, 2004

Sarah

Nothing wrong with unneccessary shoes, though. Just buy from the sale rack! 😉

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June 30, 2004

Keith Povall

If it makes you feel any better, I now own more at the bank than I paid for a house in the 1980’s (which I later lost). And you at least can afford the paint for your toenails !!!
As my brother often reminds me, penury is soul cleansing…

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June 30, 2004

Joolie

Good luck! I’m about to embark on an austerity experiment myself. I’m prepared to be amazed at how much money I leak away every month on coffee, hair care, and so on. My only reservation is that I suspect beer is one of my biggest luxury expenditures. Much as I’d like to, I know in my heart I can’t bump it up to the “necessities” category.

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July 2, 2004

Daisy

I’ve been cutting right back since last December, it was difficult at first but now I find myself wondering how on earth I used to spend all that money. Not buying books all the time has meant that I’m slowly getting through that big pile of unread books and rediscovering the joys of the library. Not buying cds has meant going back to the “oldies” and finding that they’re just as much fun as the new stuff and finally, all that time I used to spend shopping I can now spend on blogging – yeehah!

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