Monday Money Saving Idea

As I wrote in my previous post, money matters a good deal. We need to learn how to manage our money or we will be managed by it. In preparing for any crises that may come our way, we need to understand that spending money stockpiling will not help you if you are buried in debt, late fees, and collection notices.

In one of my visits as a Life Coach, the woman who I was visiting has a land line telephone still. It rang off the hook but her teens would check the Caller ID and shout collections and not answer the phone. I was amazed at the quantity of calls that came in the home from 4:30- 7:30 pm! I would go stir crazy as I am a bit sensitive to noises anyway. This woman and her family, in my opinion, represent many Americans in the way they live. She is on the fence between clutter and hording and doesn't realize what she has.

Her husband is a truck driver and home on weekends so while he is gone mom and the teens eat out- lots. Her freezer and fridge are stocked with frozen meals, pre-made foods, and junk. She has a large pantry filled with similar items. The kids all have laptops, TVs, cellphones, Ipods, and so does the mother. They have three absolutely adorable little pugs and the pugs have nice dishes, collars, and wet food to eat each day. I could go on and on- but you get the idea. It was overwhelming to me because they are ignoring the collection calls all the while continuing to accumulate more junk...

Does this sound familiar to you? I hope you understand this-if you resemble the above family I am not judging you, as I help people work themselves up from this hole weekly. But today is the day. Stop. Do Not Buy Anything Else- EVEN PREP STUFF. I guarantee that you have enough right now, and if you don't you would not be able to utilize the prep stuff you bought because you are more a consumer than one who buys with purpose.

Today is the day. Set up a yard sale. Advertise like crazy-and say it is a moving sale(this is not a lie-because you are moving from being a poor money manager to a wise one). Have everything that I listed in the sale- Ipods, TVs etc...at fair prices but understand that they MUST GO. Then use the yard sale money to pay your final phone bill on your cell phone(if you are still bound by a contract-and disconnect the cell service- TODAY). We have survived incredible catastrophes not having a way to contact those we love. Holy heck- you can rediscover conversations with people at the grocery as you will cease having ridiculous conversations with another person about a double latte or something(knowing full well that the person you are chatting with on cell phone is also on Facebook and slightly paying attention to you as they are most likely at work).

I am hearing many reasons why this is impossible. I am hearing justifications- I can't cancel the contract- well why not? You have perhaps collection calls, so you are not being so honorable to other contracts. Enough is enough. To prepare for a situation also requires that one think on their feet. How prepared can you get if you cannot let go the biggest stumbling block ever- YOU?

2010 is the year of the prepper. To become a prepper, one must understand that eventually you will accumulate items to see you through a crisis of some sort... but what goes hand in hand with the stockpiling is the knowledge of what to do in a crises. We are also stockpiling lost skills as preppers. We are learning how to grow foods, prepare foods, and live without items that are nonsensical(such as a preteen having a cell phone)...now is the time to become the prepper that you should be.
(c) Jennifer Double Nickel Farm