dmmink’s posterous

So my wife and I got sucked into a great financing offer - 5 years no interest with 10% down.  We have an empty formal living room and would like a new bedroom set.  So, we momentarily purchased about $4,000.00 worth of furniture on Black Friday.  I drove home with that awful feeling of buyer's remorse and then booted up the good ol' household budget software to see what this expenditure was going to do to our budget.  Although, the budget planning tools were showing me that we could easily live within our budget I still just did not feel right about carrying the $4,000 debt.

So, I decided that the furniture was going back.  This of course broke my wife's heart, as she was anxious to invite over family and friend's to bask in the new look.  I learned something about money management here, which is: just because you can afford it does not mean you should buy it.  In fact, I have since taken steps to save an enormous amount of money on the impending furniture purchase.  Today, I signed up for 2 new wholesale furniture accounts.  This should allow me to get basically the same furniture for about 1/2 the price.  I have also decided that we will furnish the rooms in stages.  First, we will take care of the formal living room. Second, we will re-furnish the bedroom.  And third, I will get some new office furniture.  I feel much better about the new approach.

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I heard a great quote yesterday, which reads "both abundance and lack of exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities.  It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend... when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are greatful for the abundance that's present - lov, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us happiness - the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth." - Thomas S. Monson.

I completely agree with the premise stated in this quote, namely that people have an unfortunate ability to concentrate more on what's missing than what is in place. I believe the reason people struggle with this tendency has to do with the intrinsic "problem solver" within most of us.  In other words, we have a hard time ignoring things that are amiss, even when most things are secure, because we have this buring desire to "fix"  whatever is wrong.

Across America people are complaining about financial woes.  Most people think they need more money. Unfortunately, that may not really be in their control.  Alternatively, they could focus on budget help which is something completely within each person's control.  People can also focus on taking better care of the possessions they already have.  We will all be much better off if we can individually figure out ways to extend the product life of both valuables and consumables. So here are just a few random suggestions:

• Use some type of household budget.
• Learn how to change your oil.
• Learn how to cut your kids hair.
• Backup all computer files, including blog back up .
• Eat more meals at home.
• Car pool when and where possible.
• Use a gas saver .

In sum, my advice for all of you folks stressing about the lack of money is to do a few simple things to save money so that your able to start focusing on the things of abundance in your life. 

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