My Fiscal Fast

[xnewfiex]

I Envy You People. Me & My Bf Take Home Pay Combined Is A Minimum Of $5000 A Month, And I Still Can't Get It Together. I Have The Couponing Down Path, But You Ladies Took Being Frugal To A Whole New Level. It Amazes Me That People Still Get By Living On Little Or Nothing, And Still Have A Postiive Outlook. Great Job!

[kissjo]

xnewfiex....this has been an eye opener month for many of us. I personally feel like coming to these boards right now is inspirational - having all these people support you is amazing. My husband and myself are in a situation where my income is the main income, and its hard on me. When we met, I worked 16 hours a week and he supported us with his high income...I literally went to the spa once a week, and had a personal trainer to work out with 3 times a week. I didn't pay a single bill as his income was incredibly high!

However, he hated his job. He was miserable. He was never home. He was convinced that I was having an affair with my personal trainer because I saw him more than my husband (no joke) - my husband was out of town 3 out of 4 weeks, and when he was home, he was working 16 hour days. I never cheated on him once - we were newly weds for goodness sake, and I would never do that to him (or any man, ever). I made him quit his job....actually, I believe I said to him, while we were in Chicago on a business trip (where I only saw him for 4 hours except while he was sleeping), was "either its the job or me". He quit and 2 weeks later he was unemployed. Dumb move? Maybe, but he was SO much happier. He ended up taking a job making significantly less money (like 80% less). We moved into a smaller home, and it took a LONG time to figure out that we couldn't live that lifestyle anymore. It also took me some time to figure out that I needed to go to work and work full time. I'm an educated woman - I'm a registered nurse. I make a decent income, and trust me when I say - it took me a couple of years to get over the fact that I had to step it up a level to help support us. It was a mixture of my stubbornness and my delusion that he was still supporting us the way I was wanting and expecting.

Because of that, we got in a little trouble financially. This past year, I have been doing everything I can to get us back to a comfortable position in our life. My husband and me sit down at least once every 6 months and talk about our finances. I have read every possible book out there about financial freedom, debt, frugality, etc, that you can think of (best book by far is "Debt Free Forever" - by Gail Vaz-Oxlade - host of Til Debt do us Part - its a Canadian based book and is awesome in all sense of the word). I have forced myself to cook since we can no longer afford the expensive restaurants that we were once used to (seriously, we ate at Ruth Chris and Hardware Grill at least once a month, and in between, we ate out at least 3 times a week). We stopped buying high priced wine. We got rid of our gym passes and are using what we have at home (some hand weights and a treadmill). We go on 2 trips a year instead of once every other month (and our trips are usually to BC) and if we can't afford to pay cash, we don't go at all.

Before you say "woe is me", you need to know that I grew up with parents who were terrible with money. They taught me nothing about saving, budgeting, couponing, frugality, reusing, recycling, etc. I am a self taught woman, in every sense of the word. My parents were, and still are, impulse shoppers. They wasted money like you wouldn't believe. Now, I look at them (over 65 and still working because they can't afford to retire), and how I was when I met my husband, and no wonder he supported me. I was a spoiled brat. I expected it...and he wanted to do it...he had the disposable income so why not? However, we never expected to be in a situation where you have almost nothing left. We learned alot about ourselves, and each other, and I realized that I would go through this hellish adventure with him because I loved him, and he was worth it.

Learning how to live with less has been a truly amazing adventure. I am happier today than I was when I had everything. Money didn't buy me happiness....it may have bought me adventure, and travel, but it didn't buy me friends, or happiness, or a meaningful relationship with the man I love.

Learning to live with less has been the best adventure that I've been on in a long time. I've become a pretty good cook and I am happy to cook....its something that I never thought I could do or would want to do. I've been outdoors more in the last couple years than I ever thought I would....we've substituted high priced trips with camping and hiking, and in the process have seen nature, and hiked to the top of mountains, and seen the beauty of the world. Snowshoes are so fun...we bought a couple of second hand pairs and are really happy we finally got some snow to enjoy them again! We are so going down to the river valley tomorrow and enjoying them!

This fiscal fast for me was more than I can describe. It taught me more about my ability to be fiscally responsible than I ever thought possible. I loved it and its my plan to do it at least once a month for the rest of the year to see if I can do it.

I hope that others are inspired....I think its a good idea for everyone to challenge themselves.

[Kelkens]

I think a lot of this has to do with attitude, planning and your circumstances.

Attitude counts for so much so you can look at what you want and then comes the planning about how you are going to achieve it but you also have to have the means to do some of it as well. When our kids were younger it was very hard to bargain shop for groceries as it was "get in the store and get out"..

Same thing with meals as three kids under the age of 6 after a long day at work it was grab whatever was available or go out.

Now I have the time to consider what we want to achieve and how to do that. As an example our two older ones work on the weekends. A lot of kids in their circle do not. Our oldest went to an advanced placement program in high school and in his words a lot of the parents are "loaded".

But our goal for them is to contribute to their education. I really believe they will appreciate it more plus it encourages them to be more independent while learning some job skills(like getting along with a demanding cook). Sometimes it is a lot of effort to get up early and drive the middle one to work for his 7 a.m. shift. Or for d/h to pick up the oldest from his late night shift.

It would probably be a lot easier just to pay up but what do they learn from that. Our 25 year old nephew is still getting his parents to pay his tuition. One of my co-workers told me,she and her ex are still paying tuition and other costs for their 27 yr old son. He has never had a job.

It's the same for being fiscal..it takes a decision, effort, planning..It is now important for me to have everyone at the table for supper when possible..to do that I have to buy groceries and plan meals.

[misschelsey]

Holy crap guys!
Way to go, seriously.
I think I might have to give this a try and dig deep into my pantry and start using what I have rather than buying on top of what I already have!

[Daisiefire]

The last week I've had all our pantry food in boxes. It's amazing how much more you can see. We have been utilizing what we have instead of running to the store constantly between trips. We are almost down to just baking stuff. If anything, it's helping me to "shop" in my own cupboards.

[alwaysdaddysgirl]

I am going in for my free tattoos tomorrow. I sold some items on Kijiji to come up with an extra $50 as a tip for the artist. So the tattoos will be totally free and I have gotten some stuff out of my house!

[alwaysdaddysgirl]

So I got my free tattoos and am very happy with them. I left a tip with all of the money I have made selling my Stella & Dot jewellery. i have had lots of luck selling odds and ends on kijiji lately and have had only had one person cancel and not recontact me. No no-shows! I am going to go through my house and see what else I can find to list.

Every little bit of money helps. My daughter has a b-day next week-end and I will be picking the gift out of my gift drawer.