Managing Money - I've Stopped Spending Money
In talking about getting people to save their money and be a little more thrifty, I've decided to do a little experiment.
QUIETING MY LIFE STYLE DOWN
I'm trying to quiet my lifestyle down a bunch and have decided to stop spending money. I've decided to drive the car very little. I'm penny pinching when it comes to buying groceries. (I walk to the store to buy groceries.)
This also means that I've almost completely cut out restaurant going. I don't go see movies. I don't buy books etc. I'm going on a consumerism starvation diet.
I guess I should also mention that I don't have a cell phone, or lap top, and my current computer is 4 years old! We have a 27" TV which is about 10 years old, IE.. Not a 50" TV...
My goal is to completely reign back my spending until I go cross eyed.
The purpose of my experiment is to see what happens when I'm not going 24 hours a day, and feeling like I need to go to a restaurant each day, and buy a new toy on a regular basis.
In my previous life style, I used to go out to restaurants 2-3 times a day. I was constantly spending money on computers, computer gadgets and things for my company. I used to spend money as "medication" because I was usually overstressed and needed a distraction from the office.
Going to restaurants 2-3 times a day meant that I never had time to cook a proper meal. I never had the pleasure of cooking at all. As a matter of fact, I never really had the pleasure of doing much outside of work. (While I do enjoy my work, I really needed to do other stuff)
These days, I am starting to cook at home. While food processing is way more time consuming that I first imagined, the food tastes much better. I am taking a great deal of pride in what I am cooking. I am saving alot of money by not going to restaurant. Also I am not packing on the pounds like I used to because of restaurant food. I control my calorie intake much better.
(I can't believe that I used to crave McDonalds food every day!!)
I used to look at the computer commercials on TV and say... I need that new computer. I need more hard drive and ram. Or the latest video card etc.
There was always something I needed to go out and buy.
Since September 2007, since my Cadillac lease finished up, I've decided not to get another vehicle. I've decided to use my wife's car, if I really need to go some where. (BTW... I really liked my 2003 Cadillac CTS..)
I've actually decided that I won't get another vehicle until I lose 80 lbs. You may question what weight loss and buying a car have in common... I figure that I should be walking , riding the bicycle, going to the gym instead of driving around buying things.
Now that I'm not spending money and I'm staying home more, I have much more time to spend with my family. We have way more fun that we used to. Because I kept myself busy with work, I didn't spend quality time with my wife and kids.
Oh yeah, we're debt free and have no mortgage...
I am currently saving my money and looking for good investments...
SPENDING LESS MONEY, MEANS MORE QUALITY TIME??!!
So... my preliminary thoughts on the whole project is this...
"I never thought I would say this, however, spending less money, means better quality of living. "
I am going to continue with my stop spending money project... I actually think that it will become my new lifestyle.
I will report some more of the benefits as the days and weeks go by.
Monty Loree
