Becoming a Wealthy Woman

Lately I’ve been on the journey of what can I do to improve my life and so far things are going pretty good. I’ve had some hurdles to overcome and I was sidetracked for a bit, but for the most part I’m happy with the work that I’ve done and am still just as excited about achieving my goals as I was when I started. Initially, it was a “get myself out of debt” plan, but along the way I added more goals, so now my path is not only one to gain financial freedom, but also to become a better person.

I’ve been reading Suze Orman’s book entitled “Women and Money” and in it she describes how being a wealthy woman is so much more than having money. She lists 8 qualities that a woman must have to be a “wealthy woman” and I’ve made my plan for the month of April to focus on obtaining two of those qualities, the two that I so desperately need in my life right now – balance and harmony.

In order to achieve this balance and harmony in my life, I’ve begun to clean out the clutter, both literally and figuratively. They are equally difficult, equally emotionally draining and equally rewarding in the end. A few weeks ago I cleaned out my linen closet and the medicine cabinets in the bathroom. I got rid of expired medicine, medicine for infants that I obviously don’t need anymore (as my babies aren’t babies), unused hair products, etc. Now my bathroom and linen closet is clutter free and I’m able to see if I need to add something to the grocery list instead of just guessing. An added benefit is that I’m going to save myself money and not be frustrated from the clutter.

Next I went into the kitchen and cleaned out the glasses cabinet. I realized I had way too many glasses and all that caused was more dirty dishes and more clutter. Because my cabinet was full of glasses, I had things like spices cluttering the counter. I donated about 2/3rd’s of the glasses to Goodwill (you know my bleeding heart) and was able to move the spices and other things into the now half-empty cabinet. The result? Less dishes, more organization and a less cluttered countertop. It’s a win-win.

I spent last weekend cleaning out my basement. It was a pain in the ass to say the least. The basement has been the “catch-all” for the past five years. My youngest plays down there, the laundry is down there, the computer is down there, and all my paperwork plus items with sentimental value are down there. It took hours but I got the majority of it done. Now that’s not to say that everything is organized and in it’s place, and that’s not to say that I don’t have a lot of work that I still need to do, but I am saying that I have made a huge dent in a job that once seemed impossible.

I’ve also been ending relationships that no longer are productive. I know that sounds really harsh, but sometimes the hardest thing is the right thing to do. I’m talking about ending the relationships that do more harm than good. The ones that leave me feeling not only taken advantage of, but that drain me emotionally as well. Cutting those types of relationships out of my life have made me feel a huge sense of relief. No more drama. No more bullshit. No more walking on eggshells. No more giving of myself for all the wrong reasons. No more of all of my time and energy being spent in an unhealthy manner. Now I can pay more attention to my other relationships. I can pay more attention to my goals. And with my life being clutter free of the negative people, I’ve left room for the right people to come into my life. Another win-win situation.

So let’s recap. My “inner” goal for April is to find and maintain balance and harmony. In order to start working on that goal, I needed to de-clutter my life. In order to de-clutter my life, I had to let go of things, whether it’s old hair products, too many glasses or unhealthy relationships. And while at first my shelves or my cabinets or my life may seem like I have an empty void in it, what I’m really doing is the prep work that needs to be done in order to become a wealthy and completely fulfilled woman. In eliminating the clutter, I’ll be able to find my balance and my harmony because I won’t have a mess or drama or negativity to counteract the positive efforts and thoughts. My hope is that by the end of April I’ll have found ways to keep balance and harmony in my life so that when May comes I’ll be able to use those tools to work on my May goals.

Quote of the Day

"If I am not worth the wooing, I am surely not worth the winning."

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Will the (Free) Money Really Stimulate the Economy?

Yesterday I was going through my mail and got a notice from the IRS. The first thought that crossed my mind was that I was getting audited…no big deal but kind of a pain in the ass. Upon opening the envelope, I discovered that it was a notification that I was going to be getting some “free” money in May. The average amount, providing you make less than $75,000, will be $600.00 with additional amounts for each qualifying child. I look at my boyfriend and say WHAT THE HELL IS THIS????? Now my man, being very on top of current events (i.e. not in his own little world like I am) said I thought you already knew what Bush did. Well, to be honest, I had overheard a discussion in the lunch room here at the office, but like I said, I don’t pay too much attention to things like that, or hope in things like that, probably because I’m too busy making money on my own (i.e. I do not suffer from “what can I get for free” syndrome). Anyway, he tells me this and my face must have shown disbelief because he reminded me that this isn’t the first time the leader of the free world has done this.

What I feel is very important to stress is that yes, I was in utter disbelief. No, not because oh hey the majority of the country is getting free money, with the only qualification being that you have to have earned a minimum of $3,000 and a maximum of $75,000 (for singles - $150,000 for married couples). See here. The reason that I am in utter disbelief is because if we already don't have any money (yes, we’re borrowing money from other countries to pay for this war), how can we afford to give this early tax rebate? Especially since most of us have filed our taxes already and received our rebates or paid what we owe. Oh, but wait, it’s in the budget. The budget. Right. Oh, and it’s supposed to stimulate the economy. Right. Well, I'm not the only one who thinks that won't solve the problem of our bad ecomony.

I personally believe it’s a temporary solution to a problem. I mean, if you need stitches, will putting a band-aid on it really work? No, of course not. Our economy is in such bad shape now because of the housing bubble (pop) and the amount of money that the public owes. How does giving people “free” money solve that? Sure, if they gave us our rebate checks made payable to our mortgage companies or our credit card companies, that would somewhat help with the public debt as well as prepare us for the recession that most certainly is coming. But they're not going to do that so many people will go out and spend it on stuff that they don't need and will more than likely be tossed in the trash or (hopefully) donated to Good Will (sorry, I'm a hippie) in the next year or so. And then what? Money that the government could have used to pay down our national debt or money that the average citizen could have used to either pay down their personal debt or save for their retirement will be wasted...unless you donate ;-)

Not only am I not going to work forever, but Social Security may not be enough to support me when I retire. In addition, a recession is coming, and I would rather have my credit cards paid off and my money properly invested. If you’re wise you’ll do the same.

Working Towards the Goal – a Story of How I Lowered My Debt

One of my goals for this year is to get a handle on my debt. Oh, that sounds disastrous doesn’t it. I’ve never been over my head in credit card debt. I’ve never been over my head in mortgage debt. However, having two children means doctors and hospitals. Having bad insurance means a lot of money out of pocket. I was fortunate because I changed jobs the middle of last year and I received a significant increase in pay as well as incredible insurance. Unfortunately, the year and a half that I had bad insurance and not so great pay had left me in bad shape as far as my debt went. That being said, my goal for this year has been to eliminate the medical bills and pay down my credit card debt. This will also help me towards achieving my goal for next year.

In the month of January, I completely paid off and cancelled one of my credit cards. Theoretically I should have paid it off and kept it open, but it was a joint account in mine and my ex-husband’s name so closing the account was definitely the right thing to do in that situation.

In the month of February, I spent a large amount of money paying off every outstanding medical bill that I had. That was a HUGE accomplishment for me, and I’m not ashamed to say that I am really proud of myself.

Now it’s March. I’ve sat down and taken a look at the way I’ve been paying my monthly credit card bills. I always pay well over the minimum payment on all of them, but I would get frustrated and discouraged because I wouldn’t see much progress. It was suggested that I make a list of all my credit cards, balances, limits, interest rate and amount of time I’ve had the card. After deciding which card to pay off first – in my case it is the one with the highest interest rate which happens to have the lowest balance – I am going to pay one dollar over the minimum of each of my cards except the one that I’m working on paying off. I should have this card paid off in another two months.

You know, I used to focus on everything else except my finances. I never worried about the future and I was always living from paycheck to paycheck. It’s pretty sad, actually, because in high school I was planning on being a CPA. Life changed my plans, I made some decisions that I thought were right at the time but ended up being bad for me financially (although good in other aspects). Then I met a person who is pretty smart when it comes to finances. Although I often found it difficult to understand him, there where a few times when he sat down with me to explain some things and I understood what he was saying.

In a matter of two months, I’ve taken great steps towards reaching my goal for the year. The percentage of credit card debt that I have compared to my limit is at 77%. That’s still high, but it’s actually lower than it was two months ago. My credit score has gone up and I know it’ll go up even higher once my payments are reported. The thing that excites me the most out of all of this? My debt to income ratio is 27%.

All it took was focus and a little change in my spending habits. While I was calculating my debt to income ratio, I realized that I bring home a lot more money than I thought I did. I started questioning where in the world is all my money going? I took a look at my checkbook(s) and realized that I spend an awful lot of money eating out. This is my second week bringing my breakfast and lunch to work, and not only do I feel better health wise, but I have more money at the end of the week. I’ve been doing a lot more cooking dinner as opposed to ordering out and, in addition to having more money and eating healthier, I’m having quality time with my kids. I haven’t been spending frivolously on clothes or shoes (and shoes are definitely my weakness). Yes, I dropped $400.00 on new work clothes a month ago, but that was a planned expense. I would love to get the Coach tote bag that I saw, but instead of going and getting it immediately, even though I have the extra money to do so, I’ve been saving here and there. Do I miss eating out? Sometimes, yes. But another benefit of not eating out daily is that when I do decide to do so, I don’t feel bad about going to an expensive restaurant where the meal is $50.00 a plate. I miss going to the mall or shopping on Michigan Avenue and buying whatever I decide I can afford or whatever whim crosses my mind. But because I’m playing things smart and saving up for that expensive item, I’ll be sure about it in the long run (no buyer’s remorse) and I’ll have a sense of accomplishment for saving up instead of impulse buying. Right now I know where my money is, and it’s sitting in the bank as my cushion for emergencies (in addition to some of it being tied up in stocks, but that’s another story completely).

As far as my money and my debt are concerned, this has started off to be a very good year.