Money trouble

January 22, 2009 at 3:12 pm (Uncategorized) (add, money, saving)

Saving money.  Ugh, I don’t even like to think about it!  I can save for a short-term goal, like going to an anime convention with a bunch of online friends on the other side of the country.  But serious savings, the kind that would help me with future emergencies, buying a house, even retirement?   ha!

I’m off to a better start this year, with some concrete goals and an effort to think about a 5 year plan.  I at least am trying to act like I believe I can accomplish my goals, even if I have trouble believing it.  That really is the key to surviving day to day: acting in ways contrary to my thinking.  Like with time.  I have no concept of time, which probably doesn’t surprise anyone with ADD/ADHD.  I have a lot of learned coping techniques to act as if I understand it, but they aren’t perfect.    For example, I have a GET UP NOW alarm clock across the room from my bed, so I can’t keep hitting snooze and trying to calculate what I can take out of my morning routine to still get to work on time.  But I still fail at actually getting to work on time many days in the winter because it takes so long to scrape ice from my car.  It’s just very difficult for me to adjust for an earlier out the door time without doing it every day.

Developing that kind of habit for other difficulties hasn’t been easy, either.  Which gets me back to the issue of saving money.  I’ve started some things to help me deal with the fact that money often doesn’t feel real to me, and for resisting the sudden spending impulses.  These are a few things I’m trying:

I wrote out my income and expenses for every paycheck and calculated the most I could possibly save through the year.   This number isn’t realistic because it doesn’t take everything into account, but it gives me an idea of what I’m taking away from when I don’t follow my monthly budget.

I write down my balance every work day and write down the expected expenses for that pay period. I do this every day because otherwise it isn’t enough of a habit, and it is sort of a planned two minute break from my work.  I also write down the recent transactions and make a note of what they are for.

When I have an impulse to buy an item over $50 , I write it down on a notecard.  I also write down why I think I need it, the reason I feel like it is difficult to resist the impulse, and the “cons” of buying it.  I keep these cards in a folder.  So far I don’t have any “rules” for how long I have to wait because that alone has kept me from buying a few things, even though I still feel the impulse. 

I had set a goal for the end of January for savings, and every day I’m reminded of whether I’m making it when I check my balance and upcoming expenses.  This weekend I will be setting a new goal.

I take money OUT of my checking account and keep the cash in a jar.  (I’ll open a savings account soon).  That money goes towards my savings goal and if I take any out, I am going to write down why.  Spending cash is always harder than using a debit or credit card, so it’s easier for me to leave that money alone.