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Blog: If Your Money Ain't Happy, Ain't Nobody Happy
 What's the Difference Between Good Deals or Retail Therapy?
It's good to be back! I've taken some time off for the summer and back-to-school time was hectic, but I'm ready to bring you some good advice to help you with your finances once again. Please feel free to give me some feedback if you'd like. Or any suggestions with what you would like some advice on. With the economy the way it is many of you are dealing with many different aspects in your finances. No matter where you are, I will try to give you some practical advice to make your financial decision making more cooperative with your financial status. I Hope you enjoy today's blog.
Well if you are a woman like me I love to find a great deals while shopping. It feels great to go out and find some of those bargains. Other times it may become addictive when times are tough and it momentarily makes you feel better in your current circumstances. Let's determine together and evaluate if you need any more "deals" brought home with you or a new way to approach shopping.
My Professional Organizing side always likes to come through in my financial advice, so I am going to give you a few guidelines to determine whether your shopping is appropriate or not. It's not painful just informative and hopefully helpful.
- Is your shopping making someone, like your husband, more overwhelmed when you bring the items home because you've been on some "retail therapy" for a while? If the items you bring home are staying in the bags instead of being taken out and put away or used then you may need to evaluate if the purchases are unnecessary.
- Have you gotten rid of things so the new items you are bringing in replace or make better what you had before? For instance your iron may be cheap and old and need replacing…that's legitimate. However, we tend to buy items we don't need more than ones we do. Come on ladies…those bras are worn out, but somehow we need that décor more…you know what I'm talking about! That new décor however is not going to make you look perkier if you know what I mean.
- If you have an outstanding balance on a credit card then give yourself financial therapy by putting your shopping money towards the balance on your credit card and pay off the items you are already enjoying. Also, if purchases you make today would keep you from being able to easily pay larger, predictable expenses like your homeowner's dues then again use some financial therapy to prepare for the months ahead. Even simple things like the dog's grooming fund should be socked away little by little. It's shopping and spending in a more purposeful and not always spur-of-the-moment way. I like to try to pay a little extra on some of our monthly bills, such as utilities, so that around December or January I can have some extra money since my bill is prepaid in full and I can take a month off if I want. I don't miss the $5-10 each month, but I sure enjoy the freedom for a month.
- Return items you really didn't need, and may still be sitting in bags, so you can put the money back into your account or have cash for items like groceries or gas until the next paycheck comes around or just a little cushion in your purse or wallet. Treat yourself to a latte after all your returns for a job well done.
- Good deals are much easier to find these days so don't get the notion that you are missing out. Retailers are hard up for sales this year and therefore "good deals" can be found pretty much every time you go shopping. So save up for a shopping outing…you won't feel guilty and you'll having cash on hand which actually helps you not make so many impulse purchases. Set a date to go with some friends. I did this recently during my weekend with my friends. Our husbands were with the kids and we got to have fun looking for long periods in the stores we enjoy and got to ask for each other's advice on our purchases.
- If you've become addicted or even a little addicted to retail therapy then ask your husband to go get the diapers or toothpaste at Target. He won't care what's in the dollar section and he'll be in and out in no time instead of looking for what's new on clearance or on sale that week. If you let him know you are depending on him to help you not impulse shop he will be MORE than happy to help you…he can be your Superman!
- Do you have a list of things you need? It may surprise you what things you have neglected to buy versus what you wanted. Remember the bra mentioned earlier? How can you make buying the things you need fun? Well, you can bring a little creativity to the situation like having themed months for buying specific items. For instance August for buying the families basics like sock, underwear, etc. They are on sale and promotions constantly during that time. You will be able to throw out all the old socks and undies and replace them with the new ones annually…how organized is that? No more heaping sock drawers! Another month might be small appliances, clothing, or linens...imagine being able to take advantage of that Kohl's sale by buying new towels for all your bathrooms and having more money to spend because you saved for it rather that trying to buy just enough to not get noticed in the monthly budget. You might even be able to earn those buying bucks to buy something you need the next month. Strategy can always make spending much more adventurous. Again be creative with buying what you need, it will add some fun to the mundane and feel like you are shopping rather that just picking up items on an errand run.
So you might be disappointed that you can't go shopping this week, but have fun and ask for your friends' participation to help you figure out what to buy and when. Your budget will thank you for it, remember if your money ain't happy, ain't nobody happy! Happy shopping AND/OR saving.
Triste Horrell, SYSTEMIZE
posted on: 10/7/2009 11:30:00 AM by Triste Horrell
category: Finances
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If Your Money Ain't Happy, Ain't Nobody Happy
by Triste Horrell
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About Triste:
Being an organizing expert makes one want to be a "showroom" in all areas of life. However reality can hit hard when you're a mother of small children and a military wife and own an organzing business. Of course Triste would like to have a picture perfect Better Home and an even Better Garden. Throw a Pottery Barn in the backyard for exceptional creative time to become the wiz-woman for all the ideas and inventions that the world could not live without. But Triste has settled on the fact of telling herself "I can be perfect in my mind and no one can mess up my space there!" In reality Triste is very self-motivated and has true business accomplishments like having SYSTEMIZE since 1997, the first home and business organizing firm in the state of South Carolina. She has been repeatedly recognized in her Greenville, SC area for her organizing expertise and makeovers on local NBC and FOX news, Greenville News, local magazines such as Greenville Magazine and Upstate Parent and NPR radio. She has turned people's lives around by focusing on what she calls the "four building blocks of being organized" consisting of space, time, financial and personal. This is even represented in her business logo. "That's what I'm in business for, turning people's lives around!" Also applying her popular 3 Steps to Systemize have not only organized her clients but KEPT them organized for years.
Triste's Website:
www.systemize4u.com
Downtime Activities
- Reading Magazines
- Spending time at our cottage
- Keeping our Westie pretty
- Putting tealights around after the kids are in bed
- Adventures with my awesome hubby
- Making microwave smores...just for me
1 graham cracker, broken in half 1 small piece of chocolate 1 big marshmellow On one side of cracker put piece of chocolate and marshmellow on top. Place in microwave and heat for approx. 17 seconds (while cooking replace marshmellow on top of chocolate if needed). Put other half of cracker on top, eat and enjoy and watch out for oozing chocolate!
My Organizing Tool-Box
- Time - Outlook
This is a great way to keep papers off the desk and track where you need to go, task list, jot down quick notes on the virtual "post-its, keep up with contacts in the virtual Rolodex
- Personal Finances - Quicken
This simple yet practical program keeps your bank accounts in tact...did I mention simple?!
- Business Finances - QuickBooks
I have used this program for years and have set many clients up on it. It is a must for keeping track of business transactions and keeping tax time easy...push a few buttons and out come the reports, your done and your tax preparer loves you.
- Space - turntables
I love these things! You can put them in cabinets, the fridge, garage, and closets. They are inexpensive, easy to find and available at any discount store and you can even find fancier ones. If you are not sure what they are, they are the white (or other fancier kinds) and spin around like a lazy susan, you can have a single or double-tier one for spices.
- Personal - Magazines and Internet
I love to look at magazines and the internet for good articles on personal development, pictures for decorating inspiration and fun projects to do with my family. I keep my magazine subscriptions to a minimum (3) so I can read them and enjoy each one. I look for things on some of my favorite websites for whatever fancies me at that time.
- Online Recipe Boxes
Use these on some of your favorite websites, bring the laptop into the kitchen while the recipe is up and you never have to have the paper clutter. One of my and my husbands favorites is Williams-Sonoma.
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www.OnlineOrganizing.com is a service mark of Bradford, LLC.
