Yes I Can!

The economy is faltering everywhere and though I have not felt its effects (knock wood – oh and except for cheaper gas, yay!), I have felt my OWN effects of my own faltering economy.

That is the economy of my paycheck and the fact that I am running up a huge deficit.

I have a lot of debt. I was counting on selling my car to pay off a chunk of it but sadly even if I did sell my car, the chunk would be small and in the end, who is to say I wouldn’t have ended up spending that chunk anyway?

I have been fairly good as to selling things on Ebay to make up for buying so much. But the difference is that I am selling to make up for things. It just isn’t the same as selling, getting the money and then spending wisely. Or not spending at all and saving.

So, as my last items on Ebay have come to an end, I have vowed to stop buying/bidding on anything and that if I were to do anything on Ebay, it would be to sell. And just sell. Sell, sell, sell and put the money on my credit card.

The other thing I have noticed with regards to spending habits, actually lifestyle habits, is that I am lazy. I am lazy and undisciplined. I have no patience and want everything NOW!

The two main problems in my life? Horrible spending habits and my weight.

I could cure both with discipline. Easy. Start budgeting. I mean, REALLY budgeting. Not allow myself to buy whatever I want and whenever I want. Start exercising and eating less. Both of these changes would fix my two major life problems and all it takes is discipline. Ack. I wish I had discipline, I say. But in reality it’s a matter of just doing it. Everyone can have it, you just have to bite the bullet and get down to it.

(Actually my third major life problem is not using my talent to write scripts or books like I always say I will. Guess what would solve that problem? You got it – discipline!).

So how will I start getting discipline and what will I do with myself once I get it?

Well for the weight part, it’s just a matter of not thinking and just doing. Stop complaining about how unfair it is that I have to work out and no one else does and just accept it and fix it. When presented with that cookie, don’t have it. Don’t indulge. This doesn’t mean forever, but until I am at a happier weight I am going to have to sacrifice.

Same goes for my money problem. Clothes make me happy. If I am not spending money on clothes, what will make me happy?

Well, I’m sure clothes will still make me happy. But old clothes and old clothes mixed up in ways that make them new. If anything has taught me this it is my current wardrobe challenge. I am wearing things I would normally never wear and it ways I never thought I would and yet, YET, I still manage to have style and look put-together. It’s great.

Also, there are a lot of things that I love but don’t wear because it is too small at the moment or is terribly unflattering (sigh, the effects of gaining ten pounds in one month. So ashamed! And don’t you say anything about me not looking fat in my photos – I am only posting the most flattering ones!)

Another thing I am going to do – and this is indeed a HUGE task – is to document every article in my closet/wardrobe/boxes/storage.

Remember Cher’s mechanized closet in Clueless? Well I don’t have that but because my closet is so small now and cramped and dark (thanks bf!), I can barely make out what I have and this will be the next best thing.

A CD of pictures of every item of clothing that I own. That way I can browse through them, remember I have that certain shirt and remember what it looks like on (yeah, this also might mean having to try on everything I have :S) and not only will getting dressed be a cinch, but I will feel like I got a whole bunch of new clothes too. Because when it’s not in front of me, I basically forget I have it!

That solves the “happiness” with having no spending allowance for clothes. How do I actually save the money? I never make New Years Resolutions but this year I will. And it will be that I can not buy a single article of clothing (or makeup) until March 1st.

TWO MONTHS WITHOUT NEW CLOTHES!

I know that a lot of you do this already but I buy something every week. So this will make a huge difference and take a hell of a lot of discipline. And hopefully I will learn that I don’t need a lot of stuff all the time, I can be more discerning and picky about what I buy and when and that I will have gotten used to putting money aside on things that matter the most – paying down my credit cards and achieving financial state of mind.

But I am excited to try it out and to prove to others (ie, bf) that I CAN do it!