There are some very smart people posting here. Unfortunately I’m one of those people who are a little slow to see the light. Could I actually be doing something wrong? Moi? Well, I still plan to be proactive on the credit card front. What Chase is doing by raising interest rates drastically on customers who have been diligently paying on time is wrong. It’s just wrong. And the homeowner’s insurance situation is just ludicrous as is our current health insurance dilemma. My plan here is to let my voice be heard and not just once. I will stay on top of these issues even though I’m quite confident my single voice won’t make much of a difference. Perhaps enough people will feel the same way I do and continually contact all their elected officials.
The increase in my home owner’s insurance and the increase in the credit card finance charge should not be enough to send me into a tail spin. I obviously was in a tail spin before it’s just now I see the ground rapidly approaching. I have two choices: crash or pull back on the throttle. The choice would seem obvious but nonetheless it is hard. Pulling back on that throttle means bringing my income and expenses into line. That means sacrificing things I’ve grown accustomed to and some things I’ve grown so accustomed to that it may be a shock to even consider going without them. I’m sure it will take days to build this list. I’ll carry a piece of paper with me for the next 7 days and write down everything that comes to mind and next Saturday I will start carving. It also means sacrificing non-tangible things like free time and sleep. Hopefully it won’t last the rest of my life and hopefully I can teach my children to be more responsible. I think LuckyRobin was correct in that sacrifice builds character. What good am I doing for my boys if I send them off clueless about finances? I think true love would be preparing them so they don’t face the day to day worries I face. When I was a child household finances were something you just didn’t talk about. It’s time to break the ignorance is bliss cycle and produce a financial savvy generation. That will be hard too. To let my boys see that I’m not superwoman will be a blow to my ego (just another sacrifice).
Superwoman crashes ... but she's okay
January 13th, 2007 at 03:10 pm
January 13th, 2007 at 05:48 pm 1168710532
January 13th, 2007 at 06:12 pm 1168711943
I'm so proud of you. It can't be easy to admit it. I know the Hubster and I had a hard time admitting to ourselves some of the dumb financial mistakes we have made over time, but there comes a time to face the music and change the tune.
You can do this!!! We'll help where we can.
One of the things lots of us have had to cut out is the cable bill. We haven't yet, but it's right there on the 'needing to do it' line. If it were just me I'd of done it about two years ago - The Hubster has been resisting this move, but it may soon come to that. In yesterday's mail was an increase in the house taxes for next year. Sigh!
Hang tuff. You are right - there ARE people here with good advice!
January 13th, 2007 at 06:45 pm 1168713907
January 13th, 2007 at 07:11 pm 1168715490
January 15th, 2007 at 02:50 am 1168829434
January 15th, 2007 at 01:31 pm 1168867911