<$Friday, September 14, 2007$>
The Cost of Fear
| I finally took care of my financial housekeeping errands today. I succeeded in lowering my cell phone bill by $10 by switching to a plan with fewer minutes (I couldn't switch to a lower text-messaging plan, though--turns out the ones advertised on the site are for single plans and we would have had to buy one for each line. The unlimited plan we've got is the only one that applies to multiple lines, so we've still got the best available deal there). The only drawback is that we had to agree to a new two-year contract, but we've been pretty happy with T-Mobile, so that shouldn't be a problem. I'm also having paperwork sent to us to add my husband as a joint account holder (as opposed to an authorized user) on all of my credit cards except Citibank--they "don't do" joint accounts any longer. That's probably a good thing for us, though, as that's the one with the largest balance, and that might negatively impact Husband's credit score instead of helping it. While I was at it I asked Discover to please stop sending me convenience checks that I have to shred. I wish I could blame lack of time for me taking so long to take care of this stuff, but that wouldn't be honest. The truth is that I kept putting it off out of fear. Fear that I wouldn't get the answer I wanted. Fear of rejection, I guess? It's silly, I know. The worse that could have happened was that I'd be told no, and nothing would change. The best was that I would get everything I asked for, and save money. In actuality I didn't get everything I was hoping for, but I still knocked a significant amount of money off my phone bill, and made sure my husband's credit score won't be negatively affected by the new FICO policy. It all turned out well. So why on earth did it take me so long to just do it? I've always been shy by nature. I'm an introvert, and I have a tendency to feel like it's just too much trouble to stand up for myself or ask for what I want. I'm aware of this, and aware that it's often a silly reason not to be my own advocate, and am usually pretty good at not letting this stand in my way. When I do, like I did this week, it's infuriating. Putting it off didn't really hurt anything this time; T-Mobile made my new plan retroactive to keep my billing cycle current. But it makes me think about all of the times it did make a difference. How many fees have I been charged simply because I waited too long to take action? How much money have I lost over the years because I was too timid to haggle, or simply to ask for a better deal? I have a feeling that knowing the answer would make me sick. If this tendency affects you, too, it's not that difficult to overcome, if you really want to. Just remember this: the worst that can happen is that they'll say no. And that affects you how, exactly? Other than causing a moment's worth of irritation and frustration, that passes, and you're right where you started. It's not like you actually lose anything, other than maybe five minutes of your time. The worst that could happen is that nothing happens. Is that terrible enough to keep you from trying, when the best that could happen is that you'll get your way? And the reality is that you usually end up somewhere in the middle? For me, it's not. And telling myself this is usually enough to spur me into action. Usually. This week, I'm not sure why that took so long to work. I guess I was just too tired to battle myself. Battling my own irrational fear is the hard part. Once that's conquered, the rest is pretty easy. Labels: advice, credit cards, money management |
<$Monday, July 9, 2007$>
Frugal Knitting: Yarn Bargains Can Lead To Great Gifts
| First things first: my post on Financial Housecleaning made the list in this week's Carnival of Personal Finance, hosted this week by Broke-Ass Student. ~~~ Over at Get Rich Slowly, Mrs. J.D. guest-blogged about How To Escape the Gift Trap and listed several solutions for the gift-giver on a budget. This topic has a lot of relevance for me right now, because I'm working on planning out my gift list and budget for the rest of the year. Yes, I'm planning my Christmas list in July. No, I'm not really one of those people--at least, not typically. But my solution to coming up with gifts that fit my budget that my giftees actually appreciate (or at least claim to...) is to knit for them. It doesn't always save money--knitting can be a pretty expensive hobby. It does, however, allow me to enjoy one of my favorite pastimes while creating something beautiful for someone else's lasting enjoyment. Although, that doesn't mean I can't do that and save money. By shopping around, I can find bargains on yarn, tools and notions that allow me to work with quality materials on a Red Heart budget. Today, for instance, I needed to shop for materials for a sweater I'm planning to knit for my sister. If I simply bought the luxe yarn specified in the pattern, at $8.95 a ball, the sweater would end up costing me over $160! I love my sister, but, as if! Instead, I did a little shopping around and found a comparable yarn for only $2.49 per ball, which will bring the total sweater cost (minus notions) to just under $45. Still more than I would normally spend on my sister (or she on me), but like I said, it also feeds my habit, and this particular birthday gift doubles as a congratulatory new baby present as well. I still get to work with a high-quality yarn, and better still, my choice is machine washable, which I know will mean much, much more to my sister than the brand name of the yarn. What second-time-mommies have time to hand wash their delicate fabrics, anyway? Of course, considering it took me about four months to knit my husband's Christmas sweater (which I naively waited until October to begin), and considering I've still got a whole list of Christmas knitting to do once this sweater's out of the way, I'd better get started. In July. But at least I won't get caught in the middle of the Christmas rush this year. Do you have any hobbies that can double as gifting alternatives? If so, I'd love to hear about them in the comments. |
<$Wednesday, April 18, 2007$>
Finance Fundamentals
| Blueprint for Financial Prosperity culled all of the personal finance floating around the webs to gather together Ten Fundamental Concepts in Personal Finance - some of which are pretty common sense, but I guess that's what makes them fundamental. (Via Get Rich Slowly.) Labels: advice, finance+blogs, money management |