Feed items

A few years ago, I was living paycheck to paycheck and was seriously trying to get my finances under control. I read all the tips and tricks to curb spending, yet I was failing month after month. I didn’t understand what I was doing wrong. I never entered the grocery store without a list; I never bought expensive, brand name shoes or purses; I never obsessed with changing my wardrobe based on the season. On the surface, I never had any problems — but, at the end of the month, I always ended up broke. Finally, after a lot of agonizing over various revisions of my budget, it hit me: I didn’t have a budgeting problem; I had a shopping problem.

I shopped when I was feeling angry or stressed out. I shopped to get along with my roommates. I shopped to make me happy. I shopped to take advantage of sales. I shopped because I felt the need to own stuff. I shopped to relax.

The last time I ran into one of my favorite cousins, the conversation soon turned to which far-flung family members she had recently heard from. She divulged she hadn’t yet heard from my youngest cousin, her younger brother, about his recent trip to Southwest Michigan. That was not new, as she’d called another of my cousins, her older brother, two weeks earlier and had yet to hear back.

“Have you heard from my sister?” I asked.

“Nope.”

“Has my sister heard from you?”

“Nope.”

“Has Uncle Bill heard from Uncle Jack?”

“Nope.”

“Has the cat heard from the dog?”

“Nope.”

“And vice versa?”

“Nope.”

This post comes from Rachel Beger at our partner site Zing!

School’s just about out for the summer, and that can only mean one thing: “Mom, I’m bored!” Ideas run out fast, especially when you’re not looking to leave the house every day, and you have a budget to abide by. These five backyard activities will be your summer survival guide when boredom sets in for the kids and you don’t have the time or budget to come up with fun things to do.

Outdoor Twister

Twister is a classic game that’s fun for the whole family, but setting up the mat outside can be quite difficult when wind and slippery grass come into play. Instead of using the mat the old-fashioned way, spray paint the round circles onto your grass.

I’m a financial analyst, not a philosopher, and yet in my writings about money I often touch on the subject of time. Generally, this is because the two are somewhat interchangeable with one another — some people sacrifice their free time to plunge headlong into their careers, while others sacrifice income to have more leisure time.