I realize that some of my recent posts may come across as smug or cocky. Nothing could be further from the truth. We are still on thin ice. We are still awfully close to the edge of the cliff.
It's more a reminder to me to keep up the good habits I've imposed. Keep paying off the debt, keep budgeting, keep saving.
Of the list of ten things I posted yesterday, one is more important than all the others -- and I'll bet you can't guess which one.
Budgeting.
Budgeting is everything. Everything else can be managed, if budgeting is handled correctly, even debt.
Budgeting is also my weakness. I tend to spend too much on the store. Oh, when I have a gun to my head I can be very disciplined. Tax bills due, overhead bills due, distributor bills. It's when the pressure is off that I tend to lose focus.
What I try to tell myself is -- the pressure is never off, even if it's not immediate.
*********
Finally watched the documentary House Of Cards from beginning to end. The temptation is to listen to these people who agreed to outrageous loans, who mortgaged their future, and judge them, laugh at them, think how stupid they are.
Except -- I've recently admitted to myself that I got caught in a similar situation with my Heloc. The Countrywide agent talked us into something that we should have walked away from ... I knew it at the time, I almost walked out of the office, but we had come there for a loan, dammit.
I'm too embarrassed to go into details. I think I can still deal with it (BUDGET!!) but having been through that, I can see how people fell for the arcane shenanigans of the agents.
I didn't fall for it out of greed, by any means. Our outside decks and stairs were literally falling apart, and badly designed. We came out of it with a much more pleasing design, and much more solid material.
Still....I should have insisted on changing the terms. I fell for it out of optimism -- oh, I can pay that back....
*********
So when I post positive messages, it's to reinforce the things I should be doing. I certainly am aware of, "There but for the Grace of God go I...."
And I've made my share of mistakes.
It's more a reminder to me to keep up the good habits I've imposed. Keep paying off the debt, keep budgeting, keep saving.
Of the list of ten things I posted yesterday, one is more important than all the others -- and I'll bet you can't guess which one.
Budgeting.
Budgeting is everything. Everything else can be managed, if budgeting is handled correctly, even debt.
Budgeting is also my weakness. I tend to spend too much on the store. Oh, when I have a gun to my head I can be very disciplined. Tax bills due, overhead bills due, distributor bills. It's when the pressure is off that I tend to lose focus.
What I try to tell myself is -- the pressure is never off, even if it's not immediate.
*********
Finally watched the documentary House Of Cards from beginning to end. The temptation is to listen to these people who agreed to outrageous loans, who mortgaged their future, and judge them, laugh at them, think how stupid they are.
Except -- I've recently admitted to myself that I got caught in a similar situation with my Heloc. The Countrywide agent talked us into something that we should have walked away from ... I knew it at the time, I almost walked out of the office, but we had come there for a loan, dammit.
I'm too embarrassed to go into details. I think I can still deal with it (BUDGET!!) but having been through that, I can see how people fell for the arcane shenanigans of the agents.
I didn't fall for it out of greed, by any means. Our outside decks and stairs were literally falling apart, and badly designed. We came out of it with a much more pleasing design, and much more solid material.
Still....I should have insisted on changing the terms. I fell for it out of optimism -- oh, I can pay that back....
*********
So when I post positive messages, it's to reinforce the things I should be doing. I certainly am aware of, "There but for the Grace of God go I...."
And I've made my share of mistakes.