new year, new plan

So I decided this year would bring a spending diet to our home.  We have to go through these occasionally.  Kind of a detox.  And right now couldn't be a better time, as we have quite the hole to dig ourselves out of.  The figures that we're starting our new year with:

Credit cards: $459.73  (hey, that's not so bad, right?  nothing you can't pay off in a couple of months.  oh, but then it gets worse.....)
Student loans: $36,016.34  (yikes!)
We also have a mortgage in there, but I think for right now this is enough to deal with.  Adding any more might give me a heart attack, and then nothing will get paid.

I honestly did not even realize the student loans were quite that high.  It kind of makes me throw up a little when I look at it.  BUT, you have to be brutally honest with yourself in order to make a change, right?  So this year is all about change.  Mostly as in the spare change we will be counting in order to buy our beans and rice, because all of our real money will be devoted to paying off debt!

My main weapon here is forcing myself to question the things I buy.  I considered spending the next year in complete deprivation, really living off of beans and rice and using free deodorant samples to avoid purchasing anything.  But then I realized that, like a crash diet, that only works for a few weeks, and then you binge.  I would really rather not binge.  It just makes me feel yucky the next day.  So rather than deny my family EVERYTHING, we're more focusing on buying things that we need and will actually use.  It's very eye opening to go through the Sunday paper ads with the question, "do we really need this?" prevalent with every good deal.  I never realized how much junk I would buy because it was a good deal, even if it wasn't necessary.

Here's the thing:  I own clothes in every size from 5 to 15 for every season.  I own about ten purses (yet have been using the same one for about three years).  I don't even know how many shoes I have, but I do know that I only wear three pairs of them.   And I don't work so I don't really need to look that stylish at any time.  So I'm good on the clothes front.  I do not NEED a single article of clothing at any point in the next year (even if Old Navy puts those wonderful tank tops on sale for $3 each again).  There are so many things like that.

We are very blessed to have the things we need.  So this year the only things we really and truly need are food, probably some clothes for the boys to replace outgrown things, and gardening supplies.  And in those categories it is still a struggle to figure out what are needs (milk, flour, beans, rice, etc.) and what are wants (fruit roll-ups).  I am still working on my list of the items I deem necessary to live a decent life and the items that are absolutely frivolous.  I think this is a list that is different for everyone.  I mean sure if you wanted to live like a monk you would get rid of all processed and convenience foods.  You would never buy ice cream or Cheerios or Coke Zero.  But I just cannot live that way.  I am willing to make some sacrifices and maybe treat those items more as special treats than weekly necessities, but will I be giving them up for the entire year?  Ummm, no.

There is clearly so much more to write about but I must go scour the internet for free stuff so I won't feel totally deprived.  Remember to always ask yourself if you really need it, and happy budgeting.