I read personal finance and frugal living blogs all the time. I champion the “less-is-more!” cause with like-minded friends. I make my own bread. I write on this blog.
But I have a dark side. There are times when I want to be–even times when I am–a rampant consumer. Many people have heard of Dave Ramsey’s “debt snowball” plan. A lot of people online talk about debt snowflaking. I want to be out of debt very, very badly. But I also want a pair of new shoes, some new black pants, that new book out by my favorite author, a new couch for our newly finished basement, and . . .
Clearly, snowballing doesn’t just happen when one is paying down debt. I think of it this way: I get money–my “snowflakes.” Many little moneys equal a “snowball.” I nourish and develop these snowballs until I decide to send them off into the world. Rolling them down “Hill A” means sending them to various debtors where they continue to pick up speed and more snowflakes in the form of saved interest and lower bills. Rolling them down “Hill B” means I have a shiny new thing but no more snowball. I have to start over.
Some weeks I’m really good about staying on Hill A and paying down debt. This is not one of those weeks.
On Friday, I got bored and went to Borders. Borders for librarians is sort of like a liquor store for alcoholics. On Sunday, I went to an art show. Have I mentioned that I have a M.A. in Art History? Art shows are also a particular weakness. Yesterday was my three-year wedding anniversary–we just had to go out for sushi to celebrate the fact that we still like to be in the same room together.
Today I caught myself fantasizing about buying these so I could essentially wear my slippers everywhere I go. I also went to Jimmy John’s for lunch. It’s got to stop! Tonight I will buckle down, face my worst fears (aka balance the checkbook) and re-commit myself to more fiscally responsible behaviors.
Do you ever find yourself snowballing in the wrong direction? What are your “self-intervention” strategies?
~K
4 responses so far ↓
vialdana // June 25, 2008 at 10:46 pm
Love the blog! Particularly giggled at the idea of borders being to librarians what a liquor store is to alcoholics.
If you are looking to make a bit of money, my blog might well be useful to you, it’s all about making money online. http://vialdana.wordpress.com
If you fancy doing a link exchange, I’d be happy to do so as I think the two blogs sort of compliment each other
gimme a shout.
Vi
x
Carnival of Debt Reduction » Blog Archive » Destroy Debt has posted the Carnival // June 30, 2008 at 1:26 pm
[...] (No, it really does have to deal with debt reduction!) The Pennywise Librarians presents “And when I’m bad, I am very, very bad.” Savvy Frugality explains why little things mean a [...]
Carnival Monday « The Pennywise Librarians // June 30, 2008 at 1:50 pm
[...] the Carnival of Debt Reduction which included my post on how I need to have more self-control. This carnival is hosted at Destroy Debt which, holy cow, I’ve never come across before but it [...]
NtJS // June 30, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Don’t stop Jimmy Johns!! Sorry, I love that place.
There’s nothing wrong with going down “Hill B” every once in a while. You’ve got to blow off some steam from time to time. using your snowflakes, maybe every third is a ‘reward’ for you on Hill B, but the others are on Hill A.
We have an Irregular Income Spending Plan spreadsheet (free for download) that works great for that. You can rank order your spending from extra income - First $500 goes to debt, second $500 goes to savings, the next $200 is your reward, whatever that may be.
Leave a Comment