Project Get Finances in Line.

As previously mentioned, I am new to the “real world.” Don’t get met wrong, I think being an adult is pretty cool. I generally like living on my own, making my own choices, and going to work…..but one very uncool think about being an adult is paying the bills. I admit, I was spoiled when I was growing up. My parents are actually lucky I didn’t turn out to be a complete a-hole because until last year I never even paid for my own gas…please don’t throw rocks!! Fast forward to now, where I’m like Destiny’s Child with all these Bills, Bills, Bills.

Throwback Thursday

 

I’ve come to realize that the problem with jobs in the real world is that they simply don’t pay enough money. Due to my current financial limitations I have had to become smarter with my spending. I had to find a way to have nice things (my name is Jill and I am a JCrew addict….step 1 right?!) without breaking the bank. This brings us to my spending tip number #1:

Buy something nice for yourself once a paycheck.

When I decided to start being smarter about my finances, I looked back on my credit card statements to see just what I was spending my hard earned money on. It turns out I was mostly spending it on a lot of unnecessary little things. A trip to Ulta here, a trip to Target there (we all know these turn disastrous quickly!). All these little purchases can build up very quickly and before you know it, you have spent a lot more than you ever planned. My first goal of Project Get Finances in Line was to cut out those little unnecessary purchases. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still young, and not broke, so I know I am going to spend money on some things (mostly clothes), but instead of buying a lot of little things whenever I feel like, I decided to treat myself to one purchase per paycheck. For instance, last paycheck I bought a lovely new JCrew top (told you!). Sure it wasn’t super cheap, but I hadn’t bought anything besides groceries the two weeks prior, so I felt okay doing it. I also had a coupon, always use coupons!!

This week I ran out of perfume so I think I may be replacing my Lola as this weeks “treat.” And it really does feel like a treat when you aren’t buying all the time. It becomes more of a treasure hunt to find the one thing you want to spend your money on. I pretty much think about it for the whole 2 weeks and I’m okay with that because you know what, I don’t need another travel coffee mug, frame, or blanket from Target.

Disclaimer: I am paid biweekly if you are paid otherwise you may have to adjust accordingly 🙂