personal finance – Lindsey B. Goodwin

Everyday Frugal

February 3, 2023 No Comments

As an exercise in accountability, I’ll be using the space to periodically share my frugal wins (and fails). Join me in the comments by posting yours!

After enjoying a free local youth comic/art festival last week with 2 of my sons, I learned that one son had left his flannel hoodie behind, a Christmas gift from us. Instead of chalking it up to (yet another) lost hoodie, I emailed the festival organizers to see if they had found it and was rewarded for my efforts. After a quick drive down to the library and a good wash, he has it back in his hands and hopefully holds on to it this time.
A friend alerted me of an “ultimate clearance sale” at Kohl’s this week. We each have 3 sons and look out for one another by sharing resources. I’m not a regular Kohl’s shopper but was intrigued enough by her excited texts to make the 5 minute trip after work one day. After spending 45 minutes combing through the men’s section and picking out a handful of items, I took stock and had a little talk with myself. None of my kids are asking for any particular clothing item at the moment, AND after tracking down a couple more of their sweatshirts in lost and found at school, I realized that I was just creating problems that didn’t exist. This is one of my challenges – I think I’m being frugal, but I’m really creating reasons to spend money. Thus, I set the items back on the rack and walked out of the door with all of my money.
I’ve been on a repairing kick lately and have ordered replacement parts for 1) a solid wood bench that tipped over one too many times, thus needing a new leg. I found the leg online and after spending $25 on it, I realized we could have fashioned a leg out some of the miscellaneous wood we have sitting around. I wouldn’t call it a frugal fail, as it’s better than buying a new bench or throwing it in the garbage over one fixable issue. 2) My son’s trick scooter has long been missing a wheel and axle so I spent $12 ordering these parts from the manufacturer and my husband has solidly fixed it. 3) Our used Yakima rooftop cargo rack – I purchased this item via FB marketplace in the fall for a swift $75 and was exuberant as it costs upwards of $800 new. I knew that the lock was not working at the time of purchase and have since been on a journey of getting the lock cores replaced. After a trip to REI, where an associate will help identify the key core “code” for free, I walked out with a code and plans to order it directly from Yakima. Yakima did indeed send me the key cores for free, but they transposed 2 of the numbers and sent the wrong core…twice. So, finally after a couple of months working on this fix , I have the correct key cores in my hands and plans to work on it this weekend.
We’re getting back into the habit of making pizza from scratch on Friday’s after getting lazy and buying Domino’s or Papa Murphy’s the past few months. This requires me to plan ahead and make dough and sauce from scratch on Thursday night or Friday morning. Today, I consider myself winning as I remembered to make the dough and plan to make the sauce on my lunch break. I’ll also make chocolate chip cookies and cut up the veggies for the pizza toppings. This saves us about $25 weekly with a little planning ahead.
I sold a couple of items on eBay this week and transferred roughly $70 to my personal savings account.

Uncategorized

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about shifts. Shifting became our collective norm these last 3 years and I, like you, have not been left unscathed. I could fill a book with my thoughts about the past three years, but I’ll start where I am now instead. So, back to shifts. The main shift I’ve felt recently is a pull to creativity and divesting from some of the consumption habits that have carved a well-worn path these last few years.

Firstly, I want to define what I mean by consumption – anything I personally use or consume in my daily life. We all consume (food, entertainment, water, books, material goods, etc.) every day, but I am noticing recently the balance of consumption vs. creation in my own life and seeing that things have tilted heavily towards consumption recently. I read a lot, eat food, drink diet soda, buy things for myself and my family, watch my favorite Youtuber, and the list goes on. None of these things are bad. None of them. But, what I’ve been missing is creating.

I previously wrote a weekly email as a part of my job for a local arts nonprofit but that ended when I took a full-time job in my previous field during the pandemic. I would bake a loaf of bread (or 4) each week during 2020 and most of 2021. I would paint with my kids and make birthday cards for friends or family members. I would sew. I would write on this blog. I would create digital graphics as a part of my job.

While many of these “creations” still exist in some form in my life, I see there is a strong connection with the imbalance of creativity and my feelings of overwhelm and stress. Immersing myself in nature via twice or thrice weekly hikes with friends has largely gone away. I still walk and move daily, and take a weekend hike, but the shifts with friends’ lives have also affected mine. We’ve all had shifts in work, health, and with aging kids, more running around for drop-off’s and pick-up’s. This is life.

But, realignment happens too. And that’s where I’m at today. As a part of my intention to add creativity to my life, I’ll be writing here regularly again. Specifically, subjects that are calling to me now involve nature immersion, frugality, and trying new things. To this end, you’ll see shorter form essays and many list-type posts.

I’ll be writing here as an exercise for me, but it’s here for you too.

xo, LBG

Financial Wellness

Financial Healing: From Tapped Out to Financially Fit

June 27, 2017 No Comments

In 2013, a year when our family’s combined income put us in the top 5% of earners constituting America’s wealthy class, we found ourselves strapped for cash and debt-ridden. I had no idea that we were even considered more than middle class, as we outspent what we made each month and generally felt financially unwell. Something had to give. Our low point arrived when we sold our family home so that we could pay off our hefty credit card debt. This was not the first aha moment for us, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last, but it was an important note in our path to financial healing.

Catalyst for Change

Fast forward to 2015 – the year of change. When I picked up Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover, I could not fathom the path we’d soon embark and the behavioral changes ahead. My husband and I read the book quickly and agreed to take immediate action to stop the financial bleeding. Reading about families in much lower income brackets making radical changes and paying off debt, saving healthy emergency funds (defined as 3 – 6 months living expenses) and achieving financial freedom was eye-opening and inspiring. We took Dave’s steps seriously starting with the debt snowball. We dug in our heels slashing non-essentials to pay off $26,000 in consumer and student loan debt in just under a year. The excitement of removing our debt wore off quickly as we were presented with a $10,000 income tax bill near the end of 2015. After hurling a few not-so-kind words at Uncle Sam, we saved the amount owed within 3 months. The beginning of 2016 saw us paying off our tax bill with promises to ourselves to avoid future tax missteps.

A New Lifestyle

By the end of 2016, I had whittled my work schedule down to part-time, refinanced our mortgage to a 15 year fixed rate loan and we were thisclose to our emergency savings fund goal. Early 2017 arrived and our goals – both monetary and lifestyle – were accomplished: we had fully funded our emergency savings and I was able to leave my job completely to care for our young sons full-time. The small changes we made during our 2+ year journey to becoming consumer debt-free ultimately contributed to our lifestyle metamorphosis. This did not happen overnight and just like a crash diet, if our results had been immediate I would question their permanence .

How We Did It

I realize this bit-size account of how we changed our life makes the process sound all too easy. In all honesty it was both easy and extremely trying to look at our spending and savings habits in the mirror. Specifically we looked at each expense, debit/credit card charge and cash withdrawal individually and slashed areas that seemed high. We began using EveryDollar, the free budgeting app, to set and track our monthly expenses. After a few months we found ways to cut further expenses including cutting our cable completely – not done without a eulogy by my husband. Even seemingly small expenses saw their end on our financial chopping block. Gym memberships, cell phone service, and kids activities were all examined and cut. The most lasting changes came when replaced with a low-cost or free version such as hiking vs. gym training.

What Can You Do Today?

The first step in any life changing exercise is to step back and examine where you are today. The most valuable takeaway I’ve had through this process is to have patience. It’s a big task to look at yourself in a financial mirror and acceptance and patience go a long way. Start where you are and keep walking the path to financial wellness. Believe me, it’s worth the trouble.