on money and stuff

these days, i spend a lot of time with my nose pressed up against my Excel spreadsheets, online account pages and personal finance websites. with the looming WORLDWIDE FINANCIAL MELTDOWN (Fox News-inspired hysteria implied), i’ve found myself increasingly glad i spent the earlier part of the summer straightening out and getting prepared for a new start with my own finances. while things are nowhere near flush, with a little careful planning and some cuts here and there, i’ve settled into a budget/plan which manages to cover almost any financial hiccough which is likely to strike me. other than a major upset (job loss, disability, car finally quits), i feel like it’s all going to be okay — which is a far sight better than i was feeling just six months ago.
i thought things were good last year, too; but then i crashed my car and things went downhill fast. i had to use up my “emergency fund” to buy a new car, then dip into the credit cards to pay for repairs to the new car (both planned and un). on top of that, i was still trying to maintain a social life consisting of many meals out (usually with drinks) and having people over (more Wii games and controllers!). then came christmas and birthdays and just trying to live “normally”… suddenly, i was stretching things to the limit trying to pay back the bank and the credit cards, while still buying food and gas for the car.
luckily for me, a long relationship with the bank (yes, RBC, the one i railed against because they wouldn’t give me a free computer) proved worthwhile and i got myself into a consolidation loan with a payment and terms reasonable enough to not only manage my debt payments but also sock away over $400 every month for both yearly bills (insurance, memberships, etc) and padding for my new “emergency fund”. i’m not at all happy my debt “end date” is now somewhere in 2013, but at least there is an end date. the more i read about people’s personal finance problems (and i read a LOT), the more i feel i actually might have my shit together when it comes to money. i hope.
it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that the recent rash of decluttering/cleaning/decorating i’ve been going though has been a direct result of this reorganization in my financial life. once one part of your life starts to get put in order, those which aren’t so neat seem to demand the same attention. in order to free myself from the physical things which have been weighing down my psyche, i’ve had to also let go of a lot of emotional things attached to them. it’s been very challenging, especially to someone such as myself who is prone to some serious emotional packrating. every little nick-knack or card or book or chair has some huge emotional attachment which needs to be separated from the item while i remind myself that i don’t need the THING to hold onto the MEMORY. heck, even some of the memories have had to be let go of.
as i remove things from my life, i’ve discovered: stuff i didn’t know i had, stuff which isn’t even mine, too much stuff makes me anxious, giving things away makes me feel good and, i hate to say it, stuff i wish i had. as i go through my possessions, i’m discovering things i don’t have, or which need replacing. so far, they’re mostly kitchen items — my tech desires are mostly fulfilled (except for that Canon 5D Mark II, of course) and, with the addition of the awesome chair, so are my desires for furniture. surprisingly, it kind of makes sense. as i’ve tried to cut back and be more frugal, specifically in the food/entertainment arena, new/better kitchen items could really come in handy. i keep finding myself wishing for a food processor so i could make my own hummus instead of paying $4.99 for it at Save-On, or a proper roasting pan big enough for a chicken/cow/turkey or a cast-iron frying pan to make anything from cornbread to a perfect steak.
kitchen anecdote: i had to throw out a spatula the other day. not only was the rubber bit separating from the wooden handle, the tip of it had mostly disintegrated from many years of use (i do love a good spatula!). not a bad lifespan for a 99¢ utensil; but, have you looked at the price of heat resistant spatulas lately? seriously, they range anywhere from $5 – $20 dollars depending on the store and brand. i was agog at the ridiculousness of such prices and loathe to even consider such an extravagance. i feel exactly the same way about replacing the square baking pan which has lost all it’s anti-stick coating or the awesome pot with all the chips in its teflon.
it makes me wonder if i’m going a little too far in trying to get all the good use out of my tools. am i so cheap i can’t even buy myself a new spatula?
i have many more thoughts on finance, frugality, marketing and our North American culture of stuff. maybe i’ll even get around to sharing them with you. i hope i do, as i’d really love to start a conversation about it.