Aaahhh...the psychology of debt

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Aaahhh...the psychology of debt
3
Thu, 02-23-2006 - 9:22am

First, here's my latte factor...here are the luxuries that I buy and don't want to give up.

Yearly camping vacation with my parents & kids-$1000
Yearly vacation with my husband & kids-$1000
Coke/Diet coke habit-$15 a month
Scrapbooking-$25 a month
Satellite TV-$50 a month
DSL-$25 a month
Spring Break getaway with my mom and sisters-$200

I could rationalize all of these and often have to myself but at any rate there it is. I have managed the camping vacations for less but that's usually my absolute highest budget.

Anyway, the point of the post. My DD started therapy last week and while I'm not positive on the costs (first visit has a different costs from eventual visits) we're looking at about $100 a month which is the co-pay. So, I have to come up with that money from somewhere. Arghhh...my latte factor is in jeopardy and I realized over the last couple of days that the money I spend on those things gives me satisfaction not only in the sense that I like doing each of those things but it's also a psychological security blanket. I like knowing that I have things that could be cut if I had to or that I adjust things by not scrapbooking one month in order to have money for something else. As I look at the possible need for dropping something it just makes me so nervous. Silly, I know since the combined total of that money (3400 annually) could make more of a hit on debt and then I would be less nervous in the long run but there it is.

There's also the couple factor-my DH is a workaholic who I don't think is very organized/efficient about his time so he's always rushed, overworked, feels like he never gets anything accomplished and it just seems to add one more thing to his burden to bring up yet more cuts in the budget and I'm venturing into "his" territory with proposed cuts to DSL and satellite. Shoot-$10 of the Coke/Diet Coke cost is also his (more...much more when he's home a full month) but I know he won't cut that out.

So, I'm delaying...I'm working part-time this spring and that money was intended for debt reduction but instead will go for therapy and I'll be hoping/praying that we some improvements over the next few months.

Taleyna

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-09-2005
Thu, 02-23-2006 - 1:58pm
It doesn't look like you really can cut much monthly -- and cutting the yearly vacations each by $100.00 wouldn't free up much more than $200.00 which would only cover 2 months of visits. Hmmmmmm Could you skip the scrapbooking? But even if you did, that's not enough either. Maybe there is some way to cut back on the food budget? You know the Dave Ramsey mantra "beans and rice, rice and beans". Best hope is that the therapy is successful in a relatively short amount of time since that would solve that problem. Wow -- good luck with figuring this out!
Megan
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2006
Sun, 02-26-2006 - 8:54pm
I like my carbonated beverage as much as you do maybe more. I don't think $15 is too much to spend on soda in a month, that is what $3-4 a week? Probably a couple of 12 packs on sale at the most. I have cut back on mine, but I was going for the 32 oz. fountain soda at a local drive thru almost every working day, so I was spending about $40 a month on sodas. Plus fiance has a very big habit and only drinks out of the can. I try and buy the 24 packs on sale, but generally they run $5-$6.50 and we get 2 of those a week for him. I don't blame him for drinking so much because he works outside in the heat and I feel just as he does that he deserves to drink what he wants to drink when he gets in at the end of the day, it just burns me up that I am always throwing away glasses of soda he took 2 sips out of 1/2 cans he leaves around the house and cans he opens and never even pours into a glass. I would drink them but by the time I find them they are flat and the glasses of soda the cats have probably tasted by the time I find them.
As for the DSL I think you are getting a great price on that I was paying over $50 a month until recently rates went down in our area and I was able to call and get them to change my bill. The satelite sounds right on track with what most people I know pay for their TV cable/satelite, I don't have that bill because I live in condo which the association fees pay for cable, so my landlord pays those fees.
But 2 trips at $1000 each? Would you be willing to cut them a day or two shorter to save $250? Or maybe make the camping trip this year and the other trip next year? That would be $500 -$1000 possibly. I wouldn't give up the trip with mother/sisters because that's girl time and less than a trip to the mall could cost :)
Oh, well, hopefully the co-pays won't be too high and you can find it in your budget.
Pam

Proud sister of a Marine:

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Sun, 02-26-2006 - 9:49pm
I'm lucky this year. See, we started the camping vacation with my folks when DD was 6 months old. My father hated camping, but experienced a camping conversion and now they camp in Colorado for 5 weeks or so each summer. Yes, tent camping no RV's or kitchens in sight. But, my DH works at debate camps each summer which are nice for the budget (about 4,000 between the 2 of them and this is in addition to his usual paychecks) but not so good for me (5 weeks with 2 kids) but the last couple of years the camps have overlapped with my parents trip times so we took 2 separate vacations since I love my kids having the time with the grandparents but then DH was cheated from a vacation. This year I'm very excited because we can go out right after DH finishes camps and have a week with my parents and then we'll spend a few more days out there. Plus, while the cost goes up for having DH eat for for the week with my parents our camping fees will stay the same and gas will go down because we won't have 2 separate long trips. Whew....sorry for the long saga...I'm just so excited that I can keep the budget down and keep everyone happy!