From Cindy's porch...

Pruning The Finances


Our shrubs need to be pruned later this month and it got me thinking.

The hard part about pruning shrubs is that it is often difficult to
decide where to make that first cut. Where should you start?

One of the first places that we start pruning is in the kitchen. The
food we eat accounts for a huge amount of the money we spend every
month. Fortunately, the kitchen is an easy place to prune. Oh, quit
your giggling! With these five steps, your pruning will be done and
no one had to sacrifice on good nutritional food.

1) SHOP at home FIRST: Know what foods you already own -
complete an inventory of the food in your fridge, freezer, pantry,
cold room, etc. You have already paid for this food; you may as well
use it up.

2) Plan your meals for the rest of this month. Spend an hour with
your cookbooks and have fun with this. Choose meals that use up the
food that is already in your food stash.

3) Build a shopping list: While planning your menus, build your
shopping list. Only list foods that you know the family will actually
eat. Only BUY the foods that are on your list.

4) Eat at home FIRST: Let this month be the month where every meal is
eaten at home. This includes making coffee in morning (for those of
you who are "drive-thru" coffee connoisseurs), making lunches for the
kids and anyone who works outside the home, packing a picnic lunch
when you have family activities over meal times (great for soccer
practices, piano lessons, shopping days, etc), and of course, supper
around the family table (no pizza delivery or fast food drive thrus).
If your kids are old enough, let them plan and cook some of the meals
this month. At least one meal per week is cooked by one of the kids
in our home – they love it!

5) Cut back on prepared foods – learn how to make your own meals
from scratch using fresh (or frozen) ingredients (YIKES! – this is
always interesting for a cooking-challenge mom like me!). Home made
pancakes are MUCH cheaper than frozen prepared pancakes – and they
taste better too!

Now that you have started cutting, you have to decide where to go
next. Simply hacking away at the top of the bush is not going to do
any good. Before you know it, the places you cut will branch into
two, and your shrub will look messier than before. A shrub needs to
breath. And to do this, some of the old dead wood from the middle of
the shrub needs to be cut out.

Where is the old dead wood in your finances? Cutting back old wood is
often one of the hardest cuts. Old wood has been around so long that
you think the shrub cannot survive without it. Old wood in your
finances are those things that you have been paying for so long that
you think you and/or your family cannot survive with out. Some hints
where to find old wood:

1) Phone and cell phone bills – look for any "extras" that you
are paying for, but not using. Are you even using the phone? These
add up faster than you can imagine.

2) Cable, satellite, and Internet bills: again look for extras.
We just cancelled all the "little kid" channels – no one was watching
them. This summer, I think we may just get rid of the satellite all
together!

3) Monthly member fees for clubs, gyms, and other associations:
once you sign up those bills just keep coming in. Are you actually
going to the gym? Are you reading the book club selections? Are you
going to the meetings? If paying the bill has simply become a monthly
chore, then perhaps see if this is something you can do without for
the next few months.

4) Transportation – gas keeps going up! I finally made the big
cut. It cost a little to make this cut (I purchased a used-scooter),
but I am tired of spending hundreds of dollars per month just to
drive myself around! Look at how much your family is spending on
fuel, insurance, parking, maintenance, etc. Is there another way to
get where you want to go and save a few dollars? Walk, bike, take the
bus, carpool? With today's gas prices, this cut is going to keep a
lot of cash in your pocket.

5) Eating out – Yes, I know I talked about food already, but
eating out is one of those "old woods" that is so entrenched in our
society that we don't even notice it anymore. Everything from fast
food to exotic food is available within minutes of our home and work.
Junk food does nothing good for our tummy stash and eliminating it is
great for our cash stash. Chop this "old wood" from your shrub and
watch the beautiful new growth that comes from good food. Save eating
out for celebrations and special moments.

OK, the shrub can breathe – now look for those straggly little new
shoots that are growing in the wrong spots. These young starters can
quickly take over and overwhelm the original bush. By pulling them
out, your shrub doesn't need to compete for water, sunlight, and food.

In your finances, these little shoots are those sneaky IMPULSE urges
that pop up when we least expect them. They shoot up in the grocery
store. There you are armed with your shopping list, you ate before
you came so you are not hungry, and you spy with your little eye, the
cutest little do-dad that would be perfect for your home. IMPULSE
ALERT! Leave those IMPULSE (I Must Purchase Use-Less Stuff Everyday)
in the store. Let someone else BUY them. You have plan. I promise,
there is ALWAYS another sale.

Here's another IMPULSE ALERT – companies love this one – "BUY now
before we run out". Or "BUY two and save". Or "BUY now, and pay (much
more) later." Ignore the ads. Ignore that adrenaline rush they
sometimes create (yes, I have been known to be the first in line for
crazy sales). Know what you really want and BUY smart – on your own
terms with your OWN money.

Cut away those IMPULSE shoots. Learn to SHOP at home FIRST. This way,
your financial goals will not be competing with overloaded credit
card bills or withdrawn bank accounts.

The neat part is, you begin to realize that you never actually missed
those IMPULSE purchases anyways. The last thing I need is another
cute do-dad LOL.

Last, but not least, shape the shrub. This is where you get to be
artistic. Trim your shrub to the shape you want it to grow. Leave
room for new growth. Leave room for some unexpected branches. Be
flexible (you can always prune some more later).

When you shape your finances, you get to be artistic. Decide how you
want your finances to grow and then shape away. Cut back the debt.
Chip away at those loans. Allow growth in your savings account. Allow
for surprises. Be flexible (you can always prune some more later).

It only takes me an hour to prune my shrubs. When they are done, they
look so cute. They are ready for spring and summer. They are ready
for the rains and the drought. They are ready to make me smile.

It is going to take a lot longer to prune your finances. Don't kill
the bush; you are simply pruning away the dead wood, the old wood,
the IMPULSE shoots, and then adding a bit of shape. How you DO it is
up to you.