I'm A Spender

Warm cookies in front of us (they help us focus) and off we go - shamelessly talking about our new relationship...with money. That's right, this past meeting we fessed up on our spending and gloated on our saving. We appropriately highlighted our spending habits during the spending-est time of year with a spending quiz. It worked for me. I now, more than ever, have the courage to pull back on Christmas spending without letting the guilt take over, thanks to the support of this group. This is what I know: I'm a SUCKER for giving, sales, bogos, lazy shopping, outlets!, "just one more gift", and convenience shopping. My name is Lisa and I am a spender.

What's the point?
Now that we know what type of spender we are...what can we do? It's not to insult, it's knowledge people.

• Identify when you are moody and wanting to just spend.
  
• Realize when you are trying to please instead of being thoughtful when gift giving.
• Ask yourself "Do I really need this?"
• Always ask: "Can I do better on the price?" because you probably can!
• Get rid of temptations - Get off the email subscriber lists so they don't grab your wallet when you are vulnerable.
  

Seriously, we are not likely in need of 28 pairs of jeans (although I can probably come up with a very convincing argument). But one thing you can do is "check in". Not in the degrading way as it may seem, but use your spouse, friend, family as your "check in". Agree that if you are buying an item, say over $50 (you decide the "too much" amount), you need to "check in" and walk through that thought process of buying that item with that person. This just might get you out of a huge purchase that could be unnecessary, like another kid toy, a pair of boots you'll wear 2 times a year, the sale dress vs. the full price one. You know what I'm talking about...it's just rare that we want to hear that advice they are going to give.

Attracting $$$ anyone???
Katie has done it. She has a small embroidery business she is slowly building and recently she took it to the next level, marketing birthday crowns designed by her to the Internet. With her first official order fulfilled, she is ready to make money with a website on deck. We are so proud of you Katie!!!! We will post the website when it's up and running.

Email me if you want to take the spending quiz :)

Cool...

One of the most valuable things I got from our last meeting is the knowledge of www.mint.com. A highly secure website, designed to be the "quickbooks of your life" was brought to my attention from a fellow Money Group Mom. This handy site links right up to your accounts and tells on you wherever and whenever you go spending. Shockingly most of my money goes right into the hands of Publix...where does yours go??? Do you even know exactly how much you have spent on food this month? How about coffee...that one hurts! It's a brilliant site that is super easy to navigate. Each week they send you your spending summary in a pie chart...lovely, I know...sometimes I just don't want to know, but this confrontation is something I need right now :).

The neat thing is, it will do as much or as little as you want. We used the budgeting tool to set up a budget so we could try to pay some things off. They remind you in email or text when you are close, and yes, especially when you go over - Wow! Let me tell you, I hate getting those reminders, but before I would have just kept spending!

And by-the-way...it's endorsed by Clark Howard (a highly reputable consumer/financial specialist). So go get your MINT.com account and start keeping track!

One Hot Idea (that's all it takes)

We had a great Money Group Meeting last week. We talked, ate warm cookies and ice cream at One Hot Cookie and enjoyed our first Money Group Moms meeting. Kids were in bed, dreaming about parks and massive amounts of cheerios, while we were talking coupons and business ideas...it was wonderfully empowering.

Here's what we came up with:

Spending Tracker/Log. Great idea to track spending and really see where your money is going. Even better idea is http://www.mint.com/. A website that links to your bank account (similar to quickbooks) and will track this for you. Sarah uses this now, so any questions you may want to ask her. I'm excited to try it out! It's FREE

Confessions of a spender...we shared, laughed, and embarassed ourselves on what we have spent money on recently that we shouldn't have. These are great stories that we can all relate to: overspending, splurging, etc.

Decide on financial goals and write them down - House, car, cc paid off, vacation, etc. Keep talking about them!

Find out where your money goes each month - I realized most of mine went towards Food (groceries and eating out...congrats Publix for being the winner of "where the heck is my money going"!)

What is really important? We all agreed we would like to be spending more money on quality things in life . Quality time traveling/being with family, reliable family car, and hobbies that make us happy.

So now let's talk about how we SAVE money...

Calculator at the grocery store (do it...be that person. It will save you $)
Use http://www.couponmom.com/ brilliant system, just print and clip
Go online to store website before going to store for current coupons (ex: Target) AND use manufacturer coupon WITH store coupon.
http://www.babycheapskate.com/ upcoming sales on baby items in your area.

Now lets MAKE money!
Get Creative and sell your ideas and clean out your closets...

Etsy, Ebay, craigslist, consignment
Consign those old work clothes, party dresses, and quality stuff at these local shops looking for exactly what you have:
Opening in Nov. 2008 - Kloset Karma 725 Atlantic Blvd selling Men's Women's and Juniors
Kris consign on S. 3rd St. across the street from Roy's and Starbucks
Droopy Drawers 511 Atlantic Blvd - behind Beach Diner 904-853-6734
Goldfinders consignment furniture Atlantic Blvd.
Possibly organizing a spring "Family Art Walk" near Shelby's focusing on Kids stuff, etc.

Business ideas??? Of course we have them! Keep thinking and sharing ideas...you could be the next big thing.

So how are we going to save money on gift giving for the holidays?
Scaling back by limiting and giving kid(s) gifts only to friends and family or drawing names
Movie passes w/ homeade gift basket (popcorn, chocolate, drinks, etc)
Restaurant gift cards
Charitable donation in their name
Shutterfly/Kodak Gallery/Snapfish Calendars of kid(s)

Homemade gifts - fruit preserves, baking

The book Smart Cookies Guide to Making More Dough is what has inspired this group, and I highly recommend the book if you are looking to get motivated! It encourages you to get out of debt and do the right thing with your money (These 5 women did it, so can we!)

Keep updating eachother if you feel the need on great sales, coupons, or hot deals we all should know about.

And So It Was Born

We're just a group of local Moms. Unique, creative, successful women riding the wave of this new parenthood thing we are all experiencing together. We've been meeting up for playgroup on a regular basis letting the kids play, learn, and grow through the milestones together. Thanks to a hugely impactive Oprah Winfrey show, I had this bug to start a money group while watching the Smart Cookies (another successful money group) share their story. I saw an opportunity to learn from some amazingly creative moms in the group after all, it seemed like we ended up talking about money (spending/saving/investing) just about every time we met up.

We are hungry...for the answer to managing money wisely in such an uncertain economy. Most of us are down one full income and trying to spend wisely, get out of debt, and save (Is that even possible?) and still spend those all too important moments with our toddlers. We are shameless. We are armed with coupons, discount cards, emails about sales, brilliant business ideas, and very supportive husbands And yes, we still manage to throw on some heels and grab a drink together for Mom's Night Out once a month!