This past weekend, I saw this book in the library and almost glazed right over it.

Michelle McKinney-Hammond is a Christian writer who normally writes relationship books, but this book is about personal finance. I’m not broke (and would never speak that over my life), but I don’t EVER want to be broke either so this book intrigued me. So much so, that right there in the library I sat down and read the first six chapters! Turns out Michelle was inspired to write this book because, despite the fact that she has written tons of books, she spent more than she earned and ended up upside down financially.

I was reading this book and she was talking about her spend-thrift habits. I thought to myself, “Wow this woman sounds just like me!” I love to shop. I hate doing laundry and would much rather buy new clothes. I like to go out to eat at nice restaurants. I like pretty jewelry. I like trendy shoes. I like to buy fresh new books from the bookstore. I love to go to movies and chomp on my favorite candy and sip on a huge Icee from the concession stand. I even like to drive around aimlessly in my car (Who does that???). Pretty much I like to buy, buy, buy. But, I’m also not Oprah Winfrey and will end up being Ted Williams if I let my eyes get bigger than my wallet! I always feel like if I spend a little bit of money here and there, that’s okay. The problem is $10 bucks here, $20 bucks there, $5 bucks there, $40 bucks there, $20 bucks there, $5 bucks there adds up to $100!…And I spent it where???? It’s definitely time to reign in spending.

So, I decided that I am going to consciously try to save money this month. Continue reading →