foolish

{cred}

don't let advertising lead you astray! you and i both know, the chances of kissing clooney have nothing to do with your lipstick!
xoxo ashleycolean

and for what?

i was talking about my financial lockdown the other day at softball and someone asked me, 'so how are you doing it????'

i surprised myself with the answer....'pretty much, i quit shopping.'

it just sounds so easy, but seems so hard.

so that got me thinking. why do i feel so great when i spend hundreds of dollars i don't have? what is that thrill i get from forking over my cards? where does it come from?

i think, and bare with me here-that women, have a terribly unhealthy relationship with money. i'm generalizing here but...it isn't appropriate to talk openly about it (according to most people). all of our icons have it. we can't get enough of it. our status depends on it. unfortunately, we're all just trying to be like everybody else. and eventually all of this crap equals deep debt, or deep regret, or both.

{credit}

your relationship with money is just like any other relationship. with your family, with food, with a lover-if it's unhealthy it effects all of the other areas of your life. we need to have a conscious relationship with money or it'll go bad on us-get funky-turn unhealthy....fast.

so, here i am. having a conscious relationship with money. making mindful and tactful decisions, even if it's not the cool thing to do.

i'm refocusing. reevaluating. and deciding to get excited about increasing my net worth, not the number of designer bags in my closet. i'm deciding to talk about it. be honest. and take control of my life, my debt, and most importantly...my future.

to hell with fitting in.
xoxo ashleycolean

i'm off

alrighty then. i'm off. to-wait for it, little rock, arkansas for work. i've got high hopes for surviving the airport after my last success story.

maybe something amazing will happen while i'm there. earth shattering, life changing, butterfly inducing, over the top excitement. you never know.

{credit}

or, maybe nothing will happen. but no matter how it turns out, there is one thing i know for sure. for 5 nights in a row i will be able to sleep in air conditioning.

thank you very much.
xoxo ashleycolean

MONTH TWO!!!

and the month two results are....... $3,108.09 total debt paid!!!

so this month was a little weird. it went well, don't get me wrong, but it's also a little misleading...
you see, i got about half of that money from savings to put down on my student loan. i had a decent sized emergency fund that i decided would be better served down on my (6.55%) debt than on my (0.125%) savings account. in addition to that payment, and the minimum payments, i put an additional $873.34 toward my student loan!

this month my $200.00 went wayyy too fast. i over spent once (better than about 3 times last month) and bought too much alcohol for concerts, my co-ed leagues, etc. next months goal is to buy no booze! okay, maybe only 1 time (it's inevitable that i will have something that requires me to contribute).

i also had to pay off my contacts and my glasses this month, which lowered the amount i could save for the debt. they were necessary purchases so i felt okay about it, but i would have liked more of that money to help me on the under $10k loan challenge!

i had to invent little challenges for myself. little milestones. so my first one is to get my student loan under $10,000. which, coincidentally was my goal for the entire year on my january 1 life goal list. i always write down a list of about 20 things i would like to accomplish in that year, and getting my loans below $10k was on there. i hoped to be able to do it by december 2011. man, january me was so naive. :)

maybe i will buy that mk watch i've been eyeballing for 2 years with the gift certificates i've been saving when i get below $10k!! now wouldn't that be somethin!

i need to rein in my grocery bills too. i have caught myself using that as my shopping fix. i've always enjoyed going to the grocery (especially wholefoods and alfalfas) but it's gotten worse....now i meander around, throw things in the cart i don't need (or even know how to cook), and end up wasting food because i got caught up in buying fresh produce...

i also fell apart a bit at the end of month. i thought i'd budgeted gas and groceries correctly, but didnt. so i will start july with a little to pay on the credit card. annoying. i learned this month, though, that i need to not so much budget groceries and gas. just buy what i need to...without budgets. dont get me wrong, i have numbers in mind, but if i spend a little more than i meant to i can't let it throw me off. it's like a bad diet mentality, 'i ate 1 brownie so i already messed up...might as well have 4 more.' so from here on out i am going to pay the extra debt payment at the END of the month, instead of on payday.
goals for july: less booze, generic grocery shopping, and get below $10k on the good ol' student loan.

total debt down to date: $5,058.61
two months down, twenty-two to go.
xoxo ashleycolean

which do you want first?

the good news or the bad news???

i like to end on a good note, so the bad comes first...

the bad news:
oops. this weekend i oopsed. sort of badly. i spent like i used to. not at the mall-just at one bar, one day-but still. no bueno.
granted, it was my favorite bar, and the margaritas are totally worth every stinkin' penny, but now i only have $3.94 left for the month of june in my non-need spending pocket. 10 days and less than $4.00. i repeat, no bueno.

hopefully i live through these 10, long, hard, (that's what she said) rough, terrible, days.

c/o lilco

the good news:
with a honkin' transfer from savings into the student loan, and some diligent 'debt downing' this month i am officially below the $30,000 mark!!! WHOO HOO!!!! i feel like knocking on the door of $20,000 will feel even better, but under $30k definitely didn't suck.

i'll give ya'll some more details on where it all came from and where it all went for my month 2 recap-but i was just too excited to hold it in. maybe my fudge on the non-need spending was a subconscious celebration for the reaching that milestone?!

nah, i think i just fudged.

wish me luck.
xoxo ashleycolean

carbs

i've always been 'thrifty'-the problem is it was always so that i could buy more! i never thought, 'oh good, it's on sale so i will save some money.' instead i thought 'oh good, it's on sale so i can buy three.'

this quote cracked me up-'think of it like being on the atkins diet. full-price items are protein. sale items are carbs. if you overdose on carbs, the diet doesn't work and you get fatter. you need to be selective and smart about what you put in your mouth (and closet, as it is). farnoosh torabi from you're so money.

c/o weheartit.com

sale doesn't mean you gotta get it!
xoxo ashleycolean

my problem...

'my problem lies in reconciling my gross habits with my net income'

errol flynn

c/o whi

xoxo ashleycolean

wrongly accused villain

c/o emo-corner

when i started this 'get out of debt' mission i admitted that i have a problem with credit cards. not really carrying balances-which is most people's problem. actually, in all honesty-in the 5 years that i have had credit cards i have only been charged a total of $58.00 in charges. $19 was on interest, and $39 for my annual fee for my airline mileage card (which i learned through all of this i can call and get out of).

my problem, as i've said before is with the points, credit, cash back, etc. they blind me when i am making a purchase. i have less of an issue spending the extra money because i know it will convert to points. this is exactly what they are designed to do. i am simply a product of the ad campaigns.

i vowed to get off the cards. the problem is-i can't. i just don't see the point. if i pay cash i see no benefit. if i pay with my discover card (5-20% cash back) or my southwest airlines card (1 pt per dollar/ 2 pts per southwest dollar) i rack up points.

so, i had to be honest with myself. can you keep the cards and keep out of trouble?? i've done well so far. not carrying anything on my accounts. and in the first month of the lock down i earned $23.76 in discover rewards and over 4,000 points from southwest.

ultimately, my friends, it isn't the credit cards that are the problem. we are the problem. it's our responsibility to be smart about our spending. a lack of personal responsibility is the culprit here-not credit cards.
if you quit playing the blame game, and you're smart about what your credit cards offer, it might not be long before you're flying somewhere fun for free in a great new outfit thanks to your good buddies over at visa and discover.

think about it.
xoxo ashleycolean

want vs need

folks-we've got a problem. i need this dress. it would cost me $96.00 (because my darling friend brooke works for anthro and they are allowed 1 friend to reap the benefit and she chose me...a girl after my own heart). i have a $102.61 gift certificate from some returns i made earlier this month.

but something is holding me back. i feel like i should probably hold on to that cash for gifts or something-but man o man. i don't think i have ever gone a month without buying myself something new. it's annoying. super annoying.

what to do...
xoxo ashleycolean

leaving on a jet plane

i'm not a big fan of the airport. any airport. i always have some dilemma, end up running to my gate as they close the doors, forgetting something, getting the pat down....etc.


c/o weheartit

 but what's worse-i realize now, the airport is a spending trap. a trap, i tell you!!


the ticket is one thing. decent parking is entirely too expensive.
but it's inside. that's where they really get ya.


people are always walking around stuffing their faces with overpriced fast food, oversized sodas and sugar packed snacks. it grosses me out.

perfect example of what most people are noshin' on at the airport. fat free...of course.

i, too, fall into the airport trap. i normally get a coffee, or a cocktail, bag of pretzels, book, magazine, etc at the airport. this is always absurdly expensive, but i do it anyway.
no reason. no need. just impulse.


i recently went home to kansas city (bought the ticket pre lockdown) and when i was at the airport both coming and going i didn't buy a thing! not one thing! not even a delicious coffee-which was a miracle after getting to the airport at 6:30am.


 somehow made it through DIA and MCI (twice) only spending $18.00-on the parking.


patting myself on the back.
xoxo ashleycolean

two sided coin

so when i decided to put myself on financial lockdown, i did so, largely in part to reading the story about anna jones-of and then she saved. she was young, fun, fabulous, a fellow denverite, and fighting her way-uphill-to get out of debt. i was instantly into it.

after a week or so pining away about if i could do it, stick to it and actually make is even sort of interesting to read about-i wrote it down and made it happen.
granted-i'm still a newbie at this. but, i'm doing it. and i'm super proud of myself.

i got a pretty bad spending pang today and as irony would have it, it came from cruising anna's etsy site.
her site hit on the majority of my spending triggers...adorable, funny, one of a kindish. i love popping things in the mail to kc-and onesies are no exception.

i mean really-

d bird-you need these. i'll try and skimp on my 'wants' budget the rest of the month to send it to you!

if nothing else-keep your eye on the mail for this one...

love you d bird.
xoxo ashleycolean