Post Christmas frenzy!

I hope it was a happy Christmas for all. I had a wonderful, if not totally crazy time. It was so busy, it went by like a blur. After it's all said and done, all I want to do is exhale. But for others, the day after Christmas is a day for shopping, deal hunting, and spending more money. Here in Canada, it's called Boxing Day (origins of said name are not quite known) and it's a statutory holiday for many, including banks, government agencies, post offices and some other businesses. But for retailers, the name of the game is SALES. So the after Christmas sales are designed to entice people who have just spent their buns off for months to reach into their pocketbooks and spend yet AGAIN, this time not for gift giving, but simply because the deal is irresistible. Here where I live, people braved subzero temperatures to stand in line for 3 hours at a major electronics retailer to buy televisions, DVD players, laptop computers and assorted accessories at major discounts. At another local lingerie retailer, I was told the manager had to CLOSE THE DOORS of the shop, as the lines had snaked right around the store, and the staff could not handle the bargain shopping crowds.

For many it's fun, it's a big score, it's part of the holiday season. I personally loathe the post-holiday sales. I am so sick of shopping after December 24th, that I barely darken the door of any stores for the next month, except the essential ones (grocery stores and pharmacies). Part of my issue is that I am tired of the constant unyielding advertising and I just don't care to even peruse the flyers, no matter how promising the deals may be. Another issue is that I am usually cash strapped after Christmas (this year is much the same) and I am not going to run up my credit card, regardless of the discounts. (If you can't afford it, you can't afford it! That's the truth!) The last part of the problem for me is that I work in retail, so I am exposed to Christmas advertising from November 1st until the 25th of December, and by that time I am pretty sick of the whole thing. But mostly I just want stay home with my family, enjoy the gifts I received for Christmas (which I love) and just leave the whole retail therapy thing alone for awhile. Exhale.

Charting a Course

So it has been awhile, I inadvertently took a break from blogging. Life has been at work throwing me lots of punches, and I have spent a lot of time ducking!  A monster winter snow storm here, our region thrown into weather chaos, marathon hours at work, a sick child, Christmas preparations gone wild, and there are not many hours left in a day. Each night, I go to sleep thinking of what I would be writing if I was sitting at my computer, but I quickly drift off into sleep before I ever get started.

I have spent a lot of time reflecting, trying to understand what it is that motivated me to start writing in the first place. Why am I writing this blog, and how can my contributions be meaningful to any potential readers? I have spent a lot of time over the past weeks reading some high impact blogs, and taking lessons from these writers (including my blogging buddy John Paul). It struck me that I need to focus my writing a bit more. There are an abundance of blogs on personal finance out there, and I need to make my voice unique. My background is not in personal finance, it is simply a field I have gravitated toward as I have become a working professional.  My university degrees are in the life sciences, and in psychology, so I am not going to fool anyone with my expertise on retirement planning or following the stock markets. So I have been thinking that I will continue documenting my personal finance journey (the reason I started to begin with) and also talk about some of the psychological aspects of spending, saving, shopping and acquiring debt. We will see how this process goes. The content may still evolve as we go along, and that's ok too. It's just good to be out there, reading, writing, editing, creating, learning, socializing and networking. A welcome diversion from my professional working life!

Update

New post coming soon!! Total holiday meltdown mode...working, shopping, card writing, baking, wrapping, bill paying, the whole deal! Not many minutes left in the day. I have several ideas percolating in the old cranium, shall be putting pen to paper (figuratively) tomorrow.

http://ping.fm/QlmQR
Blog Post: Personal wealth vs. security

Personal finance: wealth vs. security

Why am I trying to fix my financial situation? Why does anyone try to improve their finances? Talk to two people, and you may get two different answers. Each person has his/her own motivation, a reason to reflect, change, remedy. For me, my goal is financial security, and not necessarily personal wealth. It's a philosophy which resonates with me, and may not matter to others. However, I am not a person who covets many possessions, and so accumulating piles of cash and luxury goods is not a priority. The reason for my current fixation on personal finance is to try and achieve financial security or "financial peace" (once again, thanks to Dave Ramsey for this concept!) I truly believe that trying to minimize (eliminate!) our debts, reduce our expenses, and live below our means will lead to a sense of greater familial security and inner peace. That's what it's really all about for me. Just to have the freedom to NOT worry about how to pay the bills each month, and instead focus on what is truly important, my family and friends. That's the real deal.

Perseverance: in finances, as in life

I have to say straight off that I am, by nature, a person who aims to achieve in a decently respectable way. (not exactly an overachiever, but I try!) There are not many domains in which I am what you call "talented" but those things that I think I do well, I try to excel. Not always have I excelled, but I really try to push myself, and by nature I am somewhat competitive. (not outwardly competitive, but man, I am keeping tabs on the score!)

 So when I decide to embark on a project, I am full of enthusiasm and vigor, eager to meet my goals. So it was with my decision to remedy my financial situation. I threw myself into reading and listening to the experts, and decided to make it my mission to get myself out of this mess. However, it is a big, deep hole I have dug for myself, and I currently have a little, tiny shovel. (Thanks to Dave Ramsey for this metaphor) It is quite easy to become discouraged, I have discovered. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to see the numbers start to diminish, the debts start getting knocked out. But until a couple large debts are cleared in early 2012, it will be difficult to get much traction. So frustrating.


When I decided to started blogging, I wasn't quite sure what I was doing, but quickly came to enjoy the process. As each day passed, and I started familiarizing myself with what others were doing, I eagerly wanted to see my blog blossom. Well, it's still tough sledding. My numbers are still pretty low, only a couple dozen pageviews each day. My expectations are quite high, but the results are definitely not there yet. But as with any worthy challenge, perseverance is the key. No major accomplishment ever takes place without a lot of blood, sweat and tears. In the personal finance arena, it means resourcefulness, sacrifice, budgeting and patience. In my social media experiment, it means practice, practice, practice, networking, and never stop learning.

Winning at Finances: first hand account

I work in retail, and one of my clients was talking to me the other day about our rewards program. In this program, we offer points with each purchase, and when the consumer reaches a certain threshold, they can redeem the points as cash off their purchase. She was remarking how her point totals were not increasing radically. "Well, you know what it is?", she said, "I don't buy things I don't really need just to rack up more points". She added that she watches the sales carefully, and generally pays for her purchases with cash. "You know what?" she said later, "That's how I got to buy my beautiful car!". This 60-ish lady, of no great means, bought a 2011 Ford Edge (LOADED!) and paid for it primarily in cash. She was so proud of herself, and I was proud (and envious!) of her too. A truly great example of responsible financial living, and it allowed this middle class senior citizen to buy the tricked-out SUV she always wanted. AWESOME!