Collecting Pennies

It all adds up.

I found my third one today. Here and there. If you look they’re everywhere.

This morning over breakfast with my family we talked about the incremental payment of loans. Start with the smallest. Eliminate it. Then work your way up. Knocking off as much as you can.

Later on the radio I hear advertisements for reducing your credit card payments. Canadians take note!

It’s been well over two years since I’ve had one. Best thing ever. Can’t spend what you don’t have. 

For me that works.

I'm reminded about the news last night. It was gloomy. More talk on the double dip. Makes for a buyer's market. 

So where is the challenge tomorrow?

Besides maintaining a steady income. I’d say it’s in paying down debt. Who knows what the future will bring.

Better safe then sorry.
Better then collecting pennies.

Revised Optimism

It may be something that was heard. It could be an image you saw or maybe even read. It might have been a juxtaposition of your conscious and your subconscious.

Somehow, something tweaked your inners to look in another way. To feel differently.

For me, it can be as simple as changing my thought pattern. Like peeling away the layer of an onion. Digging into the juice. Making the eyes water.

A matter of choice. An awakening of the senses.

Yet, so often we allow ourselves to sink. Morbid self-pity or possibly the unlikely sealing on the envelope. The icing on the cake. Like closing a door, forgetting another one will open.

Had an interesting conversation with a cousin of mine who is living in East Los Angeles. The question posed by my Uncle sitting next to him was articulated at the economy and whether the feelings of doom and gloom resonated amongst the population.

Interesting, he explains there’s been a bounce-back. No looking back. Forward thinking. A gain of elevation in the promise for the future.

As I sit fixated I think about what is for so many. Riddled with debt. An income that can’t justify it. Hard choices. What do we give up next?
Reinvention. Do things differently.

While we have what we have, and we may not necessarily know where we’re going – at least if we can tag it with something. We’re fueled with hope.

If we tag it with a revised optimism.

Good Riddance Debt

Went to spend my last five dollars in the grocery store the other day and the Manager was dragging out a woman for shoplifting.

At the checkout a fellow was remarking to the cashier how in the past when he was in hard times, he never ever would he consider taking something.

“You go without,” he said.

The two reminisced on their journeys to the Food Banks. I handed over my bank card for my $1.30 bread purchase.  With family and friends I’m fortunate I don’t have to go there.

Not having a penny in your pocket does limit you though. It’s definitely demoralizing, but it’s not the end of the world.

Providing you’ve got a roof over your head and your health.

We throw so much out. Especially when it comes to food.

Since I’ve been pinching I notice it. Buy what you’re going to eat today. Nothing gets wasted.

There’s a lot of talk in Canada these days about our household debt. I agree. We’ve overextended ourselves. Living way beyond our means.

A friend once said to me, “The more you make, the more you spend.”

So true. And when you don’t have it, quite simply – you won’t spend it.

I’ve gone two years now without a credit card, line of credit or overdraft. It’s been great. Next step is to reduce the debt. I’m looking forward to it. Sell this, sell that. Don’t need it. Know I can live without it.

Good riddance debt!

The Greed Culture

Wasn’t sure what I wanted to do when I graduated from school. Was adamant I needed to get out of school fast.

Didn’t think much about owning property or getting married. Kinda wanted to travel, maybe see a bit of the world.

Of course I’ve seen more now. Way more as the clock has ticked. And I’ve come to a conclusion.

Money rules the world. Money rules life. Money rules (period).

It didn’t take me long to realize you can’t live without it. The more you make ironically, the more you need. Or you think you need.

I remember once a family member saying when I’d confessed to being miserable about debt, “You made your own bed.”

True enough. However, fate deals us the almighty cards and the Universe shovels out what should be. At least that’s how I view the big picture now. I'm so grateful that money comes to me easily and frequently!

Who invented money anyway? It used to be we’d trade. Barter. Now we have debt and bills because we can pay with credit cards and bank loans.

In Uganda, everything you buy is paid for by cash. No credit. No trust.

So a person doesn’t get what they can’t afford. Not like our culture.

I'm ashamed to say - the greed culture.

The Shadows of Debt

Swallow the pride I said to myself. Make the call. If it’s before noon, you’ll have the money in your account the next day.
I couldn't go any longer. How embarrassing would it be to be standing there with key in hand and debit card in another and oops, “Insufficient funds in account.” Sorry. Can’t take the truck home tonight after the brakes have been renewed. Ouch.
Drawing on one’s pension since one lost the steady high paying full-time job almost two years ago is demoralizing. Not only that, scary. I transferred the pension over to the RRSPs so I could access as needed. Far too frequently. When it’s gone. It is gone.
Money. Money. Money. Can’t live without it. Whenever you have it, no matter how much you make or have, for some reason it is never enough.
I often dwell on what it would be like to not worry about paying bills on time. The triple A credit rating took time. Don’t want to loose it.
Years ago, I remember furnishing my first apartment. In a second hand store I discovered a treasure of an art deco kitchen table. Had to have it. Went to the bank, not thinking and got the cash. Handed it over to the shop owner and said, that’s my rent money right there.
He looked at me with a smile and a smirk shrugging his shoulders and said, “It’s only money honey!”