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| | From:  Pröud2BâMóm (Original Message) | Sent: 10/25/2007 12:31 PM |
There is nothing more vulnerable than the broken twenty (except for a
broken ten).
A twenty-dollar bill that sits in your wallet has potential. He has
the ability to buy a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, some cheese and
sandwich meat, a cucumber and a couple tomatoes, a bag of apples, a
can of tomato juice, and a piece of cheesecake. "Cheesecake?<WBR>" Well,
it looked good and I love cheesecake (especially with strawberries)<WBR>!
But if that twenty-dollar bill is used to pay for just the cheesecake
and you are handed back a ten, a five, a couple ones, and a handful
of change, the broken twenty becomes a magnet for every dollar store,
coffee shop, fast food joint, checkout stand magazine, and donut
store out there. It is easy to hand over the five to pay for a
magazine, or clean out the change purse to pay for a coffee and
donut. The ten gets spent on a burger, fries, and a pop on the way
home.
You might remember putting a twenty-dollar bill into your wallet, but
you won't remember what you spent it on.
There is nothing more vulnerable than the broken twenty (except for a
broken ten).
So how do you protect your twenties and tens?
1. Stop using the ATM machine: "YIKES! Are you kidding? What if
I need some quick cash?" Exactly. And the ATM machine makes it really
easy with quick-pick withdrawals. $60.00 here, $40.00 there, and
$100.00 the next time. That's 10 very vulnerable twenty-dollar bills!
Work out how much cash you need for the week (remember, we are trying
to leave our credit cards at home). Include cash for groceries (SHOP
at home FIRST to reduce the amount of groceries you need to buy),
cash for gas, cash for the dog food, cash for the kids, etc. Also,
remember to take out some cash for fun. Although I am a huge fan of
DO instead of BUY, sometimes those fun activities for you or your
family do cost money. The point is to eliminate those emergency trips
to the ATM machine.
Now, visit the bank. Withdraw your money from an actual teller (yes a
REAL person). This is the year we "Rediscover Our Money." Be proud of
the money you have earned and can pull out of the bank. Remember the
thrill of making those deposits and withdrawals when you were a kid?
Rediscover your money.
2. Leave the extra cash at home: "YIKES! Are you kidding? What
if we are robbed?" We are not talking about your life savings stuffed
into a mattress. Find a safe spot in your home to keep those
vulnerable twenty-dollar bills. I would bet they will last longer in
your home than in your wallet LOL.
Remember, you have a plan for those twenties. They are marked for
groceries, a tank of gas, dog food (and Charlie will be most upset if
there are no crunchies for his supper!), a birthday gift for a party
your son has to go to on Saturday, and coffee with your friend on
Tuesday. On the day you are planning on making those purchases, you
put the twenties into your wallet (only the amount you need �?hee
hee).
3. Stay out of the "magnet stores:" You know which stores these
are. They are the ones that always have something cute, yummy, or
interesting for under ten or twenty dollars (or less). It was never
something you "planned" on BUYing, but something that caught your eye
while you will in there. An IMPULSE buy. For me, these are places
like Walmart, dollar stores, the food court at the mall, the frozen
yogurt treat shop, and this really cute store that sells my favorite
bubble bath and other fun stuff.
4. SHOP SMART: use your grocery shopping list and stick to your
plan. If something catches your eye that wasn't on the list, ask
yourself if there is a way to DO instead of BUY, can you SHOP at home
FIRST, can you Procrastinate? Remember, there is always another sale.
5. Whew! You made it home and most of those twenties were only used
for the things you wanted to use them on. But now you have a broken-
twenty: a five, some ones, and a handful of change rolling around in
the bottom of your purse. What are you going to do with that?
The Holiday Cash Stash! Find yourself an old jar, piggy bank, or
empty box. At the end of the day, get into the habit of dumping spare
change and small bills into your holiday cash stash. I know we are
still a few months away from Christmas, but wouldn't it be nice to
have your Holiday Cash Stash in place before December? How nice would
it be to have all your holiday bills paid off before the end of the
year? And how amazing would it be to open your credit card bills in
January and not have heart failure! LOL.
Right now, we have time on our side. We are a couple months away from
one of the biggest spending seasons of the year. Saving your spare
change and your small bills now are going to get you off to a great
start! You'll be amazed at how quickly this adds up.
Keep track of those vulnerable twenty-dollar bills. If they happen to
get broken, rescue the pieces. Add them to your Holiday Cash Stash.
Take care of you,
Cindy |
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