Don’t spend $132 on shampoo

That’s it. That is the lesson. If you are trying to increase your net worth, forego the salon grooming products. Like most obvious lessons, easier said than done.

The ugly truth

First, I LOVE snow days. I love bad weather. I love winter. Here is an example of only one reason. Yesterday, ther freeways in the Pacific Northwest were covered with a thick sheet of ice from Canada to Oregon. I called my boss and she said “snow day.” And finally, I spent a whole day doing something that I have put off for months & months – possibly even years truth be told – I began to get my finances in order.

Here is some of what I accomplished:

• I listed my debts (not even all of them, but a big chunk, the ones I could find statements for) Using some great free spreadsheets online at  It’s Your Money
• I started a balance sheet
• I paid some bills
• I updated my monthly budjet – the new, cool term is “spending plan”
• I found a bunch of great new resources on the Web to keep me educated and motivated through the process
• I opened and filed 3 MONTHs worth of mail!!!

All of this took me about 6 hours (including Internet research, reading and a couple breaks). No wonder I have been putting it off.

But I now have a new rule regarding the mail – 10 minutes per day. Once I get caught up, I really think that is all it will take to stay on top of it.

Ok – I promised the ugly truth & here it is:

• My net worth sucks! I will be lucky if it is in the black.
• I have over $40,000 in debt. To my defense, over $27,000 is student loans, so at least was an investment in my future (one which has already paid off in over $20,000 annual increase in income) and not the dreaded “consumer spending” trap. Although I have certainly done more than my share of that.

I will give updated and accurate to the penny numbers as I complete this process. I am figuring in about 30 days (one full billing/pay cycle) that I will have ALL my debts properly accounted for. 

That is it so far. I am actually hoping for another snow day – though the downside of that is, if I don’t work, I don’t get paid, so less $ for the week to debt down.

I almost named this blog – It’s about damned time!

And, well it really is. Time for me to get serious (or actually because it happens to be more effective for me – get playful) about getting out of debt and building up my wealth and freedom.
There are lots of great finance and debt-reduction sites out there and I plan to take advantage of all of the best information I can find.
As I see it, there are two main problems (just attitudes or points of view really) that have kept me stuck.
1. The “know-it-all” syndrome. I know this already. After all, I have a degree in Finance, FGS, and I was in banking & finance for almost 20 years. Goodness knows, all this info is common sense to me. Ever notice how “knowing” what to do and actually doing it are completely different things. In fact, it is my opinion they are worlds apart. 
2. The “normal-rules-don’t-apply-to-me” syndrome. This is a corollary to the first syndrome and you can see how they make a deadly 2-1 knockout punch to creating wealth.
What all this means, is that despite my knowledge & smarts, I have made ALL the mistakes the guru’s tell you not to make. E-gads. Do you know how silly that makes me feel?
Here is the good news; I have a good job, a successful career and lots of great earning potential. Now it is time – way past time – and yes, about damned time to start putting it all to work for me. Let the games begin.

I will take you along with me on my journey. It may not be pretty, but it will be in “real time” or not at all. Otherwise, I get to be too much of a perfectionist and nothing happens.

So far this week I have:

• Opened a new bank account with free checking & free online bill pay
• Downloaded and began to use several good free Excel spreadsheets to track my $’s. From what I have found to be so far the best all-in-one info/blog site on the subject – http://www.mdmproofing.com/iym/ 

Scattered as it is, that is all for now, because the day is short and I have bills to pay before I sleep, bills to pay before I sleep.