I’ve been in decluttering mode for quite a while now. Going through some old boxes full of old financial and tax stuff, I found an old checkbook from 15 years ago.
At the risk of embarrassing myself – oh, what the hell, I don’t really care if I embarrass myself or not if it helps even one person NOT be as stupid as I was with money – I fired up excel and summarized the whole 300+ transactions. Just for you. And for me too because before I burn that freaking checkbook I want it branded into my brain how incredibly stupid I was so that I will NEVER, NEVER be this freaking insane again.
Anyhoo, for your financial voyeuristic pleasure, here’s a summary of what I spent and made from October 1995 – October 1996:
| Income | $ 21,118.81 |
| Refinance mortgage | 20,172.44 |
| Child support “income” | 3,000.00 |
| Visa purchases | 11,088.68 |
| Cash purchases | 7,683.91 |
| High interest credit card purchases | 3,042.77 |
| Mortgage | 8,633.64 |
| Condo fee | 1,541.28 |
| Car payment | 3,900.00 |
| Computer and printer | 2,685.66 |
| Utilities | 1,539.01 |
| Property tax | 686.80 |
| Daycare | 760.00 |
| Car Insurance | 700.00 |
| Books | 694.04 |
| Cable | 316.02 |
| Health care | 272.00 |
| Life insurance | 190.00 |
| Ending positive balance (yeah right, god only knows what my credit card balances were) | 557.44 |
I know what you’re probably saying…
EEK !!!!!!
Along with…
Nobody can possibly be that stupid !!!!!!
Well, I was. And there’s a wee little 1% of me that still doesn’t trust myself not to go down that road again. That’s the major reason behind the $10,000+ rainy day fund I keep around. I spent 5 years of underearning and overspending along those lines from 1995-2000 before I cleaned up my act. They were by far the most stressful years of my life. They’re the reason why I hate debt with a passion and the reason why I wouldn’t be embarrassed to have the words:
She lived below her means
engraved on my tombstone.
Nice saying to have inscribed on the tombstone. Mostly all of us have spent this insane amount of money on stuff we all don't need. And hopefully we learn and turn it around for the better.
What was your breaking moment? The moment you decided it would not be like this anymore?
I'll make sure something along those lines goes on your tombstone for sure.
)
I was thinking more like "she was frugal or cheap" but you can have it your way… hehe
Hey Christine! Ain't that the truth! Most of us just don't track stuff, I know I didn't at the time – which was (one of) my biggest mistakes. The breaking point was in late 1999 when I went through a severely depressed period (of the wanting to drive into oncoming traffic variety). But that just took me to living at zero (within my means but poor). The rainbow and pot of gold part was in 2005. I'll be doing a couple of big posts or a series or something on both of those a-ha points since both of them were like a sledgehammer to the forehead. Thank god!
WBY – I'm never picking up wobbly pops if I come visit ever again. And you can put on my tombstone "she drank all of WBY's wobblies". I'll leave you a case of WP's in my will. Or set up a wobbly trust fund for ya.
Oh I think I had a year or two like that too, sadly. Good for you for making a change
Creditcards and bad loans are the things I most regret from the past. But feeling the pain of them (by cranking out the financials) really helped me put me on a path of recovery.
Thanks Jackie! (PS – nice name.) I guess it's one of those things that you can't regret if it made you into what you are today – and you're happy with that. Which I am.
Peter – I so hear you. Right now, my oldest son has an add-on credit card under me for convenience. I just don't want him to get his own until he's older. It's such a slippery slope and I've known too many people (as in most people I've known) that have been sucked in and hurt by credit card usage.
Jacq, Very cool exercise and way to remind yourself what not to do.. What do you think your balances were, and how much interest do you think you paid? At least you ended the year with a positive balance…Barb
Isn't it amazing what tracking spending reveals? You had spent your income in Visa purchases, cash purchases and high interest credit card purchases. Then, AFTER you spent your income, you tried to manage to pay the mortgage, the condo fees, the insurance, the utilities, daycare, food, the car, etc.
I've been there! Lots of folks still are. Hope the bonfire of the cheque book was theraputic. Congrats on turning the ship around! I'll look forward to the "a-ha" series of posts.
Barb, I think I ended up in 2000 owing somewhere around $30k on credit cards and a high interest loan (28% I think?) which were all paid off when my house was sold. But the balances would have fluctuated as I did have one or two years in there where my income wasn't too shabby, I just never built up a surplus. IIRC the car was paid off by then. So interest must have been running around $5k/year. Or more. Probably more.
That's not counting the late fees for paying bills, NSF check fees and all that good stuff.
Hey MCM in TO! The ship *could* have been the Titanic, or I guess a train wreck is more like it. The sad thing was that I spent a lot less than that in University, but managed to break even and wasn't unhappy spending at that level. It doesn't make any sense at all when I look at it in hindsight. Fortunately, I've kept old diaries so I do know what I was thinking at the time. And like my bank balance, none of it was positive! LOL
I got married in 1990 and subequently heard about Your Money or Your Life and my husband and I decided to track our expenses. Pencil and paper to begin with, Quicken now, but we've continued to do it all these years. It's a good habit no matter where you are on the spending spectrum.
Funny, I've always been fairly frugal and we've never been in debt (aside from mortgage), but even we have regrets about spending – did I really need all those clothes?
Anon – Oh I know what you mean. I tracked my expenses while I was in University (before I read YMOYL) – when 10 cents for a cup of hot water so I could use my tea bag brought from home was 5% of my eating out budget for the month. I don't know why I lost track and lost control after that.
I've been out of debt for the last 10 years, but I have some small regrets about money – but they're small. Do I need all those (only 5-6 now) purses? Do I need 4 pairs of black boots? But I'd rather be kind of stupid once in awhile than not be able to enjoy my money at all. I know one or two of those people and I don't want to be like them either. Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting!