Empty Pockets (Part 1)

Our finances are a wreck. In fact, to even say that we have "finances" is kind of comical. Well, I've decided that being in debt, paying late fees, and stressing about bills are some of the most constant complications in life, so I'm devising a plan to simplify and rectify our finances. This is probably the most frustrating move I'm going to make because there is no instant gratification - no huge bags of stuff going to Goodwill, no shiny shelves empty of clutter. Just tedious and constant responsible behavior which, honestly, is not a strong point of mine.

This plan actually has a few steps (so far), but in the name of not turning this into an epic blog post, I'll unleash them one at a time. So, here goes....

Plan for the entire week! Yep. No more trips here and there throughout the week. No dashing out for this or that. Just one round of errand-running per week. I've known me for a while now, so I pretty much know what I go through in a week. All grocery shopping, cash withdrawing, bill paying, gas getting, dog food buying, etc. will get done on one day - not Saturday or Sunday because those are sacred goofing off days. So, how will this save money exactly? No more spending on a whim. (Why, yes, I believe I do need that all-purpose, ultra-gloss, cherry-explosion lip balm/super glue combo!) No wasting gas with extra trips. No more spending on things I haven't thought through. Because that's where our money seems to go - the impulse purchase - the sudden "need" for some ridiculous thing. I hear the panicked cries of, "But what if something comes up?" And, that will be discussed next time. It's all part of the plan.