Before you read any further, please re-read the title...but this time, read it to the tune of the 80's song "I want my Mtv". Did you do it? I'll wait! There. Now you may proceed!
Paul and I have debt. We have more debt than we'd like. We haven't significantly added to it in a few years, which I'm proud of. While I'd like to whine about how everything is so expensive (nearly $1,000/month on daycare...yeesh!) really the bottom line is that for a long time we wanted stuff. Admittedly I am the main offender in the house. I promise you that I could find a way to justify buying a 3rd car, boat, condo, pet tiger (seriously, doesn't every little boy want a pet tiger?), backyard cage for the pet tiger...you get the idea.
A few years ago I stumbled across this man and his Total Money Makeover. I was inspired and got very gung-ho about getting rid of our debt. For about a week. Actually, it was longer than that...but like anything else, if you only do it halfway, eventually you are going to NOT be doing it halfway. Off and on over the last 2-3 years I get very strict with our spending, then get lapse, then get strict again...which brings me to the point of this post. I know, its about time, right?!
On Monday of this week Paul and I made one of the best decisions we have ever made for our financial health. I won't get into what it was, lets just say it was a very adult (gasp!) thing to do! That lit the fire. I've jumped back into the Total Money Makeover pool, and I am swimming for dear life! I've spent a lot of time this week figuring out what bills we can trim down ($165 cell phone bill for 2 people? Ridic!) and where we can squeeze extra pennies to put toward paying off our debt! Paul is very supportive in a "you just tell me if I need to do something" sort of way. After analyzing our bills, the first one that I must get rid of is our $200 cable/inet/phone bundle. That is just crazy...we don't watch THAT much TV! I had, what I thought, was a stroke of genius. This stroke of genius prompted several calls to my dear husband yesterday, they went a little something like this:
S: "Honey, I called Qwest. We can get phone/inet/DirectTV for $130 for first 6 months."
P: "Hmmm, what is their internet speed?"
S: "I don't know, does it matter?"
P: "Yeah, I need the higher speed for 'gaming'."
S: "I am NOT going to pay $70 more per month just so you can have a better experience playing your video games."
P: "But...."
S: "Can you still play if the internet is a little slower?"
P: "Yes, but...."
S: "That's all that matters. We'll talk about it more tonight. Goodbye."
That went pretty well, might as well push my luck!
(later in the afternoon)
S: "So, honey, I have an idea that will allow us to save even more on our cable bill."
P: "What's that?"
S: "Lets completely get rid of cable and sign up for Netflix. Its only $8.99/month."
P: "Huh?"
S: "Seriously. We'll still get 5, 8, 11, 13, Fox. We can watch our "shows" on the computer and stream our HBO shows through Netflix after they come out on DVD."
P: "Huh?"
S: "We'd still have a home phone and internet."
P: "Are you serious?"
S: "Very."
P: "But...what about ESPN?"
That's when it hit me how completely absurd I was being. Its a good thing for Paul that his wife loves football as much as he does!
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