[OT][Wife] My wife is going to kill me...

[Buttercup]

Cut out beer, and liquor in general.

I'd have to agree. As others have said, a case of beer a week plus 90 bucks in alcohol at a bar equals a serious problem, wholly unrelated to your finances. Keep it up and even if you do have kids, you won't live long enough to see them grow up.

I think I'd recommend counselling, and soon.

 

[Greybar]

[humor]

a case of beer a week plus 90 bucks in alcohol at a bar equals a serious problem

Yeah, if you're buying beer by the case you probably aren't getting quality beer. yeech.

Seriously though, there's a tough choice here.

1) Some people advocate a fairly "cold turkey" approach. Plus side - you'll suddenly realize how much money you had been blowing. Minus side - you have to expect that you're going to feel regretful and angry at having to change your life. That's human.

2) Some people are going to say ease off. Plus side - gradually getting used to it. Minus side - easy to slip back, or just not make forward progress.

3) There's going to be a temptation to say "man, life would be boring if I didn't do all the fun things - screw those tea-totaller geeks!"

whew, you got enough advice yet?

john

 

[Djeta Thernadier]

I have a real problem curbing my spending as well. I'm an impulse buyer big time, and in my younger days ended up charging thousands on credit cards for stuff I didn't need.

Bought a $100 pair of headphones for Sears on my Sears card because I could...

Best advice I can give is work up a budget and stick to it. It's not easy, but it beats facing the wrath of an angry spouse

Well they ARE good headphones

 

[Desdichado]

Best advice I can give is work up a budget and stick to it. It's not easy, but it beats facing the wrath of an angry spouse

Spouse I can handle. We love each other, after all. Creditors, on the other hand...

If I could do it all over again, I would never carry a balance on a credit card again, except for emergency spends (car repairs and stuff like that.) That's how we started out, but by the time I was in grad school and had two kids, we were racking up debt like it was going out of style. Well, that's an exaggeration; we didn't get into it that badly, but life would have been tons easier if we hadn't gotten into it at all.

 

[Djeta Thernadier]

Cut out beer, and liquor in general. Once in awhile is OK, but if you are spending more than $50 a week on something you don't really need you have to give it a second thought. It's expensive, it's fattening, and it makes you sick if you drink too much of it. You could spend half that on donuts and get the same effect, but with a custard filling!

And before you ask, yes, games are more necessary than beer. RPGs are the anti-beer. They make you smarter and stimulate your imagination.

I agree with this too. My ex had a major drinking problem and was spending over $100 a week on beer and betting at sports bars. (1/2 of which was my money).

MojoGM and I never drink. Once in a blue moon if the occasion calls for it, like at a party or dinner with friends or something, but we never go out "just to drink". Neither of us even LIKE beer. Around the house, we drink soda out of our nice wine glasses. I can't even imagine what sort of financial wreck we'd be in if we started drinking regularly.

It *is* possible to have will power. Trust me, if I can be motivated to put money aside in a special savings account for use to buy something special, anyone can. In my case, it's my upcoming trip to Disneyworld. MojoGM and I have each been putting $100 a month into our (seperate) savings accounts. So at the end of each month we have that saved to put towards our trip so we don't have to rely on credit cards.

Most banks have deals where you can set up a seperate accountfor next to no money. It's worth it to have your serious money in a different place from your spending for fun money.

 

[Desdichado]

Most banks have deals where you can set up a seperate accountfor next to no money. It's worth it to have your serious money in a different place from your spending for fun money.

I'd second this; that's good advice. Really, any kind of planning and reviewing of your finances is good -- not really having any idea of where your money goes = mucho bad news.

 

[Imperialus]

I'd read a book called The Wealthy Barber. I can't remember who it's by but it is really quite practical advice for long and short term finantial planning. My dad made me read it when I was 15 and got my first part time job, now I'm 21 and paying my way through school on saveings and able to live on my own (though I do get behind in bills occasionally )