Spend Less...Enjoy More.

In the spirit of continued learning, I'm really pressing in to this money discipline area of my life. I started out as a reluctant participant who recognized it as a step of maturity and obedience (yawn thought me).

But, now, I'm starting to roll. We're in the middle of our money series at GCC, I'm in month 3 of the envelope system, I'm seeking new advice from outsiders who talk about money and I'm reading the money articles in secular media (I NEVER read the money articles). I actually found interesting reads out there were non-yawners. The ones on this list made me excited to keep pressing in.

• Credit cards made the "Why Things Suck" article in Wired magazine. Sarah Silverman even weighed in on the list.
• Joe made a party out of paying off a mortgage with motivating visuals and all. I added him to my blogroll because he has a way of communicating about "stewardship", "debt reduction", "money management", "saving" and "budget" without being boring. That makes me want to listen to him more. He he uses words I understand. He's fun and normal.
• And the World's Ultimate Cheapskate talked to MSNBC with a fresh perspective about how to enjoy life by spending less. Small excerpt here (I've taken the liberty to bold what moves me):

"Throughout my adult life I have periodically practiced a financial management technique — almost more of a ritual, really — that I call fiscal fasting. As the name implies, fiscal fasting is the act of denying yourself the use of money for a specified period of time, usually a week or even longer. Yeah, that’s right, totally doing without legal tender for the sake of tenderizing your nonmonetary soul. Like a traditional dietary fast, the benefits of a fiscal fast include:

• Purging your system: Your financial system, that is. Your head will clear, your creativity will soar, and your perspective on life will change when you go money free. And obviously you’ll save some bucks during the fast itself, although that’s minor compared with the other benefits of fiscal fasting.
• Tapping your reserves: By cutting off your intake, you’ll start using up reserves of foodstuffs, cosmetics, and other household items you probably forgot you even had. And when it comes to free time and entertainment, you might finally open that watercolor set you bought five years ago after you toured the Monet exhibition.
• Reflecting and understanding: Most important, a fiscal fast forces you to think about the impact money has on your life day in and day out. By doing without the convenience and luxury of a ready bankroll, you’ll gain insights into your spending habits that no fancy budget worksheet could ever impart. You’ll be livin’ in a virtual spreadsheet, where you’re bound to run into your inner miser. Who knows? You might even like him once you get to know him; he has a lot to teach you about what’s really valuable in life." Full article.

Comments

[Cherie]

Thanks for the feedback. The approach and content are vital. Thanks again.

[Jami Ruth]

Hey Cherie,

I work with Kem on the communications team at Granger.

Typically I think we do notice a decline when we do money series. But it seems that this series we've atually had an increase in attendance so far.

I think you can contribute that to the oepning that was all Dave Ramsey (soo good), the 80s music and the reality of the economy right now.

Hope that helps!

[Cherie]

I'm curious, are you experiencing a dip in the attendance for the series on money? We did a mini series - 2 weekends on money and saw a dip in attendance. I think we might have had hit a nerve (bad way) in the imagery and title. It was a spoof off of ipod. We called it ibroke and the imagery was a vector guy with an his empty frontpocket exposed. Same style as apple. Looked great, but who wants to be reminded that they are broke. Hindsight...

Anyways, thank you for your never ending list of books recommendations. I recently finished: It's not what you say, it's what they hear. Good stuff! So informative and eye opening.

[Tim Newberry]

You can't beat the Dave Ramsey Podcast. It will get you motivated to get out of debt.

As of today, I am debt free except the house.

Praise God.

[Joseph Sangl]

Thanks for the link shout-out! I would be glad to send you a copy of my book if you are interested!