Take More Responsibility
Thursday March 31, 2011

Thank you for reading TSLL. The first two posts are complimentary. You have 1 free post view remaining this month.

Become a Member for as little as $4/mo and enjoy unlimited reading of TSLL blog.

While many banks and other financial institutions offer protections, advice and assistance on a wide variety of products and programs, there are a few things we can all do to eliminate paying for things we should be more than able to do by ourselves.

The excitement about becoming an adult is undeniably a stepping stone, but in order to be a grown up, we must behave as one which means taking responsibility.  As batman’s anthem reminds us, “With great power, comes great responsibility.”  The power in this instance is the weight we carry as adults in society, with our kids, in our communities and for today’s post, with our finances.  So why not get rid of the following protection and create a budget program for free as it will force you to be responsible and to do something you should, as a grown-up, already be doing.  Take the training wheels off!

1. Decline Overdraft Protection

If you know that the bank will not be paying those businesses you’ve cut a check too without having the funds in the bank, you will be less apt to whip out your debit card or checkbook.  And under no occurrence, should you use your credit card to purchase something when you don’t have the cash to cover it in your checking account (I’ve done it before, am well aware of the consequences and have learned this lesson the hard way.)

2. Don’t Pay for a Fancy Budgeting Program

It is unnecessary to spend more money to organize the money you aren’t already managing well. Instead, simply set up a checkbook register in an excel program as suggested by Melissa Tosetti in Living A Savvy Life with simple addition and subtraction functions for each month. At the beginning of your month, enter your paycheck(s), and deduct all of your mandatory expenses (as you would in a calculator). At the end or the beginning of each day, enter your expenses (eating out, groceries, etc), so that you know exactly how much you have in your account.  Without getting fancy, you can easily keep yourself managed, organized and your spending under control.

The thing to keep in mind is that we must control our money and not the other way around as Suze Orman reminds us, and as one of my favorite quotes that is pinned to my idea board states,

“I think the nicest thing you can say about a woman is that she lives well and she lives below her means.”

 

(Suggestion #1 suggested by Suze Orman in her book The Money Class)

7 thoughts on “Take More Responsibility

  1. Good advice. I heard the advice of to live below your means when I was in high school and it has stuck with me ever since. Sometimes I consider opening a credit card just for the benefits, I trust that I am responsible enough not to buy things that I don’t already have the money in the bank for, but still I don’t need the temptation.

  2. Great money tips as always honey!

    I’m hosting a link up tomorrow called “Fashion Friday’s.” I’d love for you to be a part of it. Any fashion post will work. If you want to, come by in the morning and link up! Kori xoxo

    blondeepisodes.com

  3. Wonderful post. I am only really starting to control my money rather than the other way round thanks to your recommendation of Melissa’s book and your wonderful financially savvy posts. Better late than never I suppose 😉

  4. Thank you for your posts on finances. I’ve really enjoyed them. Actually, I’ve been enthralled with your whole blog!

    But the nerd in me has to tell you that the quote “With great power, comes great responsibility.” is actually from Spider-man. 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

From TSLL Archives
Updated British Week 1.jpg
Updated French Week 2.jpg