Posts
Here is last week's recap....Total Spent: $175.68!!! =)
$59.89 – Personal Care
$42.78 – Food & Dining
$37.01 – Grocery & Household
$21.00 – Transportation
$15.00 – Entertainment
I saw that I had a little extra in the account for the week so I hedged the timing on my proactiv. I signed up again for the club membership online and it is actually cheaper even with shipping than buying it at a kiosk. I just have to make sure I order it in time to allow for standard shipping.
I got a massage using a Groupon on Sunday so I did have to tip the therapist. The place has a massage membership where $59/month entitles you to a one hour massage and an unlimited amount of additional one hour massages during the month for $39. I have a weakness for massages and well, I refused the 12 month contract but I agreed to a six month contract. The sales girl was good. I knew when I was doing it that it was WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! I had just worked on my vision board where one of my goals for 2011 was to embrace the word NO!!!
So, I was driving to the grocery store thinking...CHITOWN WHAT DID YOU JUST DO SIGNING THAT CONTRACT!!! It went against everything that I am trying to do and I should have said NO but I didn't....I totally didn't. I wanted a massage, more massages...heck I don't know what that woman did to my neck but it didn't even feel like mine by the time she was finished. It felt like someone gave me a new one...without all the knots!!! I wanted more relaxation, more treats, I wanted, wanted wanted.
I pulled into the grocery store lot, pulled out the contract and prayed I would find a cancellation provision even though the woman said it was a six month term. Sure enough, at the very bottom, it said I had 3 business days to cancel in writing. Do you know I still grappled with this decision for about 24 hours when I finally typed out the notice of cancellation, signed it and drove my UNHAPPY BROKE butt to the massage clinic the next day and did what?!?!?.......CANCEL!!!!
Yes, I did. No more adding to the monthly bills. If I want a massage then I have to save and pay for it. If I had saved the $360 for the 6 month contract and could purchase it in full then that is one thing but to create a monthly bill because I didn't have it all saved, that just felt like more debt since I would have been contractually obligated for the six months or $360.
That aside, everything else was pretty good. My Mom primarily fed me this week so the grocery bill was literally mostly paper towels and Advil sinus meds from the pharmacy. That stuff can be expensive.
Overall, I did okay. I stumbled a bit in my resolve with the massages but thankfully, I was able to undo the damage. Thankfully. ;-)
7 comments:
Brandy made a song once entitled, "Almost Doesn't Count"! That's how I feel about the massage contract - the fact that you stumbled does not matter, in the end you did the right thing.
Changing your mindset is hard. Hubby and I was in the furniture store, picked out cool new furniture. Instead of heading to their finance department. We priced the items we wanted, got the business card of the nice salesman - opened up a ING account and will go back when we have all the cash. Instant gratification thru credit undermines wealth building.
Good luck on the rest of your journey!
You may feel that massages, personal care etc are relaxing.
But how relaxed do you feel when you get the bills?
WCB,
Well played! That is exactly the mindset you need to pay off your debts. It will get easier over time, and it will feel good to save the money to pay off your debts. After a while, you won't even miss it - you would rather have your savings increase!
This mindset is going to help you more than anything else - it guides your actions. Like DreamChaser57 said, it can be hard, but ultimately it will be worth it.
And like Anonymous said - the bills are NOT relaxing.
Keep on Chitown!
Kris
The entire experience took the joy out of the massage on Sunday. I was stressed for those 24 hours because having and creating another bill was completely upstream and not in alignment with my goal of becoming free.
This is an amazing post. I have been reading your blog for over a year now and this post has got to be the biggest mind shift that you have shared.
Right now you may be feeling all kinds of negative feelings, but you should be proud that you didn't allow marketing get the best of you.
My friend wants me to recommend that you find a cosmetology school when you start going for massages again. She get a 1 hour massage for $35.
@ Broke -- That is actually a great suggestion. There's a massage school a few blocks away from work on State Street. =)
You did such a good job, and it's appropriate to call it a "stumble" and not a "fall"!
This is the best post I've ever read by you. Good job.
Post a Comment