Dieting and the holidays

Upon first looking at the title of this post, you might think that I am talking about food dieting. Heading into the holidays has always been a time of gluttonous pleasure; a time of forgiving sweaters to hide the evidence of too many mint mochas at Starbucks. And I can't say that today at my monthly book club meeting, which gathers at Cafe Brazil, that the thought of starting out my day with a slice of pumpkin cheesecake with a brownie crust didn't cross my mind. But today I am actually talking about a debt diet.

This economy has struck most everybody I know in one way or the other. And if it hasn't struck you personally, you probably know at least several people who have, in some way been affected. A friend of mine teaches free financial literacy classes and over the past year I have attended several, including "Recession Proofing Your Finances" and "How to Survive a Financial Crisis." This past week his organization had a financial literacy forum with panel guests that included Pamela Yip from the Dallas Morning News and Elizabeth Leamy, a regular contributor for Good Morning America and the author of "Save Big: Cut your top 5 costs and save thousands." I won't go too into all the knowledge that I gleaned at the forum (however, for anyone that is interested, I could talk your ear off on the brilliant why didn't I think of that? revelations).

Immediately after leaving the forum, I called Eric and proclaimed that we needed to go on a "debt diet." My friend had indicated that he and his wife tried an experiment of not going out to eat for...an...entire...month. It was almost a challenge to see if they could do it, but after the first month they saved over $1100. For everybody, a debt diet can be different. For our family, the money doesn't just fly out of the window in one particular area. We don't have just one vice that consumes our entire paycheck. For us, it is about feeling like not cooking one night at getting take-out instead. One night too many. It is about going to Target for a gallon of milk and leaving $60 poorer because we saw a tuxedo shirt that Liam just "couldn't live without."

Really, our attempted debt diet will be about generally reeling it in financially. Thinking once, twice, and maybe even a third time before we charge an item. Paying off debt where it exists. And realizing that, with any diet, you have to have realistic expectations of yourself. You can't be discouraged when you fall, and given the time of year, it will indeed be a challenge. In an effort to save big, I will definitely be more diligent about taking advantage of the deals around me. Pairing coupons with weekly sales. And not taking for granted little deals that hardly seem worth the effort of taking advantage of (i.e. not being so darn lazy).