[Thevail]

Well, it's been quite a while, for which I apologize. But boy have I been busy!

My new part time job is working out amazingly well. I really like all the people I work with, and honestly enjoy the challenges of the job. I couldn't ask for anything better except a pay raise. (and really who doesn't want a raise..LOL)

Meanwhile it's opened up a whole new flock of opportunities for me. Thank goodness I learned how to run my house and bills effectively and inexpensively on auto-pilot from all of you

I'm writing a curriculum on basic financial literacy for a class (or possibly seminar type thingy) that I'm going to get to teach to people dealing with many different issues of poverty.

It's exactly what I've always wanted to do. Here on FV most of us are in the fine tuning and tweeking stage with our finances, but many (if not most) people are barely able to read a bank statement or make the simplest budget and know why it's working or not.

I've written about 50 pages of usable material (and probably another 50 of stuff that just didn't work) for the class so far and I'm attending a seminar on Bridges out of Poverty this Friday to get even more ideas.
And I'd like to take this chance to say thanks, because many of the ways I think about finances now are so influenced by discussions we've had here.

And if it's Ok I'd love to pick your brains again.

Back in the "bad old days" when you had a lot of problems handling your finances, what was the number one error in your thinking that you can see clearly now, but kept derailing you at the time?

Hopefully, I'll have a little more time to hang out and talk to my FV buddies again soon, meanwhile.. back to the salt mines CU SOON

 

[Missy]

Back in the "bad old days" when you had a lot of problems handling your finances, what was the number one error in your thinking that you can see clearly now, but kept derailing you at the time?

That's ok, more money will come...I can deal with X, Y, or Z later that ALWAYS derailed me

 

[Greebo]

Back in the "bad old days" when you had a lot of problems handling your finances, what was the number one error in your thinking that you can see clearly now, but kept derailing you at the time?

Two things:
1) That I could out-earn my stupidity
2) That available credit was the same thing as money in my pocket

 

[druthb00]

Convenience foods and fast food. When BF and I first moved in together, we ate out for lunch every day and a lot of the time for dinner, too. I also bought a lot of the $7 frozen bagged dinners, out of laziness probably more than anything else. We wasted a lot of money on that kind of stuff for the first year or so.

 

[sunshine]

I never realized how much we frittered away with the "little stuff". . . a soda at the gas station, a magazine at the grocery check out, etc.

 

[tveeghen]

Not factoring in the annual bills into my monthly budget -- like car registration, etc. I'd be coasting along and then get hit with a large bill that I forgot about.

 

[imagine]

Not something from my good old days but something from a education class.

It talked about income levels and how students and parents generally differ in different income levels. The class seems to lend itself to what you are researching/asking.

With students in poverty level they tend to give away stuff when every they have it. Finally have loose leaf paper. You pass it out to everyone. Have cash spend it on others and share it around. Their parents tend to do the same thing.

The theory/mentality that explains this is: share the wealth while you got it because you might not know when you will be in need and hope they share with you. A different way at looking at save for a rainy day.

To get out of poverty one has to shift the idea of how ones saved for a rainy day.

Side note from the class: People/students that are in poverty for generations (generational poverty) behave differently then those who are in poverty due to a situation (situational poverty)

 

[Thevail]

Not something from my good old days but something from a education class.

It talked about income levels and how students and parents generally differ in different income levels. The class seems to lend itself to what you are researching/asking.

With students in poverty level they tend to give away stuff when every they have it. Finally have loose leaf paper. You pass it out to everyone. Have cash spend it on others and share it around. Their parents tend to do the same thing.

The theory/mentality that explains this is: share the wealth while you got it because you might not know when you will be in need and hope they share with you. A different way at looking at save for a rainy day.

To get out of poverty one has to shift the idea of how ones saved for a rainy day.

Side note from the class: People/students that are in poverty for generations (generational poverty) behave differently then those who are in poverty due to a situation (situational poverty)

Which class? What book? Gotta read it

I'm having to do a lot of adjusting mentally myself. I wrote a ton of stuff at first, then had someone look over it. I have to say I never thought of myself as having a "middle class bias" but I sure do!

It's really hard to find a way to teach a subject that relies heavily on organizational skills and vocabulary when it's specifically aimed at people who naturally think in other ways. It makes you feel as if you're standing there going.. :blah:

 

[Thevail]

Back on topic LOL..

One of the big stumbling blocks for me was the idea of perfect..

I kept buying things because I thought that I was looking for the "perfect" pair of shoes, sofa, lawnmower..whatever.

It was only later that I realized there is no "perfect" anything.

 

[imagine]

Which class? What book? Gotta read it

I'm having to do a lot of adjusting mentally myself. I wrote a ton of stuff at first, then had someone look over it. I have to say I never thought of myself as having a "middle class bias" but I sure do!

It's really hard to find a way to teach a subject that relies heavily on organizational skills and vocabulary when it's specifically aimed at people who naturally think in other ways. It makes you feel as if you're standing there going.. :blah:

Yes, according to this book you have a middle class bias.


The class was a graduate class I took at the university.

The book is A framework for Understanding Poverty by Ruth K. Payne Ph D.

 

[Libby]

Back in the "bad old days" when you had a lot of problems handling your finances, what was the number one error in your thinking that you can see clearly now, but kept derailing you at the time?

There were never any negative consequences for overspending or spending above and beyond your means. All you had to do was pay the minimum balance due monthly and the credit card companies must've approved of this b/c they kept increasing your credit limit - almost like it was a reward for your bad behaviour.

 

[Natalia]

1. Student Loan= windfall!

2. Thinking that I can't afford to "not" get something becasue it was on sale, not cluing in to the fact that putting it on ccards negated the sale price, and then some.

 

[frugrrl]

Thanks for the update!! I've been thinking about you lately and wondering how you're doing! Glad things are good!!

Back in the "bad old days" when you had a lot of problems handling your finances, what was the number one error in your thinking that you can see clearly now, but kept derailing you at the time?

I'm going to have to think about this a bit. Even though I'm mostly out of debt (still have mortgage) I still make dumb mistakes and it always seems like the same one. It's eating out to be sure. But I'm not sure what my thought process is that gets me to the point of actually going out and spending (wasting) money on eating out. It's like we just do it. Like a habit. It's one we work daily to correct, but there are some good days and some bad days. Fortunately, there are many more good days than bad days.

 

[Hamada]

That I knew what I was doing financially even though I had no budget. All I knew was that I had to pay my rent, phone, electric, food, and gas. Seriously, those were all I had to worry about and I still could not make ends meet.

Now I make less than 1/3 of what I would take home and I am definately living better.

 

[Judi Dial]

For me it was balancing a check book. It always seemed weird to do it, I carried the balance forward (usually) so why bother? Also, the instructions given for doing this that I read were really full of explanations I did NOT need, like how long it took a check to clear the bank, how banks handled money, etc.

What I needed to know: how much money I had if all the checks got to the bank at once...mostly double checking that my running balance was right.

Also, I never had an "emergency" or "once in a while bill" fund either...driver's licenses, car registration (not in the same month where I was raised, they are here in NH) insurance, etc. all threw me and I had no plan for dealing with them. I also had no money (I thought) for them, but I had to have them, so I robbed Peter to pay Paul.

I had no idea how much money I "blew" that I didn't have to: lunch at fast foods, unnecessary driving, etc. I had been raised with a lot of available cash and I was poor on my own and had no idea how to "be" poor, so I wasn't...and blew my paychecks as fast as they came in the door.

IHTH!

Judi

 

[frugalwarrior2]

Not looking at stuff openly. I have everything right on line for immediate access and veiwing now.
And ATM w/d fees.

The next thing i plan to do is carry a copy of my monthly bydget right in my wallet. No more guessing!!

 

[shortstack]

My mother always told me "There is no Perfect and Normal is only a cycle on the Washing Machine"
This saying helps me to this day

Back on topic LOL..

One of the big stumbling blocks for me was the idea of perfect..

I kept buying things because I thought that I was looking for the "perfect" pair of shoes, sofa, lawnmower..whatever.

It was only later that I realized there is no "perfect" anything.

 

[gmarie]

The idea that I was only going to be young once, and deserved to have fun. And avoiding opening bills and letting them pile up.

 

[AnW819]

Congrats!!! Eating out!!! That was definitely and still is our problem. And also, not knowing how to keep our grocery bill down. Now I know this, but many people do not know how.

 

[Josephhgoins]

My biggest pitfall was not planning for life. Buying something and saying I can pay this off next month, or in 6 or 12 months and not thinking about all the other stuff I would want to do during that time. I guess you could say basic lack of planning.