Organized Finances
Monthly Expenses

I like to have organized finances by minimizing expenses that come all the time.

The kinds of expenses that I hate the most are the kind that you have to keep paying over and over.

Monthly expenses like:

1) Rent or mortgage. It's hard to not have this expense but you can always find a way to live cheaper.

2) Utility bills. Use less energy and cut your costs.

3) Credit card bills. Avoid using cards and pay them off every month.

4) Insurance. High deductibles and do not buy what is not needed.

5) Oil changes every 3,000 miles.

6) Water filter replacement every 3 months.

7) Furnace filter replacement every month.

8) Health club or any other monthly club.

9) Magazine and newspaper subscriptions.

You see what I mean. These are expenses that keep coming back. They never really end unless you radically change how you do things.

I especially hate the expenses that are not even necessary.

Good expenses are a lot more fun and add value and experiences to your life. Stuff like:

1) Really good food at the grocery store.

2) Gas money on a trip.

3) Books and information from whatever source.

4) Adult beverages.

5) Travel expenses.

6) Restaurant meals.

7) Green fees.

8) Nice clothes.

9) Great shoes.

10) Airplane tickets.

11) Ballgame tickets.

12) Concert tickets.

13) Festival or fair admission.

14) Cover charges.

Do you see what I mean? The second list is so much fun; the first list is such a drag. Organized finances means to improve your life.

I try to order my life to eliminate as many of the items on the first list as possible. What I can't eliminate I minimize as much as possible.

I want to have as much money as I can for the stuff on the second list.

The second list is my idea of living. The first list is just surviving.

Another way to think of spending money is to find ways to spend money on the things that you enjoy.

This should be obvious, right? Wrong.

Most people spend most of their money on things they do not want.

I spend most of my money on taxes and my ex-wife.

Even before my divorce I spent most of my money on taxes and my wife.

There was hardly any for me. I did not even have any ideas on what I wanted because having any for me was not in my reality at all.

She was able to take, take and take. She did not contribute. She did not work. There was not any appreciation of what I did either.

Silly me. I guess I thought that providing for her would bring me happiness. I thought making her happy would make me happy. I thought organized finances meant just paying your bills.

In spite of giving her all the money I made, she was not happy. She just demanded more and would be enraged if I suggested not spending so much.

She would say that I should demand a raise. I was in a situation at work where I thought demanding a raise would be a bad idea at that time. I knew with how the company was going that this would not help my long term prospects with the company. I told my wife this, why I wasn't going to demand a raise.

Besides, just because your wife wants more money is not a reason to get a raise.

Make an effort to minimize your monthly expenses so you can have organized finances for more fun.

Return from Organized Finances to Getting Organized Financially.

Return from Organized Finances to Organized-Way.

Go back to Top of This Page.