(no subject)

[alexseanchai]

Dead comm is dead. *pokes at it*

Hi, I'm Ellie, and I have problems with buying things on impulse. This may be related to my thousands of dollars in credit card debt. I have a full-time job which, after monthly expenses, gives me four hundred a month to pay down credit card debt with. Somehow the debt keeps not going down. Does anyone have suggestions for ways to convince myself I don't actually need any of the books and probably don't need any of the crafting supplies I buy?

Comments

[neekabe]

I've found that translating prices into time helps. "I make the equivalent of $x/hr. This item costs $2x. Would I be willing to work 2 extra hours for this item?". It helps me shift the focus to what things actually cost as opposed to just paying attention to whether I have enough money in the account for it.

[alexseanchai]

That makes a great deal of sense. Thanks!

[shadowandflame]

You can also try translating your hourly wage into what you make per hour after accounting for your nondiscretionary expenses (like rent).

To take a simplified example: if you made $10/hour, and worked 150 hours/month, your income would be $1500/month. If your rent was half of that, you'd have $750 left to spend on Everything Else...so you're really only making $5/hour to pay for that "Everything Else," and the number of hours you actually have to work to afford something (after taking your rent expense out) doubles.

And of course, there are nondiscretionary expenses other than rent, too...

This is a little depressing in the "I only make that much per hour?!" sort of way, but it has sometimes deterred me from buying something that I would have bought if I'd been calculating its cost in terms of the "hours I have to work to earn this" using my total hourly wage (minus taxes). In reality, I don't have that total hourly wage available to me for "play" money; I only have whatever's left over after paying the bills.

[alexseanchai]

That also makes a great deal of sense. I think I'll use the $5/hr figure; it's probably less than the actual figure, once I factor out rent and car payment and car insurance and so forth, but that's a good thing.