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I remember starting out as a young married couple and, to put it bluntly, being pretty much broke.  (Hope none of you had this experience, but chances are many of you have!) My husband (ex-husband now) worked as a supervisor in a warehouse and I was the head checker (woo-hoo) at a local grocery store.  We lived in a two-bedroom trailer back in the 1970s.  And we had enough to live on, pay the bill, etc. but not much else.

Our entertainment was having friends over to play cards.  Going to the lake for a picnic. Playing volleyball on Sunday afternoons.  And an occasional night out at a local restaurant.   Watching movies rented from Family Video. Had ramen noddles or mac and cheese for meals sometimes. You get the picture. 

We slowly moved up in the world.  I got hired for a position with a local CPA firm and my husband got a raise and better benefits.  Now we're eating out at least once a week and at a little more expensive restaurants.  Going out to a theater to watch a movie. Hitting a concert now and then.

After I got hired by the US Postal Service things took another step up.  The trailer was sold and we bought a house.  Built a garage.  Bought a new car.  More nights out.

But my point is, we didn't have any more left at the end of the month than we did when we were first starting out.  We made more, but we were spending more.  Now, of course, you make money to spend it, enjoy it, improve your life.

You get accustomed to doing more and better things, and now you have a mortgage, real estate taxes, homeowner's insurance, a new car payment, more auto insurance premiums - and the list goes on.  Next thing you know, you're putting the auto insurance on the credit card.  Making a big item purchase on the credit card instead of saving up the money and paying for it in cash.  After all, you need it NOW.

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Then if you're not careful, you have a credit card debt that you can't pay in full each month and you end up paying those 18 - 20 % outrageous interest rates that are designed to never let you get out of debt.

So what can you do to get back control of your finances?  Here are some of the things that can help - you learned to do them back in the days when you didn't make quite as much money:

• Family Video might be old school these days, but there's nothing wrong with cuddling up on the sofa and watching a Netflix movie in lieu of spending $50 for a movie and outrageously overpriced popcorn.
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• Instead of always going to the steakhouse that you know is going to cost $50-$100 for your meal, once in a while hit up the taco stand, or go to that little grill that makes those awesome hamburgers you both love.
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• Do some shopping at a resale shop.  Everything doesn't have to come with a cash register receipt from a famous high-dollar store.  We have a Habitat for Humanity Resale shop that is likely to have those same brand names, in like-new condition.  And you are helping to support a charitable organization at the same time!
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• Fight the temptation to run out and buy the newest and greatest gadget.  Do you really need the latest 25 attachment super-powered gold-rimmed blender?  The Ninja Pro blender that you bought last year still works just fine. 
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• Avoid friend-envy.  Just because a friend brags to you about her new $200 a month membership to a fancy gym doesn't mean you need to jump on the bandwagon.  Until she mentioned it you were perfectly fine with your $30 a month membership to the YMCA.  And again - the YMCA is supporting the community while the expensive fitness club is supporting their board of directors and stockholders.

I'm not suggesting that you go back to living like a miser and forgoing everything you enjoy, but rather make a decision to the simpler, more cost-effective decisions at least part of the time.

Now I'd love to hear what you think about these suggestions and also your own suggestions for getting control of your finances!