What Will You Sacrifice?
Fellow PF Blogger, NCN, is writing a series of posts titled 33 Days and 33 Ways to Save Money and Reduce Debt. So far, he’s shared many useful tips and I was specifically drawn to his suggestion about making sacrifices.
When I think of the word sacrifice, I think of giving up something painfully in exchange for something that is necessary. The negative connotation breeds negative emotions, so some bloggers argue that saving money and reducing debt is about making choices, not sacrifices. I can relate to both points of view.
When I was a young teenage mother and cash was tight, I had to make sacrifices to create a better life for my child. I didn’t have a choice. It was something I had to do. Some nights I ate cereal for dinner in order to afford diapers. Some days, I had to miss work resulting in less pay because I had to stay home with a sick child. Some months I didn’t pay the electric bill because I needed money for transportation to work/school. They were sacrifices. I didn’t have a choice.
As my life improved, I gained the flexibility to make choices. Now I eat cereal for dinner because I’m too lazy to cook. LOL No seriously, a few years ago, I chose to buy a brand new car and incurred $20k in debt. If BabyGirl exceeds my expectations, I choose to reward her with something that may not be in the budget. In April, I chose to leave a dream job for unknown territory. Last week, I chose to increase my 401k contributions from 10% to 15%.
My point is, the difference between a sacrifice and a choice is your ability to maintain no matter which path you take. Sacrifices are painful and necessary. Choices are willful and selective decisions.
I think we often lose sight of the struggle faced by most Americans as we sit in our air conditioned homes, drive our barely used cars to work, write the mortgage check without batting an eye, and invest our disposable income.
Having been on both sides of the track, I understand that it’s not so easy to say “spend less than you earn” if your household income is barely above the poverty line.
I understand that it’s not so easy to say “pay off your debt!” if you can barely afford to buy food and toiletries.
I understand that it’s not so easy to say “get a better paying job” if you only have a high school diploma and very few marketable skills.
For most people, saving money and reducing debt IS about making sacrifices. Painful but necessary.
EDITEDSo what will you sacrifice to save money and reduce debt?
Does your lifestyle require you to make sacrifices or choices to save money and reduce debt? If so, what are they?
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Work to achieve, not to acquire.
And as always, BE FABULOUS!
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The interesting thing about sacrifices is that once you make them … they can become habits. Years ago I sacrificed cable tv because I couldn’t afford it. Today, I can afford it but what do I need HBO for? I’ll still occasionally brown bag it because I like my food better than take out.
thank you.. thank you.. thank you.. very relevant post and it HIT home with me today!!!
yesterday when I got home I had a situation.. and I had to think quickly and realized I just had to make a sacrifice of something else because THAT needed to be done..
I DEFINITELY understand both sides of the fence and I’m still STRADDLING it today as a single mom.. my responsibilities *not debts* sometimes outweigh my income but I make it work as best as I can..
Thanks Ma..
Great post!
my sacrifice is shopping. very rarely do i buy non-necessities. chele has a great point – not shopping is a habit for me.
Y’all are part of the fortunate bunch that most PF bloggers have in mind. LMAO @ cable and shopping. Those are not sacrifices, they ARE choices! LOL
I’m sacrificing my free time (in addition to brown bagging, buying $.60 coffee from Habib instead of Starbucks, etc.) to pick up a part-time job to reach my short-term savings/debt payoff goals more quickly. I suppose you could say that’s a choice too.
There have been times where I have made true sacrifices–usually food–in order to pay for rent. But, I haven’t done that for a while (that was just in college, thankfully). Now, I’m cutting as many expenses as I can to pay down debt. The hardest thing for me to do is saying no to going out with my friends to restaurants and stuff. It sucks, but I do other things with them so we can still get together.
Just curious (english major posted on this topic today), would you give up stuff in order to give to charity?
well, since you put it that way, i don’t have to sacrifice anything anymore.
once upon a time i used to sacrifice groceries for bills when i was in college. then later, when i didn’t have health insurance in grad school, i didn’t pick it up so that i could use the money for other stuff like books and gas to get back and forth to school. i had to give up my independence and move in with my parents during that time, also. i sacrificed free time for a second job once in order to save money so i could move out of state, though i could’ve saved slower by saving with just one job. like Dream, i figure those were all choices too.
@ Dream – Yea, I’d say those are choices. LOL
@ Ms M&P – Giving up food to pay rent is definitely a sacrifice. It was a painful decision and caused a hardship.
To answer your question: Absolutely!! Especially if it’s a charity or an unfortunate event that’s near and dear to my heart. Although I budget for tithes and donations, the latter is a nominal amount. If for whatever reason, I’m compelled to give more, I won’t let the restrictions of a budget stop me.
@ Sistah – Giving up groceries and health ins are sacrifices to me (i.e. per the post, “giving up something painfully in exchange for something that is necessary”). Although the second job to move out of state was a choice, in my opinion.
Now that we’re both in a better place, we can make “choices” that will continue to improve our lives.
I drive a 10 year old car because I can’t afford a car payment. I have a roommate. I buy generic whenever I can stand to. I try to cook in bulk and freeze stuff because it helps me not want to eat out. I eat what my friends call goulash so that I use everything in the cabinet b4 I go grocery shopping. I wanted a new cell phone but I stuck with what was free with the plan. I try to stay out of the malls, period because I end up just picking up stuff even if I don’t intend to.
I’m fortunate in the sense that I’ve never had to make any sacrifices. I’ve made choices but none that were hard to stomach. I’ve never gone without cable, cellphone or any of the other trivialities that I enjoy. I did put off buying a newer car for a number of years in order to focus on other priorities (namely buying a house, getting married, buying another house).
I dont go anywhere unless its absolutely necessary so I can save on gas and I calculate how many miles $10 will get me so I know if I can make it a whole week or not.
i have and might still have to eat oatmeal 3 meals a day so the kids can eat. I rarely buy lunch from work and will either go without or get a kids meal from someplace.
I haven’t had new clothes in ages…whats a mall … where are they LOL i went to the thrift store for school shopping.
seems like a sacrifice is something u have to do to survive. Choices you make when u are making it and want to make it better.
Thanks for the reminder.
For me, I just re-read this post about living down and out, to think about how lucky I have it, even though I stress about my (seemingly) insurmountable debt.
I still think that compared to others, I spend more than I should… but it’s a level I’m comfortable with, and if need be, we could always cut out our fun things from the budget to make room for an emergency that our emergency fund doesn’t cover!
I have made choices so that I can eliminate my mortage debt faster but I don’t really think they were sacrifices (despite what my kids might think!) because I have only given up excesses, not essentials.
We have stopped hiring videos, buying takeaway and buying lunches. I have made a promise not to buy any new clothes or shoes for a year. I have more than I could ever wear in a multitude of sizes! I have found it quite freeing as I know that I don’t have to even think about buyig clothes until July 2008 so I don’t even look.