Fiona Lippey

Fiona Lippey,
Miser Extraordinaire and
founder of Simple Savings

Becoming More Like Hanna

No-one is Happy Hanna all the time. We all have Sad Sally moments, even me. Once upon a time I was the saddest Sally of them all, destined to work my guts out climbing the corporate ladder. I turned our family's fortune around by examining the way I shop and do things, talking to Matt when I make a mistake and working out together a better way to do it next time. It is a gradual, cumulative process. It took us five years to get to where we are now and we still have a very long way to go.

But I'm sure we can speed up the process for everyone by working together. So we have made a short 3 step plan.

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  1. Admit blunder

    I'm pretty ashamed at myself for spending $86 at Borders Bookshop. The worst part wasn't spending $86 on books but using our new 'line of credit' loan to do so because I only had $30 left in my wallet. This was the first time in 5 years I had used a credit card of any kind and the guilt has been eating at me for two weeks. I am so ashamed of myself and I never want to do it again.

    Now it's your turn. What is your biggest spending blunder?

  2. Make a plan

    There are two ways I am going to stop myself from blowing the budget at Borders. The first is cutting up that stupid card... There. Done. Big grin. Ahh... now that feels better. (Yes I really did pause while writing this to cut up a brand new card.) I do not want to have easy access to that sort of money. The temptation of that card proved too great. I don't want to be a Sad Sally. Now for the second half of the plan; avoiding impulse purchases at Borders. Last time I went to Borders it was the last stop in the shopping centre, everyone was tired and I bought items just to keep the kids happy and get them to the car without screaming. (Miss Jacqueline is 22 months old and a giant drama queen. She cries with such gusto she gets pools of tears at her feet.) In future we will go to Borders first, when everyone is still fresh and I won't find myself buying items to placate overtired kids.

    How can you avoid making the same mistakes again?

  3. Set up a trigger

    The way I'm going remember to go to Borders first when we go shopping is today I'm going to put a Happy Hanna sticker on my shopping list. When I'm planning our next trip to the shop Hanna's big cheesy grin will help me avoid another Borders disaster.

    How are you going to remember NOT to make the same mistake again?

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