- my iParenting
- quick clicks
- moms today articles
- moms today q&a
- community & groups
- research baby names
- prepare a birth plan
- content channels
- ip channel rss feeds
- read birth stories
- read parenting stories
- recommended books
- e-newsletters
- safety recalls
- ip diaries
- ip store
- mom of the month
- dad of the month
- editor's letter
- letters to the editor
From Our Sponsors
- e-newsletters
- Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters
- award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
Beating the W-2 Blues
8 (Surprisingly Painless) Ways to Achieve Financial Sanity This Year
Stay the course via the 48-hour rule.
The best laid plans have a way of crumbling in the face of their worst enemy: the impulse buy. This is particularly true if you're a Spender. McCurdy suggests that you make it a policy that when you see something you want, you'll wait 48 hours before buying it. "My clients who do this tell me that 90 percent of the time they've forgotten about it two days later," she writes in her book. "Sellers make products desirable by indicating that they won't be available at this price forever, or that the quantities are limited. It's an old trick, but it gets hands reaching for wallets every time. Keep in mind that a bargain is a bargain only when you save money on something you planned to buy in the first place." If you try this financial makeover and fail, don't give up. McCurdy says it takes most people two or three attempts before their new budget finally sticks. "This stuff is not rocket science," she says. "We all know, intellectually, what we need to do to build financial security, just as we know what we need to do to lose weight. The problem isn't with our brains; it's with our emotions." We have all sorts of emotional issues tied up in money, and we let those issues override our common sense.
"But really, money is just a tool," McCurdy says. "That's what it is and that's all it is. Why not make 2007 the year that you finally learn how to use that tool to help shape the kind of life you want to live?"