Julie Gumm - Author

The #1 Way to Kill Your Contentment

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I’m knee deep in prepping to speak at a women’s conference on one of my favorite topics – contentment.

Usually we think of contentment in terms of material goods, but it can affect all areas of our lives.

Are you content in your career, your marriage, your health? Are you okay with where you are in life, or are you already searching for the next great adventure?

The number one thing you can do to kill your contentment?

COMPARE

Comparisons will kill your contentment quicker than you can say “If only…”

Someone is always going to have a nicer house than you, be going on that exotic vacation you long for, and have kids that seem better behaved.

The grass always seems greener on the other side of the fence. But how much money did they have to spend on fertilizer? How many back-breaking hours have the spent caring for the lawn. You will probably never know.

What you may not realize is that your neighbor is drowning in debt to pay for that huge house. Or that exotic vacation is the result of a work bonus they earned after a year of working 80+ hour weeks and sacrificing family time. And NOBODY’S kids are perfect.

When we started on our debt-free journey, it helped me shift my perspective and realize that a lot of those awesome “things” I thought I wanted came with too much debt. It simply wasn’t worth it to me anymore.

So identify where you struggle with contentment. Then figure out how you can stop comparing. For example, during my one-year no shopping challenge I stayed away from the mall. I didn’t read fashion magazines or browse the online catalogs of my favorite stores. It helped tremendously.

If you are discontent with your house, don’t go looking at model homes. Stop browsing all the awesome home ideas on Pinterest. Stop watching HGTV.

Comparisons kill contentment.

 

Bartering – the new economy?

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Mark and I are on a little getaway – an early anniversary trip while the kids are with grandparents.

We thought about driving to California to escape the heat, but ultimately decided to save the money and do a stay-cation. Mark got a $40-night Priceline deal on a great place in Fountain Hills.

Yesterday we finally went and saw Dark Knight (awesome!) and went out to dinner before coming back to the room.

One of the fun parts, at least for me, of a hotel stay is that I get to watch cable TV. We haven’t had cable in about 3 years and while I’m really fine without it, I do miss HGTV and a couple other stations.

Well last night we happened on a show on A&E called Barter Kings. Have you seen it?

Basically two friends have a business called Express Trade in which they barter goods. They’ll start out with something small, like a digital camera they bought from someone for $150, and trade it up over and over until they get something they can sell for a good amount of cash. One of the shows had this trade path – compound bow ($100 outlay) for a commercial deep fryer, which he traded for a go-cart. The $1200 go-cart was traded for Dance Dance Revolution arcade machine which they sold for $2,500.

Fifteen minutes into the first episode I could see the wheels turning in Mark’s head.

Uh-oh.

“Honey, look – they have a WAREHOUSE!”

He said not to worry, he’s just thinking maybe he can get something interesting for some of his golf clubs.

A quick glance at Craigslist barter page and it appears our options might be an outdated computer, dental implants (if we’ll travel to Vegas) or a size 6 wedding dress.

Nevertheless I’m kind of intrigued. Never know when you might get something useful.

Have you ever bartered for anything?

My love affair with thrift stores

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My penchant for thrift stores has been duly noted by anyone reading for awhile.

I will admit that I fought it for a long time. Especially when it came to clothes. Too much stuff to sort through to dig for the treasure (aka something that doesn’t scream outdated). Guys have it so much easier – especially guys who wear dockers and polo shorts every day (ahem, my husband).

I think it was a no-kids trip to CA where I finally found my groove. Now when I’m looking at clothes I find I can usually skim my hands along the shoulders until I find something interesting (color, fabric, etc), pull it out and look at it. 9 times out of 10 I’ve at least happened on something good. Doesn’t mean I buy it of course.

If there’s something I’m suddenly interested in having I will toss a “Hey, can you be on the lookout for a _________?” to my husband. Within a week he’s usually found it. This works for small kitchen appliances (anyone want a bread maker? every thrift store has like 20), tools, household items etc. Perfect example – the sewing machine. (Although I have to caveat that with the fact that one sewing machine was broken. The second one needed a power cord which we happened to find last night for $2….at a thrift store.)

Well a brand new Goodwill store opened Friday and of course Mark was there for the grand opening. He said it was packed but they had really nice stuff.

So Saturday we went out on date night and rather than stand in line for 45 minutes to get decent seats for Batman we decided to hit the new store.

We both work hard to limit our buying to things we “need” (in the non-essential way) or would be a really “nice to have” at a great price.

Like swim towels, we only had 4 which was not cutting it anymore. New they’re $20. Last night I picked up one for $4 and one for $5.

My big find was a beautiful purse. I did a happy dance, promise!

I love having big purse/bags that will hold my laptop for when I’m headed to the coffee shop to write, etc. I hate carrying a computer bag and a separate purse. They also double as my “personal item” when I fly with computer, iPad, wallet, snack or two etc and they’re nice enough to continue using while I’m at my location.

Well darn it if they don’t get a little heavy on the shoulder, you know. But if I use a traditional backpack then I’m packing a separate purse in my luggage.

It jumped out at me from the pile of purses. The backpack straps are what caught my attention first. I was pretty sure it was tall enough that I could slip my laptop in on its end. It’s lined with a really nice suede with a divider, pockets, pen holders, etc. The straps convert to a regular bag and I’m 99.9% sure it’s never been used.

Thrift store price $14.99

Retail price (because you know I had to look) $95.99

It takes some practice, but getting in the thrift store habit is a great way to save money on your budget…if you shop with a purpose and budgeted amount.

Oh, and to cap off our shopping trip Mark found a steam cleaner from Italy for $20. I sells on ebay for $150. So basically our date night MADE us money 🙂

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