How I stay motivated (and avoided buying a Chanel bag)

Why I needed to change my finances is pretty obvious: they were out of control and I was totally unhappy. Some of the circumstances were not my making and some were. I started this journey in March 2008.

Now it's a bit more tricky because I am in a much better place financially, but I'm not cured by any means (and the overdraft fees that snuck back onto my statements last month can attest!).

Here are some of the things I do to remind myself that my financial plan is a journey and not a destination.

1- read blogs. The community is fantastic and has always been my number one.

2- download (FREE) podcasts. This has been a major one for me lately. I download Dave Ramsey and Suze Ormand and watch/listen them every week and sometimes more than once a week. I still find American PF to be very inspiring and haven't found the equivalent here. Suze's "can I afford it" segment just shot my dreams of owning a classic Chanel bag anytime soon. I was seriously considering saving up for it. Eek! Savings: $2350.

3- talk about money openly to people who bring it up first or are on a similar journey. I mean in everyday conversation when out and about, not just on the Internet/blogs. This is important to me that I don't just keep my PF life secret or in cyberspace.

4- re-read some PF books that I read when I was first starting out and see where I fit in them now (my fave is Smart Women Finish Rich). It helps me see the progress that I've made, but also what steps I should be taking now.

5- get my friends involved. For example, inviting them along when I did my flat-swap to Barcelona. This way I don't feel isolated and strange that I live on more of a budget and also they can see how there's another way to live out there.

6- pray/meditate/give back- As I can get obsessive about saving and being frugal, I need to slow it down sometimes and remember that I save and pay off my debts in order to LIVE not in order to be a MISER. This means donating money regularly and quieting my mind when it's running too fast with figures. It also means putting people first as yes, it would save me money not to go to a friend's wedding, but as Suze says "people first, money second, things third".