First thoughts about margin

A couple of posts ago I wrote about gaining control of my time. As part of that effort, I ordered a book that a friend recommended several years ago. The title is Margin and it is about giving yourself some space in all of the aspects of your life: time, finances, physical energy, and emotional energy.

As I've started reading it, one of the things that has struck me is how many different directions we have things coming at us from and how many different directions we are pulled by things. I started limiting inputs a couple of years ago. I dumped an email list that was made up of people for whom I cared, but that was--overall--mostly a source of stress. I left a couple of others that had ceased to be useful to me. We got rid of our satellite television service. (That deserves a whole post of its own!)

I have also tried to limit things that are pulling at me. I left a board of directors that made huge, largely thankless, demands on my time. I still serve the group, but in smaller ways. And since I'm no longer on the board, it is easier to say no to those things that I am not inclined to help with. I have avoided the temptations of several other opportunities to be heavily involved with various groups and instead serve, when I can, from the periphery. We also finally found someone to take on my treasurer position at church, which all too often seemed to be the proverbial straw on this camel's back.

There are more things like this that may be jettisoned soon. Nothing is off the table right now.

This room needs margin.

I have a former business that I have left in limbo. I am still spending money--just a small amount, but still money--each month for tools that I am not currently using. I need to come to a decision about the place of that business in my life. Right now it is mental, emotional, and physical clutter. All useful if I return to being active in the business, but if not, there really needs to be a period put to it.

I am also looking for ways to simplify and help to clear out even more of the stuff around here. I have promised myself weekly scrapbooking time, but this year I need to use up the supplies I have. So, that means no new paper. (This truly is not a hardship.) This will save money and force me to use some of the thousands of sheets of paper and cardstock that are taking up space in my extra room.


Anyone who sees me often knows that I wear the same clothes almost all the time. Yet I own a lot of clothes. That fit. And are nice, stylish clothes. I need to figure out what I am going to use and allow the rest to be useful to someone else, instead of hanging in the closet torturing me.

There's more. And I have more of the book to read. But the campaign for peace and sanity continues.

Saving money

I've been working on getting our financial life in order for six months, with more discipline at some points than others. Reading Dave Ramsey's books and using his materials has helped a lot, but the biggest issue is still the same as it was before I started working so hard on this.

We spend more than we should.

I have cut a lot of our spending, but I keep having to adjust certain categories because of changing costs. Everyone knows what is happening to gas and food prices, which are already the second and third largest items in our budget. (In May food was actually number one!) Much of our driving can't be avoided. I've managed to cut back on my weekly gas expenses with the arrival of summer, but that will be offset by adding in a few long trips.

We have always kept our thermostat low--64--in the winter and high--78 when we use it--in the summer. We drive older cars with low insurance costs and no car payments. Colin would like to ride his bike to work, but it is 18 miles, and there are no facilities to shower or change after he gets there. We've cut our cell phone minutes in half, for the three of us who share an account.

There are lots of cuts that can still happen, but this is where they start to hurt. We can cut our satellite bill by getting rid of our DVR and dropping a few channels. We don't have any premium channels, but we do get a lot of channels. The biggest problem with this is that the three channels Colin really watches--outdoor and shooting programming and soccer--would disappear if we did this. I love the DVR because I can watch the few shows I really want to see in just a little over half the time, speeding through the commercials. (I can watch an hour of American Idol in about 20 minutes, because I only watch the performances and the judges reactions.) And even if I made all of these changes it would only be $15.99/month.

I could save money on clothes and shoes. I don't buy very much--for any of us--but what we buy is good. I could save money on coffee, by drinking cheaper coffee, but that would be way down the list of possible cuts. (I've already cut my Starbucks trips back to almost none.) We could take cheaper vitamins, but then we could go back to spending more money at the doctor's office and the pharmacy, so that wouldn't ultimately be a savings.

I could find a place to get cheaper hair cuts. For the boys, too. (Although I'm not willing to go as cheap as I do for Andrew!)

But I can't do anything about house and car air conditioners going out or cars needing new tires and other repairs. I can't make the boys slow down their growth and wear their pants for more than a couple of months. (Have I mentioned they also eat an amazing amount of food?)

So, I'm at the point where there's going to be some pain. And yes, pain is relative. I admit I am spoiled. We have a nice income, and for me pain is cheaper haircuts and no new sandals and eating a few more meatless meals.

My decision is what the pain is going to be. Am I going to make more cuts or earn more money?

I'm leaning toward earning more money. Then I have to decide if I am going to be disciplined and put some effort into my business, which has treated me incredibly well for the tiny amount of effort I've made the past couple of years. Or am I going to impose outside discipline on myself and get a job?

I think I'll spend some more time with Dave this afternoon.