fluffysings

1. Spend less time feeling poor. Flipping through catalogs and going to the mall will make you feel like you need things, Ms. Gurney notes. Sure, you can afford some of that stuff, but the main message is: Most of this is out of your reach. Instead, do things that offer a sense of well-being. Invite friends over. Walk in the park.

Walking in the park does not give me a sense of well-being.  A new Vera Bradley bag does.  Therefore, the bag wins.

2. Retrain your brain. Depriving ourselves of current pleasure is nigh impossible if we're not driven by a sense that the future will be more fulfilling, says Ms. Gurney. When you start to feel that "I'm deserving so I'm buying" feeling, visualize a smaller credit-card bill or higher savings-account balance.

My future will only be more fulfilling if I am surrounded by all the wonderful stuff I bought.

3. Look around you. Are you happy with what your hard-earned dollars bought? If not, shift your spending to those things that bring greater long-term satisfaction, including retirement savings.

I am happy with what my hard-earned dollars bought.  I'd like to be happy all the time.

4. Choose your extravagances. Here's mine: I eat out about once a week. An extravagance I do without: Cable television.

Very few things give me pleasure in life.  I'm not going to choose one over the other.

5. Assess weaknesses. "If you were thrifty, how would you look different?" says Gary Buffone, a financial psychologist in Jacksonville, Fla. Identify what you want to change; then shoot for specific targets, such as a six-month hold on buying new tech gadgets.

I already shop at KMart for clothes.  I won't buy any article of clothing that costs over $10.  I guess I should enlist Sheebs as my fashion consultant now!

6. Make trade-offs. Substitute small, free pleasures for those that cost. Have a movie night at home with friends -- you'd be surprised how many people are equally eager to cut costs.

How is hosting a movie night at home for friends free?  I still have to provide snacks an drinks.  And I have to clean.  And listen to chatter while I watch the movie.  I'd rather fork over the $12 and be done with it and enjoy my free time.

7. Set goals. Meet weekly with family to discuss the spending plan (don't call it a budget) for the months and years ahead. This may involve tough choices, such as forsaking a family vacation. But think of the guilt-free trip you can take after saving the necessary cash. Good memories last longer, Ms. Gurney notes, when not trammeled by large credit-card bills.

I'm not forsaking my vacation.  Sorry.  I work too hard.  And all of my vacations are guilt-free because I've earned them.

8. Resist your children. They're going to find it hard to change their expectations. How can you help? Stand firm. The next time they clamor for the latest videogame, remind them of the bigger prize (that family vacation), and tell them their choices here and now are, say, a picnic or a movie rental. Offer options, but don't give in to their push for more consumer goods.

This is one I already do because I'm the Meanest Mommy Ever.

9. Enlist other people. Many people are reticent to talk about money worries, but almost everyone has them, so open up and tap your allies. Hold a contest with friends to see who can save the most in a month, or agree with your spouse to talk before spending more than $100, Mr. Buffone suggests.

Hey, Brian and Steve and Steve - why don't we have a contest?  We can all give up our Shore Weeks.  No?  Didn't think so.

10. Post it. Remind yourself by putting post-it notes on your wallet, mirror or steering wheel with the mantra of your choosing: "I want to go to Hawaii in January." "I want to pay off credit-card debt."

I could get fired for pilfering the post-its from work and then I'd have no income.

11. Automate it. Divert money monthly from your checking account to savings. It will force you to budget, based on what's left in your checking account.

Ok - the savings account can have the $4.72 I have left over since I can't get it out of the ATM anyway.

12. Rethink rewards. What are some of your happiest memories? Those are the true rewards. Next time you're about to buy something because you deserve it, ask yourself whether there isn't something you deserve more, such as time at home cooking with your teenager, or a stroll with your husband or best friend.

The only "rewards" I'm rethinking are the ones accumulated from my MasterCard. 

"We've been conditioned to think that spending the money on clothes, at a restaurant, is going to be the reward," Ms. Gurney says. "But what is the ultimate reward that we want from working hard, in the end?"

My ultimate reward is to die happy.  If I give up the few things that bring me joy (other than family & friends), I may as well die now.