The JC Penney Christmas Catalog Helped My Money Discipline

Christmas time elicits memories of the JC Penney Christmas Catalog. However, I need to go back to the start of my money story. For as long as I can remember, I have had an interest in acquiring and saving money.  Even as a kid, there was always a comfort in knowing I had a piggy bank full of change. When my piggy bank was full I would deposit all of it into the bank.  Every single dime because when I was a kid I did not really think I needed money for anything. So there was never any question in my mind that I was going to deposit all of the funds.  I never felt any needs. I know this sounds like a lie. Typically I had no trouble holding out for Christmas or my birthday before I would get something new.

Love of Physical Presence of Money

Certainly, saving money using a piggy bank utilized coins and money. To this day and to my financial detriment that needs correcting, I like knowing that the money is physically there. I like making sure my money is in a bank, close by, that I can access. I still carry physical paper cash. At the very least, I like the concept of money being physically present somewhere close by.

Our emergency fund is probably much higher than it needs to be. Rationally, I know we are making way less than inflation keeping our money in “safe” investments but psychologically it’s important.  I like knowing that the money is mine, or rather, that God entrusted me to use his money wisely. Admittedly, sometimes I feel like God is inspiring me to be randomly or intentionally generous while I am here on Earth.  I am not some religious zealot, but I do believe in God is calling us to be our best selves.

Influence of the Great Depression on My Psychology of Money

My grandparents and parents lived through the Great Depression.  I have always found my grandparents and parents stories fascinating about how they survived and their tenacity and will. 

Most importantly my grandparents and parents acknowledged that, “we had nothing but we did not realize that we had nothing.  Everybody had nothing.  At least everybody we knew had nothing.  We knew we were poor but we did not think of ourselves as poor because everyone was poor.  You tried to help your family, extended family, neighbors, and friends.  Everybody was just trying to survive and no one knew how long it would be like this.  You made your own fun and got very creative.  When you actually had things– toys, tools, clothes, etc. you really valued them because they were hard to come by.  We had a strong faith.  Your faith, wits, creativity, family, friends, hard work, and positive mindset helped you survive and thrive.” 

I wish that I would have recorded all of the stories my parents and grandparents told me over the years. Unfortunately, all these important people in my life have all passed away from this Earth.  Note to all of you, if you have people in your life that you love that may not be around forever, please record their stories.

I linger listening to stories of my aunts and uncles and other relatives and friends of previous generations. Admittedly, I am particularly fond of stories of individuals with ties to the Great Depression because of their ability to thrive.  I do not think that I am romanticizing the Great Depression in any way. Generally, I find Great Depression era individuals to be inspiringly positive and remarkably blessed life outlook.

JC Penney Christmas Catalog Fantasies and Delayed Gratification

By all standards, I was very spoiled by both of my parents, both emotionally and materially.  We had more than enough, even though I now know that there were times when my parents struggled financially.  I personally did not really long for anything.  However, I will say that one of the best times of the year was the arrival of the JC Penney Christmas Catalog.  You can flip through the 1966 version here. 

According to my recollections, the JC Penney Christmas Catalog arrived in September, allowing for plenty of months of dog earing the pages to mark your favorites. For me, paging through a JC Penney Christmas Catalog for months provided all sorts of pleasure.  While I never received probably 99.9% of the items I would have been pleased to receive, I doubt I would have enjoyed them as much as I fantasized I would, if, in fact, I would have received them.  Plus, where would I have put all of this stuff?  Paging through the JC Penney Christmas Catalog was a great pastime and unintentionally helped me to develop delayed gratification.

To this day, I can look longingly at a material item and walk away. Interacting with the JC Penney Christmas Catalog helped me develop incredible financial discipline. I find I still use this today and it has been a very effective strategy to help curb some, not all, impulsive shopping purchases.  I do admit, I am more impulsive at the grocery store, especially if I fail to go in the store with a list. Also, never go to the grocery store on an empty stomach.

Saving Up All The Money Before Making a Purchase

As a result of the Great Depression, my paternal grandfather said that they did not buy anything unless they had saved up ALL of the money for a purchase.  My grandparents were incredibly conscious about how they spent their money both in periods of high and low inflation. I think it took them over eight years to save up for a car.  As a result, they simply went without a car.  It was hard to get a car for years after the Great Depression because of the war anyways.  You just figured out another way to get to work or wherever else you had to go.

We currently purchase used cars and save up all of the cash in advance before doing so.  I know that some people really like to have a new car.  But you can find a quality used car at much less the price if you look around closely.  It has been decades since we financed a car and we have never purchased a new car.

Use of Credit Cards

As of today, we have no debt except for credit card debt which we pay off monthly.  I am a little mixed about the credit card debt issue even though we pay it off monthly.

I know that multiple studies have shown people pay more when they use credit cards versus paying with cash.  Indeed, even with my delayed gratification muscle, I knowingly make purchases, typically for others, that I would not normally buy. Justifying my actions by convincing myself we are hacking travel miles/points. However, I know using my credit cards versus paying in cash leads us to spend more money.

So is the collective “savings” of using travel miles/points better than simply using cash and paying for your travel with it?  I know using miles for flights and hotels is a big chunk of cash for our family especially when we have taken trips overseas.  Without doing the calculations, it’s hard to say.

On the other hand, I have found great value in The Money or Your Life step of “keeping track of every cent that comes into or out of your life.” Utilizing the Money or Your Life step of tracking every cent can be life altering. As has been the case during the times when I have practiced this.  I know that Dave Ramsey also advocates for using cash only and ditching the credit cards for his envelope system.

No Debt But Losing Our Way

I do feel like we have lost our way a bit in terms of monthly savings. We have been playing the credit card points building game. However, focusing on allowing ourselves to use credits cards for points and not using cash only has downsides.  We do pay off our credit cards each month. However, I feel we are not saving as much each month. 

Admittedly, I do not personally count some budget “items” as savings. I categorize 529 college saving plan contributions as spending because eventually this money will be spent.  I’m talking about “spending” by stockpiling funds for retirement– even though we both max out 401(k) or 403(b) style plans.  We have the money to regularly do a Roth IRA; we have done it some years but not do it consistently. To me this is aggravating and disappointing not contributing every year to a Roth IRA. It’s is time to hold ourselves accountable for not contributing to our Roth IRA every year.

Again, we have no debt, including no mortgage debt. I know I’m talking about first world issues here. When we were working to pay off our house, I was driving thousands of extra dollars a month to pay of the principal.  My spouse would argue that since this was like 2006-2009 or 2010 we should have been driving thousands of dollars a month into the market. In hindsight we would have made out like bandits– but I could not handle having “debt.” My Psychology of Money debt aversion was focusing on the consistent “return” of knowing we saved over 5.25% on paying down our mortgage.  Understandably, pumping cash into the market was probably the better play but I felt so weighted down by owing money to the bank.

Needing to Build Up Our Badassity Savings Habit

For years, our house has been paid off.  As a result, it seems like we should be saving more given our income and monthly expenses.  As I mentioned, we do max out retirement savings plans through work, and the tax advantage portion of our state 529 plan. 

It seems like instead of thousands of dollars a month going toward paying off our mortgage– it is somehow going to two credit cards.  It seems unreal.  Somedays I think we are operating like an FI idiot. Which leads me to thinking that perhaps we should go back to the all cash system, or virtually all cash system. However, our credit cards are making for certain automated payments (did I mention I am ready to ditch cable, Netflix, Amazon, change cell phone plans, etc.?). 

We are doing pretty well but we are not at Mr. Money Mustache’s badassity level.  We are not even close.  That’s like comparing a completely in-shape, world-class athlete to someone who is getting by at basically maintaining their weight while on the verge of losing muscle density– another area where I am divulging my fears regarding the quality of my life.

My Spouse Fears I’ll Be Eating Alpo

In fairness, we have put some major money into home related expenses the past several years and paid all cash for them.  Now, I personally was fine with a garage where the base slab had split more four ways (maybe five). Admittedly, the wood was rotting in various areas, the garage door no longer had a functioning electronic opener, and the garage door sometimes stuck. Pounding on a third set of shingles and creatively caulking the drain system.

We could still park our cars in our garage but it was a complete eyesore for the neighbors. However, the Jones’ are not pay my bills– so I was perfectly content with the old garage.  This type of reasoning is why my spouse feels at times that I am totally irrational about spending money. My spouse contends I’m being pennywise and pound foolish– thus the concern that I will be eating Alpo someday.  Unfortunately, we are spending another $10,000 on a new driveway.

So we dropped about $20,000 on a new garage.  Plus spending to have a very old and dying tree removed.  It was safety issue since it was so close to the house.  We were very fortunate one night when we heard an unusual and forceful scrapping against the house followed by a massive thud.  A quick inspection outside revealed that the tree limb closest to our son’s bedroom had fell and scrapped against all of the vinyl siding.  This limb was good ten inches in places– I know because I hand sawed all of the limbs for removal on my own.  So we spent almost $4,000 on tree removal services.  Again, all paid in cash.

Blessed Beyond Belief

I am pausing to remind myself that while we do not live, at least by American standards, considered a lavish lifestyle, by comparison throughout the world, and even here in America, we are very, very blessed. Christmas, after all, is the best time to count our blessing and thank God for the most precious gifts– love, health, joy, happiness, family, friends, and forgiveness. Listening to Pavarotti’s O Holy Night helps me count my blessings at Christmas. Merry Christmas, all!