Financial Peace, that's where Tim and I hope we're headed. A couple of weekends ago, when I went to visit my parents in The Great Lakes State, my momma let me borrow her book, Financial Peace Revisited by Dave Ramsey. I pretty much read the entire book on my train ride home. So yes, it's a very easy and fast read, and it's filled with lot's of good tid bits on making the most of your money now, getting out of debt and saving for your future.
Timmy and I both agreed it would be amazing to get out of debt (damn those student loans) faster than the like 15 year payment plan the government sets you up on. The cherry on top is that by doing so, you actually pay less, because you're not paying as much interest. So on February 26th, I took the first stab at creating our monthly budget, I used a combination of the worksheet Dave Ramsey provides in his book and an Excel spreadsheet I found online. On the 27th, Tim and I sat down and looked over it together, changed some things around, and started living by it on March 1st.
We've been following our budget for 5 days now, and so far so good. Tim even went out with some guys he works with and did a good job of only using his blow money (this is CASH ONLY that was budgeted to be spent on something not in the budget) in Tim's case beer and pool. I haven't spent mine yet, it's only the 5th and it has to last me the whole month! Today for the first time in a very very very long time while getting groceries, I will carry a calculator (to add prices up as I go, so I don't go over budget) and I'll pay in cash. I'm actually kind of excited for the challenge.
I'm already getting obsessed with looking at our plan trying to figure out how to make it even better. And we've already learned, when you realize you over budgeted for something, that it's a great feeling. But let's say gas jump up to over $4 a gallon and you realize that's going to break your budget, that stinks.
Every so often I'll give ya an update on how we're doing, and pass along any money saving/budgeting tips that I stumble upon.
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I have a little system of my own and I feel so much better about it so I can see why you enjoy it, too! I figure out how much all of my bills (rent, electric, loans, yoga [that most certainly counts!], etc) cost. I then take that cost, divide it by four (weeks), and then by five again (work days in a week), and that's how much I need to make in one day to cover my expenses. I then tack on a couple dollars a day to add to savings. If I make more than I need to in one day, I throw ten dollars into "fun fund," with two dollars to five different things. Once I accumulate money for something, like a book or a beer with friends, I can spend that money. If not, I can't. It's really stopped me from buying a random nail polish at Meijer or a shirt at Express or a random coffee while walking downtown. I haven't made an impulse purchase in forever!
ReplyDeleteThis won't work once I'm "monogamous" with my work, but I think it's a good little way to make it work while I have three different employers!