So we are starting 2010 off with a bang. At least we are trying to. We have decided that enough is enough and we are putting our foot down on debt!!! We have had a very rough last few years financially and we cannot seem to recover. After hearing my mother tell me how great Dave Ramsey is and how I really need to read his book, I succumbed. Let me tell you, I do not regret it. He is fabulous and I am a convert. Curses! I totally hate it when I get sucked into things like this, but he makes sense.
Both my husband and I decided we were going to go forward with this and we sat down and set up our budget. Well, let me me tell you a little something about how we budget. We have always "budgeted" with the greatest intent of actually following through with our plan, but somehow we always failed. Call it what you will, but we have never been disciplined and that was our problem. We would always convince ourselves it was ok to spend a little extra here and there and that was what kept getting us in trouble. We would say, "Oh, but we totally deserve this" or "We never do anything for ourselves". This is all true, but not when you are trying to get out of debt.
Anywho, we have set up our budget and although we are only in the first month I am very proud of us. We have made many sacrifices already and we are sticking to our plan. I was driving by Sonic the other day and was telling myself, "I have one dollar in change, I could go get a hamburger off of there dollar menu and no one would ever notice." Well, I would notice and realized if I had to convince myself it was ok, it was not. I did not get the burger and instead bought my son bananas as we were out of them. Afterwards, I felt great. Granted I ate the same thing I had for the last three days, but you can't get ahead if you don't sacrifice.
I think one of the hardest things for us is that we are a younger couple with a 19 month old and one baby due in March. We want so much to give everything to our kids, but we cannot at this point in our lives. Do not get me wrong, our kids have everything they need, they just do not have everything we would love to give them. We have one car between me and my husband so most days I am at home alone with the kids. This is not a bad thing, but sometimes I feel very guilty that I cannot take him to the park or to a class where he can socialize with other kids. Does he realize what he is missing out on??? Absolutely not, but that does not take away from the guilt that we have as parents.
We want more for our kids and that is why we are doing what we are doing. It is going to be a long hard journey, but I am actually very excited about it. I have become the queen of coupon clipping. I have always been a bargain shopper so not much has changed in that respect, but now I am hardcore about using coupons and not buying things unless I have a coupon for it. Only time will tell, but I think this is going to be a very positive year for us!!!!
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I'm totally inspired by your sticking with this goal with such tenacity! Breaking old habits, and trying to do something new, and out of your comfort zone is tough, and you are really keeping your eyes on the prize. I can totally understand the guilt end of things. It's so hard to not want to get everything you think might be fun for your kids. But truthfully, you are giving your kids the best gift ever, by modeling to them financial responsibility. Not to mention what a tremendous gift it would be for the them to grow up and have parents that are debt free!How many people can grow up saying that? Not many I'd guess. Good for you guys! I look forward to reading more about your journey:)
ReplyDeletePS. I especially cant wait for posts on coupon clipping as I'd like to do that more myself!
I was referred by my cousin Shannon and I too am totally on budget mode. I hope to start my blog about finances and the lessons I've learned already too soon. Hopefully we can be a resource to each other and reach our goals.
ReplyDeleteI set my dvr to record the save Ramsey show so that I can learn about what his methods are and get an idea where to go from there. I'm waiting on getting his book from the library loan as its out with other people for now (total money makeover). Also they have the financial peace university I would really love to take but my bf and I cant commit to 13 weeks in a row just yet. So we're baby stepping.
I think the key to budget is twofold
a) flexibility- what you allocate in the first month may not be enough. We started with 50 dollars per person to live and we went thru that in two weeks and felt defeated. So we started with 100 the next month and coupon-ing more and now we're settled at 200 total. The purpose is not to be excessive but also to try to keep it down. At 200 we'll have leftovers and it will go right into our savings but we dont' feel like we are rigid and not allowed to do the things we want. (its still being tweaked).
Flexibility also happens in other areas though too. BF likes to go to the bookstore at college and buy his books there, but having sold my books on Amazon I wanted him to try buying his book online,, it made him uncomfortable to have a 'used book' or something. But when he did it we saved 35.00! That's better than any coupon! So sometmes what you want you need to consider finding another way, like via craigslist I got a great set of chairs that I had to just clean and like sand in some areas and now they're beautiful wood 5 for 25 dollars. Plus if you figure buying stuff off craigslist, you can research the product and choose to get it or not but your helping whomever is selling it to make money off the things they cant return, especially with baby stuff! You could be helping a mama out!
#2)*sorry this is so long, (maybe I should have emailed this instead) Fears.. Fears drive spending and saving. You need to sit down and talk with hubby and both of you need to lay out what your afraid of when it comes to money. I found that without an emergency savings I feel like we're just waiting for the hurricane to come or something bad to happen. You might feel like by not getting something for your kids you're limiting them or something (I'm not a mom yet so I really cant gauge that one)..whatever the fear is, you need to discuss it so you can allocate the money now.
Also look into Upromise.. its a way to collect 'points' when you shop for normal stuff towards your kids education. The smart thing is to attach it to all your shoppers cards and things so it can count up stuff and to start early so your kids will have a decent amount to start off:) Check it out!
Well anyway,, here is my current blog and there are lots of money topic ones to pan thru.
http://auddaniellesblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/money-and-dave-ramsey.html ( my dave ramsey topic but a link to my main blog, not the new one yet!)
Thanks Shannon! I am still new at this whole blogging thing so I am hoping to be able to really start giving pointers and suggestions soon. Still trying to figure it all out.
ReplyDeleteThis is GREAT... We are really proud of you.. The hardest part is coming to terms with your debt and the "mistakes" you might have made. And you guys have conqured that, so the rest will be gravy and as you see there really is nothing better then being in control of your own life... A lesson learned but you are learning so early in your lives you are better off then people learning it later in life..
ReplyDeleteThanks Christine! Always love the support!
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