Money, Money, Money

In my last post I mentioned a couple ideas I had in my head brewing to blog about. I think it's time to get them down. This one is going to be about money. Yup, money. I'm not fond of money. I wish that I could never have to worry about it again. But sadly that is not reality.

I started back full time back in September. I get paid very well for my job, but I have been living paycheck to paycheck still. I HATE IT. I'm fed up with it and need to do something about it. I've been watching a show called "Till Debt Do Us Part" on CNBC, or some channel like that. Anyway it's about couples getting out of debt, etc. It really inspired me.

At first I was a bit hesisant to blog about this, but then I realized, pffft. What do I care? So here it goes.

I'm in debt. Again. At one point in our marriage Jason and I had paid off all of our credit cards and swore to not use them again. I didn't follow that plan. Now I'm in debt. As Dave Ramsey would say, I have a Ph.D in D-U-M-B. So here I am, at age 28, still in debt. No where near I want to be financially. I decided that it's time to be smart about money again and stop acting like a kid and buying what I want when I want.

I have created a budget that I need to stick too. I've refined it a couple of times now, and it's getting better each time. I still need to do some adjusting for gift categories, and car repairs, etc. This month I forgot to budget for my tabs. That was $67.25 that I did not have set aside. Instead I raided my grocery and transportation money, and didn't put anything into my entertainment fund. But I'm learning and it is manageable. I can do this.

I've started using the envelope system again, with money in each envelope for each category. Entertainment, Groceries/Personal Care, Transportation, etc. It's working well, except that I hate fumbling with the damn envelopes. Once I get around to it, I'm going to make cute little pouches and keep all my money for the expenses in there. Maybe a cute fabric with cars on for Transportation, a fabric with food on for Groceries, etc. Then when the money is gone from that category, I can't buy anything. I've learned that I am much more careful when spending cash, rather than whipping out my debit card.

I've started to re-read the "Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey again. Last night I downloaded a couple of his podcasts to listen to while I was making dinner and balancing the checkbook.

I feel like I am finally going in the right direction and have to stick with this. I know that I can do this. I want to do this.

People around me may not understand why I won't have money to go out to dinner, do retreats, and such. But I'm ok with that. I will try to save some money and put it aside for retreats, as long as I know far enough in advance to plan for it. I'm ok with living on a budget and being tight with my money right now. In the long run it will be worth it. Like Dave Ramsey says, "If you live like no one else now, later you can live like no one else." Another of my Dave Ramsey quotes is, "Normal is broke. Be weird."

I also found a forum that is based around Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps. I think this will help me out. I joined it ages ago and just stumbled upon it again. :) http://www.livinglikenooneelse.com/forum/

I do need to go through my budget again and see what I can cut and where. I really want to be out of debt.

I may post updates about this, or I might not, lol. I'm not sure. I mean it's part of me, but I've always been careful about not oversharing. This is a fine line, even for me. Maybe I will just do it on the forum. Hmmm. Decisions, decisions.

Menu Plan, Money, and Ramblings!

Thankfully my migraine from Thursday and Friday is gone. I think I figured out the trigger for that one. Stress, plus I ate bananas. I must remember to not buy bananas.

This afternoon (after my nap, oh how I love my naps!) I made a menu plan. I decided to not make it by the day, but just make sure I have enough food for a few meals with leftovers. Here is what I'm going to make this week and possibly next.

Roast Chicken Legs and Dill Romanoff Potatoes and Squash

Broiled Tilapia

Cilantro Lime Shrimp with Cilantro Lime Rice

Rice and Beans

I have various frozen veggies in the freezer, and some lettuce salad as well. Believe it or not I had most of this on hand. I did pick up some chicken legs for $1.49 for I think 3 pounds. I didn't think that was a bad price.

What killed my grocery budget was that I had to put shampoo, conditioner, and mousse. With my curly hair, I hate using the el cheapo products. They just make my hair a tangled mess. I ended up spending a little over $10 on hair products. Ugh. I hate that, but it's necessary now that I'm working full time and have to look professional. I wish I had the money for the Aveda products, but I just don't. So instead I settle for less ones.

You know I started talking about a budget and did not explain anything. I'm started to re-read my Dave Ramsey book and found a show on CNBC called "Til Debt Do Us Part." Between Dave and Gail Vaz-Oxlade on "Til Debt Do Us Part." I've been really inspired to get my money situation in order. I've made a couple of budgets and started doing the money envelope system. I think I have to make some adjustments, but I know I'm on the right track. :) I'd love to hear your favorite financial blogs/websites. Or if you post about financial stuff! I'm looking forward to being on track, though I still think that Money Sucks, lol. :)

Grocery Costs

The past few months I have been keeping track of where we spend our money. Basically I created a an Excel checkbook type register but added categories so at the end of the month I can go through and see how much and where we spent things. The last couple of months we have been between $150-$165 on groceries. This is MUCH less than I thought we would spend. It also includes a few various type things that we picked up from Target that I didn't break out, like birthday gifts and Christmas presents. But I can also tell that we haven't been spending much, because we are getting low, or running out of a few things. We are going to stock the pantry up hopefully before the snow flies.

We have also really cut down on eating out. Last month we only spent $65, compared to around $130 the month before. My goal is to only eat out once per pay period unless we go up north, since we usually treat ourselves on the way home on Sunday. I've found that I haven't been enjoying restaurants as much lately. The food hasn't been that good or the service hasn't either. The one exception is John Hardy's BBQ, a local restaurant.

Another good thing is that as of yesterday gas was down to $2.99 a gallon!!! I am thrilled that it is finally below $3 a gallon! I'm hoping it continues to go down, though I'm not thinking that it will. But one can hope, right?