I’m cheap frugal. That’s always been my way. I’ve never owned a brand new car. Both of my girls’ cribs were hand-me-downs from our friends. I bought a rolling pin (my first, last weekend) that cost me $2.11 after patiently waiting and getting a $10 off coupon for any purchase at a store. Now that I’m a mom, I’m even more terrible about buying myself new things.
However, in September, I told the world (okay, those of you reading) that we were starting a budget using the Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey as our guide. We started the budgeting process then, and October was the first month on the budget.
It’s been tough. Not tough like poverty level tough, but tough like life changing tough. When there isn’t any cash left in the dining out envelope, we can’t go out. When there isn’t any cash left in the grocery envelope, we eat what we have. When your kid throws a toothbrush in your toilet and you have buy a new one? You figure out which envelopes to take the money from and you make it through the month.
Guess what? It works.
It is definitely something you must commit to whole heartedly, faithfully, and together.
We have now completed SEVEN months of the budget. It’s amazing how much money we’ve found by not spending on frivolous things (like trips to Target) or unnecessary meals out. We’ve gone from spending all of our monthly income to saving a huge amount at the end of the month. And, that’s with me getting furlough days and a pay cut!
I updated the major successes in mid-October. The following months were just working towards our debt snowball and paying it down.
In the middle of March, just 16 months after purchasing our minivan, we paid it off! We don’t have a car payment at all (I hope I’m not jinxing us). I was hoping the computer threw some confetti at me or something. Sadly, it was quite anti-climatic sending the payment off. I think I can settle on knowing that my girls are riding with me safely in a paid-off vehicle.
We now only have our student loans and our house! It’s quite refreshing that we’ve made such progress in less than a year. At the same time, we look back and think of how much money we wasted and where we would be now if we hadn’t. We are glad we are doing this now, and we are looking forward to what is in store for us while we continue to use our money wisely and make good choices.
Do you have a budget? Are you on a cash only system? Is it working for you?
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Wow, that's awesome…I am going to have to use you as motivation when we start the class this summer.
Actually, the class was supposed to start in May…but got pushed to June because we had trouble buying the material….you can't use a credit card to buy it..go figure, lol!
Glad to hear it is going well for you. You think of all of the money wasted since before you started this budget. No worries, you as a young parent and young yourself are creating a great nest egg for the future. My husband and I are doing the same thing, but we do put more money in the going out envelope. This system reminds me of how tough it was in the beginning for us when we met (I was 30 and he was 35) and we had to budget in car oil changes we wee so broke. But we were so darn happy. I would go back to that in a heart beat. I would have a cookie jar at his house and I would put my extra spending money in it and we would forget about it while eating mac and cheese or top ramen. We despreately wanted the cc bills to be paid off so we could buy a house in 5 years. It worked and like I said we were so happy;. We went back to the savings plan, and are buying a seond house in Myrtle beach next year. We are now in our 40's.. you are smart for doing it now. It can be tough, but really it brings you so much closer. And pass it on to the kids, fugalness is great for getting what you want.
I love your budget updates!! You are amazing
M and I have nice vehicles but we have never bought a new car and have always shopped around (5 months it took us to find my car) for the best deal. But we don't have vehicle payments either.
I think when you have a budget and pay off debt you see your net worth increase monthly and your debt decrease. It's a good feeling right!
I wish I could say that I could totally do this!! I'm not horrible and we did just pay off all of our credit cars and medical bills but I still love my Target trips. I do know that if we didn't eat out as much we would say a ton of money. I think that's where a lot of peoples money goes!
I might try jumping on the bandwagon though and at least TRY!
We try to have our budget but recently with all the sickness here it is so difficult. I'm trying to add another income with our embroidery but not working really well (at least on Etsy).
Yes, we are only cash people.
a) first can i give a little shout out to the new member of your family?? welcome rolling pin!! yipppeee!!
b) i am so proud of you two. we blow through cash so we know this system wouldn't work for us (tried it) but we do budget. every two weeks. we pay bills together, talk through the good and the bad and plan for the next two weeks. when we skip our little budget dates – our checkbook suffers. but target is usually happy
16 months??? HOLY COW! I may have to give this a whirl!
Wow! That is wonderful. Paying off loans early feels fantastic, doesn't it?
We were doing the envelope thing, but I have not read Dave Ramsey's books. Lately, things have been crazy with hosting bachelorette/bachelor parties, wedding showers, birthday parties. Our spending has been a little out of control. Hopefully we can get back on track, your post just motivated me….thanks!
Good for you!!
We read Dave Ramsey about 3 years ago and it really makes so much sense.
We are a cash only family. My hubby's business is a cash only business too. A lot of his "builder" friends lost everything when the market turned because they owed way more than they were making, but since my husband didn't work off of credit, he was able to keep his comapany going, and keep us going!!
We got rid of our car payments about a year ago and bought our current cars cash. I still get to drive my Land Cruiser, it's just a few years older now.
We don't stick to the Ramsey way completely, but the few things we have done have made SO much of a change in our life. It's so freeing to know that what we have is paid for!
Congrats!
Twitter: darciegust
May 7, 2010 at 8:48 pm
wow! TOTALLY AWESOME! We don't carry any CC debt either – pay it off every month – but I can totally see how not using it at all would help…
Twitter: TwinkieTotMom
May 16, 2010 at 11:29 pm
Totally going to check this out! I really want to put our finances in order and really budget in order to save more…sounds like this works. Thanks for sharing
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