I declare a personal war on debt! I refuse to be a slave to it any longer! I will never purchase on credit again! I will repay all of my debts and no longer have those hanging over my head.
My debts from smallest to largest:
BMG $47.55 PAID!
Tricore $74
APS $170 PAID!
MEDCLR $211
BRS $204
Devon's $400
United Educators $1500
ACS $1795
Sallie Mae $2615
Mountainland $2760
Sallie Mae $4149
Kia $10,775
I have budgeted $140 to pay debt payments, for November I will pay Tricore off, and pay $66 to Medclr. I have also budgeted $50 for ACS and $50 for Devon's.
In December that gives me $140 again, $100 to Medclr, the rest to BRS. Along with the already budgeted $50 for ACS and $50 for Devon's.
Having a plan really helps! I envision throwing "snowballs" of money at each of those debts, my own snowball war! It will be a blast to watch those debts shrink.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Saving Money
The easiest place to find extra money for savings/debt payments, is the grocery budget. A good rule of thumb is $100 per person per month. That can be a little daunting but it can be done. And sometimes it can be done for less!
One of my favorite websites for saving money on food is The Hillbilly Housewife. There are some wonderful home cooked recipes on there and a good plan for stretching that dollar when it comes to food. When I first found that site, the first thing I did was make the easy bread recipe. And it was easy! I had always been afraid to bake bread without my trusty bread maker, but there really isn't some secret to making a good loaf of bread. And its not messy! Sure the dough starts out sticky, but if you have the right ratio of dry to wet ingredients, its not so sticky, and then kneading is fun! And a good workout for your arms. And the smell while its baking, and the taste when its done make it all worth it.
Another way to stretch that dollar is Bulk Cooking. Basically cooking in advance. An easy example is Ground Beef. Shell out the extra couple of dollars and get the big bulk package, the family size that has like 5 pounds in it. When you get home, cook ALL of it with some onions, and some garlic. Let it cool, slightly (some will say completely, I just don't have the time) Divide it into 1 pound, about 2 cups each, portions, package in good quality freezer bags that you've prelabeled. Use 1 pound with dinner tonight, either spaghetti, or tacos. And there you have 4 pounds of pre cooked, pre-packaged ground beef, now when ever you want to have tacos, spaghetti, beef soup, etc, all you have to do is pull out the meat, defrost and bring to temperature! There are some great websites that have all sorts of plans for any kind of meat or vegetable that you would like to prepare in advance. Bulk Cooking has some great plans, and some really good beginner steps, and we all like those steps right?
And for those of us who's schedules are too busy to sit down and plan a menu, there is Menus 4 Moms, a site that emails you 5 meals a week, complete with recipes, shopping lists, and instructions!
Coupons are a great resource too, but they are tricky, the idea is to pair a coupon with a sale. And that can take some time. I you have the time, its great! But, if not, I would fully suggest The Grocery Game. I did it for a year, and I loved it. I now live in a very rural area and doing The Grocery Game is just not an option for me anymore.
One of my favorite websites for saving money on food is The Hillbilly Housewife. There are some wonderful home cooked recipes on there and a good plan for stretching that dollar when it comes to food. When I first found that site, the first thing I did was make the easy bread recipe. And it was easy! I had always been afraid to bake bread without my trusty bread maker, but there really isn't some secret to making a good loaf of bread. And its not messy! Sure the dough starts out sticky, but if you have the right ratio of dry to wet ingredients, its not so sticky, and then kneading is fun! And a good workout for your arms. And the smell while its baking, and the taste when its done make it all worth it.
Another way to stretch that dollar is Bulk Cooking. Basically cooking in advance. An easy example is Ground Beef. Shell out the extra couple of dollars and get the big bulk package, the family size that has like 5 pounds in it. When you get home, cook ALL of it with some onions, and some garlic. Let it cool, slightly (some will say completely, I just don't have the time) Divide it into 1 pound, about 2 cups each, portions, package in good quality freezer bags that you've prelabeled. Use 1 pound with dinner tonight, either spaghetti, or tacos. And there you have 4 pounds of pre cooked, pre-packaged ground beef, now when ever you want to have tacos, spaghetti, beef soup, etc, all you have to do is pull out the meat, defrost and bring to temperature! There are some great websites that have all sorts of plans for any kind of meat or vegetable that you would like to prepare in advance. Bulk Cooking has some great plans, and some really good beginner steps, and we all like those steps right?
And for those of us who's schedules are too busy to sit down and plan a menu, there is Menus 4 Moms, a site that emails you 5 meals a week, complete with recipes, shopping lists, and instructions!
Coupons are a great resource too, but they are tricky, the idea is to pair a coupon with a sale. And that can take some time. I you have the time, its great! But, if not, I would fully suggest The Grocery Game. I did it for a year, and I loved it. I now live in a very rural area and doing The Grocery Game is just not an option for me anymore.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Budget
Do you have a budget? Do you coast along hoping there is enough money to cover all your expenses for the month? At the end of the month do you wonder where on earth all the money went? I love budgets, and while I don't always follow them to every last cent, having a basic budget really helps me prioritize expenses.
Dave suggests having the "four walls" taken care of before anything else. These are your needs. You need a house to live in, you need food to eat, you need lights and heat, and you need gas to get to work. So the first part of my budget looks like this:
Rent $400
Food $250* (using the rule of thumb $100 per person, with some cutbacks since my kids are small) This also includes toiletries.
Utilities
Natural Gas $57
Phone/Cable/Internet $160
Gas $100*
Total $967
So now I have my four walls covered, I can live, work, and eat. Now I can focus on other parts of my budget. I of course figure in tithing, 10% of my income, which roughly works out to $150 a month.
Total $1117
Next important expense is daycare, and I average about $200 a month in daycare costs. So now we go to not so necessary expenses. I have to pay daycare since I need to work to make money. But after the 4 walls are covered, and daycare is paid, if I don't have the money, the items under those are put on the back burner.
Daycare $200*
Debt payments $140
Netflix $5.33
Grand Total $1462
I don't always make enough to meet all my expenses, but now that I have my emergency fund in place, its not as stressful. I like having the cushion the EF provides. My income looks something like this:
Child Support $767 (this is a fixed amount, so there is no estimating on this one)
Wages $800 (Varies)
Total $1567
So according to this budget, I should have about $100 left each month, this won't always be true as I don't always make that much money. But this basic budget gives me an idea of where my money needs to be going and how much.
The items in the budget that have an asterisk* near them, indicate items that Dave recommends using Cash Envelopes for. I figured I could still just use my debit card, but I've noticed that I overspend those categories by a few cents, a couple dollars here and there. So next month, I will be switching to cash, using the envelope system. I purchased Dave's deluxe envelope system, and so far I am impressed.
I encourage all of you to write down a basic budget. Dave Ramsey's site has some wonderful basic budget forms, along with other wonderful forms for financial planning.
Dave suggests having the "four walls" taken care of before anything else. These are your needs. You need a house to live in, you need food to eat, you need lights and heat, and you need gas to get to work. So the first part of my budget looks like this:
Rent $400
Food $250* (using the rule of thumb $100 per person, with some cutbacks since my kids are small) This also includes toiletries.
Utilities
Natural Gas $57
Phone/Cable/Internet $160
Gas $100*
Total $967
So now I have my four walls covered, I can live, work, and eat. Now I can focus on other parts of my budget. I of course figure in tithing, 10% of my income, which roughly works out to $150 a month.
Total $1117
Next important expense is daycare, and I average about $200 a month in daycare costs. So now we go to not so necessary expenses. I have to pay daycare since I need to work to make money. But after the 4 walls are covered, and daycare is paid, if I don't have the money, the items under those are put on the back burner.
Daycare $200*
Debt payments $140
Netflix $5.33
Grand Total $1462
I don't always make enough to meet all my expenses, but now that I have my emergency fund in place, its not as stressful. I like having the cushion the EF provides. My income looks something like this:
Child Support $767 (this is a fixed amount, so there is no estimating on this one)
Wages $800 (Varies)
Total $1567
So according to this budget, I should have about $100 left each month, this won't always be true as I don't always make that much money. But this basic budget gives me an idea of where my money needs to be going and how much.
The items in the budget that have an asterisk* near them, indicate items that Dave recommends using Cash Envelopes for. I figured I could still just use my debit card, but I've noticed that I overspend those categories by a few cents, a couple dollars here and there. So next month, I will be switching to cash, using the envelope system. I purchased Dave's deluxe envelope system, and so far I am impressed.
I encourage all of you to write down a basic budget. Dave Ramsey's site has some wonderful basic budget forms, along with other wonderful forms for financial planning.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
The steps
Here we go. All journeys need a plan. And we start one step at a time. I'm using Dave Ramsey's 7 Baby Steps.
Baby Step 1: Have $1000 in an Emergency Fund.
So far so good. I have $850.
Baby Step 2: Payoff all Debt using the Snowball Method
Just starting on this. But I did get two things paid off! Yay me!!
Baby Step 3: Have 3-6 months of living expenses in Savings. A FULLY funded Emergency Fund.
My goal: $6000
Baby Step 4: Retirement investing
Baby Step 5: College Funding
Baby Step 6: Pay off Home Early
Baby Step 7: Build Wealth and Give!
These can be all found at Dave Ramsey's website www.daveramsey.com
Baby Step 1: Have $1000 in an Emergency Fund.
So far so good. I have $850.
Baby Step 2: Payoff all Debt using the Snowball Method
Just starting on this. But I did get two things paid off! Yay me!!
Baby Step 3: Have 3-6 months of living expenses in Savings. A FULLY funded Emergency Fund.
My goal: $6000
Baby Step 4: Retirement investing
Baby Step 5: College Funding
Baby Step 6: Pay off Home Early
Baby Step 7: Build Wealth and Give!
These can be all found at Dave Ramsey's website www.daveramsey.com
Debt Free
Debt free. What a concept. What a goal. Am I crazy? I don't think so. I've dreamed of being debt free since I was in college and received my first credit card. What a joke, my first credit card, and I didn't even have a job to pay it off. That credit card was paid off long ago thanks to tax refunds. But as I've lived and grown, so my debts seem to have grown. I have medical co-pays that got pushed aside, a set of books that I probably paid too much for, but they had sentimental value, I actually don't mind this debt, but look forward to paying it off. And of course like every other American citizen, I have student loans. Luckily mine aren't as high as they could be, but they are still there.
A couple years ago I found Dave Ramsey. I was in love. A financial guru who wasn't advocating the get rich scheme. Who was pushing hard work and savings and above all Debt Free to get ahead in this life. I printed out the baby steps. I set a goal. I tried very had to get my then DH on board, and he agreed with the concepts but when it came to actually applying them, we both struggled. The baby steps got pushed aside, as we had 3 children. I had forgotten about Dave, although he was always there in the back of my mind.
Now its years later, not many, maybe 3, and I'm divorced, a single mom with 3 kids. I started working, my first job since my oldest child was born. Its also the first job that I actually, absolutely love. I work at a bank, and an email was sent out company wide about a Super Savers Class, so I requested more information, got the website www.daveramsey.com and as I was browsing, thought, this seems familiar. But didn't think much more of it. I printed out the free forms he has on his website and got to work. Wrote out a budget, listed what debts I knew I had, and then requested my annual credit report from www.annualcreditreport.com to refresh my memory as to what other debts I owe.
That was 2 months ago. Now I have $850 in savings, (had to dip into it this month) that will be built back up to the $1000 BEF. (Baby Emergency Fund) I've started paying on my outstanding debts. And I have a subscription to www.mytotalmoneymakeover.com Today I just finished reading "The Total Money Makeover" and I have hope, I will be out of debt in a couple years, I will be able to save enough money that my kids won't have to take loans out for school.
I'll be blogging about my progress through the 7 baby steps. Which I will list in the next post.
A couple years ago I found Dave Ramsey. I was in love. A financial guru who wasn't advocating the get rich scheme. Who was pushing hard work and savings and above all Debt Free to get ahead in this life. I printed out the baby steps. I set a goal. I tried very had to get my then DH on board, and he agreed with the concepts but when it came to actually applying them, we both struggled. The baby steps got pushed aside, as we had 3 children. I had forgotten about Dave, although he was always there in the back of my mind.
Now its years later, not many, maybe 3, and I'm divorced, a single mom with 3 kids. I started working, my first job since my oldest child was born. Its also the first job that I actually, absolutely love. I work at a bank, and an email was sent out company wide about a Super Savers Class, so I requested more information, got the website www.daveramsey.com and as I was browsing, thought, this seems familiar. But didn't think much more of it. I printed out the free forms he has on his website and got to work. Wrote out a budget, listed what debts I knew I had, and then requested my annual credit report from www.annualcreditreport.com to refresh my memory as to what other debts I owe.
That was 2 months ago. Now I have $850 in savings, (had to dip into it this month) that will be built back up to the $1000 BEF. (Baby Emergency Fund) I've started paying on my outstanding debts. And I have a subscription to www.mytotalmoneymakeover.com Today I just finished reading "The Total Money Makeover" and I have hope, I will be out of debt in a couple years, I will be able to save enough money that my kids won't have to take loans out for school.
I'll be blogging about my progress through the 7 baby steps. Which I will list in the next post.
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