Living on a budget

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Comment by tina on March 30, 2009 at 2:38pm

i just got on the dave ramsey plan, thanks to my friend cheryl.......takes some getting used to and disipline, but i am excited for the outcome!! and i love the idea of the "all cash" and "envelope" system!!!

Comment by Cynthia on March 30, 2009 at 12:48pm

And, no -- I am not yet debt-free but I WILL be! My goal is to be totally debt-free by the end of 2009! Watch out lions, tigers and cougars: the gazelle is comin' up the trail and she's not stoppin'! LOL!

Comment by Cynthia on March 30, 2009 at 12:45pm

Being on a very tight budget - when I have "unexpecteds", I have to sometimes hold off on a bill or some other expenditure and then catch it up after the fact. Food, gas, insurance, shelter -- everything else after that! It's really amazing how it SEEMS like I have more money than I used to -- just because I am actively telling it where to go!
I thank God for Dave Ramsey; he's changed my life. It seems that when we become more disciplined in one area of our life, that discipline tends to spill over into other areas. HOPE! What a beautiful word!

Rather than feeling totally freaked out, stressed and depressed about how I'm gonna take care of everything, I now feel EMPOWERED! And more energy and excitement is created from this -- and my creative juices start flowing -- and I start dreaming, planning and achieving again!

I will FOREVER be grateful for the day I discovered Dave Ramsey's radio show in 2005!

Keep Plugging along, Tiffany! "The Best Is Yet to Come...."

Comment by Tiffany Baer Vogt on March 30, 2009 at 11:23am

Thank you Cynthia! This is good - I like the weekly idea. I get paid once a month so of course by the end of the month some of the focus on the budget is gone. But perhaps I should take out bills and budget what's left divided by 4 and then get everyone together once a week to discuss it like on Saturday morning. I like the idea of us doing it together because they will understand it better. And you are right about not thinking "we can't afford it". It's like a disease that people (including myself) say when they can't get what they want instead of managing it better. I definitely need to break that skipping record! I know people that have less and manage better. It helps to be a better steward through out the month. How do you deal with "surprises"?

Comment by Cynthia on March 30, 2009 at 11:15am

Hi Tiffany!

I sit down every few months and write out my budget for the upcoming months - best to do in pencil. Since I get paid weekly, I write a weekly budget. Income minus expenses equals 0 is how you do it. This causes you to think ahead to what is coming up so that you will be prepared for it.
Necessities first and then the rest. Once you do this -- if you see that there won't be enough money for track shoes or whatever, you and your child can together decide what the two of you are going to do to earn the $ OR you decide to eliminate track or some other expense.

Doing this with your children will help both of you to focus on the things that each of you find MOST important to you. Helps them to learn about life & money - also that "if there's a will there's a way" -- We want to develop an attitude of "what can we do to achieve our desires, goals, dreams" rather than an attitude of "scarcity - we can't afford this".
Sometimes, things will come up and you'll have to shift things around a bit; hence, doing it in pencil.
But I have found this is a GREAT way for ME to be in control of the money, rather than the money controlling me.

John Maxwell said "A budget is you telling your money where to go, rather than wondering where it went"!

Don't you love that?!

Hope this helps! I've been at the bottom and I've since been working my way up so I can truly empathize with you!

Blessings!

Comment by Tiffany Baer Vogt on March 30, 2009 at 10:51am

Hello everyone! Just started last week and don't know much about twitter or twitter moms yet. But I am more interested in how everyone's staying on a budget especially when kids are coming with $$ requests everyday - somewhat legitimate request like athletic fees and track shoes and field trip money. Where do you draw the line and how do you keep track? I feel like a need my check book register and calculator in my back pocket at all times but life moves so quickly I am not sure it would make a difference. I have little debt but there never seems to be enough. If I stay on budget we could save a lot! Started Dave Ramsey and that's very practical, but as a single mom I just don't find a lot of time to write it all down. Does anyone have a system?

Comment by Ashley Homer on March 13, 2009 at 10:17am

Thank you both so much! You are both really sweet! I am really enjoying this site. It is soooo helpful.

I will definetely keep my head held high and stay determined to stick with our budget. It's just that right now we haven't had many bills and we have been saving money for our apartment, but we also have that "extra" money that we splurge with, and we should really be saving it for when we do move. I know it's called responsibility, and I have had to learn that fast being a young mother, but it just makes me nervous. My parents have struggled since we were babies and it was really hard sometimes. And they have never been on a budget. So it really opened up my eyes to take action and do things different, however, since my parent's don't budget I am learning it all on my own.

Comment by Cynthia on March 12, 2009 at 2:12pm

Hey Diamond! What a beautiful name! I am slowly paying my debts, little by little. I drive a paid-for 9 y/o Honda Accord that has a dent or two -- Old Faithful! I will drive it till the wheels fall off -- or until I have enough cash to get something newer whenever I need it.

I now pay cash for everything ( have done so most of my life - a brief period that I did not - went through a divorce 9 years ago, etd.).

It is such an awesome feeling of freedom to tell my money where to go, rather than wondering where it went!

Keep up the pace, Diamond! Our lives will never be the same! :-)

Comment by Cynthia on March 12, 2009 at 2:06pm

Hi Ashley!

If you can get to your local public library, check out the book The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. He puts everything in easy-to-understand terms and shows you EXACTLY what to do. He gives you HOPE! That's what he gave me 3 1/2 years ago and I am not the same. Am I out -of -debt yet? No, but I am working my way there. Dave says to give every dollar a name(in other words, you WRITE DOWN where EVERY penny is going to go for the month.) This puts YOU in control instead of you feeling out-of-control, which is where I was. John Maxwell said "A budget is you telling your money where to go, rather than wondering where it went"! :-)

Anyway, read Dave's Book and also go to www.DaveRamsey.com and you can find out where you can listen to his radio show; it is awesome and SO helpful!

Keep lookin' up, Ashley - help is on the way!

~Think Good Thoughts!~ You CAN do it!

Warmly,
TodaysHappyMom

Comment by Diamond Emory on March 12, 2009 at 1:48pm

Welcome Ashley, we're glad you're here! Honey take a deep breath, everything is gonna be just fine. You are young and you and your husband have plenty of time to turn this thing around. Hey, you could have your head in buried in the sand, but you don't. Give yourself some credit and take a gander at my comment from yesterday. Write me if you need anything. You're gonna make it :)

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