We are taking Dave Ramsey's class, called Financial Peace University, to get our $$ under control. I wish we had taken this class 20yrs ago! Seriously, oh my goodness, where we would be financially and what we could have avoided!
I will admit that our 1st budget "meeting" was painful. There just aren't enough $ to go around and we must come to an agreement each month about what is and isn't going to go in the budget. I'll tell you we have pretty much operated on the "don't ask for permission, but ask for forgiveness" kind of life style. I am thinking that's what got us in to trouble for all these yrs. We've always shopped at thrift stores. I purchased a pair of brand-spanking new Nine West jeans last week for myself and paid $9.98. I honestly stood in the middle of the store and debated on whether I should spend that on myself! David just looked at me like I was being ridiculous. Shopping at the mall is a luxury that this family hasn't known. We also have had paid in cash for vehicles too. A family on one income must make some sacrifices, and that was the one thing we did make a decision to do when I stopped working. So basically, I feel like we have made some good decisions, but man, have we made some bad financial decisions.
You will never guess where the most of our money goes...come on, it's not that hard....FOOD! We spend more on food than any other bill we have. Now if you had asked me what we spent on food before we started this class I would have just guessed a round about number, and walked away feeling good about myself. However, when I added up all the debit swipes that were at a food place, the total began to rise. I will spare you the number, but it was totally a humbling experience. So, this month we are going to use cash to pay for all food related things. When the cash is gone, that's it. I have a feeling that dessert time and snack time are going to be what gets the crunch, so I hope my sweet baker is ready to make things from scratch, because this Momma isn't going to buy junk and not have meat in the house for dinner!
I am going to proudly drive my paid-for 15 passenger van to the store, use my coupons and we are going "live like no one else now, so we can live like no one else later." Take the class if you can, it will challenge you to think about where your money is going and if that's really where it should be going.
I will admit that our 1st budget "meeting" was painful. There just aren't enough $ to go around and we must come to an agreement each month about what is and isn't going to go in the budget. I'll tell you we have pretty much operated on the "don't ask for permission, but ask for forgiveness" kind of life style. I am thinking that's what got us in to trouble for all these yrs. We've always shopped at thrift stores. I purchased a pair of brand-spanking new Nine West jeans last week for myself and paid $9.98. I honestly stood in the middle of the store and debated on whether I should spend that on myself! David just looked at me like I was being ridiculous. Shopping at the mall is a luxury that this family hasn't known. We also have had paid in cash for vehicles too. A family on one income must make some sacrifices, and that was the one thing we did make a decision to do when I stopped working. So basically, I feel like we have made some good decisions, but man, have we made some bad financial decisions.
You will never guess where the most of our money goes...come on, it's not that hard....FOOD! We spend more on food than any other bill we have. Now if you had asked me what we spent on food before we started this class I would have just guessed a round about number, and walked away feeling good about myself. However, when I added up all the debit swipes that were at a food place, the total began to rise. I will spare you the number, but it was totally a humbling experience. So, this month we are going to use cash to pay for all food related things. When the cash is gone, that's it. I have a feeling that dessert time and snack time are going to be what gets the crunch, so I hope my sweet baker is ready to make things from scratch, because this Momma isn't going to buy junk and not have meat in the house for dinner!
I am going to proudly drive my paid-for 15 passenger van to the store, use my coupons and we are going "live like no one else now, so we can live like no one else later." Take the class if you can, it will challenge you to think about where your money is going and if that's really where it should be going.
No comments:
Post a Comment