Just to recap, I am new to the whole budget thing. I have always been in charge of our finances, and up until maybe September, I had never really even considered putting us on a budget. Well, things change (like the economy!) and I realized that we need to do a u-turn in our approach to our money. I have decided to try out the envelope system for things like groceries and household items.
November Grocery Cash: $165.00
Spent $117.85
Saved $586.67
= 83% savings!
The extra $37.00 left over I will put into savings. This brings me to the next thing.....goals.
November Goals
- Get a one day a week job - DONE
- Save a $2000 emergency fund (more since we are self-employed) - DONE
- Pay all mortgages on time - DONE (rentals, etc.)
December Goals
- Pay off credit card (I just scheduled the payment online, so will be done by the end of the month!)
- Pay off car by the end of the month - we have been saving for a little while to pay cash for our next vehicle. We have decided to pay off the one we have instead of holding on to the cash while we wait for it to sell. We are a couple thousand short in our savings vs. what we owe on the car, so this will be our big goal of the month.
- Pay all mortgages by the 15th of the month (always a goal, but seems to get done if I put it in writing)
If any of you have a budget, I would love any feedback or encouragement. It's definitely a lifestyle change to have to get used to using cash, and more importantly, saying "no" to yourself.
Erika
3 comments:
Erika, you are really good at setting goals and accomplishing them. My goals will be to set up a spreadsheet of all my grocery spending so I can do a weekly and monthly OOP. Thanks for encouraging me!!
Christina
Great job, Erika! Good work setting your goals and following through! It's fun to read your goals because they it very similar to what we're doing(although we have no mortgage and no credit cards).
We use cash as well for most things as well except bills that we can pay online and gasoline. We use "bill pay" through our credit union and have it set up to automatically pay bills on what date we tell it to which is very helpful since we tend to put off paying bills easily. It is so much more helpful to use cash for purchases so you know exactly where you money is going and what you have left. That's great that you've been doing that.
We've also been working on our emergency fund since we're self-employed too and will have our first goal of $3000 met early next month. After that we'll pay off the rest on our vehicle which isn't much and then continue on with our savings.
I really enjoy having the control over our money instead of the other way around. Using cash and using self-control really makes a difference. I hope you'll post updates on your progress, it's great to hear.
Also, great info with all the deals. I was so busy this last month that I slacked on my deals but this last month I am getting back to it.
Becca
Thanks for the encouragement, Becca. I am still totally new at the budgeting and using cash thing, but I am really liking it! I think it helps to put goals out on paper. There seems to be more accountability that way.
Erika
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