Cash Money

Finances.  Budget. These probably aren't your favorite words.  Not really mine either.  It takes work to make your budget.  It takes discipline to stick with your budget.  Discipline I thought I had mastered.

Isn't it funny, just when you think you've mastered something you discover there's more to learn?  Honestly, I don't know if I'll ever master this finance stuff, but I like the new track we're on right now.

Last August Steven and I made a decision that will greatly increase our outflow of money.  Mind you, we already live on very little.  Since making that decision, we have been making changes to the way we handle our money in attempts to save more money now.  Even though our next big step in life won't occur until later this year, we needed to start stashing cash away to prepare.  

I'm so thankful that we are not at this alone.  When we made our decision, we asked God to reveal to us how to accomplish this goal.  Little by little He has shown us ways to maximize our income and decrease our outflow.  One way was refinancing our house.  Yes, refinancing the house we have only lived in for 2 years!  The savings there alone was $260/month.  Crazy, right???  What's even crazier is how we came about making the decision to refinance our house.  Seriously crazy.  Like chasing a rabbit crazy, because this girl did not want to do it.  In the end, the process was so easy.  Neither Steven nor I ever had to go to the mortgage office until the day of closing.  Closing lasted all of 10 minutes.  It was awesome!  If you need a mortgage guy, I have one for you!  We've used him twice and both times we were blown away with his staff's efficiency and customer service.

I digress.

What I really wanted to share was the next step of what we needed to do.  Use strictly cash for non bill items.  Let me just say I have yet to watch the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace Videos, but I am excited to do just that in the next few weeks.  However, I didn't want to hold up our finances waiting for videos.  I wanted to start January 1.  So I looked at our budget for this month, left enough money in checking to cover drafts and pulled cash out that I budgeted for groceries, vacation (we are going to FL in March), car care (we have  older vehicles), clothing/haircuts, home improvements, entertainment/fun, and groceries.  I stashed the allotted amount in each envelope.  No more debit card swipes.  Ever.

I can already tell how much I love this method.  Before, Steven and I had just one envelope to cover 'entertainment and miscellaneous' expenses.  What really bit me in the butt there was I would see how much cash I had and would tell myself, Do it, Amanda.  You can totally spend $30 on going out to eat.  You cook all the time.  Reward yourself.  Do it, do it, do it.  Then I would kick myself in the butt later on down the line because what I really needed to use the money for was to get an oil change.  UGH!  

Having the money designated for specifics has helped me stay focused on what I can and cannot do.  Does it totally suck to see a really good deal on workout clothes (like $5 for an Under Armor top instead of $50), and not have enough cash in the haircut/clothing envelope to do it?  Yes.  Yes, it does.  However, it has me focused on what's really important.  I have plenty of workout gear.  I didn't need a new top.  I wanted a new top.  Yes, $5 is an awesome deal, but saving for our lofty financial goal is more important than fulfilling a short term want.

What kind of things do you do to save your family money?  I want all the good tips!

Time vs. Money

Recently a new gym opened up less than a mile from Steven's office.  Since he works out during his lunch hour he was really enticed to try it out.  Making the most of his time.  Our current gym is about 5.5 miles away from his office.  Not too far, but not a block away either.

We had a little money dilemma facing us.  The gym we are currently members of, and have been since 2000, only charges us $30/month for the both of us.  No renewal fees.  No annual fees. Just $30 every month.  Not too shabby since Steven uses the gym five days a week.  Me, well, I haven't been in for-ev-er.  I blame it on pregnancy.

Even though I am very comfortable with our low monthly gym payment, I told Steven to look into the new gym.    He came back with a one time enrollment fee of $85 for the both of us and $40/month.  I wasn't too jazzed about the enrollment fee and/or the possible increase of a monthly bill.  You know me.  I like to decrease the bills.  Not increase.

Even though the new gym appeared to be more expensive, I thought about the time Steven would recoup from a shorter travel.  Then I got to thinking about the mileage.  I did the math.  After calculating the mileage of the round trip to the old gym vs. the mileage back and forth to the new gym it was a considerable difference.  Even though the new gym was more expensive, our savings in gas made the new gym more appealing financially.  By the time I was done adding, subtracting, and dividing, I realized we would save around $25/month by switching to a more expensive gym.

When you are thinking of making changes, it's really important to weigh your options.  Take into consideration everything that affects your bottom line.  Something that seems to be more expensive, can actually be the better choice.

Now here's the shocker.  Knowing that the new gym would save me money from reducing our gas cost, we went with our old gym.  Shocking, I know.  Amanda Torres chose the more expensive option.  The main reason...Steven likes our old gym better.  It fits his workout style better.  Since he looks amazing, I let him make the decision.  After all, he is saving us money in medical bills by keeping his body fine tuned.  I guess he's frugal after all!  Frugal and good lookin'. A very attractive combination.

The Cost

If I had a dollar for everytime I heard someone say, "I wish my husband made more money so I could stay at home like you," or "You don't understand.  We just don't make the money your family does," I'd be loaded!  These comments crack me up every time, because I'm fairly certain these people would hide in a hole if they knew our monthly bring home total.  Don't get me wrong.  We are blessed.  For most people in this world, we are considered rich.  Heck, if you live in a home with running water, you are considered rich.

I really laugh at these comments, because even though I didn't say them out loud, I had those same thoughts before I stayed at home.  I specifically remember asking my SAHM friends how they did it.  When they'd tell me all their different ways, I'd still think, "Yeah, but their husbands must bring home bank."  Now I'm on the other side.  So today I want to talk about the cost to our lifestyle.  I realize some of you may or may not be interested in taking the measures we do, but it works for us.  If anything, I hope you realize that there is a cost to everything whether through sacrifice or money.  Things cost. So here's a little secret to our financial life...

• We eat out about 3 times a month.  Before we used to eat out at least 10 times a month.  At about $20/meal we save $140 a month.
• I scrutinize my grocery/household goods list each week to keep it around $75-85.  Before I spent around $150/week.  That's a savings of about $300/month.  Couponing is not for everyone, but a few hours a week (if that) of my time is worth a $300 monthly savings.
• Every purchase we make is researched for the best price.  For example, we just purchased tires for my car.  If I had accepted the first price I was given, I would have lost money without even knowing it.  Instead, Steven called around for prices of other tire stores in our area.  Once he found the best price, he then called back the place we wanted to do the job and asked if they would match the price.  They did.  $150 saved.  We do this for everything.
• Up until last weekend, we didn't have data plans on our phones {Gasp}.  Steven does now, but I don't. $20/month saved.
• We don't have extra movie channels or DVR {another gasp}.  Another $20/month.
• We both drive older cars.  Steven's truck is a 2004 and I drive a 2006.  We plan on driving them until the wheels fall off or we need a bigger car. No car payments=BIG SAVINGS.
• About every 6 months I review our bills to make sure we are getting the current deals and savings.  Sometimes our bills remain the same, but other times I find a way to get it lowered.

I realize some of you would never want to do what we have done.  I totally understand that.  Others of you make even bigger sacrifices to make your ends meet.  I salute you.  I wish I could completely drop cable, but I just can't.  Even though we watch very little TV, I still like the option to surf through channels.  I do not like to watch shows online.  I will, but prefer not to.  The cost of cable is worth it to us.  However, the cost of DVR is not.  It's all about what conveniences you are willing to pay and what you're not. 

I am SUPER curious to know what you find crazy about my list and what things you do without that ARE on my list.  Other people's lives fascinate me, so tell, tell, tell, and then tell some more! What can I say?  I'm nosy.

The Expense of Christmas

We usually do pretty well at Christmas as far as our expeditures go.  I try to buy presents for others early to spread the cost out a little more, but this year I'm trying something new.  After having a successful go with the envelope spending in Chicago, we decided to do the same for Christmas.  We knew exactly how much money we wanted to spend on everyone we buy for, so we took that amount in cash and divided among the various envelopes.  

On the front each envelope is the amount of $ inside (covered up for this post), and on the back lists the items we would like to purchase.  Inside the envelope is the cash and coupons for any items we plan to purchase.  If items are purchased online, that amount of money is taken out of the envelope and designated to the credit card payment. 

So far this is working better than I thought it would.  Since I actually SEE the money, I am much more careful to look for deals and coupons.  We have most items already purchased for the kids and family with only half of the designated money spent.  Any leftover money is going to the vacation fund!  Holla!