Ready or Not, Here Comes Monday. . .

Sorry for the lapse in posts, it has been  a little hectic around here as I am sure it has been for all of you.  We are trying to get the boys ready for school.  Football is already going strong with two wins under their belt. 
We had meet the teacher for Big T and I have some reservations about his group this year.  I will be sending up prayers for everyone going back to school this year. 
I have big hopes for my boys and their future as I am sure all parents do. 
Picked up school supplies and some new shoes for the boys.  I used my "school" envelope money for school supplies and school fees so that these things did not derail our budget.  I used our "clothing" envelope money to pay for shoes so they did not derail our budget either.  If you are doing the envelope system and have children I recommend you add these two to your envelope categories. I use the school money for their lunches through the year and for field trips. 
I budget a certain amount for these envelopes through the year and I do not pause during the Summer. Using the school envelope is how I am able to cover school supplies with no problems.  I am still adding money but nothing is coming out for those three months, my school money is gaining momentum through the Summer.
I honestly do not know what I would do without my envelopes, especially in our current situation.
This week is going to be crazy; the kids start school, I have an interview,  and the hubbs continues to look for his new career.  Hold on to something it is going to get bumpy.   Oh, and did I forget to mention Sprat will be driving himself to school in a week. 

No pictures this morning, I will have to do day two of school pictures for the boys tomorrow.  The hubbs and I enjoyed our annual first day of school breakfast date too.  

Friday and Finances. . .

Since it is Friday and I try to talk about finances on Friday I am going to talk a little about them today.  You all know how much I like Dave Ramsey and I will start by saying if you have not read his book or at least looked at his website, Dave Ramsey, I highly recommend it.  You may not agree with everything he has to say but he does make a lot of sense about money matters.  I do not agree with everything, but there are areas that he really helped my family.
I would suggest you also check out his "Tools" section on his home page.  He has what he calls "ELP's"  this is an endorsed local provider.  This is a real estate agent, insurance provider, or financial adviser that follows the Dave Ramsey plan but is located in your area.  The hubbs and I looked up an ELP to help us move our kids 529 plan that we had set up years earlier and just to talk to someone else that followed Dave Ramsey.  They have helped us for the past ten years and they were one of the first folks I called when my very sweet hubby was displaced.  We knew we were going to have to move his 401K and possibly his pension and a few other benefits.  We had no clue how to proceed, thankfully these guys knew exactly what we needed to do and they made this part of our displacement very easy.  
One other thing I will point out that was a big benefit to us is Dave's debt snowball.  This helped us get out of debt except for our house and helped us get our emergency fund in place.  That emergency fund is really important because, should the worst case scenario play out, that will pay our bills.  The funny thing is, since they stopped contributions on his 401K and his HSA his severance pay is actually more than when he was actually working.  This has allowed us to add to our emergency fund and to add extra on our house.  I am also still using my envelopes just as I did before our displacement.  The envelope system is great and I encourage you to check it out too.  The envelope system helps you stay with your budget and helps you save for specific items like:  vacation, a car, college tuition, or the braces your kids might need.  I have an envelope for each one of those myself.  I put my college on hold when my dear hubby was displaced but we used my tuition money I had already saved to buy him a new laptop and a printer.  That money did not upset our regular budget because I had already saved it in my envelope.  If you are going to use a particular envelope's money for something other than what it was intended it is very important that you and your partner are in agreement on that move.  A budget and the envelope system only work when both parties are in agreement and work together.
The most important thing to remember is that a budget is a living organism, it grows and changes with each month or even week depending on your life style and where you are in life.   You must look at it each month to make sure you have everything covered.
Have a good weekend!

Rainy Days. . . Be Prepared. . .

Things always tend to go awry when you least expect it.   This is why it is important to have an emergency fund and to plan for the expected as well as the unexpected.  When my hubby and I were first married he traveled some with his work.  It never failed, when he would go out of town something would break down.  The first time he went out of town my washing machine broke down, the next time the dryer.  I do remember one icy February he went out of town and the people that were putting in our fence cut my phone lines and then we had a big ice storm and the power went out too.  This was before kids and we had a beautiful chocolate lab that thought she was a lap dog.   On this particular nasty night I took the dog out and twisted my ankle in a hole in the yard and fell.  The dog thought I was playing and proceeded to jump on my back, all 90 pounds of her.  I crawled to the back door dragging her behind me and held on to the door knob to stand up.  Did I mention it was snowy and icy?   I look back on these memories and just have to laugh at how incredibly crazy life is sometimes.  
All of these things happened before I found Dave Ramsey and we did not have an emergency fund and these things did zap our budget.  Today, if any of this happened, it would not be that big of a deal because we do have our emergency fund and we are prepared for those rainy days.  Our heat pump went out one of those times the hubbs went out of town. I learned then, that we needed to be on a schedule for routine maintenance and yearly check ups for our heat pump.  I highly recommend this if you are not already doing so.  There are lots of good companies that will do this for a nominal fee and it is well worth it.  They come out two times a year and check everything out and by doing this they can tell if there is anything that is not working properly before it breaks and messes something else up too.   You also get preference when you do have trouble and discounts on parts and labor.  To me, this is a very good investment.
I have talked many times about my envelopes and I do have one called home repairs.  This is for anything around the house.   We had a little washer trouble this week and thank goodness I was able to cover it with my envelope.  If you are not using the envelope system or some other system to save money for specific things I encourage you to start.  Start small with maybe one or two envelopes and see what you think.  You do not have to do Dave Ramsey, do some research and find what fits you best, but get started.
I really wish our school system taught Dave Ramsey.  Our kids do not learn enough about personal finance in school, I am trying to teach my kids about money using Dave Ramsey but they all need to learn.   It should be one of those mandatory life skills classes.  I am embarrassed to say, I did not learn how to balance my checkbook until I started using Dave Ramsey and saw a real need for it.

How is Your Budget????

How is everyone doing with their budget?  I learn something new ever time I work on mine.  Remember those budgets are living organisms and that they will change each month and sometimes each week.  I learned during football season that with two boys playing football I need to allocate some extra cash for concessions and gate fees.   Here are some other things that you might want to think about including in your envelopes if you are not already.
Car repairs and oil changes, you are going to have to do these things why not add a little cash to an envelope each pay period and save for them in advance.   This has really saved me, those car fees use to zap my cash flow before I started planning for them.   Do you have an envelope for the barber shop or  beauty shop?  Those can zap a budget too.  I set aside a little money each pay period in my envelope system just for hair.  My hubby asked me this morning if I had any hair money, because he wanted to go by the barber shop on his way home from work.   Entertainment money is also very important, you do not want to feel like you cannot have any fun while on a budget.  We use our entertainment money for movies and sometimes sporting events or concerts.   School fees are another area that can zap my budget.  I use school money during the school year for kids lunches and field trips, I keep saving in my school money envelope even over the Summer and that money is used to buy school supplies at the beginning of the year.   School fees and supplies can also zap that budget but if you are planning for it there is no fear.  I feel as if I have really accomplished something if I can buy all of the new school supplies and pay school fees with my envelope money.  Do you have pets?  I have my beautiful Basil and I also have a Pet envelope, I set aside a certain amount each pay period for my sweet Basil too.  I pay for her food, toys, and vet visits out of her envelope.  I am sure you know vet bills can really stack up if something bad happens to Rover, but if you are saving a little at a time they will not blow up your budget.   Do you save money for your home repairs?  I have an envelope for that too.   With my Home Repair envelope I pay for:  my annual heat and air check up, to have my gas logs cleaned, pest inspection and any type of appliance repair.  Each of these would surely blow your budget crazy but, if you plan there is no fear.
These are just a few of my categories that you may not have thought about for your cash envelope system.   The basis for this system is your grandma or great grandma and Dave Ramsey tweaked it and I have tweaked mine.   The great thing about this system is that you can customize it to fit your needs and it is very easy to follow.   I do not get kick backs for any of my posts, I write about things I like and that work for me.  This envelope system is the best and if you use it right, it will help you curb your spending.

Saving Every Week. . .

I have talked many times about the envelope system and saving money that way for different things.  The two big things I save for with my envelopes are vacation and Christmas.  I put a certain dollar amount each pay period into my envelopes for vacation and Christmas/Birthdays.  This is an amount that I budget for each month and it has no effect on my bill paying at all.  We never even know that it is there so there is no tempt to spend that money on something else.   Saving is like anything else, it must become a habit if you are going to be good at it and we want to be good at it.  
I saw on Facebook that someone has already posted that there are only 48 weeks till Christmas 2015.  Yikes!! Are you serious, someone is really already in that countdown?  If you start saving now, $20 a week by Christmas you would have $960 cash.  Wouldn't it be great to have that kind of money to help pay for Christmas?  I know, I love being able to pay cash for gifts.  I use my Christmas money for birthdays too.
Let us think about vacations.  The first time we paid cash for our vacation I was so excited, I could not believe I had actually done it.  Not only had we paid for our room but we paid for our meals and for a few other activities while we were at the beach.  It was great knowing that we would not be paying for the beach fun for the next several months on a credit card.  The other thing that is also important to remember is that every time you use your credit card you are opening yourself up for theft.  I must veer off course here for a moment.  While participating in the Dave Ramsey class one of the couples mentioned how their credit card number was stolen while they were on vacation at Myrtle Beach.  They said they had traced it back to a restaurant  in Myrtle Beach.  Luckily the gentleman was a police officer and had some contacts in Myrtle Beach, they helped him track down the crook.  They traced it back to their waiter at this one restaurant and when they found him he had a note pad with several credit card numbers in it that he had planned to use.  He had used their card to buy new tires for his car.  This is why I always say cash is better especially when you are on vacation.  We use only cash for restaurants, it keeps our eating out under control.    Now, back to saving for vacation, we have roughly 23 weeks till vacation time starts.  If you save $40 a week for 23 weeks you have $920 to put toward your vacation.  Depending on how you vacation, that may not cover everything but it will sure put a dent in it.   What if you start funding your vacation envelope as soon as you get back from vacation?  You would then have roughly 52 weeks to save for the next vacation.  Let's do some math, $40 times 52 weeks is $2080 toward your next vacation.   Seems pretty simple, right?
How are you going to pay for Christmas and vacation this year?  I am still funding our envelopes, and have I said lately how much I love the envelope system.  You do not have to have a fancy envelope to start saving, I grabbed some plain white envelopes to get started.  Here's to vacation not following you home and not paying for Christmas for months afterward.   Good Luck!!

Finance Friday

I would like to talk about the envelope system by Dave Ramsey today.   My oldest has to have a palate expander and then braces.  We met with the orthodontist last year and found all of this out.   They gave me a rough estimate in what it all would cost.   We started our orthodontist envelope.   This is not an emergency so we will not use emergency money.   I planned for this so, this will have no effect on our budget.  It has been included in our budget for a year now in a very small amount.  We have terrible dental insurance so the bulk will come from us.  I have no fear of this  because I planned and used the envelope system.  You could also use a health savings account in the same way.  
This is the same way we do our Christmas money.   We save all year a little at a time so Christmas does not break our budget.  What a feeling that is, to not feel guilty about spending money on your loved ones.   Like Dave says, Christmas is not an emergency.   There is no reason to max out in credit card debt. We know it is coming and planning will help.  I encourage you to check out Dave's envelope philosophy.   Google it and see what other people say about it.  Pick one thing in your budget and try it with the cash envelop system.   I would suggest something simple like eating out, groceries,  or coffee money if you drink a lot of  Starbucks ( $4 bucks) coffee.   I am not judging if you like their coffee, I like it too but I only get it every now and then.    The envelope system has been around for a very long time, Dave just brought it back to the mainstream.   Dave showed an envelope system he found at an estate sale dated in the early 1900's.  I thought that was very cool.

Feeling very excited about Financial Friday

I have told you some of the things I have done that I am ashamed of and I will tell you many more but today I am going to share something I am extremely proud of.  As of today we (my family) are Debt Free!!!!!! except our house.  Wahoooooo!!!
This is why I love Dave Ramsey.  I could not have done this without his class and my wonderful teacher that guided the class.  We paid off our car in 2 years with Daves' debt snowball plan, which is pure genius.  I will share that with you next week.    Today I would like to hash out the envelope system.  Dave gives credit to all of the grandparents for this system because that is how they managed money back in the day.   You were paid in cash and you divided it up into your envelopes to make sure your bills were covered.   I love this.  I told you last week that we started out with our Christmas envelope and we now have about 9 envelopes.   These are my categories, they work for us, you feel them out and see what works best for your family.  
Christmas, vacation,  restaurants,  groceries,  mad money,  entertainment,  clothes,  school, tuition, hair cuts, and prescriptions.  Most of these are self explanatory, mad money is money that I set aside just for me.  My hubby has his mad money too.  It is just for us to spend with no guilt on what ever we wish.  The entertainment envelope covers movies,  putt putt,  bowling, and football games.  School money pays for school fees, supplies,  lunch money, and field trips.  I put money in each of these every pay period according to what I have budgeted.  Just because it is summer does not mean I stop funding the school envelope, this is when I am saving for back to school supplies.   When an envelope is empty there is no more of that till next pay period, which for us is every two weeks.   It was hard for the kids to grasp that, when it came to eating out.  That was our big vacuum, when it came to spending.   Once I put a cap on what we would spend it was amazing how much we could save.  That is not to say we did not have our weak points, because we did.  Your budget is a living thing and it grows and changes just like your family does, that is why you need to look at it periodically to evaluate how it is changing.   The categories I picked for my envelopes fit our family, they may not fit yours.  You should evaluate what you want to pay cash for.   Some have a gas envelope to pay for their gas in their cars.  I do not like having to go in and pay for gas that to me is more trouble than it is worth.   

Dave says that when you pay with cash you feel that pang of the money leaving your hand.  When you swipe that debit card there is no feeling attached to it.   This is true, if you don't believe me pay for a meal at a nice restaurant with cash, you will feel it.  You can set your amounts that you put in your envelopes yourself.  Just be sure you are honest with yourself when you are setting up your budget, do not fudge on how much you spend in certain areas because that will just create a problem in the end.  Remember I have made most of the mistakes I warn you about.   If you are married you should set all this up with your spouse too, the system will never work if you do not work together.  I ask my hubby periodically if he is ok with our budget and normally he says he is fine but sometimes he points things out that I had not thought of and there is where we revisit our budget and tweak it.  He pointed out this year that we needed to re-evaluated our entertainment money during football season.  Both boys play football and going to games and concessions were expensive so the next pay period we upped our entertainment money amount to cover these things.  I love this system, it is ours and we can change it to suit our needs and so can you.  I would suggest that you pick one thing and try it out before you dive head first into all the envelopes we have.   I would love to know what envelopes you will have.   Good Luck and we will talk about Daves' debt snowball next week.