So I'm a saver by nature. Being a SAHM for as long as I had been, it became my job to save money. We've been blessed over the last couple years with a good job that has given us much more freedom then we had before, which has made me going back to school and all the expenses that have come along with it an easier task.
I handle the money, always have, and I'm good at. Bill doesn't question me and trusts me to do what's best for the family. In my attempt to reduce all unneeded stress during Nursing school I put budgeting to the side and took on the mindset, "as long as it's there I'm not gonna worry about it"...STUPID!! I am literally sickened with the amount of unnecessary spending that has been happening and no saving! We don't have big bills or real debt (other then the truck and house) so there's NO excuse not to be saving.
I made the decision to put our bank account on LOCK DOWN! Thankfully, my husband listens so all I had to do it inform him of the new "rules" and put in into motion. So, what did I do? For starters we decided to take advantage of these crazy low interest rates and refinanced our house which is saving us about $150 a month on our already low mortgage. (Tip#1: Buy BELOW your means, your mortgage will be way less then you can afford and you'll never have to worry about being "house poor") We are now in the process of refinancing our car loan as well. (Tip # 2: Buy a car because you plan to drive it until it dies, not until you can trade up...not having a car payment feels way better then a new car does!) Next I decided to start shopping for 2 weeks at a time instead of 1. I spend about $30-$40 more for 2 weeks then I was spend in one. I don't know why it works that way but it does!
So now down to the most important part, I have put us on an ALL CASH budget. When Bill's check hits the bank (his checks are bi-monthly and are never the same since he's commission, so I can't budget too far ahead) I pay all the bills out of the account first then transfer a predetermined amount into savings. I then figure out how much I need for groceries, gas, gifts, kids lunches, extras (Ex. this month it's camp and a new pool), I give Bill and myself an allowance for the 2 weeks, and then leave some in the account for emergencies or in case I underestimated expenses. I go to the bank and pull out that money in cash and divide it up into envelopes (very much like the Dave Ramsey thing). As I use the money I put the receipts in the envelopes and subtract the amounts on the back to keep tract of where I'm at. For Bill I just give him his cash and when it's gone, it's gone :) If there's any money left I put it into the savings account along with what I left in the account and start all over with the next paycheck.
The debit cards are NOT being used....period! That seems to be the key, when you don't have a card to swipe and have to break a $20 for a $2 purchase your way less likely to purchase it. You have a visual of what you have and tend to spend WAY less on those little things you don't need and put much more thought into whether or not you really want it to begin with.
So far I estimate I have saved over $700 in one pay period alone by making us accountable for ever little purchase. That's HUGE!! When I see something working it becomes more of a challenge to see how much more I can do. So I am now in the process of shifting some bills around to get better deals (cable, Internet, phone etc.). Bill and I enjoy our extras too much to cancel any of them, but I will not pay more for something I can get cheaper somewhere else.
So my next goals are to work on paying off the truck, putting more towards 401K, and making extra payments on the house. We don't plan to ever sell this house. We plan to stay here while we build our next home and then rent it out, so paying it off is a priority for us.
I'm thrilled with the way this is working and plan to do it long term. I hope this motivates some of you who have been wanting to make a change to just do it! I will continue to update on our progress post any new ideas to save money.
Happy Saving!!
I handle the money, always have, and I'm good at. Bill doesn't question me and trusts me to do what's best for the family. In my attempt to reduce all unneeded stress during Nursing school I put budgeting to the side and took on the mindset, "as long as it's there I'm not gonna worry about it"...STUPID!! I am literally sickened with the amount of unnecessary spending that has been happening and no saving! We don't have big bills or real debt (other then the truck and house) so there's NO excuse not to be saving.
I made the decision to put our bank account on LOCK DOWN! Thankfully, my husband listens so all I had to do it inform him of the new "rules" and put in into motion. So, what did I do? For starters we decided to take advantage of these crazy low interest rates and refinanced our house which is saving us about $150 a month on our already low mortgage. (Tip#1: Buy BELOW your means, your mortgage will be way less then you can afford and you'll never have to worry about being "house poor") We are now in the process of refinancing our car loan as well. (Tip # 2: Buy a car because you plan to drive it until it dies, not until you can trade up...not having a car payment feels way better then a new car does!) Next I decided to start shopping for 2 weeks at a time instead of 1. I spend about $30-$40 more for 2 weeks then I was spend in one. I don't know why it works that way but it does!
So now down to the most important part, I have put us on an ALL CASH budget. When Bill's check hits the bank (his checks are bi-monthly and are never the same since he's commission, so I can't budget too far ahead) I pay all the bills out of the account first then transfer a predetermined amount into savings. I then figure out how much I need for groceries, gas, gifts, kids lunches, extras (Ex. this month it's camp and a new pool), I give Bill and myself an allowance for the 2 weeks, and then leave some in the account for emergencies or in case I underestimated expenses. I go to the bank and pull out that money in cash and divide it up into envelopes (very much like the Dave Ramsey thing). As I use the money I put the receipts in the envelopes and subtract the amounts on the back to keep tract of where I'm at. For Bill I just give him his cash and when it's gone, it's gone :) If there's any money left I put it into the savings account along with what I left in the account and start all over with the next paycheck.
The debit cards are NOT being used....period! That seems to be the key, when you don't have a card to swipe and have to break a $20 for a $2 purchase your way less likely to purchase it. You have a visual of what you have and tend to spend WAY less on those little things you don't need and put much more thought into whether or not you really want it to begin with.
So far I estimate I have saved over $700 in one pay period alone by making us accountable for ever little purchase. That's HUGE!! When I see something working it becomes more of a challenge to see how much more I can do. So I am now in the process of shifting some bills around to get better deals (cable, Internet, phone etc.). Bill and I enjoy our extras too much to cancel any of them, but I will not pay more for something I can get cheaper somewhere else.
So my next goals are to work on paying off the truck, putting more towards 401K, and making extra payments on the house. We don't plan to ever sell this house. We plan to stay here while we build our next home and then rent it out, so paying it off is a priority for us.
I'm thrilled with the way this is working and plan to do it long term. I hope this motivates some of you who have been wanting to make a change to just do it! I will continue to update on our progress post any new ideas to save money.
Happy Saving!!
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