Wednesday, July 21, 2010

What About You?

Do you spend money on things that aren't very frugal? 

Use the comments box to give your opinion.

Budget Update

So... I've spent a little more on food than I had originally budgeted for, (click here to see the previous budget), but interestingly enough, I'm still under my whole grocery budget! 

The full grocery budget was at $450, and we are on the 20th of the month, with pretty much everything covered, and I've reached $380.  I have yet to calculate how everything was broken up, but I'm not too worried about how it all divides if it goes down just a bit.  I know you can't spend less each month, but I do aim to spend less and less until it is absolutely impossible for me to save even one more penny than what I am doing.

I told my husband this week that someday we will have enough room in our budget to splurge on things like roast beef, or quality steaks.  I love the steaks I made last night (Click here for the recipe), but they aren't comparable to a really thick and juicy steak.  They are certainly a good change from the regular ground beef though.

I am continuing to compare groceries, but it's taking me awhile.  I can't believe how long I spend in each aisle... it takes me hours in each section of each store!  I don't have a lot of time right now, as a busy mom with little kids and a husband to look after, but I'm working on it slowly.  I'll get there soon!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Highly Recommend Dave Ramsey

So as most of you know, I'm like majorly into Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and Total Money Makeover!  This stuff has changed my life.

If you have debt, or can't seem to make ends meet, you really need to go check out his site.  Dave Ramsey is about the best thing that has happened to my entire family tree!  It's not only my financial life that has drastically turned for the better, but it's my brother's and sister's, my brother's and sister's in law, it's my parents, and someday, my children! 

When I registered for the Financial Peace University course, I wasn't sure that it would do us any good.  After all, it's not like I was automatically finding a new higher paying job!  He wasn't going to come in and give me a million bucks to help me out!  I was a little skeptical, but excited as well.  I knew I was willing to do what it took, whatever that was, to make things work, and I knew he could tell me how.

On our first night of the course, my husband and I knew without any doubt that we could tackle this thing.  We could, and would!  By the end of the course, we had personally paid off over $7000 of debt!!! 

Now let's get something straight.  My husband and I are not big earners.  My husband is a drywall taper, and I am a stay-at-home mom.  One income, which I'm incredibly thankful for, that is somewhere around $45,000 a year.  In the 3 months that the course took us, we had a $1000 emergency fund set aside, and we put $7000 towards debt!! 

How?  Easy.  Or not easy.  Simple, not easy.  We cut, and I do mean cut, a LOT of spending, and sold every last thing we could think of.  It really was not easy at all, but it was worth it.  We also received our tax refund, which contributed $4000 to the debt payment.  We literally cut every last penny that we could, and I began my journey into finding ways to seriously save money.  I searched local classified ad sites for free stuff, and I sold some stuff of my own.  Slowly, we made progress.

Where are we now?  Debt free, except for our house!!!  Yeah baby!!  :D  Our house should be paid off in 23 years if we stick to the plan, but we hope to be completely debt free in 15 years.  I'd love for it to be sooner, but that will depend on how income goes.  We are currently working on getting a full emergency fund in place (3-6 months worth of expenses), and by the looks of it, that should be taken care of within the next year.

I am so thankful to Dave and his teaching, I cannot believe that I am finally out of this rut of always spending a little more than we make!  My husband and I haven't argued about money, we haven't been surprised at each other's purchases, and we haven't wished the other took more financial responsibility.  We are truly reaching Financial Peace!

We will update you here and there as we head towards the ultimate goal of being completely debt free, and building wealth.  Thanks for staying tuned, and for traveling along with us for this journey. 

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Monthly Meal Planning - My technique

 Over the last few weeks, I have been brainstorming ways to meal plan.  I hate feeling boxed into one set meal for each day, I never know what I really want until I get to about 3:00pm and have to start thinking of dinner anyways.  To have a menu means much less time thinking, but it also means much less creativity. 

I've thought of things like, what if I have company?  Or what if it's too hot outside to roast a chicken for hours in the oven?  What if it's cold and rainy, and I just want soup?  What if we are scheduled to have spaghetti and I really want perogies?

Meal planning has sounded very boring to me, something I wouldn't be able to cope with.

After giving it much thought though, and making a massive list of breakfasts, lunches, and dinners that I like to make, I came up with a plan.  I picked 35 dinners, 35 lunches, and 35 breakfasts, (yes, there were many duplicates, especially for breakfast and lunch), and wrote them out on index cards.  For dinners, I had 30 "regular" dinners, which are all fairly low-priced, and 5 special dinners that may cost a little more.  I listed the ingredients on the cards, as well as any side dishes I could choose from. I then gathered every ingredient off of those cards and created my monthly shopping list. 

I put the index cards in a small box and separated the cards into each meal.  Instead of being held to a certain meal for each day, I can now choose from the box of cards, and make meals based on what I've planned for.  I made 35 choices so that if I have guests, I can expand the meal without going short at the end of the month.  If I have no guests for meals, I'll save money next month because I'll still have some left over groceries. 

Usually, our grocery/household items bill is $600 a month.  This is broken up as follows:
  • $130 - Costco diapers, Huggies Wipes.  (Huggies wipes are the same price at Costco as the Kirkland wipes are, and I far prefer my Huggies.)
  • $100 - Goat's Milk.  (I keep this as it's own category because it's SO expensive, and my kids are allergic to cows milk, and I won't feed them soy milk.)  Sometimes we get almond or rice milk to cook with, as it's just a little cheaper than the goats milk.  We do no other diary, so no yogurt, cheese, or anything like that, unless we get goat cheese on a very special occasion.
  • $320 - Food
  • $50 - Other household groceries (paper products, cleaning products, etc.)

This month, our aim is to do the following budget:
  • $100 - Diapers etc. (Using less wipes, trying to potty train my son)
  • $80 - Goat's Milk (I've been watering it down just a little and using it less in cooking)
  • $230 - Food
  • $40 - Other household groceries

We'll see how we do, but so far, it's been pretty good!  I'm hoping to gather coupons for diapers and cash in on London Drugs coupon stacking this month as well, and that would free up some more cash.

I'll keep you all posted, we'll see how it goes!

Walmart vs President's Choice

So, dear readers, I have completed the first of many grocery price comparisons.

Edmonton Walmart vs President's Choice

After a very thorough price per unit comparison, I am surprised to say that Walmart beats President's Choice!  I'm talking about specifically The Wholesale Club items, which are said to be even cheaper than Superstore.  I was very surprised.  At least here in Edmonton, Walmart's Great Value brand, even in the lower quantities, beats PC's No Name brand for price per unit.

I expected to find that Great Value beat No Name in the smaller quantity cans and packages, but I was very shocked to find that even in the price per unit of the larger cans and jumbo sized items, Great Value still comes out on top! Some things, like large bags of cooking oats, large jugs of oil, and some frozen goods are cheaper through No Name, but Walmart has better priced frozen veggies, though not of the same wide selection.

So far, I have not done a lot of the paperwork behind the comparison, but that will come and I will prove to you that Great Value is indeed of great value. The sad thing is, some Walmart stores do not have the selection that I have access to at my local Walmart.  If your store doesn't have the canned and frozen foods, you won't be able to find these amazing deals.  I am thrilled that my local Walmart is continuing to upgrade over the next year, and will be adding produce to their inventory.  I hope to find some excellent deals in that area as well.

I have created a meal plan for the month of July, and using relatively low expense meals, I have done nearly all my grocery shopping and spent only $169!!  I need to buy some ground beef and bacon (Costco seems to be the best for these items), and possibly top up on eggs and milk as the month goes on.  But for the most part, I have cut my bill by 50% by simply shopping the cheapest place, for the store brand items, after I've made a month's food menu.

Eggs, milk, and butter are all considerably cheaper at WalMart than anywhere else I've looked.  Bread is cheaper at Wholesale Club for their $0.99 bread. They have bagels, hot dog and hamburger buns, specialty breads, English muffins, and many other types of bread all in their discount shelves, all for 99 cents.

In my opinion, once it's all weighed out, I'd give Walmart the gold medal for today's comparison.  Their logo and statement beneath is ringing true so far.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Grocery Comparison

Well, tonight I started the HUGE task of comparing prices in each grocery store near me. 

Firstly, I wrote up a list of every single grocery item that I use, with the exception of spices.  I made a huge spreadsheet on my computer, printed off a copy, and waltzed down to my local Wal-Mart for my first price records.  Ugh.  An hour later I was nearly sick of looking at the fine print on each can, writing down details such as brands, units of measurement, weight or amount, and price.  I'm sure the sales people were seriously wondering what I was doing, taking hours in each aisle! 

After 2 and a half hours, I was done!!  The "Wal-Mart"column on my spreadsheet is full!  Unfortunately, it's full on paper, filled in with furiously written chicken scratch writing.  Tomorrow I will have to take the time to transcribe it all into my laptop.

I hope to spend the next two weeks doing a massive comparison of all the grocery items in each store so that I have a better idea of where to shop for each item.  I want to know when a sale is actually a good deal, or when I could still get the product cheaper elsewhere.  I want to know what I'm paying for, and I want the confidence that I'm paying the lowest possible price!

My next stop is Safeway, then the Wholesale Club, Superstore, London Drugs, and a couple of local dollar stores.  I am not intending to check Sobeys or Save-on-Foods, as I know that most of their items are more expensive to begin with.  I will still check through their catalogs to look for special deals, but in general, their prices are not in the same category as the other stores.  Their customer service generally exceeds other stores, and their products are of high quality.  But for the purpose of this comparison, I will not spend the time in their stores.

I will post my findings once I am done.  You may hear very little from me in the next week or two as I spend a lot of time compiling my research.  I hope to pass the savings onto you as soon as possible.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Birthday savings!

My baby girl is turning 1!  (The picture is of my daughter and my husband, playing at the park.) 

When my son turned 1 year old, I probably spend $50 on presents, and other odds and ends for a fun birthday party.  I honestly don't remember what I got him, and if it's still around now, I'd be surprised! 

I know my daughter LOVES cabbage patch dolls, so I've kept my eye out for a gently used one.  I found one for $1 at a local thrift store, and it was in perfect condition!  I gave it a good cleaning, found some clothes for the doll, and wrapped it up.  We also bought a nice ball at Wal-Mart for $3, and a ball for my son (2.5 years old) to enjoy this summer as well, for another $3. 

I made a scratch cake, which was delicious, made our own ice cream, and some cookies.  We celebrated as a family, and she enjoyed every moment of it.  She loves her new baby doll, and really enjoys her ball too.  She had a wonderful birthday party, and I think she enjoyed it just as much as my son did when he was one.  her entire birthday party cost us maybe $10, and that includes presents for her and my son! 

Sometimes we get so caught up in buying the newest, flashiest, and most impressive presents, that we forget that the kid is only 1, and really, a nice heartfelt gift will make them just as happy as a brand new expensive toy.  It's just not necessary to spend a lot, especially while the are so little and won't remember it anyways.  

On another note, I ran out of Pediatric Advil last night.  My little girl has been teething this past week, and as those molars break through, she's certainly needed a little pain relief to help her to sleep peacefully. 

Before I went out to buy some, I checked out Advil's website, and was thrilled to find a $2 coupon for their Children's Advil!  Normally, the Pediatric Advil is $8, but I got it for $6.  I found a few more coupons online as well, so if I had gone to London Drugs, I could have purchased it for much less, but it wasn't worth the 15 minute drive to my nearest London Drugs.  I had another drugstore within a couple minutes, and I really needed the Advil to help her relax and sleep!  Maybe next time I will get it at London Drugs for much less- BEFORE I run out completely and am in a panic to get more. 

So I did well this week, I saved a bunch of money, and I didn't spend even more. (It's good to find sales, but even better if you are careful not to spend anything on things you don't need!)

Monday, June 14, 2010

Grocery Tip #5 - Ongoing Grocery Store Offers

My next tip isn't a totally complete tip, as I've not yet done enough research to give a full list of options.  I will give you what I have, and if you can think of something to add, add it!


Here are some of the ongoing in-store offers you can take advantage of:


Save-on-Foods :
  • 15% off your bill on the first Tuesday of every month
  • Free membership card that offers additional savings on select items
  • Redeem store points for rewards
  • Free baby gift package when there's a new baby in the family
Safeway:
  • 10% off your bill on the first Tuesday of every month, OR 10x air miles
  • Free membership card that offers additional savings on select items
  • Very recent campaign (as of June 2010) to lower prices and compete with Wal Mart
  • Air Miles members can earn points and bonus points on many items
  • Coupon mailing list online
Sobeys:
  • 10% off your bill on the first Tuesday of every month
  • Free membership card to collect points
  • Redeem points for grocery discounts at the till or rewards online
  • Convert Sobeys points to Aeroplan points
Real Canadian Superstore:
  • Online coupons
  • Often some sort of free product or gift card if you spend a specific amount ($150-$250)
  • Member points system, but I believe you need have a PC bank account or credit card in order to join.


Personally, I've found that though the first three stores have excellent quality product, friendly service, and the "cheap Tuesday" option, Superstore tends to beat their prices by a good chunk, especially if you purchase the "No Name" brand groceries.

Any other ongoing store deals that you can think of?

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Grocery Tip #4 - Make it yourself!

So one of the most recurring bits of advice I've received is to do my own cooking and baking!  I love to cook and bake, and I do most everything from scratch.  In fact, just as I sat down to write this, my oven timer went off and I had to get a couple loaves of fresh whole wheat bread out of the oven.  (I must take a moment to brag... I make the best bread ever, it comes out beautifully fluffy and soft.)

In the past two days I've done a lot of baking as the weather is unusually chilly right now.  I figured that I'd better get the freezers stocked before the summer really sets in and I feel too hot to bake.  I've done 2 doz apple-cinnamon rolls, cinnamon buns, 6 loaves whole wheat bread, puffed wheat squares, 2 doz bagels, and a bunch of granola, all in the last 2 days.

Here are some of my very favorite recipes!  (Click on the link to view the recipe)

Soft tortilla shells (they stay soft!) 
Bagels
Granola - I have changed this one to suit my family
Glazed Yeast Doughnuts
Potato Chips
Puffed Wheat Squares

That's just a few of the recipes I use regularly.  I never actually keep a recipe the same twice, I love to add bits of this and that, and change the amounts to be what looks good to me.  Things usually turn out, so that makes me happy!

What's your favorite recipe?  Thanks!

Grocery Tip #3 - Online Coupons

Grocery tip #3 is one that I started to discover some time ago.  As I mentioned before, I didn't have much luck with coupons in the past as I only saved a dollar here and a dollar there each month.  I know dollars add up, but really, I never saved more than maybe $5 in a month, and that just didn't seem worth it.

However, since I've found that London Drugs does coupon stacking, I may use these coupons to save more money now.

Here are some sites where I found great online coupons and deals!

Frugal Shopper (Excellent ideas!) - http://www.frugalshopper.ca
Brand Saver: http://www.brandsaver.ca
Brand Sampler - http://www.brandsampler.ca
Brand Sampler for men - http://www.brandsamplerformen.ca
Go Coupon - http://www.gocoupons.ca/
Coupon Click - http://www.couponclick.ca/
Flyer Land - http://www.flyerland.ca
Save.ca - http://www.save.ca
Live Well, Save Well - http://livewellsavewell.ca
Canadian Shopping Deals - http://www.canadianshoppingdeals.com/
Deal Street - http://www.dealstreet.ca
Web Saver - http://websaver.ca
Red Flag Deals - http://www.redflagdeals.com
My Savings - http://www.mysavings.com
Canadian Free Stuff - http://canadianfreestuff.com/
SC Johnson - http://www.rightathome.ca
Freebies 4 Her -  http://freebies4her.com/ (A personal favorite of mine!)
Smart Canuks - www.smartcanucks.ca
Budget101 - http://www.budget101.com/forum.php

Many store websites also have a coupon page where you can print out your coupons before going into the store.  Make sure you check your store's website for special offers, or even sign up to receive special offers by email.  Sometimes the email offers bring in useless junk mail, but if you have an email address dedicated to these offers, it won't bother you so much.

Another good place to find coupons is by going to the product website.  For example, you can find coupons for diapers at the Pampers and Huggies websites.

Do you know of any more coupon and deal sites that I may have missed or overlooked?  Let me know!

*Update on July 7, 2010
As of today, I have received a few samples in the mail which have included:
  • 2 Gillette Fusion 5 blade men's razors
  • Head and Shoulders shampoo sample
  • Pantene Pro V sample
  • Cover Girl samples
  • Gillette Body Wash Sample
  • And many, many more little things!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Grocery Tip #2 - Wholesale Club

My second grocery tip comes from another response I received from my ad on the kijiji website.




I haven't checked it out for myself yet, but I've been told that the Real Canadian Wholesale Club (www.wholesaleclub.ca) is pretty much the least expensive store for bulk items.  Pasta, large cuts of meat, cases of soup, and many other things are said to be far less expensive at the Wholesale Club than even at Superstore or Costco.

There are a few good reasons to shop at the Wholesale Club:
  • There is no membership required
  • Buy product individually, in a club pack, or by the case
  • Multi-unit discounts
  • Extended hours of operation
  • Fast Check-out
The Wholesale Club website has a page where you can print off coupons to bring into the store.

Just by glancing at their site for a few moments, I can tell you that I noticed they have their 4kg boxes of chicken breasts for nearly $10 less than I've found at Safeway, and still cheaper than I've found at Costco or Superstore.  Very interesting!

Come back for more tips!  I have many more, including a whole bunch of websites that offer coupons that you can either receive in the mail or print for yourself, depending on the site.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Grocery Budget - Tip #1 (London Drugs)

As a mom with two small kids (both in diapers) it's very difficult to keep the grocery bill down!  My "grocery" items consist of everything from diapers and wipes to baby bottles, to household groceries, to food.  Pretty much anything that can be purchased at the grocery store is part of my grocery budget.

We currently are having difficulties getting our grocery costs down past $550, even though we'd like to budget for closer to $400 each month.

I posted an ad on a local buy/sell/free board, asking for any tips on couponing and other ways to save money for groceries.  I have learned so much, I've had at least 30 responses to my request, most of them offering excellent tips and amazing advice!  I will be compiling these responses very soon, but for today, I wanted to give you possibly the most valuable tip I've received so far.



London Drugs does coupon stacking!!  That means that if I gather all my Huggies coupons, I can put them all towards one box of diapers and get it for FAR cheaper than paying for discount diapers at Costco!  I had no idea!  People are getting things for free at London drugs simply by stacking coupons!

You can learn more about the ins and outs of London Drugs coupon stacking at http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/71990-how-stack-coupons-london-drugs-beginners-guide-canada/


Before this, I was not aware of any stores that would allow more than one coupon on an item at a time.  This meant that most higher end things with a coupon were still more expensive than the store brand without a coupon.  But as I proudly cling to this new piece of advice, I shall attempt to get one free (or nearly free) item at London Drugs this month.  When I do, I'll let you know all about it!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

What about you?

So I've given a few ways of saving money so far, I'd love to hear from you now!  What are you doing today to save money?  What are some of your money-saving secrets and ideas?

Use the comments box to tell me what you think.

-Beki

Come into money? Save it!

So every year, my husband and I really look forward to doing our taxes.  At this point in time, we pretty much always get a good chunk of money back, and this year was certainly no exception.  In the past years we've had plans for that money before it even came in.  Vehicle repairs, car insurance, home renovations, it all seemed to eat that extra cash very quickly.

This year, we used a couple hundred dollars to pay off our last remaining debt (except our house) and used the rest on the mortgage.  We had an open variable rate mortgage at the time, and the majority of that money went directly to the principal.  We cut off 10 years from our mortgage with that one big payment!  It was really encouraging to know that this year we were wise with that money and actually used it to make our future brighter.

We still have all the other payments and repairs, but this time, they are already in the budget.  It sure would have been "nice" to use the cash for a vacation, or something new, but I doubt that you can find anything that will be worth 10 years of mortgage payments.

If you come into money, whether it's the government repaying your hard earned cash or something else, be wise!  Decide where it will go and stick with it.  Think about your future, not about the latest sale at your favorite store.  If you take care of your future now, it will take care of you later.

Like Dave Ramsey says, "Live like no one else so later, you can live like no one else!"

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Free Birthday Stuff!

Did you know that there are a bunch of restaurants that give you free or discounted meals on your birthday?  I have signed up for a lot of different restaurant mailing lists, and it really does pay off!

All you have to do is sign up for the Birthday Club (each restaurant has a different name for the mailing list, you'll have to do some snooping on their websites to know for sure) and print off the email coupon they send you when it's your birthday.

  • Red Robin's gives a free Gourmet Burger Meal within a week (or two?) of your birthday.
  • Dairy Queen offers buy one get one deal on blizzards.
  • Sawmill offers $25 off of your dinner bill, as long as 4 or more entree's are purchased.
  • Boston Pizza gives a free dessert or gourmet pasta within one week of your birthday. 
  • Baskin Robins - Free Birthday Ice Cream (http://www.baskinrobbins.ca/birthdayclub )
If you know of any more, let me know!  I'd love to add more to my list!

Selling Household Items

My little son Jayden is turning 3 this year and has been begging for a bike.  Well, bikes aren't exactly cheap, especially since he doesn't want a "baby bike", he wants a "real bike"!

In order to make a bit more cash to buy him a bike, I started looking through some closets and boxes of mine to see what I had stashed away.  Would you believe I still had some unopened wedding presents from 3.5 years ago??  Wow.  Well, I sold those, and a few other things I found around my house.  I found pretty candles that I never burn, kitchen accessories that I haven't ever used, and even a foot spa that I used maybe 3 or 4 times.  I sold each of those things and came out with $25.

I looked around the second hand stores and kept watching on kijiji, and finally, I found a bike for $12!  How great is that?!  I got the bike and I had enough left over to buy a new tire tube for the one flat tire it had.  Perfect!

I still need to get him a helmet, but I'm not too worried yet, he's still so young that I don't think he'll be riding on or even near the road until next summer.  For now, he just likes to look at his bike and sit on it proudly.

Today I sorted through the kids toys and found that we seriously have way too many!  Instead of selling them though, I will be giving some away for free to families who have much less than we do.  I could sell them for a few bucks and still make someone happy, but I'd rather make myself way happier by being generous.

Are you spring cleaning?  If you find things that you haven't used (or even seen) in awhile, sell them!  Making a few bucks here and there can really add up.  It may not be very much cash, but I got a great little bike second hand.  I'm sure that bike will get used WAY more than that foot spa ever did.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Save money on internet service charges!

Today I decided to do something I've not had the nerve to do before.  I asked for a better deal than what I was currently getting on our internet!

Now, Dave Ramsey talks about this in his Financial Peace University seminar, but I am a little nervous to ask for a better deal.  After all, I knew what the costs would  be when I signed up.  What right do I have to ask for a better deal?  Dave says that I not only have a right, but I have an obligation to find a better deal so I can save more money!

Shaw is currently our internet service provider, and though we haven't had any complaints, I noticed that Telus currently has an introductory offer of monthly internet service for $10!  I currently pay $46 each month for my internet, and saving a bunch of money is always something I am interested in, so the offer from Telus looked great.

I called Shaw and explained that I was just looking for ways to save money and found the offer from Telus in my search.  I mentioned that I knew Shaw was offering a similar introductory rate and asked if I could get that new rate even though I'd been with Shaw for years already.

After transferring through a couple of different people, I talked to a representative who said, "I can't give you the introductory offer, but what I can do is offer you a $23 a month rate for 6 months.  After the 6 months, your rate will go back up to $46. Would that be okay?"

I happily accepted his offer and was thrilled to be saving 50% of my internet bill ($23) each month!

Try it, it should work for you too!

-Beki

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Save Money on Steaks!

For the last couple of months, I have only bought beef that is ground in order to save some cash on our meat budget.  I was snooping around in the meet department at Costco, when I noticed that the large eye of round roasts were not that expensive.

I bought the roast, took it home, and sliced it into 3/4 inch steaks.  I got 12 decent sized steaks out of it and I used the ends for stir-fry meat!  Now, it's important to note that these aren't the most tender steaks you've ever had, but if you marinade them for a few hours prior to BBQing, they are quite tasty!  The stir fry meat was pretty tough as well, but still tasty and filling.  For the price, I won't complain!

Comparison Summary

$16.09 for a eye of round roast

6 meals of steak + 2 packs of stir fry meat = 8 meals

If you add in the cost of potatoes and veggies, you are looking at between $2 and $3 per plate for a steak dinner!  Not bad, and certainly worth the extra time it took to marinade the meat!

Sunday, May 16, 2010

The Starting Point

My husband, Steve, and I have always tried to get ahead in our finances, but came to the conclusion sometime in 2009, that we would need to make more money in order to achieve that goal. We thought we were using every last penny we earned on necessary items, and once all our needs were met, there was just nothing left to save!

In January 2010, Steve and I decided to have a fresh start to our finances, and this time, to really take control. We took a course by Dave Ramsey offered at our church called Financial Peace University, and began our journey.

Dave Ramsey lays out 7 steps to Financial Peace:

  1. Save $1000.00 for an emergency fund.
  2. Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball.
  3. Set aside 3 to 6 months of expenses in your savings account.
  4. Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement.
  5. College funding for children.
  6. Pay off home early.
  7. Build wealth and give! Invest in mutual funds and real estate.

By February of 2010, we had hashed out a budget plan which seemed to REALLY cut out pretty much anything except our bare necessities. By April, we were trimming that budget even more to make more room for saving.

We were able to easily pass through the first two steps, as we did not have to deal with a lot of debt, and now we are working on step 3.

I want to share with you a few thoughts we have and have had along our journey to financial peace. I have found many money-saving ideas, and ways to trim the budget. Please feel free to share your thrifty ideas with us as we continue to strive for Financial Peace!