I haven’t talked budget or our family’s finances on my blog in quite awhile, and that is going to change this month.
My husband and I sat down this morning, went over our current financial situation (Good), and made some changes to do even better. The end result is that every dollar in my husband’s paycheck has a name. There’s only $.15 leftover, though I’m not sure why we didn’t include that. Probably something psychological?
We also set a goal of paying my husband’s car off early. With the new plan we’ll pay the car off in just over 16 months instead of 27. However, we plan to put extra money towards the car payment in addition to the extra payment. In fact, today, I was able to send in a payment that was more than the monthly amount. Our current loan total is: $6,698.51.
I have another challenge going with my frugal sister-in-law. Since we need a new sofa (long story), I am saving $500 in 3 months to pay cash for the sofa. To achieve this goal, I am setting aside $40 out of our weekly grocery budget. We just stocked up in 2 large grocery trips, plus we have food from the garden in the freezer, and plenty in the pantry. We’ll have $70 weekly for milk, cream, fresh fruit and veggies, plus cash to put towards the next stock up trip.
Why the changes? It’s good to assess our financial situation on a regular basis and make changes where needed. With the economy still doing abysmally poor, and not getting better any time soon, we need to make sure our financial house is in order. That means paying off all debt on time or early. Currently we have a mortgage, home equity loan, and a car loan. Getting the car loan paid off frees up money to pay off the mortgage and home equity loan.
To stay motivated, I’ll be posting weekly updates on Fridays. Think of it as “Frugal Friday” here at A Life in Balance.
Because I love meeting new people and sharing, this post is linked to:
Frugal Friday at Life as Mom, Thrifty Thursday at My Coupon Teacher, and Thrifty Thursday at Thrifty and Fabulous
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Barb! So nice to meet you and thanks so much for sharing your link on my post. It’s always encouraging to read how other people are doing and what steps they are taking to live, not only within their means, but below! Good stuff. I look forward to reading more from you in the future and hope you’ll link up your progress again next month when I report. Blessings!
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Thank you for writing this! We currently have a mortgage and a car loan and are trying just survive!Can’t count the number of times we’ve revamped our budget….thanks to your post I think it’s time to do it again,lol.
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I need to start doing this! I am so bad with budgeting but I am in a situation where I need to get better! I will definitely be coming back for tips.
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It’s time for us to re-do this as I just resumed working full time!
Thanks for the nudge!
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I always grew up with a budget as my father was budget king,but while I’ve tried to establish one with my husband he never really had one so it’s tough. We have a mortgage, home equity loan, and unfortunately some credit card debt as well. Ugh. At least the past couple of years we have made some changes so it’s helping. We’re trying to get back on track. Congrats for doing so well with budgeting.
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I need to do this. We always just wing it. We pay cash for everything. We love it! In the end tho…..we have no idea where anything went! It is chaos!
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It has taken us a long time to get to this point, and I feel like we’re stepping out in faith by putting a name on every dollar. I will be honest, and say that I’m keeping a balance of $150 in the main checking account just in case anything happens.
I’m the driving force on the budget in our marriage. My dh is fine with my handling the money, though I am working on the habit of reviewing every thing with him just in case something should ever happen. He grew up with excessive spending and calls from creditors. He’s very happy that we don’t have that. LOL
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I love this idea of naming your dollars! I swear there are times when I have more week than money. I think if I really get serious about my money and budget I can relax and get it together.
Thanks for the ideas.
-r
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I love this post! I think we will try naming every dollar. That is pretty smart. Hubby and I actually survived on one car while I saved for my car. Hard but worth it.
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