Bring On The Budgets!

Like most people, I have a resolution to save our family money this year. We had a lot going on in the past few months between moving and Christmas, so now it is time to do that one thing people despise the most…create a budget. Then we have to do that other thing people despise even more…stick to it!

We have two children and we have big plans. We cannot achieve them if we have a bunch of unnecessary debt following us around. It’s more like an anchor attached to our legs, weighing us down and keeping us from enjoying the possibilities of the future.

With that said, if you follow my blog, you know I LOVE YouTube. You can find anything and everything on there. You can learn so much from professionals and those who wish to share their experiences. Learning to budget and learning to get out of debt is just one of the many subjects that I found are covered on there. One YouTuber I follow is Pennies Into Pearls which features Brittany Cooper. She shares all of her money saving hacks as well as her budget. She talks about using the cash envelope system and how to get out of debt, how to meal plan, how to save money using coupons and even how to save for a house. The best part about reading her blog or watching her YouTube channel is that she’s speaking from actual experience! She isn’t just a financial expert reading through her own book or trying to sell you on products. She is a real mom who just wanted to live the best life on a budget with her family.

I have made budgets in the past but never really stuck to them. Like in most cases…life happens. Things I never expected would come up and throw everything out the window. Once in a while we get credit card happy. We forget to pay a bill and get hit with a fee. So many things would get in the way of coming up with and executing our budget. It is even harder when this budget is shared by your spouse. You have no control of that other person and what they are doing sometimes! But this time, I wanted to do it all differently and be honest with myself and I wanted my husband to be a willing participant too.

First I RESEARCHED. I searched for budget plans and debt relief structures. Through all of my research I found the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover. I watched YouTube videos on how to get started and I decided that this was going to be our plan. I bought the book (which I realized you don’t need because it is literally all over YouTube and blogs) and signed up for some weekly emails. I went to Pennies Into Pearls’ blog and downloaded her budget tracker (which you NEED in your life). I had our bank account opened on my lap top, our credit card and medical bills laid out and I just started taking the “baby steps” to financial freedom.

It’s going to be hard. I’m not going to lie. I am not drowning in debt right now, I’m simply swimming in it, but that’s as far as I want to go. I am tired of my husband and I not being accountable for every dollar spent. For throwing our hard earned money away on frivolous things each month and forgetting about it. I’m sure most people are. This is the hardest part of this journey…being honest.

So the next step is…you guessed it! BEING HONEST! In past budgets I just kind of made it up as I went along. I would estimate payments or due dates. I realized quickly from Brittany Cooper that you have to account for every dollar…down to the penny or else the system will not work for you. Being honest with yourself and your spouse about you're spending habits is the hardest part of this journey because it is the most eye opening/embarrassing. If you look at your bank statements, you will be shocked to see how much of that money goes to eating out or on food at the grocery store. Without a budget or a meal plan, you have nothing keeping you on track or accountable. You swipe your debit or credit card and voila! Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served…until it’s 7pm on a Wednesday night and you didn’t take anything out for dinner so you order pizza or go to the store and you swipe, swipe, swipe! Over $500.00 for the month disappears just like that.

After you’re done being ashamed of yourself for all of this nonsensical spending, you have to be REALISTIC. Be real! How much do things cost and when are they due? Meal plan. Come up with two week’s worth of meal ideas (yes, breakfast and lunch too-it will help). Shop grocery sales on meat or veggies. Eat what you have in the house and freezer before you shop. Make your meals a head of time if you’re super busy or look for crock pot or one pot meals to save on time. Then price out how much it will realistically cost for you to make these meals. Sit down with a flyer or with Shoprite’s app and plug in the ingredients you need and how much they cost. Then you will know how much that meal will always run you! Make sure you plan a meatless meal (like pasta night or pancake breakfast) and a leftovers day where you literally eat whatever is left over from the week (I enjoy this day on Sundays). This will help with your grocery budgets and it will help you come up with new, creative dishes for your family.

The next step is to BE PREPARED. When following Dave Ramsey’s plan, he urges you to have a “rainy day fund”. The goal is to save enough money to keep you afloat for 3-6 months (6 being the ultimate goal) should you go through an emergency or life event that prevents you from working. If you’re drowning in debt however, this is something that will build up in time so he suggests starting small with $1,000.00 in your rainy day fund. This way, if your car needs a new tire or you need a house repair, you have something to use that isn’t a credit card. Once you have that, you can begin managing the debt and bills you have.

Here comes the next step; CASH IS KING. Ramsey and Brittany also highly recommend the “cash envelope system”. This is the part I am most interested in because I never carry cash on me. I’m a part of a generation of swipers. Gas? Swipe. Movies? Swipe. Bagel with butter? Swipe. Before I know it, I’m missing $50.00 and I don’t even realize it’s gone until I decide to look up my account. With the envelope system, you have your categories budgeted out, but instead of keeping that money in your bank account (where you are more likely to spend it without noticing) you have it on you, in cash and like Ramsey says “when you’re done…you’re done!”. That is it! There are only a few categories he suggests doing this for. Your regular utilities and credit card payments will be done online. But your gas, tolls, groceries, entertainment…that should all be done using cash. From what I’ve read and heard, this will be the hardest part because you cannot cheat! If you budget $25.00 for groceries for the week but you picked out $30.00 worth of food, $5.00 in groceries has to be put back. This is to ensure you will not overspend and it will make you more aware of just how much everything costs and how much money you throw away on items. 

I’m going to be honest. I’m at the baby steps stage where I have our emergency fund and our real budget completed. Now it’s the time to meal plan and get the cash envelopes ready and I am nervous/excited. I have no idea how hard this may be or if it will be easy. I also have my husband on board which is another must when it comes to budgeting. It won’t matter how hard I work on this if my husband doesn’t follow the plan or if he cheats. 

I am looking forward to just paying off some credit card bills and to have a nice chunk of savings, especially for my children. This resolution is something I fail at every year because I just didn’t have any guidelines to follow in order to succeed. I would also feel anxiety when it came to money. I could never imagine looking at credit card statements or grocery bills last year and feeling anything but panic. Now, I see them and I know everything is manageable. I know there are people out there who are burdened by student loans or credit cards or house payments and can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. I know because at some point we have all been there. I know we are luckier than most in a lot of ways, but anyone can change their habits with a little help. I actually think Ramsey’s book would have the most impact in a high school class. If teenagers knew how credit cards and student loans worked, they would probably be less likely to abuse them.

Having explained a little of what I’ve learned about budgeting, I’m looking forward to seeing how this system works for me and my family. I’m sure we will have hiccups or set back because life keeps on happening but for the first time in a long time, I’m not ashamed or afraid to talk about money. I’m not burdened by our debt or achieving our financial goals and it feels pretty good!

So if anyone is looking to try a different approach to budgeting and saving money…check out Dave Ramsey’s The Total Money Makeover and definitely head over to Brittany Cooper’s blog and get a peak at just how helpful this girl is!  http://www.penniesintopearls.com