Celebration...

Just wanted to share with you guys how successful the envelopes system has been for us. We have started using the little leather wallet that has different envelopes for different expenses and (surprise) it works! For the past 3 weeks we have budgeted every single dollar from each of my paycheks and Jess's income and then we fund our envelopes based on our allocated budget. We have pretty much not strayed from this system with the exception of taking from one envelope and giving to another. We have also been able to feed ourselves (all six of us) on about $100 to $120 worth of groceries a week (we do set aside $50 for eating out and entertainment on the weekends). We had one set back this week, but I don't really consider it a set back. We had saved about $300 for our emergency fund when our vacuum burned out. It literally started smoking. For those of you who don't know, Jess does janitorial work on the side, so a good vacuum is a necessity for this business. We had to go out and purchase a $230 vacuum and dig into our emergency fund. While some might consider this a loss, I was excited that we had the CASH to pay for this unexpected expense. NO CREDIT NECESSARY! I will also be able to fully fund our emergency fund on the 16th of next month (we should get a bonus at the company I work for around then).

I am actually pretty excited in how we have made some life changes through all this so far. We have stopped eating out during the week (which both saves us money and saves my arteries), and we have been able to agree on our budget and stick to it. The Nerd (Jess) is excited because she gets to budget out our dollars and it is actually working this time, while the Free Spirit (Yours Truly) is excited because we get to put aside money for eating out and entertainment and we don't have to feel guilty about using it the way we want. We have not missed a bill payment or bounced a check through all of this and the envelope system has also given us a peace because we know the money is going to be there. There really are no surprises - at least in terms of whether the money will be there or not, because we know what we have left to spend for each category of expense.

I have a couple other things I'd like to share with you, but they will have to wait until this weekend. God bless and talk to you soon.

Chris

Jess's perspective

For those of you who know us I am sure you were surprised to hear I am the money nerd in our family. I think a lot of that is because I grew up in a home where we didn't always know where our next meal was coming from, much less have any kind of financial peace. I began working at 12 years old in the family window cleaning business in order to help out my parents. By 14 I had my first "real job" at a skating rink 20 plus hours a week. I've had control issues with money and a strong need make sure everyone is taken care of for as long as I can remember.

Chris is much more relaxed with money than I am. I get all tied up in knots about it. I have to have MY plan and know what's going on and know where all the money is going at all times! Chris wants the bottom line and doesn't care as much about the whys and how's that got us where we are. We both tend to impulse shop and we have never planned for the unexpected. For those of you who don't know us... we are famous for the unexpected. So now it seems ridiculous to both Chris and I that we've never had an emergency fund. Jordan and I are responsible for draining us financially when it comes to unexpected medical expenses. In the past 2 years I've had a tonsillectomy, broken arm and a brown recluse bite. Where as Jordan has had a concussion, knocked two teeth loose and chipped 2 others.

I think what makes Chris and I so different is how we look at our spending, because in all honesty we have both fallen into the trap of impulse shopping. For example if I find the kids shampoo on sale "buy one get one free" at HEB, I will stock up with enough for about 4 months even though I hadn't planned on that expense. Then I will go through my grocery list and try and cut it down to make up for the extra money I spent on shampoo. If I can't cut enough money I rationalize my spending by the saying that I am saving us money in the long run and the next three months I won't have to spend any money on kids shampoo. If we eat out on a day we didn't plan to or buy something not on our budget I immediately think of where that money is going to come from and how to make up for that new expense. I'm always looking for ways to save a buck. I turn the AC off during the day in the summer, no lights are EVER left on in an unused room, and there is no need for a heater in Corpus Christi unless the temperature drops below 40. Chris is the free spirit because he doesn't care if it costs us and extra $10 bucks. He wants a warm/cool (comfortable) house. He says "I've already had Whataburger 3 times this week and it won't hurt to pay for one meal at full price. :) He is a bottom line guy when it comes to the budget. Are the bills up to date? Do we have money the bank? Then it's not a big deal. He lives more in the moment. Where I spend 2 days looking for car insurance so that we get the best deal out there. He sees comfort and time as a higher priority than saving $10 a month. He wants to bless his family and give us whatever we need. If I've had a long day he offers to get take out as soon as he comes in from work. If a new Disney movie comes out that the kids really want to see he buys it for them. If there is someone in need he will write a check right there on the spot... while I'm still trying to figure out if we "can afford it"! When we are in financially hard times he is able to relax and know God will provide.... while I'm in the corner FREAKING OUT! :)

There are great blessings to both the Free Spirited Chris and the Nerd Jess. FPU is really teaching us to embrace who we are and work together to budget realistically. Budget for eating out while I'm delivering a baby and then the following night once I get home and I've missed a night of sleep. Now we are both trying to learn how to plan for the unexpected (Jordan and Jess injuries) by having an emergency fund. I love how detailed the Gazelle budget software is. It's helped me plan for things I wouldn't have remembered or even thought of and hopefully begin to strictly stick to our budget! If you haven't already checked it out yet I highly recommend it. If you aren't going through the financial peace university you can buy the same software at Dave Ramsey's website www.mytotalmoneymakeover.com

Jess

Nugget of wisdom...

Have to throw this out there as well before I forget. When we first started going to Oso Creek several years back our very first life group leader dropped a giant nugget of wisdom in our lap. We only had one child at the time and he was probably around 1. That leader said something like this, "Make sure you discipline your children because someone in this life is going to. Whether it is the world, the law, or you." Wow. That is the truth. If I don't discipline my kids, somebody else will do it for me at some point. That could be a teacher at school or Judge Vargas at the county court house.

I bring this up because I think this discipline spills over into the financial world as well. Right now, Jess and I are being disciplined by VISA and Pizza Hut.

I have to admit that until recently I hadn't given much thought to how to teach my kids what it means to be a responsible steward of the money that we have. Honestly I have thought more along the lines of being responsible with the things that we buy with the money God gives us after we buy them, not necessarily how we spend the money (as long as we get that tithe check in the offering plate, right?) I know Jess and I try to teach our kids many things by setting the example and I do believe that is one of the best and most effective ways to teach things, and yet I see us failing miserably in this department when it comes to $$$!!

I wonder if I am alone in this. Have you given much thought into how to teach your child how to be a good steward with the money that comes into his/her life? I would love to hear your thoughts on all this.

Nerd or Free Spirit?

So here we are, already into the 3rd week. We don't have $1000 put away yet, but we are working on it. As a matter of fact we put together a workable budget for this next month and included a big chunk of it to go to our emergency fund. I know we posted our quickie budget previously, but that left a lot of people confused. I had more people come up to give me a hard time about the money we spent on entertainment. That heading actually included a few other miscellaneous things, so we don't really go that hog wild each month. I'll leave that up there for now as a record of where we started in all this.

So the question came up this week - are you a Nerd or Free Spirit? I'll bet you think you have Jessica and I all figured out if you know us. Jessica is the wild and crazy one who rarely turns down a dare and longs for the day when we will finally buy a Harley (not until all the kids graduate in case you were wondering). I am the "accountant" who once worked in a church and now work for the finance & analysis department of one of Texas's largest quick serve restaurant chains.

I bet you're thinking that Jess is the free spirit and I am the nerd. In almost every other situation you would be correct - but for some reason when it comes to money we switch hats. She is the nerd who has to build the spreadsheet - which takes her hours by the way because she refuses to learn how to do it in excel. She does the whole thing manually in microsoft word. Our budget committee meeting took a really really long time.

I am the free spirit. Most of the time she will put together a budget and I will bash it because I don't think it's right and I have my shiny degree to back me up. I mean, I don't tell her how to deliver babies, right? My problem is that when it comes to money, I plan the best case scenario because under my superior leadership we should be able to achieve the best case. (At least I think it is my problem. You'll probably have to check the posted comments to see what Jess thinks- and yes, Jess, that is an invitation).

And then something goes wrong and we don't. Usually that something going wrong starts out with one of us saying, "I only left the room for a second and then Jordan _____". You can fill in the blank. I know I have used that joke a lot lately, but I really have been saying that phrase pretty often. By the way, Jordan is our 4-year-old going on 21. He is a giant for his age and for most of his life his bumps have had bumps.

My initial reaction is usually to blame her, but most of the time it is not her fault, it is just life that gets in the way. If we had our emergency fund fully funded, 9 times out of 10 we probably could have avoided all of this mess. But we are not there yet.

So we finally had our budget committee meeting and came up with a workable budget. The nerd prepared it, the free spirit modified it, and we both agreed on it. I am going to track what we budgeted in my next post and then at the end of the month I will show you what we actually spent.

If you haven't checked out the online materials that come with the course, now is a great time. There is a program called the "Gazelle Budget" that even my microsoft word loving spouse decided to try. And she loved it.

That's all for now.

Chris

This made me laugh...

If you have a chance - check out this link. You'll probably have to see a commercial, but there is a funny sketch after it that sums up most of Americas problem with money (or at least mine).

http://video.aol.com/partner/hulu/saturday-night-live-dont-buy-stuff/nJL3iSCZ9KOP1d3-9QnyRYw9R19ihanU

Don't be shocked explanation

So there is all of our dirty laundry. We have stacked up about $17k in different kinds of debt (not including student loans). The majority of it was as a result of a job change. I took about a $10- $15k pay cut when I moved from HB Turbo to Whataburger. Despite the pay cut, I knew that I had to move on for my family's sake and for the sake of my walk with Christ. I waited for a little over a year to get promoted at my new job and finally started to pay off debt instead of accumulate it. And that - in a nutshell - is how we got into this mess!

I will try and make our quickie budget fit the blog a little better when I have some more free time.

Thanks,

Chris

Don't Be Shocked!

The Basic Quickie Budget
		Monthly		Payoff		How Far		Type of
Item		Total		Total		Behind		Account
Giving		575.00
Saving
Housing
	First Mortgage	1,403.00		$163,000.00		current		5.50%
	Second Mortgage
	Repairs/Mn. Fee
Utilities
	Electricity	190.00
	Water	80.00
	Gas	-
	Phone	74.00
	Trash
	Cable	60.00
	*Food	600.00
Transportation
	Car Payment
	Car Payment
	*Gas & Oil	200.00
	*Repairs & Tires
	Car Insurance	22.00						Safeco
Clothing
Personal
	Disability Ins.
	Health Insurance
	Life Insurance
	Child Care
	*Entertainment	360.00						Mostly Eating Out
Other Misc.
	Visa	100.00		5,600.00		current		Credit Card
	Teachers CU	356.00		$9,900		current		Cons. Loan
	Care Credit	140.00		1,400.00		current		0% Dental CC
	HH Loans	105.00		7,500.00		current		Student Loan
	AES	152.00		33,000.00		current		Student Loan
Total Monthly Necessities		4,417.00