Trading cute for clunky.

Last week, Caleb and I had a serious talk about our finances. We kind of went off the deep end the last few months. We've basically agreed to never look at our bank statements from this summer again because it will just make us sick (I literally felt physically ill after seeing how much miscellaneous spending we did). As embarrassing as it is to admit, I'm going to put it out there because that's just life.

However, there is no sense in beating ourselves up over something we can't change now. So we asked ourselves how we could get back on track? The overwhelmingly obvious answer for us was going back to using cash only (for things like groceries, personal spending, gifts, groceries and a miscellaneous envelope for the random necessities that come with life throughout the year - haircuts, new shoes when ours wear out, oil changes, etc.!).

We used to pay for everything with cash a bit after getting married, and it was just awesome. At some point last year we gave ourselves too much credit and thought we could go back to using our debit cards and our spending wouldn't be affected but BOY were we wrong. So, I visited Dave Ramsey's site and found two Deluxe envelope systems for HALF THE PRICE and jumped on it. I asked Caleb what he thought and we both agreed it would help us get back on track.

We received them in just a couple of days! Sunday we switched our wallets over and haven't looked back!

Sure, the wallet is a little too big for a guys back pocket...but Caleb takes a gym bag to work every day so he just keeps it in there, and half the time we go out for dates I end up carrying his wallet in my purse anyway so it works for us.

Someone at work asked me this week how my "granny wallet was going?" and I couldn't help but laugh. I know she was totally kidding and my response was "its clunky and uncomfortable BUT so is debt!!", ha! So true, isn't it? The wallet has a few spots for cards, a plastic sleeve for coins, the envelope system itself, extra envelopes for on the go, a notepad and a checkbook holder. I'm kind of obsessed.

We pulled out our cash from the bank, wrote our envelope categories out and have stuck with it all week, I actually haven't even touched my personal spending envelope for the week! Woo! Our debit cards haven't been swiped once, either! It feels great because I know a typical week for me would've consisted of hitting up Kroger on my lunch break for random work snacks that I don't need, traipsing the aisles for more stuff I don't need, etc.!

Caleb and I just have some pretty big goals for ourselves in the next year (like potentially buying a home!!) and want to set ourselves up to be debt free by the time that happens. Sure we may have gotten a little off track (or a lot), but all that matters is we're changing that NOW! Cash is king, friends!

Have a great Thursday!

How to save $1,000 really, really fast.

Caleb and I have been pretty aggressive as of the first of the year, and are finally down to ONE loan...albeit, a big, fat, honking' loan, but still...ONE loan!!!! I'm thinking back to just a few months ago when taxes were due and we had pretty much depleted more than our "emergency savings" fund because we were new to this irregular income thing. Luckily we've become a lot more responsible now and save for those throughout the year ;) BUT I wanted to share how important it is to have a savings as your backup.

It's so nice to have an emergency savings - because when something DOES come up (whether its a car issue, an appliance that needs repaired, etc.), you're pretty much covered. Because trust me....something WILL eventually happen, which means you won't have to turn to any credit cards with crazy high interest rates! WOO! If you've always lived paycheck to paycheck, it can seem nearly impossible to save up $1,000 fast, but trust me, you can do it! Dave Ramsey suggest $1,000 for married couples, or $500 for singles. We keep ours at a separate bank so we're not tempted to touch it, but that's not necessary. Here are just a few ways to help:

-Cancel your cable, or just downgrade your package. That'll easily save you around $100/mo.

-Quit your daily/weekly Starbucks/Dunkin trips. Trust me, you don't need it. This can save you over $100+/mo! I actually know people who go to their favorite coffee shops daily on their commute to work (aka nearly every co worker at my firm)! It blows my mind. I love a cup of sugary goodness every now and then but, daily?! Too much!

-Stop the Target trips. Trust me, ladies, before we got married, I was used to dropping $30-50/trip - EASY! Save yourselves gas and time, and don't go until your savings is up, or unless you actually need something (easier said than done, I know!!).

-Sit down and do a monthly budget. Look at where you spent your money last month, and cut out unnecessary spending!

-If you have talents, use them to your advantage. That's how my photography gig got started. Come up with a price point, and see if people are interested! You never know until you try. If you're into photography like me, a couple shoots here and there and you're set with a new portfolio to show off!! If you're a designer, start working with bloggers or businesses! Find what you're good at and share it with the world! It'll pay off!

-Pack your lunch! It really adds up, and can be so tasty (and usually healthier)!!


-Sell your crap! You've probably got clothes you can sell to a local consignment shop, junk you can get rid of in a yard sale, etc.!

-Carpool with friends when you go to dinners/work/etc. Paying for gas is never fun.

These might be obvious to some, but implementing them is so important, if you want to succeed! Pick one, or a few, and see how much extra money you're able to save!!! Caleb and I can't even wait to be out of debt, we know that saving our 3-6 months of emergency savings will be even easier when we don't have debt tying us down. I can't wait to get there!! Just a few months to go.

Hope everyone has a great Thursday!!

ONE MORE LOAN!

Moving brain is a real thing, guys. Something totally slipped my mind and I don't think I ever wrote about it. WE PAID OFF OUR 3RD LOAN!!!!!! We only have one more to go (although its pretty large), and this is how we feel about it...

 We have been working really hard and it felt so great to wipe it out. I know that only having one more loan left to pay off will motivate us like never before. We're dedicated, have our eyes on the prize, and can't wait for what our future will look like, debt-free!!!!!

It feels so great to be married to a man who shares all my same views. Not only on politics, but when it comes to our money. Sure, we'll still have a little fun here and there, and when we do, we'll use cash! We have the same goals in mind, and know that above all else - we want to be able to bless others like CRAZY someday. So watch out loan #4, we're comin' for ya!

In other news, we're finally feeling like we're getting settled in our new place. We've even hung a few things on our wall, are doing laundry regularly again (thank goodness), and its really beginning to feel like home. Next item on our agenda? Find a reasonably priced dining room table!!

Happy Tuesday, friends!

2 loans down, 2 to go!

Yesterday I mentioned something very exciting happened on Saturday and that I'd fill you guys in today. A little back story first...

This is the year that Caleb and I got more serious about paying off debt. A few days into the new year we were able to pay off loan #1 (which rocked)! Then we had to pay a LOT in taxes from our first full year of (partial) self employment, and things got a little crazy. It was then time to move onto loan #2 - which was our used car we bought last Fall. We had been putting money away, and putting money away for months, and then paying bills, and paying more bills and finally, we had set aside enough on Saturday to.....
PAY OFF OUR CAR!!!!! Ceellleeebraaate goood timesss, come onnnn!

insert dance party photo!

I can't tell you how good it felt to walk out of that bank with a "paid off" receipt in my hand. It probably won't feel REAL until we see the legit title in our mailbox, but regardless...I'm a happy girl to have two loans finally paid off!

It really hit me this week how much extra income we will have once we're debt free. I know last year I spoke more about becoming debt free but its really hitting me now the kind of future we can set ourselves up for by having NO debt.

I'm also learning more and more that this is kind of a "weird" way to live...co workers look at me like I have 3 heads when I tell them I cant go out to lunch w/ them again because I only have $10 in cash to spend for the week! & you know what? I kind of love that. It's also encouraging that we have SO many people in our lives who have such amazing success stories. Remember Sallie & Perkins?! Then our friends Josh + Marie...as well as multiple couples from church. They are all living like NO ONE ELSE because they chose to live like NO ONE ELSE for a little while.

This year has been stressful, tiring, and insanely exhausting to say the least, and being in the midst of this pay-off kinda sucks sometimes, but now I'm treating it like a game. How fast can we pay off our bigger loan #3?! I want to impress myself! So now we're buckling down even more so that by next year? We'll be debt free and can have more freedom...& we can't freaking wait. Thanks for all your wisdom, Dave Ramsey!

NOW? On to loan #3!!!!

Cash vs Cards

One way that Caleb and I keep our spending down (like crazy) is by carrying cash. When I tell people this, they usually think we're crazy. Now there is no right or wrong way to pay for things! We'd just rather save up and pay for something we really want in cash, than be in more debt to someone. I have a tall, red wallet from Dave Ramsey just like the one below...and its incredibly organized. Everyone is different, but we keep our envelopes in four sections; Groceries, Fun, Tithe, and Gas. I'll keep my debit card sometimes for gas, but I notice when there is cash in my checking account, I'll try to spend it.

So why do we believe in using cash only?

It's emotional. Spending $4 at Starbucks doesn't hurt near as bad when I use my debt card, because I don't see the money physically coming out of my bank. When I use my $20 bill that I give myself once, maybe twice a month...I don't want to break that bill. I think twice about what I spend because once its gone, its GONE. 

It speaks louder than a credit card. When Caleb and I made our first big finally-married purchase together (our couches), we were paying with cold, hard, CASH. We weren't financing, we weren't talking about interest rates, and we definitely weren't going in debt over it...having cash in hand helped get us about $300 off the total, and guess what? It was actually OURS when we took them home, not "until we paid it off".

It's convenient. Sometimes I'll run into a gas station just for a $2 pop, and they won't accept a debit card on purchases under $5, etc...so every now and again, those situations pay off to have cash.

It makes you feel awesome. When you can decide that you're going to SAVE for something, and not just charge it to a card because you think you deserve it...it gives you a different outlook. You have a sense of accomplishment when you can EARN something and say you paid for that in full. No strings attached, no interest rates, no worrying about minimum payments, etc.

Some people will never agree with this method of thinking...and you know what? That's alright. Just because it works for us, doesn't mean its the ONLY way to live. Now, don't get me wrong...we still use our debit card, but keep in mind, that's coming straight out of our BANK account. Obviously, we plan to have a mortgage someday, but we'd like to save a huge down payment first - so we aren't stuck in an apartment for life! ;)

I do have to say, stalking Etsy for cuter "cash envelopes" gets me pretty darn excited. #nerdalert Like this one;

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Or to go the cheaper route (which I recommend) you can order directly off Dave's website and get paper envelopes that fit inside a long wallet, like me!

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Or buy these cute little printable dividers!

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Whatever you decide to do...or are already doing, just be sure it works for you! :) do any of you use cash only for certain purchases?

Goodbyeee debt.

This is a story about us, our money, and a HUGE reality check.

Literally just a few days after we got back from our honeymoon, we sat down at our dinner table with an Iron Man notebook, pen in hand...and all of our student loan paperwork in front of us. We didn't want to talk about it, but it was time. Time to talk about that awful, dreaded D word. Debt.

We'd both taken Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, TWICE in the last year...and were waiting until after we got married (since we had that whole wedding-thing to pay for) to implement it in our lives for real.

We took a deep breath, and whipped out the calculator.
I just knew how much debt we had.....

or so I thought. We put it down to the PENNY, and the outstanding balance I saw in front of us made me nearly sick to my stomach. I was angry. So angry that I wanted to scream. It was in that moment we decided not to let our debt consume us forever, and that we also would NOT spend 15 years paying these off.
We set a tough goal... 2 years. In two years we want to pay off EVERYTHING we owe. It's a lot of money...but I know we can do this.

So what does this mean? BABY STEPS! Following A REAL budget. Like...a zero balanced budget, with pen and paper. If I don't tell my money where to go, it would tell ME where it was going (trust me, if I had a dollar for every Chickfila run I've ever made...I'd be rich). We took a step back and started first thing in June, looking at how much extra money we had at the end of each week that we NORMALLY would've spent...it was amazing and disgusting at the same time.

Part of Dave Ramsey is using cash, for everything. So, we did just that. It's called the "envelope system". Luckily, I've never owned a credit card in my life...so I never had the fun time of slicing them up with an oversized pair of scissors...but Caleb did. When we got engaged, he cut his up like an overgrown fern and quickly paid his off.

We give ourselves a small "play fund", and we also have a grocery fund, a gas fund, and a tithe fund.

Speaking of groceries...Caleb introduced me to Aldi  last month. HOLY COW. You're missing out if you haven't been yet. Everything is cheap...like dirt cheap. I am addicted.

Baby step 1) Save $1,000 up for your emergency fund. Your emergencies won't seem quite as bad when you're prepared for them, trust me. Oh, you mean I have the $500+ for that dreadful car repair?! Awesome!

Baby step 2) -- what we are currently working on. Paying off ALL our debt with DR's "debt snowball"...we'll be stuck on this one for a while, but we're at least working on it!

Caleb and I are getting intense about this, like gazelle intense (watch that, seriously!)! In the weirdest way, it gets me so pumped.

So what are we doing to pay off so much debt in so little time?
-We currently have the most basic internet plan possible.
-Eating pb&j's for lunch/dinner more often than we'd like.
-We plan to start car pooling to work to save gas.
-We have no cable, thanks Hulu!
-Caleb's working OT at work
-I'm picking up extra photography jobs where I can.

Somehow, its sickeningly fun getting free lunches at work, scoring a free sample, finding a new way to lower our monthly expenses, etc. Not spending money on ourselves is a huge money saver as well. We both pack lunch nearly every day...and what keeps me going? I know this isn't forever, its only temporary.

Proverbs 22:7; The rich rule over the poor, the borrow is slave to the lender.

Dave's main line; Live like no one else now, so you can LIVE (and give) like no one else later. I can't imagine when I have wealth and am able to rock someone's world with my giving. That has to be the greatest gift of all. To HELP people.

I know...I'm a total nerd and you all had no idea. But seriously--this stuff will CHANGE YOUR LIFE. Take my word for it. Think about if you saved all the $$ you spent at Target, Starbucks, or your favorite clothing store...just how much $$ you'd really have, and how little debt you'd have left to pay off.

I'm so excited to post about our progress...along with these posts, I plan on doing a "Cheap Date" series. You won't want to miss it ;)

Staaay tuuuned.