We have been on somewhat of a budget lately, thanks to Andres' fascination with Dave Ramsey, a financial guru that he listens to on the radio. Even though I am slightly sick of hearing Dave Ramsey's name, I have to say that his principles are working for us. We have put close to $2500 away in savings for when I am out on FMLA and I have to admit that it feels good to not even miss the money that we are putting away every time we get paid. We always make sure to pay ourselves first and then focus on the important bills, and then we pay the not so important bills (cable and DSL). We've also been eating at home a lot more often lately, and I was telling Andres that my mindset has changed from a couple of months ago. Whenever we were ready to eat dinner, I would always think, what are we going to go out and buy for dinner? Now I think, what are we going to go home and cook for dinner? We still splurge a little bit whenever we have a little bit of extra money, but it hasn't been nearly as bad as what we were like a few months ago. I would always stress out about paying the bills and I think what stressed me out and angered me was that Andres didn't really take notice of what we were spending money on. I handled the bills, and he would complain about where the money was going. When I would tell him to check the bank account, he would get very stressed out and not want to deal with it which would make me not want to deal with it. It helps that we are on the same page now and working towards our financial goals together.
A budget is not something you put off. When we do our budget, it helps us stay on track. In the past, I have written about getting off track but even during those times a budget kept us from going overboard. This time around we kept putting it off and putting it off and just kept spending without a plan. This laziness has hurt us and it pushes us further away from our goals. When we got paid on the15th, we did pretty good and had some extra cash in our envelopes at the end of the two weeks. This paycheck, I know we have spent more than we brought in and had to go tap into savings for non-emergencies. When this happens, it feels like I have let my family down. I am the one who is going to set the example for my children and their money. I could always just spin it and tell them that this is an example of what not to do. I know the habits that we are supposed to have that will make this work. It starts with making the budget. Duh! It needs to be done in order to make the money behave. W...
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