Our total money makeover thus far.

We've been doing a written budget and using an envelope system for two and half months now. I was really worried at the beginning, that my wife would end up hating the system. The fact that there were limits on everything to do with money. We had never really had limits before. We paid all our bills, and what money we had left we just bought what we wanted to. We ate out frequently, took kids to movies, and was in the middle of a large addition on our house that we were paying for as we went.

Now we only eat out a couple times a month, and not the same places that we went before. Good places to eat, but cost less. I think we have gone to one movie since we started our money makeover. And the renovation on the house has slowed down considerably. There are some weeks were we can't work on the house, because we have to wait for next months budget.

On the flip side, we have paid extra on our debts. Our bank accounts are 3 times larger due to money saved for vacation, house insurance, property taxes, gift giving, clothes, and future Pet Medicine. Expenses we might have had to scramble to get the money for if we weren't saving. Our Total Debt (that includes the house) has changed $4500 in the first two months.

We each have our own Blow money, so we can purchase items gilt free, and not have to convince the other to buy something. I personally take my lunch to work, and try not spend my blow money on sodas, candy, and chips at work. I have been saving back over half my blow money every month so that the child inside me can buy a toy some day. Not sure what my wife does with hers, but that's not my concern.

I asked my wife the other day what she thought of the budget and our new money system. She said that she doesn't mind it a bit. She said it hasn't been that big of a change for her. After talking with her, I feel like she is happy with the process, and realizes the benefits we are reaping from it. For example: She said she went clothes shopping for the first time since we started our budget the other day. She used our envelope on clothes that had been building up money. She spent $180 on clothes and it was the first time she didn't feel guilty for spending money on clothes for herself. She said it felt good to clothes shop without guilt or worry.

So the process is working good for us, and we are going to stick to it.

The Camper is Fixed

We have a travel trailer that we spend a lot of weekends in when its not winter. But we found out last year that the camper had a bent axle, when we had a tire blow out on vacation. We had to buy two new tires on our trip back from Florida. We knew we had to get it fixed this year or we'd be buying more tires. Luckily this month we had some extra income so we budgeted for the camper to be fixed. Plus the weather is getting nicer and I can't wait to go RVing.

I dropped the camper off on Sunday. I knew that one axle was bent and thought we had one bad wheel bearing. Monday the garage mechanics found that a brake drum had fallen apart on the inside, and that both axles were bent. Monday they bent both axles back, and today they fixed the brake drum. The total cost was still less than 50% of what we had budgeted.

I had been dreading this day for a while, and it ended up a lot easier and cheaper than I expected.

The best part was, when my wife went to pay the bill, my father in law drove her and pulled the camper back to our house. And it was sitting in our yard when I got off work....It don't get any easier than that.

Kid's Commission

We added a category called "Kid's commission" in the budget last month. We also opened a savings account for each of the kids last month. At the beginning of the year, we let the kids know if they want money all they have to do is ask for a job, and we'll give them one. We were paying out so much money out of our blow money we decided to make a category. We pay the kids by the hour. The only catch is, They have to put half of what they earn into their savings account. And the other half they get to have to spend. If its been a while since they asked for a job we'll give them one anyway. Also if we need help with something we'll make them help and pay them for it also. But they are learning that if they want money they have to work for it. So now after the first couple months, if there is something they really want to buy and want the money fast, they will ask for a job everyday until they have enough money for it.

The eleven year old, has also been searching out alternative means to make money, so he has been trying to sell some old toys to his friends. He was able sell a few of the toys and took that money to buy a toy he's been wanting from another friend. He is learning how to make deals at an early age.

Our kids may not know it, but they are on their way to Financial Peace also.

End of the Second month on a budget!

Well February is over, and overall it was a successful month. My wife and I are still working more, by picking up extra hours at jobs. We also got our federal tax return at the end of the month. So at the end of the month we brought home an extra $1060.

But we did go over budget on a few categories. Auto service, Medical expenses, and Entertainment/recreation. We have gone over on Medical and Auto service for the last two months. We have decided we are underfunding these two categories and we need to raise them in next months budget. As for entertainment, we had an event coming up in march we had planned to buy tickets for, but forgot to add them in the budget.

After the month was over we had an extra money to pay on our car.
Extra Paid on Debt this month = $650