Financial Friday: A Book Review

Okay okay okay, I know. It's Thursday.

But I'm too excited to wait until tomorrow to post this, so bear with me.

For the past couple years, I've been following a blog called Words of Williams. If you remember, I did my very first guest post over there last year. Eric and Kelsey write about topics on marriage, parenting, and finances, and I'm really enjoying seeing all the cute pictures of their daughter, Rooney, as she grows.

Today, Eric's first book, It's Your Money, released in hard copy and ebook on Amazon, and it's amazing.

I was able to get an advanced copy of it (thanks, Eric!), and I was a little skeptical. I'm familiar with the Williamses' financial story from their blog, and as I've taken Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University (FPU), how much more would I get out of the book? Would the book really speak to me if I wasn't brand new to the budgeting process? I had my doubts, but I gave it a try.

Let's just say I sat down in my recliner one night with the book on my tablet, and next thing I know, it's an hour later and the book was finished. I couldn't put it down!

And you know what? I got so much out of it!

It's Your Money is based upon the same principles as FPU, but it spoke to me and encouraged me in ways FPU couldn't:

•  Eric and Kelsey are the same ages as Pete and I, and we got married around the same time; no offense to Dave Ramsey, but he's...umm...well, older. We're at different stages in life, and that plays a huge part in your monthly budget.
• In case you haven't noticed, the economic situation today is not what it was years ago. Hearing Dave talk about 12% interest for savings accounts is not easy to find these days; knowing that Eric and Kelsey are achieving their goals in relatively the same financial market that we are is encouraging. If they can do it, why can't we?
• They made similar mistakes to what Pete and I have made. We haven't been on the brink of bankruptcy like Dave and his wife were, but we still had finances out of control for awhile. And we're still making mistakes today, even while we're making progress on our goals. 

I think my favorite part of the book was when Eric was talking about when he wanted an iPhone while they were still making progress on their goals. He talked about how important it is to celebrate milestones and progress. Those aren't always words I hear when talking about finances, but for a free spirit like me, it was so encouraging! I do better with goals if I get to celebrate often; it keeps me motivated to keep up with the hard work. Having him say that and knowing that they have their six months of living expenses saved up (the goal Pete and I are working on) and are now on their next goal, just made me feel like it is okay to splurge sometimes, and that it's not going to deter from us still making progress. Wanting to celebrate milestones is hard wh
en you're married to a financial nerd...but sometimes he lets me do it anyway :)

This book would be great if you have never attempted a budget, if you're struggling sticking to a budget, or are a seasoned budgeter and are on to other steps. If you're familiar with the Williamses' financial story or FPU, you will still find something new and exciting to apply to your financial situation. 

To get your own copy, head over to Amazon to grab it for Kindle or get a hard copy! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

You can read my other Financial Friday posts here.

Financial Goals Update...and a Splurge

Back in August, we set some financial goals in hopes to have them completed by July 1st; we base our goals around the school year as that's when our money comes in as Pete's a teacher and I babysit during the school months.

We met all of our goals in February and set some new ones.

Here's where we stand as of today:

#1: When the rest of our tax refund came in, take part of it and buy Shawna a new laptop

I got a laptop! It's pretty, and Pete was able to get an awesome deal on it. The screen doesn't shut off whenever I tilt it like the old one did, and although it also has some overheating issues, we got a cooling pad for it and that helps immensely.

#2: Have $17,000 in our savings account by July 1st.

This one is a no go.

If you remember back in March, we had some van issues and had to get a new one. This took our savings from about $12,000 down to just above $1,000. We were pretty depressed seeing all our money fly out the window, but knowing that we had a safer vehicle and we were able to pay cash for it was reassuring. We decided to change our goal from $17,000 to $5,000, figuring that was about how far we had to go to get to the $17,000 goal.

We met that $5,000 goal on Tuesday, almost 4 weeks away from our deadline.

We are in complete disbelief...with all the things we've had to buy or replace this year (a brand new water system for the house, dishwasher, mattress, heater for the basement, furnace repairs, and a van) and the debt we've had to pay off, we shouldn't be here financially. Seriously. The numbers don't add up.

All the credit goes to God. We could not have done this without Him.

Me, being the spender (or as Dave Ramsey says, the Free Spirit) is depressed with all this saving and responsibility. Yes, we've bought a lot of important things, but Pete and I have worked so hard this year and I feel like we have nothing to show for it. So totally not even close to being true, but I wanna see something fun and shiny and feel like the hard work was worth it. I want to CELEBRATE!!!! I feel so selfish thinking that, but if you're a spender, you probably know what I mean.

Pete, being the saver (or Nerd, according to Dave), is totally fine and content with what we've done.

So when we met our goal, I asked him what we should do next. He thought we could try for $6,000 by July 1st. I thought that was impossible, but hey, the rest of the year had been pretty impossible and surprising so far, so who was I to question it?

However, I asked if we could buy something fun. Pete was really hesitant, but he told me I could make a list of things I had in mind and we could discuss it.

I only put two things on my list. First thing on my list was patio furniture. If you know me, you know how badly I want patio furniture! I also put a new TV on the list. We had a really old TV (okay, so maybe not really old, but we've had it for almost 7 years, and it had been used when it was given to us), and it was starting to have issues with connections, so the screen wasn't always clear and the sound was getting muffled.

Pete told me I had to choose which one I wanted.

It was hard.

I really really really really really wanted patio furniture, but we'd use a TV more.

And he found a TV with a great deal: 37% off, plus an additional $50 rebate (a total savings of $270!). Because the sale ends tomorrow (Saturday), he ordered it Wednesday night.

And it got here this afternoon:

It's fun AND shiny!!!!

We were naughty and borrowed from the babysitting money I was earning the remainder of the week as well as the first couple days of next week. We really don't recommend putting big purchases on the credit card like that, but we knew we'd have the money and as we pay off our credit card in full on time every month, we decided to go for it.

It's also awesome because it makes our living room feel bigger. Having a big entertainment center took up a lot of space:

...I think I like the after better...

Watching a movie with the kids on the big TV was so much fun! It was nice having the TV on the wall because kids could stand in front of it and there was no yelling to get out of the way. It's the simple things in life :)

We've started talking about new goals for next year, but our list isn't complete yet. Here's what we have so far:

#1: Have a fully funded emergency fund by July 1st, 2014
We could probably get away with a $15,000 fund, but we'd feel better having $18,000.

#2: We'd like to not have to buy a vehicle in 2014
We've bought a vehicle every year since we got married. We're hoping that just for one year we can keep the car and van we have without accidents or major catastrophes that cause us to have to purchase new ones.

#3: Have our mortgage paid off by the time we turn 45
Okay, so this isn't for next year. But we really want to start chipping away at it. We're giving ourselves 15 years to do $92,000 of work.

Yikes.


What financial goals do you have right now?

Financial Friday: Skin Care

Spring is here! 

Temperatures are rising, and with that comes skirts, shorts, and tank tops.

If you have skin issues, it's the time of year you dread.

I have a skin condition called keratosis pilaris. Wikipedia defines keratosis pilaris as this:

Keratosis pilaris (KP, also follicular keratosis, lichen pilaris or chicken skin) is a common, autosomal dominant, genetic follicularcondition that is manifested by the appearance of rough, slightly red, bumps on the skin. It most often appears on the back and outer sides of the arm (though the forearm can also be affected), and can also occur on the thighs, hands, and tops of legs, sides, buttocks, or any body part except glabrous skin (like the palms or soles of feet).^[1] Often the lesions will appear on the face, which may be mistaken for acne.^[2]

So pretty much I have red bumps, similar to what acne looks like but feels like sandpaper, on the back of my arms and covering my legs. It's unsightly and embarrassing. I hate spring and summer because it's visible, and people tend to comment, not because they're mean, but because they think I have a rash or something is wrong.

Now you're probably thinking, so why don't you do something about it?

That's the problem: there is no cure. Some treatments are available, but they're costly and don't always work.

What's even worse is my kids have it (figures, the one thing that they got from me had to be this!). Doctors always comment that their skin is extremely dry and I should use lotion, the school nurse will call me, mistaking it for a rash, and Paige especially is self conscious. Nate even has it a bit on his cheeks, but he's still at the age he doesn't really care.

I've spent lots of money on various lotions and creams to try and fix this. I've only had one lotion that's ever made the bumps smoother, but it only lasted a few hours (even though it claimed to be a 24 hour lotion), and the redness was still there.

Then I happened to stumble upon another possible treatment on Pinterest: coconut oil.

At first I was skeptical for various reasons:

1) It was affordable (on Amazon I found it for less than $8, and was available for free shipping on orders over $25).

2) You can do various other things with it, from cook with it to use it as diaper rash ointment and as a hair mask.

3) Even though many testimonials were saying that it helped their skin, nothing else would work for me, so the chances that this would help were very slim in my eyes.

After waiting a few months, I finally bit the bullet and placed my order. If it didn't work on my skin, well, at least I could cook with it, right?

All I have to say is OH MY GOODNESS.

After one application on the kid's skin and mine, there was a huge difference. Ryan, who had the least amount of bumps, was fully clear. Paige, Nate, and I were less bumpy, softer, and the redness was slightly faded.

After one week's worth of applications (I only do it after baths/showers; it absorbs quicker that way and you feel less greasy), our skin has never looked better. Now, don't get me wrong, it's far from perfect, but we're smoother and less red.

Other perks have been:

- It lasts 24 hours AT LEAST!

- After 2 applications on my stomach, Pete noticed my lovely stretch marks (thank you for those, Nathan....) were fading.

- It's an awesome eye cream! Just a tiny tiny amount dabbed around the eyes before bed makes me look more awake in the morning and I'm less droopy/wrinkly. Amazing what hydration can do! If I put too much on, it starts to run around my eyes, so just dabbing it with a tissue gets rid of all the excess oil.

- Paige and I have tried it once each as a hair mask. Paige has very thick and coarse hair that is impossible to get a brush through unless it's wet, and even then it's very difficult. We massaged about a tablespoon of oil into the bottom six or so inches of her hair, let it soak for about 45 minutes, then we washed it out twice. Her hair was so shiny and easy to brush afterwards! We just haven't had time to do it again, but we definitely will! I did it on mine, and used waaaay too much. I ended up having to wash my hair three times over two days in order to get it to not look greasy. But once I got it out, my hair was much more well behaved (which it never is!).

- Paige has ridiculously dry ankles. This has helped immensely!

- You use so much less than you normally would with any other lotion I've found. I normally have to use a hand full of lotion for each leg, but I'm using about a tablespoon, and it covers BOTH legs fully!

- It's really fun for the kids to watch: coconut oil is a solid, but melts with your body heat. They love watching me scoop out a chunk of white oil, then watch it as it melts and slides all over my hands.

Some tips:

- It definitely works best after showering or bathing. It absorbs quickly this way, so you're less likely to slip and slide on things or get oil on your clothing. I shower before bed usually, so the heat from being under blankets helps it absorb even better!

- Use small amounts to start out with. Less is definitely more!

There are hundreds of other uses for the coconut oil. I can't wait to see what else we can do with it!

For those of you interested, this is the one we use. The price has gone up, but Amazon tends to fluctuate their prices often, so I'm sure you could find it for under $8 again soon, or maybe even a different brand for cheaper!

Have you ever used coconut oil? What is your favorite lotion?

Financial Friday: Learning To Say No To Debt

As you may know, we're van shopping.

No, not because I blew a brake line, but because it's getting older and we want to make sure we have time to shop around while we have the money for it so we don't have to take out another car loan.

On Saturday, we went and checked out a SUV. I love vans because of all the cargo space (very important with three kids, especially when one of them is going to want to start playing sports soon!), but I prefer the look of a SUV.

We happened to find a Subaru Tribecca in our price range and in a color I loved. I was getting my hopes up about it; we really miss having a Subaru, especially with the all wheel drive on our roads and driveway in the winter. However, the cargo space was half of what we currently have, and I had to say 'no' to it. Depressing, yes, but space is more important than the looks.

We looked at a Kia Sedona minivan, but it was smaller than our current van as well. Another no.

Then the salesman brought over a Toyota Sienna, which is my dream van. It was perfect! It had seating for eight, tons of cargo space, the back row of seats folded flat into the van (no more having to take them out for hauling furniture or for trips to the drive in!), and all the bells and whistles we could have ever wanted.

All five of us fell in love.

Then we saw the details: it was a 2011 with just over 14k miles on it. There was no way we'd be able to afford it without taking out a loan.

Would the van last us a long time? Definitely.

Did it have everything we wanted and needed in a new vehicle? Yes!!!!

But could we afford it? Probably, but at what cost? We'd be tied down to another loan, and we've worked so hard to get out of debt and build up our savings so we wouldn't have to get another loan when it came time to get a vehicle.

We said no. We walked away. We had to. It wasn't easy, but we wouldn't have enjoyed the van knowing how much debt we would have been in.

We have a couple other Siennas we're going to check out. They're not as new, and have a lot more miles on them. But both are relatively in our budget and should last us a few years. As long as there are no other problems with our current van, we're hoping to trade it in, haggle, and we'll still be able to pay cash without completely draining our savings account.

And we'll drive the new van away, excited to drive it knowing that it's paid in full.

When have you had to say no to something that was out of your budget? Have you ever said yes to debt and regretted it later?

Financial Friday: How We Met Our Goal

After my post last Saturday about meeting our financial goals, I had a couple people ask how we did it.

The easy answer? Lots and lots of work.

But there was more to it than that working our butts off each and every day. Yes, you have to work in order to bring in money to achieve your goals, but what you do when the money is in your hand or account is important as well.

We made a budget and stuck to it.
At the end of every month, I make up the next month's budget. Ever Monday night when Pete has guy's night, I update it, pay bills, and make sure we're staying on track. One thing I do is I cheat with my budget. For example, if we're bringing in $2500 a month, I set my budget up for a smaller number, like $2000. It forces us to really pinch the pennies, and with me being a spender, if I see that money is tight, I'm less likely to make impulse purchases. That leaves us money left over each month to save. There are definitely months we go over that smaller amount, but we have a cushion. If I made the budget to the amount we're actually bringing in, I'd be putting money in categories and spending left and right. When emergencies come up (like having to buy a new heater for our basement), we wouldn't have that cushion and would have to either take out a loan or tap into our savings, depending on the situation.

We have an emergency fund...but rarely use it.
I got into a discussion with my mom a few weeks ago about this. Our heater in the basement had just died and I spent two hours trying to find room in our budget to pay for it. It was one of those months that our cushion was really small for the month (gotta love having to buy car tires unexpectedly!), so it was stressful finding the few hundred dollars to get a new heater. My mom's point was that we had an emergency fund, just go to the bank and get the money; she had a great point! My thought was that if I could find the money in our budget, I would do that instead. I'm afraid if we get in the habit of getting into the emergency account for things that can be considered emergencies but can swing in our budget, we'll (okay okay, it's definitely me not Pete) stop trying to use our budget and just rely on the emergency fund for things. It's happened to me before, so this is me trying to not repeat the past.

We gave more than ever before.
How this works, I don't know. God definitely tells us in the Bible to test him when it comes to giving. We've continued to tithe with Pete's paychecks, and for the first time ever we've been tithing at the end of every month on how much I brought in from babysitting and teaching preschool. We've given to charities, community members going through tough times, missionaries, and continue to support our radio station and our Compassion child every month. I will admit, there are definitely times where we would like to keep that money for things we need or would like. But seeing it impact other people is so rewarding!

We are cheap.
Okay, not in the sense like we don't tip our waiter as much as we should. But more in the sense that we don't need to go to the mall to buy new clothes; thrift stores have awesome clothes for a fraction of the price. Yes, if you're searching for something specific, it might not be the best option. For furniture, we shop Craigslist (who needs new furniture when you have little kids who will ruin it just by looking at it?). We still have a tiny non-flat screen TV. It's starting to die, but hey, it still works for what we need. We buy off brand items most of the time. We make the choice to live a simple life and only buy what we need and make do with what we have. We do still make some purchases that are brand name (I'm very picky about my tissues and toilet paper...), so there are things we still could be better at. I've heard stories about people who cut back so much they don't buy rolls for their hot dogs....yes, we could do that, but I like my carbs too much :)

And last but not least, we couldn't do it without God
I know some of my readers might not agree with this, but we truly feel like God has blessed us. We're trying to manage our money in a biblical fashion, and I hope God's pleased with what we're doing.

In the grand scheme of things, there is no formula, no tried and true steps for making and saving lots of money. There are definitely things that help, but not all things work for every person/family/situation. If we could choose, we wouldn't be working like this; Pete would be working at one school full time, and I wouldn't be babysitting this much. It's stressful and the sacrifices we're making are not easy. We're tired. We're getting burned out. But this is a short term thing for long term gain. We want our kids to be able to go to college with as little debt as possible, preferably no debt. We don't want to be swamped with debt payments each month. And we feel like these are the steps to take to get there.


What do you do to achieve your financial goals?

Financial Goals Update

I've been debating whether or not to write this post. I know a lot of people, including some of my readers, are struggling financially right now. The last thing I want is for someone to think I'm rubbing it in as to our financial situation, that I'm bragging about where we are. If it comes across that way, I am so sorry, I don't mean for it to. I've had a couple people who read the blog ask how we're doing on our goals, and that's what prompted me to write this after all.

Here are the goals we set back in August, and where we stand with them:

#1: Have our car loan paid off by Thanksgiving
We accomplished this one with a week or so to spare. For awhile it wasn't looking like we'd be able to as we had to replace our whole water softener system. We weren't expecting that, so we had to take out a loan for about $3,000 in order to get one. We paid off both loans, and were debt free (minus the mortgage) by Thanksgiving.

#2: Save up and purchase (in cash) a new camera by December 31st
In November I wrote a post on why we weren't buying the camera. The need for a new mattress was a much higher priority, and we thought we'd push the camera purchase back until January. However, we were blessed and received our camera as a Christmas gift instead. So technically we didn't complete this one, but can still cross it off.

#3: Have $10,000 in our savings account by July 1st.
This was a huge goal that we were nervous about even trying to achieve. With all the things listed above that we had to purchase unexpectedly, then our dishwasher was dying and needed replacing, and then the space heater in the finished portion of our basement died, we were losing hope.

On Wednesday of this past week, not only were we able to complete this goal, but we surpassed it. Four and a half months early.

We are feeling completely and utterly blessed right now. When we look at our budget and how much money we've really brought in, the numbers do not make sense at all.

Wednesday night I was feeling a little lost; we've been working so hard to get these goals accomplished, that now that they were finished, I told Pete we had to set new goals. Here they are:

#1: When the rest of our tax refund came in, take part of it and buy Shawna a new laptop
My laptop has suffered a lot of abuse over the past 5 years by children. It overheats and shuts down every time to you try to upload, download, or watch a video. The screen blacks out every few minutes, it doesn't charge well, and when it does, it won't hold it longer than 10 minutes, and half of the USB ports no longer work.

We set this goal Wednesday, and the rest of our taxes came in this week. We just happened to find a great sale on a laptop this morning, ordered it, and it will be here in the next week or so.

#2: Have $17,000 in our savings account by July 1st.
I have little faith that this one can get accomplished; Pete thinks we can have it done early. He's so optimistic :)

The reason we want this amount is because our van is going to need to be replaced soon. It passed inspection just fine, but it's starting to rust/rot on the bottom, and it's getting very sluggish. We're planning on trading it in and getting a newer one (still used, not brand new!) this summer. Having that amount in our savings will allow us to pay cash for a nicer vehicle that will last us quite a few years, and still have a nice amount in our account.

Our ultimate goal is to have $15,000 in the account as an emergency fund; that amount is the approximate equivalent to 6 months living expenses for our family. Once that goal is accomplished, we'll move on to saving for retirement and the kids' college education.

For a refresher, check out my original post on the importance of having financial goals and how to stay on track with them here.


Have you accomplished any of your financial goals lately?

Reader Request: Ice Cream Cake Recipe

Morning, everyone :)

I had an idea this week when I had a few requests for Paige's birthday ice cream cake recipe - why don't I try doing a reader request post every week? If there is anything you want to know about me or any topic you'd like me to talk about (such as things I talk about on here, from parenting, marriage, finances, etc.), send an email to mommyapps@gmail.com, message me on Facebook, or leave a comment here!

Every year for my birthday my parents get me a snowman Carvel ice cream cake. It's delicious and all of us love it, so I wasn't too surprised when Paigey asked for an ice cream cake for her birthday. The only problem? They're pricey, and unlike my mom and dad, I don't get a paper to get a coupon for them.

I thought making one didn't seem like it would be too difficult. That's what Pinterest is for, right? There are so many recipes for ice cream cakes that my head was spinning. The recipes varied from super easy to a little bit more difficult. There were Oreo  cakes, Peanut butter cup cakes, plain cakes, sprinkle cakes. Round cakes, rectangle cakes, square cakes,  cupcake cakes. How was a mom to choose the perfect one?

Thankfully Paige had some specific wants for her cake: no chocolate ice cream, and lots of the cookie crunchies in the middle. I was able to narrow down the recipes a little bit, but still nothing seemed to be exactly what I was looking for.

So I decided to make up my own recipe, taking bits and pieces of various recipes, and hoped and prayed it would turn out okay. Paige wasn't too sure when she saw the cake; I think she was expecting a store bought one. She told me later that even though she knows I bake well, she wasn't so sure an ice cream cake would turn out okay. Let's just say she loved every single bite of her cake and says she doesn't want a Carvel cake ever again!

Here's my recipe:

Shawna's Oreo Ice Cream Cake

1.5 quarts cookies and cream ice cream, softened

1.5 quarts vanilla ice cream, softened

25 Oreo-type cookies

6 Oreo-type cookies

Place 25 Oreo cookies into a sealable bag (like a ziploc bag; I also used generic store brand Oreos). Squeeze the air out, and crush with a rolling pin. Don't leave super big chunks, or make it into crumbs. Medium sized chunks taste best.

Put the softened cookies and cream ice cream into a bowl and use an electric mixer on low to medium speed and gently beat the ice cream for 20-30 seconds (I used my KitchenAid mixer). This makes the ice cream a uniform consistency; do not over beat so it's soupy, just soft like soft ice cream. Unfortunately the cookies and cream ice cream does turn gray, but still will taste AMAZING.

Scrape the ice cream into the bottom of a spring form pan (I used a 9 inch round pan), and spread evenly. Sprinkle the Oreo crumbs on top, spreading them around to cover the ice cream evenly, and gently press down to make sure they'll stick to the bottom layer of ice cream.

Mix up the softened vanilla ice cream with a mixer in the same way you did with the cookies and cream ice cream. Spread it on top of the crushed Oreos in your spring form pan, making sure you spread it evenly.

Crush up the remaining 6 Oreos; sprinkle on top of your vanilla ice cream. If you need to put the cake in the freezer while you crush the Oreos, that's okay. My house was pretty cool when I made this, but if it was hotter, it would have needed to be put in the freezer.

Cover the cake pan with aluminum foil, and freeze for a few hours. I made this two days in advance; 6 hours or overnight would probably be best for refreezing the cake.

When you're ready to serve it, put it in the freezer for half an hour to soften it up. Use a knife to run around the cake to loosen it from the pan, then take the ring off of the pan. Cut into wedges, and enjoy!

Ryan and I did find an ice cream cake very similar to this on sale for $18 that I was thinking about buying. I'm glad I didn't; using off brand Oreos and ice cream I spent about $7 and made a cake twice the size of the $18, all at a fraction of the cost! Makes me wonder if this post can count as a Financial Friday post? :)

The thing I love about this recipe is it's easy to change up; you can use various flavors of ice cream, add other toppings like hot fudge on top, or add candy bits to the layers. It's ridiculously easy, and took almost no time to make up. I think I'd like to try it with chocolate chip cookies!

Oh, before I forget, a note on softening the ice cream: one of the recipes I used as inspiration said to soften it in the refrigerator for about half an hour before using. What I found is by the time I got home from buying the ice cream and then swinging by the kids' school quickly, it was the perfect softness for using right then and there. Knowing me, I'd forget it was in the fridge and I'd have soup on my hands, even if I used a timer! I'm sorta absent minded at times like that :)

Do you have a favorite ice cream cake recipe? Do you have a topic or question for me for the next Reader Request post?

Guest Posting for Frugal Friday at I Choose Joy!

It's been awhile since I've posted a Financial Friday post, and I'm sorry about that. Life seems to have gotten in the way a little bit, but I'm hoping to bring the series back to the blog soon.

Today I'm doing a Frugal Friday post over at my friend Sara's blog, I Choose Joy! I'm giving some tips on how to cut back your budget when things are tight; be sure to check it out, as it's not your typical budget cutting list (you know, the stop eating out and get rid of cable lists). You can find the post here.

While you're over there, don't forget to follow Sara's blog! She brings you new frugal tips every Friday, and lots of encouragement the rest of the week as well :)


What are some unique ways you cut your budget?

Financial Fridays: Having Financial Goals

Hi everyone! I promise, next week I'll start having somewhat regular posts again! We're doing well, just really busy with summer things.

Pete and I were discussing earlier today about setting some financial goals for ourselves. We've noticed that when we have a goal, especially when in regards to financial things, we seem to handle our money better.

Why is it important to have financial goals? It helps you to stay focused, to keep your spending in line, and help you tell your money where to go.

What kind of time line should I have for my goals? Honestly, that may vary on a few things: what your budget allows you to do, what you're willing to sacrifice, and what how much money you need to accomplish said goal. Because Pete is a teacher and only gets paid during the school year, we've found that basing our goals around the school year rather than calendar year works better for our situation.

How can I stay motivated? I know that it can be hard when you have a goal that's not super fun, like paying off a loan. To me, it's much more fun saving for something like a vacation that you get something for all of your hard work! Having a chart where you can see the numbers go up (if it's a saving goal) or down (if it's a paying off debt goal) can help. Setting up mini-goals may help, too: if you're paying off a $5,000 loan, setting goals like paying off each thousand dollars and treating yourself to something small can be helpful and rewarding!

So what goals did we set today? These are all things really important to us for our family's security. I have them listed in chronological order, not order of importance.

#1: Have our car loan paid off by Thanksgiving
This hopefully won't be too much of a stress for us; if we worked really hard, we might be able to have it paid off by October, but Thanksgiving gives us a little bit of wiggle room. We were originally hoping for end of the year, but Thanksgiving means we have to work at it, but not too awful hard. We try to not have any debt, but as Pete's car was totalled in February of this year, we had to take out a loan. We're really excited that our 3 year loan will be paid off in less than a year's time!

#2: Save up and purchase a new camera (in cash) by December 31st
Our camera's flash died a couple months ago. Can I just say how hard it is to take pictures without a flash? We might consider looking into just replacing the flash part, but as it's a few years old, we think a new camera might pay off more. Any suggestions on what kind we should look for? We're looking mostly for a SLR that's budget friendly.

#3: Have $10,000 in our savings account by July 1st
This one is going to take a lot of work and some sacrifice. We have just over $2,000 in there now, but getting that $8,000 is going to be tough. We're really going to have to watch our spending in order to accomplish this one! However, having this money saved is part of Dave Ramsey's Step 3 in his Financial Peace University; Step 1 being save $1,000 in an emergency fund, and Step 2 being debt free (with the exception of mortgage, which we should have by Thanksgiving!!!). Step 3 is having 3 - 6 months of living expenses saved, creating a fully funded emergency fund; $10,000 is somewhere between 4 and 5 months for us. Please help keep us accountable with this goal!


Do you have any financial goals set? How do you stay motivated to accomplish your goals?

Financial Fridays: Starting the first budget

Wow, has it really been over 2 weeks since my last post? I'm sorry about that! Life has been ridiculous lately, and I'll be posting on all of our adventures soon.

The last Financial Friday segment I started talking about budgets; today I'll share on how to start that first month's budget.

Before you run and hide, trust me...it's easy! For the first month, all you do is keep track of every single penny you spend. I know we're a few days into August already, but try and guess to the best of your abilities how much you've spent already. You can keep track on paper, in a spreadsheet, or any budget program you may have accessible. There are also lots of free worksheets on the internet you can download or print out to use as well.

The best way to keep track is in categories, such as food, personal, medical, entertainment, gas, etc. Try to be as broad with the categories as you'd like. I actually combined my food, personal and cleaning products into one category so when I go to stores like Aldi or Wal-Mart I can put most if not all of the receipt into one category.

Easy, right? This step is going to be really important when we set up our first 'real' budget next month as it's going to give you approximately how much you spend each month so you'll know how much to allot in each category.


This week's Saving Money tip is dealing with coupons! I am NOT an extreme couponer. I do not use a lot of coupons in general, actually. We received some coupons for McDonald's in our local Pennysaver, and were really excited that they had a lot of buy one, get one free coupons for foods we actually like. But when we read the fine print, it pretty much said you can only use one coupon per customer per visit...also known as Pete takes one coupon, does an order, then I go through with another coupon and we still pay an arm and a leg for food.

But my husband was smart; we had spent the afternoon at my grandparent's house and were headed home around dinner. We were all hungry and exhausted, and we had the coupons with us. We stopped at McDonald's (a very rare treat for us!), and he asked if we could use more than one coupon. The cashier's resonse?

"As long as you have more than one person with you, you can use as many as you'd like!"

Really?!?!? Yay! We were able to get 3 Happy meals, 2 Quarter Pounders, 2 Large Fries, and 2 Frappes/smoothies for less than $15.

So make sure and ask if you have coupons like that! You may just save yourself a trip through the check out :)

Financial Friday: Intro to the dreaded B word

I remember when Pete and I took Financial Peace University, we took it with another couple. Vanessa and Pete are very similar in that they save their money. Stephen and I, on the other hand, like shiny things. Shiny things distract us from saving. Money burns holes in our pockets. Budgets were evil things that made us not have fun anymore and we hated the word. But if you ask us now, we're kinda fond of our budgets!

Why are budgets important? A budget is a great thing to have because it helps you tell your money what to do, rather than your money tell you what to do. It helps keep your money in line, and forces you to prioritize where the money needs to go.

What isn't a budget? When I was talking to Pete about this post, he mentioned that I should talk about this. Stephen and I thought that budgets were really restrictive and controlling, but really they're not. Yes, they do keep you in line with your spending, but they give you freedom to spend as well. And if you use them right, you'll have extra money at the end of the month for other things like saving, paying off your debt and new shoes!

I mentioned before that when we started FPU, we were so proud of ourselves that we knew how to budget. Some months it worked, others not so much. So imagine our shock when we discover that we had no idea how to budget. What we did was write down every penny we spent over the month into categories (food, utilities, clothing, etc.). At the end of the month, we checked that against what money we had brought in. Most of the time it balanced out, but there were some months where we'd be off by a few hundred dollars...and not in a good way. Fortunately we never spent more money than what was in our account, but there were times I couldn't pay off the entire credit card bill (something we strove to do every month).

We were doing part of it right: keeping track of every penny we spent. But the part we were doing wrong was checking at the end of the month. In order for you to be in control of your money, the key is to write down how much you plan to spend in each category before the month starts. Yes, it's hard the first few times when you're trying to figure out how much to put in each category, and some months are going to be off more than others. You'll have to make hard choices (like seeing deck furniture you want for $75, marked down from $300...but you have to pass on it knowing that there really isn't money in the budget available for it...). But you'll be telling your money where to go, and life will be less stressful in the long run.

Next week I'll go more in depth about starting your first budget! The first month's budget is very easy, so don't panic!

This week's money savings tips are in regard to those of us who have swimming pools. Pools are a wonderful thing to have during a hot summer, but they can be super expensive!!!

Buy supplies in bulk. A couple years ago we bought the cholrine pucks in a huge bucket; if we bought them in bulk, it worked out that each puck was about half the cost of buying little packages. We still have a lot left, and they're still good!

Check the ingredient list! We had to just put a bunch of chemicals in our pool as the levels were off. There's a pH buffer powdered product that comes in a big bag; the bag was over $20 at the pool store. My chemist husband looked at the ingredients and noticed that all it was was baking soda. I just went to BJ's yesterday, bought a bag of baking soda that was bigger than the bag of pH buffer, and paid less than $7 for it. Score!

Thanks to reader Jennie; last week she mentioned a way she saves on money for laundry: she cuts her dryer sheets in half! I tried this tip all week, and I didn't even notice a difference in how my laundry felt and it still smelled super fresh.

Do you have a budget that works? How do you save money if you have a pool?

Financial Friday: Emergency funds

Financial Fridays: Emergency funds

What a response last week! I'm really excited that people are so interested in getting their finances in order. Just remember, it's not easy, but sooo worth it!

If your refrigerator was to die today, what would you do? Would you panic because you had no way to pay for it? Would you race to the store and buy the first one you see, and then use your credit card (or even open a new credit card account) to pay for it? Or would you be able to calmly go to the store, pick out a great fridge, and buy it in cash?

I'm sure many of us would either panic or use a credit card. This only leads to stress, buyer's remorse, and spending more money than you thought (due to interest on the credit card). But with an emergency fund in place, emergencies will seem a lot less stressful.

What is an emergency fund? Well, it is just that: money set aside for when emergencies happen, because I'm sure you all know that emergencies do happen!

Where do I keep an emergency fund? What we do (and Dave Ramsey recommends) is we have a money market account (ours is through Capital One). It makes more interest than a typical savings account, and we have a checkbook that goes with it, making emergencies much easier to deal with; there's no transferring of money or running to the bank involved. The interest we're getting right now is extremely low (less than 1%), but when we started, I think it was between 6 and 7%, and we were making quite a bit of money each month (and who doesn't love free money?).

How much should I have in an emergency fund? For right now, $1000, or $500 if your income is less than $20,000. Later, after all your debt (excluding mortgage) is paid off, it'll be increased to 3-6 months living expenses.

How am I supposed to find the money for an emergency fund? I can barely pay my bills! This is the hard part. Try saving a few dollars every month, even if it's only $5. Put any unexpected income into your fund, whether it be overtime you weren't expecting, a bonus from work, or that $20 you found in an old purse. Every little bit helps. It's not going to happen overnight (unless you have a fund already established or you have $1000 sitting around unused). But once it's there, you won't worry so much about a car breaking down or living without a stove as much.

A tool that will greatly help in saving, either for an emergency fund or for bigger purchases, is that dreaded B word we all love to hate: Budget. We'll talk about how to start setting one up next week!

And, as promised, some tips for saving money in unexpected places! I'm sure a lot of us know the usual tricks, like eat out less, make your own coffee in the mornings, and bring your own lunch to work. But what if you're already doing that, or it's not making a big difference in your budget? Here are some ways we save money on laundry:

Hang the clothes out to dry: I'm sure this is an obvious one! What's better than pulling bed sheets off the line and they smell all fresh from being outside? I love that smell! Granted, this is probably a seasonal thing for most of you, but even during the summer it can cut costs. And for a few dollars start up cost for line and clothes pins, it really pays for itself!

Use your machines at off peak times: Off peak times are apparently first thing in the morning and late at night. I've tried that and haven't seen a big enough change in my bill to warrant me only doing laundry at those times, but who knows, maybe it would work for you!

Make your own fabric softener: I was wary about trying this...but I'm soooo glad I did! My clothes are all softer and smell better. It's not as strong of a smell as fabric softener, but because I get to choose the scent I want it to be, I like it better. You could skip the conditioner and just use vinegar, but I like the smell of the conditioner added. I even used a little less than what was recommended and didn't notice enough of a difference to go back to adding more. We buy gallon jugs of vinegar (and they only cost .25 more than buying a quart jar!) and I use whatever cheap conditioner I find.

Make your own dryer sheets: I have yet to try this one; I had just bought a huge box of dryer sheets at BJ's when I discovered this. Instead of cutting up fabric like they suggest, I'm going to try some baby washcloths that have seen better days!

Make your own laundry detergent: I haven't tried this either as I tend to be a detergent snob. I've heard great things about those who have tried it, so it's something I may consider in the future......maybe.

All the principles regarding the emergency fund were based on Dave Ramsey's teachings from Financial Peace University. I only touched on the subject; for further information, you can check out his website! And as always, feel free to ask me questions about emergency funds or anything else :)

How would an emergency fund change your life? How do you save money when you do laundry?

Financial Fridays: Why we took Financial Peace University

Welcome to my new series, Financial Fridays! Every Friday for the next few weeks I'll be briefly talking about various topics, from budgeting to saving, investing to making big purchases, and giving some out of the box tips we've used to help cut corners in our budget. Feel free to ask any questions you may have, and I'll try to answer them to the best of my abilities. 

This week's topic is a quick look into our financial situation, from before we were married to the early years after marriage, and why we felt the need to take a financial course.

My husband, Pete, and I were raised with two different backgrounds when it came to handling money: he knew how to spend and save wisely, and I was very good at doing everything wrong. Right before Paige was born, my credit card had been maxed out with a balance of over $3,000, and by the time I graduated college I had almost $25,000 in student loan debt. Between a tax refund and a refund from my college, I was able to pay off the credit card before we were married in 2006.

I knew starting our marriage in off with my student loan debt was going to weigh us down, and even though it was a hard decision (mostly for me), we paid for all of our wedding purchases in cash, had a small ceremony and reception, did almost everything ourselves and walked away paying around $3,000.

Our table center pieces - silk flower petals and candles, which doubled as favors

We rented a small apartment and tried to pay off my student loans as well as we could. We had a budget set up; some months it worked, some it didn't. I was struggling with sticking to it. I was a shopaholic, and although I was trying to tame my ways, it was easy to listen to that little voice in my head saying “You NEED that item!” or “You DESERVE that item!”.

In 2008, when Paige was three and Nate was a year old, we decided to buy a house. Our two bedroom apartment wasn't big enough anymore, and we were tired of noisy neighbors. We found a mortgage that didn't require a down payment or have us pay the pricey PMI because we didn't put a down payment down. We were approved for almost $170,000, but bought a house for under $100,000.

The kids and I in our new yard!

After moving into the house, money was tight. We didn't know how much money the utilities would be, and the mortage payment was higher than our rent had been. However, it was a new house and needed new things! We needed curtains, organizational supplies, paint...you know, the important things. I learned quickly that I couldn't have everything I wanted or thought I needed. Our budget still wasn't working well all the time, but it was getting better.

In 2009, our church announced they would be hosting their first course of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University (FPU). I asked Pete if he wanted to take it, and he said no. And I agreed with him. Why would we waste one night a week for thirteen weeks when we already knew how to budget?

A couple weeks later, our pastor played a promotional clip on what FPU was about. Dave made the lessons entertaining, he was funny, and he put financial terms in every day language. Pete and I looked at each other, and we decided to take it, but only for planning Pete's retirement and sending our soon to be three children to college without loading them up with student loan debt.

Looking back at those thirteen weeks, it was one of the best decisions we have ever made. Dave mentions in the class that a typical American family can pay off their debt between 18 and 24 months (I think that's the right range!). We entered the class with just under $13,000 left in my student loan debt, and I remember Pete and I saying that there was no way we'd get it done that quickly. Oh how wrong we were! In the 15 months after starting the course, we not only paid off that debt, but we bought a van for $6,000 in cash, and went from being a family of 4 to a family of 5, all on a teacher's salary (which really isn't as much as people think it is) and me being a stay at home mom. Dave also talks about changing your family tree, as in teaching your children how to manage money wisely and staying debt free from here on out. Our kids now know what a budget is and that there are some weeks where we just can't buy that one special treat for them at the store; they also love yelling "CHEEETAAHHHHHHHH!!!!" when the mail comes! What we didn't expect was for us to change the family tree in the other direction: my parents took the course last year, and Pete's parents just finished the course up a couple weeks ago!

We highly recommend the course to anyone; you can go online to find a course close to where you live, take it online, or even buy the course for at home study as well.

Do you have a budget? What little tricks do you use to save money?