Money, It's a Gas...
Let's talk finances. I'm very ignorant in the realm of finances, but I'm trying to change that. I've been following a free program through The Finance Bar, and I've found it very helpful. I hope to save up for her coaching sometime, because it's been really great for me so far. I have an accountability buddy that I email daily, and I've started making a weekly date with my finances to take back control and take back my life.
Today was my money date, and I caught up on all the worksheets they've been sending out. Set goals, figured my net worth, and I even put together a tentative budget based on spending tracking that I did back in January. I ordered some cute money envelopes from LiveBrokeOnPurpose.com, and I'm going to try switching to cash this month. Apparently you spend 10-15% less when actually handing cash over, and I hope this envelope system will help me stick to the budget I created.
After sixteen long years, I'm going to start paying back my old student loan. It ballooned up to $9500, which doesn't seem like much but totally is to me on our budget. I found the most recent statement though, and suddenly it's telling me I owe $2300 less. Has something like this happened for anyone else? I'm not complaining! I hope it's not some fluke, because that would be very awesome for me. Especially since I'm getting my proverbial shiznat together to finally take care of it.
I'm trying to educate myself as well. A lot of people are recommending Dave Ramsey, so I'm going to look for his book. Does anyone have any other suggestions? I'd especially like to learn about investing and how to make our money work for us for a change.
I'm bound and determined to get on track with our finances this year. Our kids are nearing college age and we're inching ever closer to retirement, and we haven't a penny saved for either. It's time to get cracking.
Today was my money date, and I caught up on all the worksheets they've been sending out. Set goals, figured my net worth, and I even put together a tentative budget based on spending tracking that I did back in January. I ordered some cute money envelopes from LiveBrokeOnPurpose.com, and I'm going to try switching to cash this month. Apparently you spend 10-15% less when actually handing cash over, and I hope this envelope system will help me stick to the budget I created.
After sixteen long years, I'm going to start paying back my old student loan. It ballooned up to $9500, which doesn't seem like much but totally is to me on our budget. I found the most recent statement though, and suddenly it's telling me I owe $2300 less. Has something like this happened for anyone else? I'm not complaining! I hope it's not some fluke, because that would be very awesome for me. Especially since I'm getting my proverbial shiznat together to finally take care of it.
I'm trying to educate myself as well. A lot of people are recommending Dave Ramsey, so I'm going to look for his book. Does anyone have any other suggestions? I'd especially like to learn about investing and how to make our money work for us for a change.
I'm bound and determined to get on track with our finances this year. Our kids are nearing college age and we're inching ever closer to retirement, and we haven't a penny saved for either. It's time to get cracking.