Confession: I spent my savings to buy Christmas presents last year!
Not a well thought out plan. Christmas was awesome…savings is Zero!
Not this year, I have already set my Emergency Savings for 2013 to be $1800. Each month, ING (now called 360 or something like that) draws the set amount right out my account. This is not a big percentage of my income but it is a good start. Baby Steps!
So about Christmas…well, I think this is where a good old-fashioned Christmas Club savings will come in handy. Not only will it help out with the holidays but birthdays as well. I set up a category in my Cash Envelopes for Gift money. This should take care of both these areas for 2013!
Do credit unions have Christmas Club accounts anymore?
It’s been a while since I posted on my finances. I have moved onto a new job and for the most part is going well. The suck is losing 10.5 hours out of my last paycheck due to sickness and a 341 hearing for my bk. Thankfully, it did not affect my overall budget! It took a bite out of what I call my “spending money”. Essentially, all the bills were covered and I still have enough set aside for an upcoming haircut.
I still keep a lookout for blogs that have some great money ideas. I came across The Nest Effect on Pinterest recently. She has posted her reflections on using cash envelopes and has created a spreadsheet system that follows the principles that Dave Ramsey mentions in his book. Check it out!! She sells some of her spreadsheets on Etsy and has many free printables!!!
This month, I am working on setting up Baby Step No 1 per Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace. $1000 into an emergency fund. I decided to go with ING’s Orange Account. It has a better interest rate than my current savings account and will not have access by ATM card. It’s transferable between my checking account so if I do need to use it for emergencies, I will be able to transfer to a checking account. I also started a very small per pay period savings in a credit union. It is a small drop in the bucket for my future trip to Prague {part of my five-year plan!}
With the recent transition to a new employer I am also working on changing my bank accounts. I found this cool spreadsheet to help with that task.
Next month, I hope to start paying off some personal debts that I could not include in the BK. One step at a time!!!
This week will usher in a new chapter in my financial life. I am in a place between relief and utter devastation. Then, strangely, elation. I am happy to get the creditors behind me, get them paid and on with some financial security. It also means work, lots of work.
It’s my intention to continue with using Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace principals, keeping track of all expenditures and for God’s sake…saving a portion of my money!
I am so freaked out and really wish I didn’t have travel this path. With all that is going on with this economy, I feel fortunate that I even get a chance to pay people back.
This is a rather short post just for the simple fact that I don’t know what to feel.
It has been a week since I implemented the cash envelopes. So far so good. A couple of observations I have are 1) kinda awkward carrying all the envelopes around 2) tracking expenditures is tricky. By the weekend, I had created a log for each envelope so I could keep track of how much was still in the envelope and how much I spent. Also, since I generally plan out my errands in advance, I took only that specific envelope with me. I just stuck the receipt in the envelope once I was done with the transaction. It made recording it so much easier.
There is a comfort in knowing that I have cash on hand. There is also a greater sense of accountability. I did find myself digging into one of the envelopes to pay for things that was not designated to be spent. Lesson learned. I can’t beat myself up about it, just adjust and move on.
Along with making the envelopes I also signed up for Manilla and Mint.com. Manilla is an online site that pulls all your bills (i.e. cell phone, cable, and subscriptions) and gives you one central location to pay all your online bills. It emails out reminders and keeps you alerted of any discrepancies in your bills. You tell it what accounts you have, give them your log in for that particular company and then when the bill is due, you can pay it at the Manilla site. Along with that, I added Mint.com. This site is for all my banking needs, plus keeping tract of my retirement and other assets.
Baby steps, it’s all about the baby steps. I have my new and highly improved spending plan completed. I utilized the budget forms found on Dave Ramsey’s site. I re-vamped my personal spending plan to include the envelope system for items like hair cuts, clothes and dining out. I have it to the penny on each pay period. Granted, the figures are based on a basic, non over-time paycheck.
I also made new cash envelopes from a printable I found through Pinterest. Check out this site for the download. I made them using my papers on hand. Printed out a nice font and glued the label unto the envelope. These fit perfect into a little clutch I carry in my purse.
Payday is just a couple days away. This new budget will be put to the test!!
I suffer from a well-known social disorder called Stufitis. Dave Ramsey’s book Financial Peace came in this week from Amazon*. I bought it used because the library had a three-month wait! I read the whole thing in one day. The chapters were short and highly informative. With the BK looming closer and closer, I have to make some changes. In the past, I was using some of the techniques I found with Mary Hunt’s Debt Proof Living. Many of the concepts are the same. She has a Rapid Debt Reduction plan and he has the Snowball Effect. Both recommend an emergency fund and both say STOP SPENDING!
I am so damn materialistic…heck it even shows up in my Zodiac sign, Taurusand in my Chinese zodiac sign Metal Pig! Double whammy! Sadly, this disorder is more than something to kid about. It is an addiction. I have $6.00 in savings, minimal retirement and about a paycheck away from being on the streets. Dealing with money has always been an issue for me. My addiction feeds into my insecurity of wanting to be like my friends, having enough and wanting more.
As I clear the Fog of Vagueness away from my finances, I begin to see the destruction this disease has caused in my life. I won’t lie, I LOVE TO SHOP! But damn, it is costing me my life.
Dave’s book talks about baby steps. I love this concept. My personality often tends to go overboard and tries to devour all knowledge at once. With these steps, I have a clear plan for my financial present and future. Over the course of this week I will be completing a review of my budget and will create my cash spending envelopes. Payday is this week so I will be able to get this new plan rolled out and ready for next payday.
Baby Steps. Yep, Baby Steps!
I leave you with one of my favorite Lily Allen songs (it has explicit lyrics) called The Fear
{*Amazon has a trade-in program where you can send in your old books and are given a trade in value. This value is put on a “card” for you that can be applied to future purchases. I was able to get my book for $3.11, that was the book and shipping. Check it out!!}
Oh…hello, you have happened upon the (mis)Adventures of a Quirky Redhead! Here, sit. Read for a bit. I will endeavor to entice you to stay with my witty charm and maybe add some spice to your life.
