I'm terrible with money. There. I just admitted it. You know how there are spenders and savers? I'm a spender- through and through. When I was younger, I would get $2 from each set of grandparents and $3 from my parents after each basketball game to "get something to eat". That's $7 per game. And I would spend it ALL at the concession stand. I mean, I know I could put away the food back then- seriously. I had money, I had to spend it.
I just like to buy things... clothes, groceries, toilet paper... I'm not picky!
Over time, my spending may or may not have become a bit of a problem. As in- we don't have money, but I was still spending. Overdraft charges, bounced checks, debt... nothing really phased me. In case you were wondering- this is BAD. NEWS.
After far too many years of failed attempts at budgeting, we knew something had to change. So we enrolled in Financial Peace University. Um, Dave Ramsey- he kicks booty!
We watched the videos, set out our budget, put cash in the envelopes and got excited. In case you were curious- budgets= a spenders worst nightmare! When the cash is gone- no more spending. But I have come to realize that I don't have the self control to just "not spend." So davey to the rescue.
One area we knew we could seriously cut back on was eating out. It's so easy after a long day at work or church or napping to just pick up a pizza... or tacos... or chick-fil-a. But (being the spender that I am) I always buy tons of groceries with lofty goals of gourmet, homecooked dinners every night. Those dinner- yeah, not so much. Fancy food quickly turned into lots of taco bell.
So, for the the month of January we decided no more eating out. I set a menu plan (thank you e-mealz for this wonderful concept!), got groceries and determined to eat dinner at home.
WE DID IT! Oh my word, I'm embarassed to even tell you how much money we saved by doing this. But for the sake of the blog (and humility) here's the lowdown.
This month we spend $99 at resaurants (that's $1 under budget, yo!). In November/December we spent (I'm embarassed to even admit this...) $589. On food. In restaurants. RIDICULOUS.
That's $489 we saved just eating at home (and who even knows how many calories)... this doesn't include the $15 trips to target and all those times I would've hit the sale rack at Old Navy.
So, I'm planning on chronicling my journey from becoming a spender to a saver here on the blog. If any of you have some fabulous tips for a newbie like me, PLEASE leave me a comment!
AliExpress
5 years ago
6 comments:
I am with you - I was SHOCKED at how much money I spent eating out when I decided I was going to eat home for a week (more so due to my waistline than wallet but I learned a valuable lesson in the process)!
Learn to be an extreme couponer and eat for almost no dollars at all! I can give you some info if you want :)
I know we dont know each other that well but this post resonated (sp) with me. I am the spender and my husband Aaron is the saver. I think Dave has more fancy names for them. But anywho. Budgets, breaking them and making them have been huge point of contention since day one. I like to spend and that doesnt bode well when we have a small child and we are trying to save money to move home. Sorry for the novel here. But one thing that I do is each week I write out the menu on a cute dry erase board. I got it at Michaels. It is half dry erase and half cork board. I have foudn that if I write out the menu and see the plan for the week I am more inclinded to use the groceries we spend money on. I then tack the recipes or ideas for dinner on the cork board. Hope this helps, again sorry for the novel. Good luck!
I am SO with you on this problem. The Dave Ramsey money envelopes have really helped me but it is really HARD. This is THE AREA I am trying to surrender to the Lord this year. There are so many things I would rather do with my money than spend it on nothing. I am trying to remember those things as a motivator.
Steph, I am so proud of you! Keep it up!!! Financial Freedom is not an easy road to start upon( part of that narrow road) but I promise that financial peace tastes so much better and is more satisfying than a 100 extravagent meals eaten out. Finanical margin is an amazing feeling- and just think about all the things you can do to bless the lives of others when you make that margins for yourself.
Steph! Oh my goodness, that's awesome! I'm so proud of you! We have to talk more about this next week! Keep it up, friend! Love you!
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