The Envelope System...working!

I had my doubts.  I mean, cash in envelopes is suppose to curb spending?  Really?

Well, yes.  I am only on my second week of envelope spending but the simple act of having to use cash for everything and having a specific amount for certain things, it's powerful in itself.  If this is the one habit that I stick with for this new year, then yay!

Here is a good example :)  I was out and about with my mom, taking care of errands and visiting grandparents and it was close to dinner time.  She suggested eating out and my first thought was, "wait, I have plans with the girls Friday and my misc. envelope has $40 in it for the next two weeks," a pretty powerful thought for me.  Instead of eating out, we decided to stop and grab some burger, lettuce and a tomato and have burgers at my house.  The total was $13.04 for 5 pounds of burger, a head of lettuce and a tomato--way cheaper than going out to a restaurant and there were leftovers for other meals. :)

Yay!

Having an envelope system doesn't prevent me from doing fun things with friends or meeting friends for lunch, it just makes me more conscious of money and being more savvy with cooking and doing things at home.  It feels empowering to have total control or to have the feeling of total control (even though when I used plastic to pay for everything I was in control) over my money.  It's a different type of control, more tangible and real life.  Good bye plastic!

I can't wait to see what my year of saving does for my bank account and for my sense of peace financially.

Best,
Lindsey

Awake at 3:00 AM, again. AGAIN!

Dear fellow budgeters (or any other teachers up at 5 am on Winter break...seriously.),

I found myself lying awake at 3:00 this morning thinking of my budget.  Like it's completely taken over my life.  I find myself reading blogs on budgets, looking at people's budgets online, reading all the Dave Ramsey that I can lay my hands on and suddenly, I realized something.

I am going to overcome my debt.  I always do.

So, I took a deep breath and finally got up, at 5 a.m., to drink a cup of coffee and post in my blog.  My dog, Byron, lays sleepily in his doggie bed beside me as I type away and the more I type, the better I feel.

Maybe this blog isn't so much to share all the good or not so good advice that I actually find, but to ease the worry that surrounds my heart and also to ease my freakish need to control everything (probably that is what makes me a good teacher) and just breathe.  Breathe.

BREATHE.

I do want to share the first big step I have taken so far though!  I have read a ton about Dave Ramsey's famous envelope system--while I love and hate it, I am beginning to see the sense in it.  You see, I am a credit card user.  I like to swipe the cards.  I get joy out of knowing that I can pay for things, it makes me happy.  What I foolishly forget, is that hello, I really DO have to pay for all of these things.  I am also a crazy emotional shopper-so any emotion that might hit me, happy, sad, glad, makes me want to shop it out-which can really be problematic when said person teaches lots of small, very emotional little people.

Anyways, the envelope system.  My first step in controlling my money and making it work for me is actually using the envelope system.  I am using a slightly modified version as I do pay all of my bills online.  I have envelopes for Groceries, Gas and Misc (all else, including fun) and I am taking out between $100 and $200 each paycheck-I get paid bi-weekly, so twice a month.  The amount is specified in the budget for that two week period, it's easier for me than planning out an entire month (WAY too overwhelming).  Then I put that money into the designated envelopes for spending.  That's it.  I don't get to use my card if I think I "need" something else, I only have what I have budgeted out.

It's a good plan.  I'm so nervous!  I've never actually just paid for things with cash-since I have been out of college, I have always used my debit card.  Crazy.

I am also converting all of my bills to automatic payments with a credit card that I earn lots of good points on.  Then I make the payments to the credit card each month instead of the company, they get paid and I get to earn free gift cards to places like Target and Meijer, where I can buy things I actually "need" like shampoo, food and other things.  It FEELS smarter some how.

So, the journey has begun.  I feel like I need luck but really, all I need is some determination and perseverance, even when budgeting really sucks (like when my friends all go to the movies and dinner and I stay home), knowing that the end goal is peace of mind and stability.

Best,
Lindsey

Budgeting...wait, what?

40 million Americans have student loan debt. (money.cnn.com, Sept. 10, 2015)


40 million.


I am one of those 40 million unfortunately.  With all the money that I owe, I don't regret my college degrees or experiences, I think they were worth every single penny, well almost.

Money management might be one of the most talked about but not taught about subjects, especially for high school students and pre-college kiddos.  There just isn't enough education about money, budgeting, loans, bills, etc. out there for kiddos these days.  Eighteen year old kiddos do not know what or how to manage money so that they set up their 30 year old selves with a safety net and smart money investments.


This 30 year old self can say that from experience.  I began my college journey when I was 18.  I finished said journey when I was 28.  That's 10 years.  10 years of financial aid, loans, books, cost of credits rising each year and time.  It's costly, $123,784.41 to be exact.  That is what I currently owe the world--$123,784.41.

Now, I did not go to school to be an investment banker, lawyer, doctor or high ranking official that makes a decent wage.  I'm a teacher.  I'm lucky enough to work in a district who takes great care of their teachers, but I am still working part time jobs and summers in order to pay off debt as fast as I can.

I could go on a useless rant on how we do not pay our teachers enough in the United States--but I won't.  We all know that.  I work more than 40 hours every week because I believe in what I am doing, I love my students and their families and I love learning.

Perhaps my love of learning was out of control for 10 years and I jumped on every learning wagon I could, because, I love it.  I love the journey of learning something new and it is SO important for me to know my subject area--I affect our future everyday with how I teach, what I teach, how inspired I am about what I teach and my LOVE of learning.  I love learning.

But...learning comes with a price--a hefty one.

So, this is my journey.  My year of paying off debts and sharing with the world how I do it.  My hope is that one college student reads my blog and takes action and control over their own money--changes their future by taking charge.

Best,
Ms. B