Week 7 Challenge

OK, so I've been following along with the

weekly challenges at



This week the challenge is

Organizing your Finances.

She is also doing a giveaway from

that financial guy...

you know,

what's his name.

I've never been a fan...

he wants to take away my debit card.

In all honesty, he does give some very good advice.

And to hear how much debt some people have paid

off while following his plan is just amazing!

Scott bought one of his books and read through it,

asked me to read it and I started to, I think...

but as you can tell,

I didn't get very far.

So here is the plan that Toni has for the week:

Day 1 - Set up a budget, track all spending for entire 6 day challenge & Enter Giveaway

Day 2 - Learn about & set up an envelope system

Day 3 - Create a "Budget Box"

Day 4 - Create your debt snowball & learn about free budgeting software

Day 5 - Dave Ramsey interview questions answered

Day 6 - Giveaway Winner & debt free stories

So, I guess that I will follow along...

While Scott and I are fairly financially responsible...

well, Scott is responsible and he keeps me in check,

I am going to try to do my part!

To be quite honest...

the word "budget"

gives me hives...

but I also know that the only financial BIG decision

that Scott ever left up to me,

kept me up at night for a week,

so I know that if I put some effort into it,

being debt free would be wonderful.

Whether I want to admit it or not,

we do follow several of the plans that

Dave Ramsey teaches.

Now...I do not pay cash for everything...

I still have my credit card,

but if it is used...it gets paid off!

But I'm not ready to cut them up and never have them again.

I understand the concept...It's easier to spend more with it,

but I do not see myself going on vacation with just cash.

And for things like gas...

it's just easier for me to pay at the pump,

verses trying to "guess" how much it is going

to take to fill up my car...

unbuckle Jackson, tote him in,

lug him back out, buckle him back in...

see my point?

I was looking over several of the links

that people have posted that are

participating this week and

one lady was telling her story.

She made the point that

not every system works for every person.

You have to come up with what works for you...

Luckily, we have never had a massive amount of debt.

Other than our house...we have never

carried large credit card balances.

We have been fortunate enough to not have

student loans to pay off.

We have good health insurance through Scott's job,

and until a few years ago,

we would only keep one car payment at a time.

That was the BIG financial decision he let me make...

While, we had manageable car payments...

I am glad that mine is now gone!

WHEW!!

So...what is my financial plan for the week,

since you know I don't like to listen to Dave?

I am going to look at our budget.

Even though Scott came up with it in 2006,

it really has not changed much.

So, going along with the challenge...

tonight I am going to start tracking my expenses...

and make up a budget.

I am also going to try to make a

modified "envelope system".

I hope to use this for eating out

and "fun money" and I'll see how it goes

for some of the other categories that people use this for.

Scott and I have talked about setting up a

college fund for the boys...

but talking about it is all we do.

So, I am going to do a little research

and see what I can come up with.

I also want to set up a savings account for our trip to Hawaii

so we can have all of that paid for

 before we leave.

One year I planned a trip to Disney for our family.

I planned months in advance and when the trip arrived...

everything was paid for!

Money saved for eating out
(cause you know I carried that credit card!),

 tickets, hotel...DONE!

I had even shopped for souvenirs at the Disney Store

and hid them in our suitcase.

Scott said that was the best trip he had ever taken!

Not worrying about what we were spending

made it much more fun.

 So when we are in Hawaii...

I want nothing but reeee-lax-ation!

While I may not have decided that Dave Ramsey is

the greatest thing since sliced bread...

I am going to try to get some sort of system going...

So he won't tell me I have to eat

bread and water

cause' there's no money in my envelope...

Check back tomorrow and see what

a Budget Box is...

I knew about the envelope thing,

but this is new to me!