First Month of Dave Ramsey

Living with cash is a total pain in the booty, BUT, it has already made a difference in how I spend. Last month, I had a car repair. I was able to make it out of my budgeted money...AND drumroll please....Even with the car repair, I came in $200 UNDER budget.

Okay, so  now I need to spend  $300 on getting my kittie fixed and up-to-date with the vet. Bonus is that I have $200 of already in my pocket leftover from last month.

My banker is laughing because I'm going in every 2 weeks now to get cash. She thinks I'm a nut job...well she has known me for a couple of years...so her theory may not only be based on my new cash experiment. But hey, its working. When I say I'm $200 under budget, what you need to take into consideration is that in November I was $900 over budget and in December I was $700 over budget. In the past, I never compared what I actually spent to my so-called budget. What a wake up call. I had a budget, I just never once stuck to it.

I had some work expenses in the past few weeks that I put on a credit card and never expensed...too lazy. Well, I added them up and its almost $200....so more money going to be coming in. I also realized I can get reimbursed $150 for my gym membership through my company so I'll be doing that too. I have been so lazy with my money in the past. Not sure why I didn't seem to care.

I also consolidated all my recurring credit card expenses onto one card. It's about time. The gym was on Costco AMEX, Netflix and toll tag were on green AMEX, cell bill was on Sapphire card. What a pain to keep up with so many small payments. 

My boyfriend is Mr. Frugal so he's in good shape, but I have to laugh. I'm now becoming Ms. Frugal and he's out looking at bass boats. He has seller's remorse from selling his Champion last year....shown in picture.

Never argue with an idiot and Dave Ramsey update

Happy Valentine's Day!

So on another subject .....There is a quote I learned long ago that rings so true and that I was reminded of this week.

"Never argue with an idiot. They will bring you down to their level and then beat you with experience."

Oh, and this quote is in no way related to my daughter or my boyfriend, but I'm remaining mum on who reminded me of this.

So today, I'm making (at my sweetie's request) Chocolate Toffee Crunch Brownies. This will go nicely with my low carb lifestyle....NOT.

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/fudgy-toffee-crunch-brownies-10000001923450/

This morning Hayley had flowers, a heart box of chocolates, cup cakes, more candy, and four fashion magazines. I told her that her boyfriend really stepped it up for Valentine's Day. She told me that apparently he can follow instructions because she told him everything she wanted. Smart girl.

So I got a new cell phone as my V day gift from my boyfriend. I didn't think I needed a new one, but I guess he thought I did. It was acting up a few weeks ago, but that was before I deleted the 2-year old call log, the 5000+ text messages, and 300+ photos. Oopsie.

I went to talk with the sales lady to see what she thought. I'm sure a sales person wouldn't want to sell me a  new phone....right?  I thought my phone was great. It even had a pull out keyboard which is important since I can't seem to type on touch phones. 

Well she started laughing at my old phone, which by the way, was top of the line 2 years ago. I had the extended battery on it so it was as heavy as a brick. I broke the plastic on the back of it so the back kept falling off, and there was a small bad spot on the screen. She was very helpful and told me one of the least expensive phones was the best. WTH? Love her even though I wasn't paying for it. 

She said it had the best processor and software, decent battery life (there is no such thing as good battery life on smartphones apparently) and the voice to text feature. I love it. The battery stays charged and it is so much faster to pull up my apps and the Internet. Plus, I got a nice turquoise blingy case for it. Now the voice to text feature....well it isn't perfect, but it works enough that I think my friends and family can at least get the gist of what I'm trying to say. I've alerted them all to the fact that all texts are voice translated, so not to take offense if crazy things show up.

Oh and because I'm on Dave Ramsey's plan, I bought my V Day cards for .50 each at Dollar Tree. Oh, and Dave Ramey's class did tell me to sell my car this week, but I'm not going to do it. Sorry Dave. I live in Texas. I need a fast and reliable car for the tollway, but I will add it to my debt snowball and pay if off early.

Going to be a lovely day in Texas today. Great....while I sit inside working.

Update on Financial Peace

So using the envelope system is not easy, but it does make me more money conscious. I decided to do a 2 week envelope experience instead of all money for a month because that is too much cash to carry. 

I even went to Dollar Tree this week. How fun was that? I spent $15 and got so much stuff...including .25 cent seed packets for my garden.  I didn't have my glasses on. I thought I bought some squash seeds, but they were yellow string beans...WTH? I've never had a yellow string bean. That'll be a first.

So back to envelopes....on the first day, I lost an envelope with $60 in it. I was just glad it wasn't a $200 envelope.  I had used some money out of it for gas so I figured it was in my car. I looked and looked to no avail. When you have a 2-seater car, the search shouldn't be that difficult. 

My first food purchase was at Walmart for $26.....well they were out of ones, so I got back almost $4 in quarters. Sigh. I'm so used to swiping cards. Using cash is a royal pain. I also had to start a change jar so the straps on my purse wouldn't break...thanks Walmart.

Then, I  had a car repair this week. I have a little padding in my car budget that I was hoping to accumulate over time for any repairs, but of course, my car repair is in the first month. I didn't have enough to cover the entire repair so I borrowed from my entertainment envelope. I have spent nothing out of entertainment, clothes, or other. I have found that my food budget is my biggest category. Easy to understand, I put eating out into the food category with groceries, snack stops, and wine. The good news is that I still have money in that account. I knew food and eating out would be huge for me. Damn daughter and her Pei Wei addiction. 

So after my car was repaired...I kid you not....there is my missing $60 envelope in the car in plain sight next to the seat. I'm telling you I searched this car like crazy more than once. Very odd.

So all these envelopes were making me crazy. I kept getting money out of the wrong envelope or couldn't quickly find the one I needed. So now I consolidated a cash pile, but I still have a register for each category. The good news is that I still have money left for next week and that is in addition to getting my car fixed. Of course, I also need to get my kittie fixed soon. She was making love to my purse today. I can't even begin to explain the noises that come out of her. Cute and disturbing all at the same time.

So speaking of disturbing. My house seems to be on the CareFlight path when they are headed up to 380. They just went over my house as I was writing this. It is rush hour. Sometimes they go over my house twice in a day. Preston and 380 is a really bad intersection and lots of fatalities. I say a prayer every time they go over because I know it can't be good. There was a double fatality a few weeks ago right near my house on a 45-mph road (Preston). It was a head on collision.  Remember to tell your family you love them daily and be nice to them. 

Which speaking of that. I was such a beyotch to my boyfriend this week. He called me and I was watching Bachelor and was really into it. I got rid of my DVRs so I if I miss something, I really miss it. I felt bad to be short with him because I was watching the world's stupidest reality show...when in reality I should have been focused on him and us. Damn it. I'm just not the perfect girlfriend.

So here is my favorite picture of him trying to impress me when we first met with his lime juggling abilities.

Morning workouts

So my gym just started getting crowded in the last 2 weeks. I guess the New Years Resolution folks were a little slow this year. 

Hayley and I got all dressed for the gym on Tuesday early evening and left in great spirits ready for a good workout. Well, I circled the parking lot three times looking for a space. Also not really feeling really safe because there is one of those portable Police skyscrapers in the parking lot. Finally, we see a spot and a guy puts on his blinker and I let him take it. Now, I was closer and I didn't have to take a left to get to it like him, so I definitely could have taken it. However, I really like my car and the last thing I want is some old man key scratching it because I stole his parking spot.

So anyway, we circled one more time and my daughter says "You know....I don't really feel like working out now. I mean if we can't find a parking spot, how are we going to find any empty equipment." With that being said, we left. 

So lately I've been going to the gym in the mornings. Now, I'm a morning person. I wake up at 5:30 or 6a.m.; however, I don't like to move that early. My idea is to lay in bed and watch Squawkbox for an hour, check my emails, and read the news. 

But, because the gym is packed in the evenings, I've been dragging myself out of bed and going in the mornings. So I want to tell you the great things about morning workouts.

• You can get a parking spot on the 2nd row.
• You can get on weights and cardio equipment without a problem.
• Everyone else looks like crap too.
• The people in the gym are serious. There are no women with fake eyelashes and matching gym clothes lounging on the equipment. I find this very refreshing.
• I get that feeling. You know the one on Friday afternoons when you've worked all week and ready to party for the weekend? When I work out in the mornings, I feel like the rest of the day I can do whatever I want and I'm not dreading "having to work out later".

Random photo at Mexico Beach, Florida - December 2013.

Oh, and what is up with people now taking their tablets to the gym?