It’s the start of a new year, and along with it comes resolutions. I have the same as most people such as lose weight, be more organized, eat healthier, etc. One that I would love to start and make as a lifestyle change is less financial baggage. Easier said than done, I know. Especially since becoming an instant parent to a newborn, our finances have shifted from frivolous spending on just my husband and I, to diapers, formula, clothing and everything else a baby needs that we couldn’t possible know was required. But I know there is room to tighten the finances and get rid of some financial baggage that lingers.
On the Road to Good Finances
My husband and I took a financial class a few years back to work on getting rid of debt. It was Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. We paid a small fee and went to a local church for 9 weeks. We met with other people, had class discussions, and completed homework to really look at our finances and see where we could make changes. I always thought we did decent with our money because we could pay our bills and do activities we wanted to do. I didn’t fully understand that we didn’t have to have debt. We don’t have to have credit cards. If we can’t buy it with cash, then do we really need it? I grew up living check to check and have always worked 2-3 jobs at a time to make sure I had the means to pay my bills and have money left over for the necessities. But I had credit cards and loans and was paying interest on stuff that I believed I had to have at the time. My husband and I also learned that my husband had a bad habit of going to the gas station for snacks on a pretty regular basis. A few bucks a day add up and when we put the pencil to paper and did the math, our jaws dropped. The program allows us to budget in the things we feel are necessary while still giving us the flexibility to pay down our debt. We did this program for a decent amount of time. We probably weren’t as strict as we could have been, but we did see results with paying off debt faster than we thought we could!
Life Happens.
When we got the call about the baby 11 months ago, the plan went out the door. We went back to old habits and needed to buy things to make our baby’s life the best she could possibly have. Now that we have had some time to start figuring out this parenting thing and have a good, general idea on what things cost for babies, I want to get our plan back on track. The monthly cash flow sheet makes you budget all your income for the month to the penny. That way all your money is accounted for. It makes you set budgets for groceries, clothing, and other items that you may just go buy without a budget in mind. I know sometimes I tend to get out of hand at the grocery store. The cash flow sheet breaks it down so you know how much is allotted to spend on that category. I know that for me, seeing it down on paper helps me stay more on track.
A New Beginning
Dumping the financial baggage is something that will help me financially, emotionally, and mentally while setting my household up for success. I am not saying you have to use this program. If you find something that works for you, I’d love to hear it. Let’s support each other in building our lives with less debt and teaching our children better habits so they don’t have to worry about the stress of debt. I’ve included links below to the budget forms that I have found useful and information on teaching your children healthy money habits. Happy 2019 to you all and please, share any tips that work for you!
