Friday, January 4, 2008

My Newest Venture.....

I'm sad to say that Keith and I have never lived on a budget.
I'm ready to start. Preparing for a child and the added expense it will bring, has started the "thinking wheels". It's time we regulated our spending.

So, I am trying to figure out what we spend each month on every little thing. This is hard work. I can't imagine keeping track of where every little dollar goes, but I think that once we start, it will make a huge difference. All those "littles" are going to add up.

I'm sure it will be a bit of a shock to our systems, but the benefits have to outweigh the costs, right?!

Do you live on a budget? What have you learned works and doesn't work? Any tips for a beginner?

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Sort of. It's basically living on a checkbook budget. We live based on what we have in our checking. When it's gone, it's gone. And we've been having to live really tight to that lately . . . because we still own our lot and are paying tons on it. We don't do any sort of spreadsheet or anything. I think a lot of people do that. But I think what's most important is that you are both on the same track/plan. Then it will work out just fine. When you start buying diapers constantly things really do change. And if you don't nurse and buy formula, watch out. Yikes, it gets expensive. Glad you're preparing, Cor! I still can't believe you're having a baby!!! It's just so awesome, though. I want to see you, Mz Preggie and Cute!

Sarah said...

Get outta my brain! I was just going to post on budgeting myself. Or the lack of...

We don't budget either and I really want to learn how.

Looking forward to learning from others!

Kristie said...

Hi! I'm Sarah's friend...

We took the Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsay last summer at our church. It was AWESOME! It was hard at first...the whole keeping track of everything...but we have been budgeting for six full months now and I will tell you it is the BEST thing you can do for your family!

you can check it out at daveramsay.com...

Anonymous said...

We've lived on a budget for a long time. One of the biggest mistakes we made when we set up our budget in the beginning was that we didn't allow ourselves any "fun" money. Didn't even occur to us that we MIGHT want to go see a movie once in a while. Duh.
I am certain that you will be SHOCKED at how much those little things add up. It's amazing.
Good luck with your budget!
God bless :)

Jennifer said...

Dave Ramsey all they way! We are 36 yrs. old, Debt free, have an emergency fund, on hand of 6 to 9 month expenses....putting towards college funds for 4 kids(gulp) and our house is now getting paid for down..in 6 yrs. we will have that paid for. I encourage anyway to take on his plan(and it's all Bible based)he has a plan that works and your kids will pass on these values....and remember this is with 4 kids!!

I'm also a friend of Vals:) if you wanted to know who this crazy woman is!

Erica Lynn said...

Somebody already commented about Dave Ramsey. He is amazing. My husband and I are using his book and I love it. He also has a radio program. People call in with their financial problems. He's a Christian so that's a bonus. You can go to daveramsey.com. Hope it helps.