Filing cabinet in my wallet
Me: "Oh, I haven't told you about my new cash thing have I?"
Gypsy Friend: "No"
Me: "See, I have it split into categories and at the beginning of the month I take out my budget and when its gone, its gone."
Gypsy Friend: " (bahahahaha) You have a filing cabinet in your wallet! You are so lame."
Me: (sad face) " I thought you would be proud of me for not spending so much money."
Gypsy Friend: "Well I am, but seriously......a filing cabinet in your wallet?"
Ok so I wrote this post a couple weeks ago and its been sitting in draft mode waiting for the perfect debut day. I went home for my uncle's funeral on Friday and then stayed for my Dad's best friend, Roy's funeral yesterday (that's why I didn't get a blog posted). Anyway, I drive to Colorado....it snows and it did. Of course I have AWFUL windshield wipers that I never remember to replace when I'm someplace where I could get it done. So after blowing into Limon after Roy's funeral, I ran by NAPA (if you can't get it at NAPA, you don't need it) to get some wipers and of course someone else to go out in the cold to put them on. As I pulled out wallet to pay, I look up and the NAPA guy is grinning at me and the conversation that followed went something like this:
NAPA guy: (grinning and laughing) Do you have dividers....like files in your wallet?
Me: (embarassed) um...yeah. I had to put myself on a cash diet because I was spending too much money.
NAPA guy: Hey! come look at this she has a filing cabinet in her wallet because she spends too much money!
Pretty soon all the NAPA employees come over to inspect my "filing cabinet wallet". I think I could really make money if I had the patent on my system. I did however see a commercial for a "filing cabinet wallet" on tv the other day, but I must say....mine is much nicer! So I dont' really know if I can get a patent on that or not.
So it turns out that that money guy.....you know Dave Ramsey might actually know what he is talking about. I'm the one that if I had cash, I didn't have it long because I spent it. I was also consistently freaking out over my credit card bill....I mean seriously how did it get that big of a balance in just a month?!?!?!
I've tried 3 of Dave's 7 Baby Steps. I'm not religious follower of the plan, but I do partake in moderation. I've saved my emergency fund, I've used the debt snowball and I'm working on my 3 to 6 months. I didn't complete the debt snowball to Dave's satisfaction, but I'll tell you what.....knocking out some of those monthly payments made me want to save even more.....I could see some serious progress each month!
And much to my kicking and screaming (in my head) I started using the envelope system for my discretionary spending. I added up what I spend in each category the month before starting the envelope system to give me a starting point for my budget. I thought fewer categories would be more manageable, so I eventually settled on 1) eating out, 2) entertainment, 3) gas, 4) groceries, 5) gym and 6) wedding (for my sisters). I've found I don't really need gym and wedding, I should just put them in regular savings accounts. I bought TurboFire and have started working out at home, saves me $40 bucks a month, which should probably be turned into the "boat gas" budget since Bryan bought a boat and I plan on spending a substantial part of my summer on said boat.
I haven't exactly gotten my budget down, every month I've borrowed from one "envelope" for another.....and I'll be honest DECEMBER BROKE THE WHOLE BUDGET....into a million pieces!
Again, I'm not the OCD Dave Ramsey plan follower, but hey "a penny saved is a penny earned" and if I can do it, anyone can do it!
Gypsy Friend: "No"
Me: "See, I have it split into categories and at the beginning of the month I take out my budget and when its gone, its gone."
Gypsy Friend: " (bahahahaha) You have a filing cabinet in your wallet! You are so lame."
Me: (sad face) " I thought you would be proud of me for not spending so much money."
Gypsy Friend: "Well I am, but seriously......a filing cabinet in your wallet?"
Ok so I wrote this post a couple weeks ago and its been sitting in draft mode waiting for the perfect debut day. I went home for my uncle's funeral on Friday and then stayed for my Dad's best friend, Roy's funeral yesterday (that's why I didn't get a blog posted). Anyway, I drive to Colorado....it snows and it did. Of course I have AWFUL windshield wipers that I never remember to replace when I'm someplace where I could get it done. So after blowing into Limon after Roy's funeral, I ran by NAPA (if you can't get it at NAPA, you don't need it) to get some wipers and of course someone else to go out in the cold to put them on. As I pulled out wallet to pay, I look up and the NAPA guy is grinning at me and the conversation that followed went something like this:
NAPA guy: (grinning and laughing) Do you have dividers....like files in your wallet?
Me: (embarassed) um...yeah. I had to put myself on a cash diet because I was spending too much money.
NAPA guy: Hey! come look at this she has a filing cabinet in her wallet because she spends too much money!
Pretty soon all the NAPA employees come over to inspect my "filing cabinet wallet". I think I could really make money if I had the patent on my system. I did however see a commercial for a "filing cabinet wallet" on tv the other day, but I must say....mine is much nicer! So I dont' really know if I can get a patent on that or not.
So it turns out that that money guy.....you know Dave Ramsey might actually know what he is talking about. I'm the one that if I had cash, I didn't have it long because I spent it. I was also consistently freaking out over my credit card bill....I mean seriously how did it get that big of a balance in just a month?!?!?!
I've tried 3 of Dave's 7 Baby Steps. I'm not religious follower of the plan, but I do partake in moderation. I've saved my emergency fund, I've used the debt snowball and I'm working on my 3 to 6 months. I didn't complete the debt snowball to Dave's satisfaction, but I'll tell you what.....knocking out some of those monthly payments made me want to save even more.....I could see some serious progress each month!
And much to my kicking and screaming (in my head) I started using the envelope system for my discretionary spending. I added up what I spend in each category the month before starting the envelope system to give me a starting point for my budget. I thought fewer categories would be more manageable, so I eventually settled on 1) eating out, 2) entertainment, 3) gas, 4) groceries, 5) gym and 6) wedding (for my sisters). I've found I don't really need gym and wedding, I should just put them in regular savings accounts. I bought TurboFire and have started working out at home, saves me $40 bucks a month, which should probably be turned into the "boat gas" budget since Bryan bought a boat and I plan on spending a substantial part of my summer on said boat.
I haven't exactly gotten my budget down, every month I've borrowed from one "envelope" for another.....and I'll be honest DECEMBER BROKE THE WHOLE BUDGET....into a million pieces!
Again, I'm not the OCD Dave Ramsey plan follower, but hey "a penny saved is a penny earned" and if I can do it, anyone can do it!
Ha...."if you can't get it at NAPA, you don't need it." That made my day!
ReplyDeleteGood for you for being all grown up and responsible with your finances. I'm impressed! Don't let them laugh at you!
I'm glad I can get my Jen fix moer regularly now. And I love that you write the way you talk becase as I read your blogs, you literally read them out loud to me!!
ReplyDeleteI just happened to stumble upon your blog... I obviously should have been following it for awhile now!! Additionally, I thought it was pure magic that my work lap top started singing REK to me with out command, leading me to search for the deleted Spotify account that IT made me take off my computer... but then I realized, it was coming from your blog! I love it!! -- Micca S.
ReplyDeleteI do envelopes! I'm not OCD about it, either, but since I am supporting myself for the first time in my life at mid-40's, and have my first full-time job whose every month can range from $0 to the-sky's-the-limit, and DON'T want credit card debt, and hate to try to keep it separate in one checking account, but don't want to open 15 checking accounts....I do envelopes...
ReplyDelete....and they work! Bravo for Jen!!!
~Whitney
Oh Jen I love it! I just was able to come to your blog and start reading and my first reading pleasure was the file cabinet in your wallet! I am so doing it!! We are also reading Dave Ramsey and have started to list all the debt(yikes) and are just beginning.
ReplyDeleteMickie :)