i am now starting my 4th month as a blogger, and i’m trying to find a focus for this thing. i added a tagline to the top – living free in Christ and free of debt. i’m starting this weekend with a frugal friday post about the 2nd part of that tagline. what does it mean to live debt free, to me? freedom.

i am terrible with money. terrible. my financial past is dark and scary. i fought this whole budget thing pretty hard, until i listened to the dave ramsey show one time. i was hooked. i am a free spirit and thought that a budget would make me feel trapped and fenced in. in fact, now that we are on a budget i feel more free than ever.

we operate on a cash system now. i carry a “financial peace university” wallet that came with cash envelopes for just this purpose. it was really difficult at first to get used to cash again. i mean, has anyone used it since they first got a credit or debit card? no, ma’am. here’s the crazy thing – when you use cash, you spend less. it is science, people. your pain receptors (in your brain) are triggered when you spend cash, but don’t feel a thing when you use a credit or debit card.

with the cash system we are using, we do our budget at the beginning of each month. we then go to the bank and pull out the cash. it goes into our envelopes, and makes sticking to the budget so easy. if all the dining out money is gone, we eat at home. if all the grocery money is spent, we make due with what we have already purchased. if my “mad money” has dwindled, i’ll have to delay the purchase of that cute new dress. self control is a good thing.

you would be amazed by the looks i get when i pull out cash. people are annoyed because it takes 30 seconds longer, cashiers think i’m crazy. that’s ok. we are taking control of our financial future, and it is ok if others think we are weird. we are weird. normal people are swimming in credit card debt, and we don’t want to be normal.

what are you doing to be frugal? what system does your house use? i’m so interested in finding out what other people are doing. share your wisdom, friends.

here is a link to some of dave ramsey’s budgeting software:

11 Comments on frugal friday – cash money honey

  1. We the same as you had scary debt…we paid it all off including the car. We have a savings, we pay for items without having credit card debt. It is a wonderful feeling to be free of all of it, to know all there is to pay is the utilities and rent. FREEDOM!!

  2. Becca,
    I could have written this post. Word for word.
    I am SO a free spirit, too. Your hubby must be a nerd like mine 🙂
    We use cash, too.
    When we’re outta $, we stop spending.
    Mark gives me a cash allowance every payday and I work well in that structure.
    I also sell on eBay and etsy for fun money! 🙂
    We shop at Good Will, Craigslist and yard sales for clothing and most everything else. (Things like underwear and socks and hygiene stuff gets purchased new, of course 😉
    I barter with friends for stuff they have that I want. I will paint or sew something for my bartering part.
    When I no longer need or want something, I sell it, and make the money back.
    My hubby and I are FPU Class Coordinators, so we get to watch people gain FREEDOM! And it is so, so rewarding!
    We volunteered once for Dave Ramsey at an event he was having here in Greenville, and we got to yell right to his face, “WE’RE DEBT FREE!”
    If you don’t mind, would you be interested in talking about this subject on my blog (a guest blogger) sometime? Maybe this exact post? Or could I link to it?
    Thanks for your comments at my place!
    Happy Home!

  3. Hi Becca, I found your blog from The Girl Creative. My husband and I just read the Dave Ramsey book recently and have been working hard to change our ways. It’s so wonderful to have plan to pay off debt! It IS so freeing! Happy Easter!

  4. I think this is a great post. I am horrible with money and so were/are my parents…so love them, but they didn’t teach me a whole lot. On the other hand, my hubby is good with money (thankfully). I want to be better and instill better ways with $$$ for my kids. I really enjoyed this post. Isn’t it crazy that people think it is odd to pay with cash! Thanks for stopping by 504 Main…new follower here!

  5. Morning, I am a fellow Texas blogger and i have a list of same. I will add you to my list, hope you will come and follow along.

    Barbara

  6. We have a budget, and we use Mint.com to keep track of our spending, which we LOVE. We almost never use cash, because then Mint couldn’t track our purchasing. We use credit cards for everything, but we don’t carry a balance. We use the rewards to get Starbucks gift cards, etc. Mint seriously changed our life. Getting emails about how I spent $300 in one month on clothes? SO embarrassing. Even more than having a spouse, having Mint has made me accountable because I know I’m going to get texts and emails if I go over budget. I like that I can see little graphs comparing my spending in each area for each month. I still need to work harder at not spending so much (she says as she heads over to Amazon to check out this month’s $5 albums), but I’ve made a lot of progress thanks to Mint. We don’t have credit card debt, but it’s going to come in handy when we finally have to start paying on Jon’s med school loans.

  7. This is so inspiring! I’m visiting for The Girl Creative 🙂

    Please check out my blog to find out how you can use your creativity and talents to show Christ’s love! I’d love for you to link this post up to the “do-it-for-you” party I’m hosting!

  8. Girl, we all need more Martha in our lives! Thanks so much for following & entering my giveaway. I am following you too. I look forward to getting to know you 🙂

    By the way, I LOVE the photo you used for your header – so fun!

  9. hey Bec~ great post! I think I’m going to try this system for me and my fam… I have had other friends that have tried this~some have worked some haven’t. And your so right when you swipe that card-you don’t think much about it, when you have that cash and you see that last dollar- it does hit you. And the kids always say “mom use your debit card” and you have to remind them, just because you have a debit card doesn’t mean you can use it… 🙂 thanks for the great post! I’m going to keep up with your blog and probably spend the rest of the night- catching up on it 🙂 LOVE ya… call me/email me next time you are in town 🙂 miss ya!

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