Category: budget


Oct
2011

Frugal Friday – A Little Fall Color

categories: budget, decorating, our financial story

I like to decorate with natural elements whenever possibly, and I love a fall display. One of the components of our first date was a pumpkin patch, so Jed knows pretty gourds are the way to my heart. He brought home a whole bushel of various pumpkins and cute gourds from his trip to Lubbock last weekend. Thank you, sir. The best part was that he got them all for just $10. Woohoo! I’ve got gourds coming out my ears but our budget didn’t take hit. I’ve put them all over the house and still have a ton to give away.

How do you decorate on a budget?


Feb
2011

Frugal Friday – Budget Busting Temptation

categories: budget, financial freedom, frugal

Everyone has a weakness, something that tempts you no matter the consequences.  When you are trying to stay on a budget, temptation seems to pop up everywhere.  Lately I’ve been tempted to spend all over the place.  Cute maternity clothes call to me from the racks saying, “You need cute clothes, buy me!”  And there’s the baby stuff.  Oh, the baby stuff.  It calls to me from the stores and my inbox saying, “Doesn’t your baby deserve the best? If you want to be a good mom you’ll buy me.  Aren’t I the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?”  We also get tempted by budget busters like vacations and dining out, things we “deserve” because we have been so frugal.

How do we deal with all of this spending temptation when we are trying to save for our first house and baby?
We do our best to stay on budget, and we keep our budget flexible adding and changing things when needed.  We are going on an overnight getaway soon, a little babymoon, so we budgeted for it over several months so we don’t have to stress about the expense.  I got a little extra clothing money last month so I could buy more maternity clothes.  We are putting off as much baby spending as possible until after our baby showers, and budgeting some each month so that when we need to buy stuff we will have the cash ready.  We struggle daily with the temptation to forget our budget and spend whatever we want, because we do have a big savings fund.  Sometimes it is hard to not spend because we worked so hard to save up that money and be debt free.  I think what really keeps us grounded is that we are on the same page with money all the time, and make sure to work through it if a conflict arises.  This has been the best thing ever for our marriage and our finances.

What are your budget busting temptations?  How do you avoid giving in?  

Jan
2011

Frugal Friday – Cheap Getaways

categories: budget, frugal, travel

As you probably know by now, we are on a pretty strict budget saving for the arrival of Bun and for our first house. We still like to have fun and manage to do so quite often. When we were in my home state of Arkansas recently we took a little day trip that was almost free. If you aren’t from “The Natural State” you may not know that Arkansas is blessed with many great state parks and beautiful scenery. This was December, so the scenery was not at its peak, but it was still a lovely getaway. We drove up to Petit Jean State Park with my parents, and packed snacks and drinks for the road. The park was empty even though it was a lovely day (note Jed’s outfit) and we had plenty of space to explore without being disturbed.
Aren’t my parents the cutest? They did a great job instilling a love of the outdoors into all 4 of us kids with camping, canoeing, and hiking throughout our childhoods. I asked them about it, and they said it was just the most practical type of getaway with 4 kids, because the lodging is cheap and the entertainment is free.
It was so good for my soul to get away from concrete and enjoy the woods for a day. I love Dallas, but I miss nature.
Jed gets to have little adventures climbing everything in site and looking over the edge. I don’t think the little boy inside ever leaves the man.

We haven’t yet found any favorite state parks to explore in Texas.
Does anyone have a good recommendation close to the DFW area?
What is your favorite cheap getaway?

Jan
2011

Frugal Friday – My Favorite Frugal and Financial Posts of 2010

categories: budget, financial freedom, frugal, our financial story

Last year was a landmark one for our family. We moved again, began the journey to parenthood, and accomplished a number of financial goals. I’ve compiled a list of my favorite frugal and financial posts from 2010. It was fun for me to look over the posts to see how we’ve grown. I hope you enjoy them. Click on a title to check it out.

Dinner at Home
Estate Sale Decorating
Frugal Pregnancy Tips from Friends
Renting vs. Buying a House
This is Dallas – The Dallas Lifestyle
Frugal Date Night
An Ode to Aldi
Cooking with Friends
The Baby Steps – How Dave Ramsey Changed Our Family
This year our financial goals include saving for our baby and our first house.
What are your financial goals for 2011?

Dec
2010

Frugal Friday – Our 2nd Cash Only Christmas

categories: budget, financial freedom, holiday, our financial story

There are many things that I love about the Christmas season. I love the meaning, traditions, decorations, time with family, time with Jesus, singing carols, the movies, and the giving and receiving of gifts. I do not love holiday stress, busyness, and money worries. Last year was our first year on the Dave Ramsey plan, and we were newly debt free. We budgeted for Christmas presents and used only cash and debit and it was so freeing. We loved it so much that we did it again this year.

We budget how much we want to spend on each other, our families, charity, and our friends, and then we pull the cash out each month and keep it in our gift envelope. Christmas comes every year and is not an emergency, so we want to make sure we are prepared so that we can be generous with our gifts. We pull out gift money through out the year to cover wedding and birthday gifts, and starting in September we add to the amount significantly to cover our Christmas gifts. Because we pull out money in September, October, and November, we didn’t have to take out much in December at all. We take our budgeted amount out of the envelope and use it to buy the gifts. If we buy something online with the debit card, we put that amount back into the bank. It feels so good to have the money to buy each other and our loved ones gifts without any stress.
We don’t have to worry about the credit card bill showing up in January reminding us of our mistakes. We have no money stress about Christmas. We remember the weight of credit card debt and never want to feel it again. Many of our friends and family have asked us why we would want to miss out on the airlines miles or rewards that come with many credit cards. We’ve heard from lots of people that they use credit cards because of those rewards. To us they just aren’t worth it. Credit card companies offer rewards so that folks will spend more, and studies show that is exactly what’s happening. We are completely convinced that no one beats the credit card companies. They always win. They make so much money off of the debt people incur to get some miles that I would rather not help them. Many friends claim to pay their bills off every month, and while I want to believe them, statistics show that it can’t be true all the time. You get behind one month or are late with one payment, and you’ve lost all the reward money you earned. We’ll pass on that. We have too tragic a history with credit cards and both of us have made HUGE mistakes in the past. Kudos to you if you can beat the system, but it isn’t for us. What’s in our wallet? Cash, baby.
Here’s some great info from Time magazine online on credit cards and their reward systems:

On the surface, it would seem like credit card issuers are foolishly giving away money with cash-reward cards, and that a cardholder getting 1% or 2% back is reaping in easy money. The reality is much different. Simply put, the study says:
The main objective of the card companies is to increase card spending that may result in cardholder’s debt in the future.
And based on the figures, the card companies achieve wild success in this objective. More spending. More debt. But hey, you get those occasional $50 cash-back checks in the mail! At least, that is, if you remember to keep track of your rewards and order the check—because these programs typically don’t give you cash back automatically.


For the consumer, getting cash back is of course better than getting nothing—but only if you don’t increase your overall spending due to the perverse incentives inherent in cash-back cards. Spending a dollar to get a penny back doesn’t make sense.
But what if you were spending the dollar anyway? Then it seems silly to not get the penny-per-dollar reward. The problem is that it’s all too easy for consumers to justify extra spending with credit cards. Studies show that you’re likely to spend 12% to 18% more with a card compared to cash. And when you’re vaguely aware that every item you pick up shopping gives you a little more cash back, well, then you’re even more likely to place more stuff in your shopping cart.


Read more: http://money.blogs.time.com/2010/12/29/the-reward-for-cash-reward-credit-cards-higher-bills-more-debt/#ixzz19di5oNSR


How do you budget for Christmas?

Oct
2010

Frugal Friday – Rent vs. Buy

categories: budget, financial freedom, frugal, our financial story
Is it better to rent or buy right now?

$190,000 3 bed, 2 bath, 1580 sq feet
This one is in a great neighborhood, with a great elementary school, but a TOTAL fixer upper.

3 bed, 2 bath, 1085 sq. feet $189,000
This one is in our current neighborhood and is pretty much the norm. Dallas is just soooo expensive, it is out of control. We looked at one house that was 890 sq. feet for $179,000. That is pure craziness.
The American dream tells us that we should own a house. Before we found our new rent house, we debated whether or not this was the right choice for us. Would it be better for us to continue to rent for now, or buy a house? We’ve looked at houses, looked at our options, and decided that for now, it is better for us to rent.
We want to save up a 20% down payment, so that we don’t have to pay P.M.I., and because that’s what Dave Ramsey recommends. Well actually he recommends paying cash for a house, but that is unfortunately unrealistic for us. If you can’t do that, Dave recommends paying 20% and doing a 15 year fixed rate mortgage, and then pay it off early. The interest you pay on a 30 year mortgage is seriously out of control. I’m excited that we are taking it slow and waiting for the right time, but I’m impatient. I want to have my own house and decorate it to my taste! Other factors for us include:
We don’t know how long we want to live here. Don’t get me wrong, we like it here, we just don’t know what the Lord has for us long term.
We don’t want to use our emergency fund for a down payment.
Dallas real estate prices haven’t really gone down at all, and are still really crazy high (in my opinion).

Want to find out if you should rent or buy?
The calculator above is pretty useful.
For discussion: Do you rent or own?
If you own, what made you take the plunge?
Is there anything you wish you had done differently?