Spiritual Sundays

Because spirituality is such an important aspect of my life, I would be remiss if I did not include it somewhere in my blog. Sundays are days of rest and reflection for me (well, as much as possible with 2 crazy kiddos running around!) and my reflections on this day frequently involve my gratitude at the many blessings I have been given by a loving Father in Heaven. 

I am so blessed to have a beautiful home, a beautiful family, and a truly beautiful life. I am grateful that the Lord has seen fit to bless me with an intellect sufficient to balance the many aspects of my life, especially managing my family's finances. I firmly believe that when we are doing things in accordance with His will that He will bless us with the means and guidance to accomplish them. What better way to honor our husbands than by making the most of the money they work so hard to provide, and in doing so to honor God by making the most of His gifts unto us. He is there and ready to help us to do so, if only we ask.

Just last week I had an experience that showed me that His hand is present even when my brain is not! I try to always pray before I shop, not to get the best deals, but to be smart with my resources and be able to accomplish the task at hand to the best of my abilities such that I can bless my family. Well, this particular day I was at CVS and I wasn't finding what I needed, so my "master plan" was not working out. CVS shopping takes a lot of planning, and when your plan gets holes in it, it requires a lot of quick thinking and recalculating. Needless to say, having a restless 2-year-old and 4-year-old does not facilitate the process! So, more or less, I just gave up and grabbed what I had and decided I'd figure it out at the register. 

I got up to the register and tried to halfway stick to my original plan using 2 transactions. I placed the items for the first transaction on the counter, and as she rung them up I glanced at the screen on the card reader. On an impulse, I tossed one more item from the cart on there. The total after I paid with ECBs? $0.06! Then I placed the remainder of my items on the counter, and the second grand total after ECBs? $0.33. It had worked out perfectly, even with my half-scatterbrained approach. I said a silent prayer of thanks, because I knew that it was not serendipity- is was divine guidance. 

Have you said your prayers of gratitude today? Have a beautiful thrifty week!

On the Road to Financial Freedom: Part II- Newlyweds

For Part I: The Beginnings of a Thrifty life, click here.

The Middle Ground

The next big step in my financial life happened during college, when I met and married my sweetheart Chad. Luckily, we had taken the time to discuss our views on money management before tying the knot, and so, for the most part, we knew what to expect. These were the areas where we found a middle ground:

-- We don't like to owe people money, especially with random consumer credit card debt. I had no credit card debt because I never really understood how credit cards worked and I was too afraid to get one for fear I would screw something up. Chad kept his debt to a minimum, but as a bachelor he had incurred some debt buying a car and exercise equipment- oh, and don't forget my beautiful engagement and wedding rings!

-- We both had grown up in families where money issues caused a lot of contention, and we didn't want to continue that legacy. We agreed on an open partnership with our money.

-- The open partnership meant that we would consult with one another on any major purchase (and for us, that meant anything over $10!) and we would not be frivolous with our spending.

-- We wanted to buy a home ASAP so we could stop renting.

These were very basic things, but they helped us to really unite.

The Aha Moment

In those early days, I couldn't help reflecting on my own parents' failed marriage and thinking of the causes and warning signs of their eventual breakup. I think there was a part of me that thought that if I could guard against those problems early, then my marriage wouldn't suffer the same fate.

That is what got me interested in personal finance. I started reading up on it, and the first book I read was called, "The Four Laws of Debt Free Prosperity." (read the first chapter here, see sidebar for a great deal on this book) It was while reading this book that I had my Aha Moment. As I read the story of a middle-aged family man in a desperate financial plight, memories of my parents fighting over the bills flashed through my mind. My parents were good, smart, rational people. How could they get into a situation that made them so angry and bitter and desperate? More importantly, I considered myself a good, smart, rational person. Would I someday be in a similar situation?

I was troubled, and the thought that dawned on me at that moment was this: That which doesn't change stays the same. In even clearer terms, that which I don't change stays the same. 

At the time, my husband and I had been married for less than a year, and we had the aforementioned debt to pay off, not to mention other financial concerns. We were living paycheck to paycheck, and I even remember one week when my mom came to take me shopping for groceries because we couldn't afford to buy food. I realized that our life would always be that way unless we took some proactive steps to change it. Sure, I could sit around waiting to win the lottery, or waiting for a pay increase, or waiting for a rich relative to die and leave me an inheritance- but those things were uncertain and out of my control. It's like the serenity prayer- you must accept the things you cannot change and have the courage to change the things you can.

That's when I got to work.

The First Family Budget

I sat down with Chad and we began taking a closer look at our finances. The first step was to compare our input with our output- were we bringing in as much money as we were spending? If not, how could we adjust the balance? Luckily, as I recall we discovered that we were in the positive in that regard, but only by a small margin.

We decided to take that small margin, which consisted of the money that was left over after all the bills were paid, and plan a budget using the same system I had used in college- we gave ourselves a fictional $100, then we divided it up according to our needs and wants. The resulting amounts were the basic percentages we used on each paycheck after the bills were paid. I kept track of these different "accounts" in a small notebook, and remarkably, we found that it gave us much more freedom with our spending, because we knew exactly how much we had available to spend in each category. For example, if our "eating out" budget had $10, then we knew we could enjoy a little treat because the bills were paid and we had already set aside money for savings, gas, etc. We finally got to enjoy some pleasures guilt-free.

Our next step was to make a pay-down plan for our debt (yes, once you get married, any debt becomes "our debt!"). We decided to follow advice we had heard repeatedly and tackle the highest-interest rate debt first by adding a little extra to the payment, and continuing to make minimum payments on everything else. Once that debt was paid, we added the amount to the next highest-interest, and so on. Slowly but surely, the debt disappeared.

The next few years brought personal heartache along with financial blessings, financial struggles, and children. Check back next time to read about how we finally set our financial compass, and how it still guides every decision we make today...

Did you ever have a financial "Aha Moment"? I would love to read about it! Please share in the comments section!

Thrifty Treat: Home Manicure!

Sometimes as busy women, we can let the little things go. Today, make yourself feel special with a thrifty treat- a home manicure or pedicure! If you're looking to try a new color, Walgreens has Revlon nail polish free after rebate this month ($4.79), and with the $2/1 coupon from the 8/24 Smart Source insert, you could get back $2 more than you spent after the rebate!

Go ahead, treat yourself- and even make $2 while you do it! ;-)

Have a beautiful thrifty day...

Easy Deals of the Week: Excedrin and CoverGirl lip gloss!

It's time for some Easy Deals of the Week, the post designed just for those of you who are not coupon fanatics like myself! These deals use only coupons from last Sunday's paper or printable coupons, so that you too can snag a great deal!

1. Walgreens- Excedrin 24-ct is on sale $1.99, use $2/1 printable here and get it free! (I'm not sure what the print limit is on these, but I was able to print 2 from my computer)

2. CVS- Buy 1 CoverGirl Wetslicks at $5.99, get $5.99 ECBs, use Buy One Get One Free coupon from last Sunday's paper, get both free after ECBs 

- note: ECBs (Extra Care Bucks) are coupons that print out on your receipt after purchasing an item that you can use like cash in the store to buy other items. For more on ECBs and how to use them to your advantage, check out Money Saving Mom's CVS 101.

Many thanks to Money Saving Mom for these deals! She is my hero!

Are you going to try any of these deals this week? If so, let me know how it goes!

Financial Checkup

Money Saving Mom just posted her monthly 2008 financial checkup and encouraged all of us readers to do the same- so even though I haven't done this before, here are a few of our accomplishments from the summer:

1. As of this past spring, we are completely out of debt except for our home.

2. Once we paid off our car (our last non-mortgage debt) we took a month or so to enjoy our newfound financial surplus, then we decided to get back on the budget wagon and put the surplus to work for us by paying an additional 30% on our house payment, which we have automatically deducted from our checking account.

3. We also started Wachovia's Way-2-Save program, which puts a dollar into a special savings account every time we use our debit card or pay our bills online. This has taken us away from the cash-only system, but I love watching the savings increase, and the program has a great interest rate and cash incentives. 

4. Last month I implemented the $100/month maximum automatic transfer into the Way-2-Save account from our checking. 

5. I increased our weekly automatic transfer into our regular savings account by about 60% with the goal to have our 6-month emergency fund in place by this time next year.

Those are our accomplishments, now here are our goals!

1. Have emergency fund in place by this time next year, and just keep socking away extra money for it as soon as I do my weekly budget (my husband gets paid weekly, and his pay varies from week to week)

2. Keep on going with the Way-2-Save and hopefully have enough money within the next couple of years to purchase 

-new flooring for our kitchen (the peel-n-stick tile the last owners put in is starting to un-stick!)

-new windows (when you sit by the window and feel a breeze when it's not open- you need new windows! well, that and the wood rot on the outside...*sigh*).

3. Have our house paid off ASAP- right now we're on track to have it paid off in 11 years, but I say the sooner the better!

All in all, it has been a very productive year. The most important thing to remember is that you can't buy peace of mind- but you can save for it!

Any other thoughts on some good financial goals?

Timer Day

If your home is like mine, by the time Monday morning comes, the house is in some serious disarray! And when it's been a long weekend, like this past one, the aftermath is even worse. A messy home can drag you down and make you feel bad about yourself. It can also cause the atmosphere in your home to feel chaotic and disorganized. I firmly believe that the cheapest and best home decorating out there is simply to keep a clean and organized home. But as you'll read, it's often easier said than done!

Let me tell you what I faced this morning: a Mt. Washmore of at least 4 loads rivaled only by the peak of dishes in the sink (oh, and did I mention that the dishwasher is broken?), a floor that would be a dream come true for someone on the edge of starvation, and bedrooms that looked like a toy store exploded inside them.

I knew it all had to get done, and I knew I couldn't lock up my children in a closet while I did it, so I turned to my greatest inspiration, FlyLady, for guidance and direction in this my time of need. I implemented one of her favorite sayings- "You can do anything for 15 minutes!"- and planned a Timer Day.

Timer Day has 3 Rules:

1. Alternate between 15 minutes of family playtime and 15 minutes of Mommy work time- set the timer, and when it beeps- SWITCH! (and reset the timer for another 15 mintues)

2. Children must stay downstairs during Mommy's work time. If they don't, Mommy might not hear the timer on the stove and we'll miss out on playtime! When the timer goes off, it's the kids' job to tell Mommy, and it's Mommy's job to drop what she's doing and go PLAY! (this would also work to keep kids in a playroom or a bedroom)

3. There is a 1-warning system in place. If Mommy hears fighting during her work time, she will give a warning. If the fighting continues, she will send both children to their rooms to play alone until the next family playtime.

These rules actually proved to be quite effective today! I conquered both Mt. Washmore and Dishes Peak, the smorgasboard on the kitchen floor got devoured by the vacuum cleaner and licked clean by the mop, and the toy store shrapnel was safely put back into toy boxes and on shelves where it was rendered harmless to bedrooms everywhere. 

But the best part?

My kids and I built a magnificent castle out of blocks, had a roaring round of pass-the-ball-and-pretend-to-be-an-animal, played a highly competitive game of CandyLand, and read 6 books together. 

It was a win-win situation. My home was clean, my kids felt happy and loved, and I felt at peace knowing I could strike a balance between the two and fulfill my responsibilities as both a homemaker and a mother. And after naptime, my 4-year-old said, "Mommy, can we do another timer day again PLEASE?" 

I think I may just have to do that. :-)

Have you found any effective strategies for cleaning and corralling children at the same time? If so, please share in the comments section!

Give a Little Bit

All weekend I have been following the progress of Hurricane Gustav, as I'm sure many of you have. As I watched families having to leave their homes, unsure of what the future would hold, it got me thinking about what I can do to help.

One of the reasons I work so hard to be thrifty is not only so my family can benefit, but also so that I can have more to give to others. I'm not sure that my surplus of drugstore toiletries would be of help for those affected by the hurricane, simply because of the cost and difficulty associated with shipping them. But I feel blessed that I have saved enough money by doing couponing and other thrifty activities that I have a surplus (albeit small) of cash that I can pass on to agencies like the Red Cross who can allocate the funds to areas where they are most needed.

For those of you who do live in an area where the donation of goods can be useful, I would like to encourage you to do so. And for those of you who are removed from disaster areas, I would encourage you to give of the money you have saved by sending it to charitable organizations that can help those in need.

Recently, I spoke with the Relief Society president at our church about ways that I can donate my extra items to families in our area that may be in need. She happily showed me a closet with an extra shelf cleared off where she told me I could bring my items (toothpaste, shampoo, deoderant, etc.) and then she and the other service leaders could pass it on to families that were having financial struggles. Again, I would encourage all of you who have an excess of these items (and if you do serious couponing, I know you do!) to look for ways to use your blessings to bless others. Unto whom much is given, much is required.

Have any of you found ways to bless the lives of others with your thriftiness? If so, please share in the comments section!