Tonight FPU was canceled due to the weather. I was so bummed. We have been rockin’ and rollin’ the budget thing and it has been great. Not easy, but great.
It is like a veil has been pulled away, we now see ourselves differently and we have also learned a few interesting things about some of the companies we have been dealing with upon closer inspection…
1. Diet Coke (haven’t exactly kicked the habit just yet) charges about double per oz. for the bottles I have been getting compared to the 24 pk of cans. Holy cow. Wonder what other products play these kind of games with their prices???
I am on a mission and will report back if I find any. Cutting my DC bill in half absolutely makes that grocery envelope go further…. and…ummm the cans give me a wayyyy better visual of how much DC I have been drinking….ackk!
2. Automatic payments are not always your friend if you don’t have a written budget in place before hand. Ya see, I have a theory that companies know we are all busy and see that as the perfect opportunity to use automatic and electronic payments to add fees and services while your not watching…then they make it very inconvenient to decline or turn off these “services”. These puppies can add up–big time! If you have accounts with Lowes or Chase, take notice… just sayin’
3. If you go paperless and make automatic payments to your student loans, they don’t always tell you when they are paid off… and they will continue to take your money until you tell them to give it back… just sayin’
4. The envelope system is awesome. It provides the perfect side-boards and it makes $ last a lot longer– not to mention makes us think more about where are dollars are going.
5. Coupons keep precious cash in the envelopes 🙂 And coupons are right down my alley, my friend!
While we still have a long ways to go… there is a whole lot more financial peace around these parts! We are soooo glad that we started this program.
Anonymous says
That's great news! Karla and I are rooting for and praying for both of you. You're exactly right about the "unveiled" feeling; it's both liberating and frustrating to finally identify where your money goes. But the really fun part comes when you follow the Baby Steps and start knocking bigger chunks off your debt each month. Soon you'll be able to anticipate when each debt will be gone and, eventually, when ALL of it will be gone. God definitely will move through this process. Have fun!
Love y'all,
Andy and Karla