I've had a busy couple of days with preparation for the holiday weekend and have not written up a budget yet. I also didn't research ways to drop my debt. We don't have a lot of debt. Mostly our mortgage, and we hope to pay it off early.
I like to pay myself first...ala Dave Ramsey. When we get our paycheck, we have 10% that goes to charity...a tithe. 10% or more to savings and then the rest to what we want to...or bills...
Because our income can sometimes be a little uneven, I figured out how much we usually spend in a month and started transferring it from savings once a month. I then put all of our income directly to savings. This seems to work better for me than transferring money to savings at the end of the month. We are truly paying ourselves first, and giving an allowance with this method.
So in a way I already have a budget, as well as a debt repayment plan. A Savings plan as well. I just did the work prior to this challenge. It has taken me a lot of time to figure out what works for us...remember there is no failure, only progress and learning. I've tried giving myself a cash allowance to spend on food and housewears and clothing. Didn't work. I attempted to figure out the Dave Ramsey Envelope system as well. Having that much cash and having to get it from the bank monthly just really didn't work. I would forget it was in the envelopes too...bonus when I found it, but not good when I needed it.
The biggest thing I have decided is to be aware. Know what you are spending, pay attention to what you need and use. Make lists and stick to them at the store. Before you swipe your card, look at how much you are spending. I don't know how many times I have left a store and had to look at the receipt in the car because I didn't know how much it was before hand...not the best form.
Be aware! A little appropriate for halloween isn't it. :)
So what works for you? Have you tried using cash, any great debt reduction stories?
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