Gas Prices Are Killing Us! Time to Reevaluate!

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The raising gas prices is really making my husband and I think and reevaluate. Since my husband commutes more than an hour to work five days a week, the gas prices have really been effecting us. My husband drives to work in a economical commuter car but it’s still really tough. Within a few months our monthly gas costs increased about $200.
We are trying very hard to find ways to save in other areas of our finances. It’s not an easy task but it seems we have no choice.

Here are some solutions we have come up with to help reduce the spending on gas.

  1. My husband can stay the night at a relatives house a few days a week.
  2. I can make sure I go into “town” with him to get all my shopping done.
  3. We have looked into bus routes. This is not our favorite option because it takes so much longer having to transfer and wait for buses.
  4. Commute with a co-worker. This doesn’t always work and I would explain but it’s too much to get into right now.

Other people taking about the gas prices.

Aaron - Looking Forward!!! Dave Ramsey “Gazelle” Intensity Is Back & High Gas Prices Are Choking It!!!
Forum Discussion - Dave Ramsey on gas prices.

Dave Ramsey on gas prices.

July 2, 2008 | Filed Under Budgeting, Dave Ramsey Financial Freedom, Financial Planning | Leave a Comment 

The Cash Envelope System - The Benefits of Using Cash

Using cash rather than your debt card or checkbook can save you money if you do it correctly. It can also keep you from acquiring overdraft fees. Recently my husband and I made a banking mistake because we didn’t use the cash system. If we had been using the cash envelope system like we had been doing in previous months this mistake could have been prevented.

The banking mistake we made cost us $136 ($34 was removed after I called a begged for a break) in overdraft fees. The six transactions made were all things that could have been allocated to the cash envelope. I vowed for this type of mistake never to happen again the last time it happen so I really upset about it. The last thing we needed was to fork over $106 to overdraft fees. So once again we need to refocus and reevaluate our priorities.

Keeping track of our finances properly needs to be a priority. The cash envelope system works very well when we actually use it. The cash envelope system is easy and but it does require self discipline. Dave Ramsey offers a very cool cash flow wallet with some of the package deals but if you don’t want or can’t afford to buy a wallet then you can make your own system.

How to Use the Cash Envelope System

Supplies Needed

  1. Large Envelopes (No. 10 or larger), One for each category. You also might want to get one large manila envelope to keep all your cash envelopes in.
  2. Pencil and Pen
  3. Cash

The first thing you are going to need to do is decide what you are going to pay cash for. Dave Ramsey recommends using cash for the following categories;

  • Food (all food purchases, including fast food)
  • gasoline and oil
  • car repairs
  • clothing
  • cleaning/laundry
  • baby-sitter
  • toiletries
  • cosmetics
  • hair care
  • entertainment
  • blow money (money you know you are going to spend that doesn’t have a designated category).

Some of these items can be combined with other categories. For example, cosmetics and hair care can be combined. You can probably get away with using 6 envelopes but if you need more that’s fine too.

The basic idea of the envelope system is very simple. You deposit and withdraw money into your envelope just as you would into your bank account. You must keep track of the cash flow otherwise the envelope system will not work properly. The ledger can look something like what I have below. The cash envelope system offered by Dave Ramsey uses the same format.

Date            Where                                 $<>                                 Balance

1/20              Paycheck                          $100                                $100

1/21                Grocery                           <25 >                              $75

1/22                Fast Food                         <10>                              $65
In order for the envelope system to work you need to be using a budget that determines how much money goes into each category. The allocated spending sheet offered by Dave Ramsey is a very good way to keep track of weekly spending. Not everyone gets paid the same way so the allocated spending sheet allows you to customize your budgeting. For example, if you got paid once a month you could allocate monies to different categories at the start of the pay period. If your paychecks come in weekly or bi-weekly you may need to split your monthly budgeted money for each category differently for each week.

Let say I have budgeted $400 for the month for the “Food” category, but our paychecks come in weekly. I would use the allocated spending sheet to determine how much of our weekly paycheck will go to the food category. I might choose to allocate $100 each week or maybe $100 in week one, $125 in week two, $75 in week 3, and $100 in week four. The reason I might choose to do the latter is because one week a large bill (like the rent or mortgage payment) might be due the week that I have opted to spend $75 on food. Each category will need this kind of attention for the envelope system to work best.

What happens to many people who try a budget and fail is the failure to properly manage the budget. It does take some work but once you have the first three months budgeted it does get a lot easier. I highly recommend using the allocated spending sheet, especially if you are just getting started with a budget. The spending sheet helps you to break down your spending into manageable portions.

If you are like I was when I first started using a budget, the thought of using more than one form is overwhelming but what I found is that the second form really helped me keep on track.

January 25, 2008 | Filed Under Budgeting, Financial Peace Baby Steps, Financial Planning | 2 Comments 

Happy New Year! My Top 5 Financial Goals For 2008

I thought today would be a good day to share my financial goals for 2008. I encourage you to share your goals as well by leaving a comment on this post. I think there is power in setting goals and today is the best day to start setting them.

My Top 5 Financial Goals for 2008

  1. Increase income through blogging to at least $1,000 a month. I hope to increase my income by continuing to blog on my existing blogs as well as two other blogs I plan to start this year. I also hope that my income will increase through a few other online ventures.
  2. Save over $1,000 for emergency fund. We have found that $1,000 is not enough of a cushion. Our cars are getting old and need a lot of repairs
  3. Reduce debt by $5,000. This is going to be a difficult goal to accomplish for us but I think it’s a goal worth setting.
  4. Be more consistent with my budgeting. I am a firm believer in budgeting but truth be told, I sometimes miss a few months of budgeting in a year. Each time I do this I loose focus which usually causes ciaos.
  5. Give more. We regularly give to our church but I want to step up my giving to people in need. I want to have a budgeted section for extra giving.

So these are my goals. Do you have any goals? Please share :)

January 1, 2008 | Filed Under Blogging Goals, Budgeting, Financial Goals | Leave a Comment 

carnival of money stories blog carnival #39

Wow!, here it is, the Carnival of Money Stories 39th edition. There were a total of 40 submissions to this carnival and there are some really great articles. I was notified by the Blog Carnival that this edition of Carnival of Money stories will be featured on the Blog Carnival homepage all day Wednesday the 19th. I am excited and honored to be hosting this weeks carnival and hope that you will enjoy reading the submissions.

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Originally uploaded by skettalee

Debt

David presents How to Eliminate Credit Card Debt posted at Worldwide Success.

Pinyo presents My Foray into Prosper as a P2P Lender posted at Moolanomy.

glblguy presents Chase doesn’t really love me they just act like it posted at Gather Little By Little.

Alison presents The Story Of Our Emergency Fund posted at This Wasn’t in The Plan.

Free From Broke presents Family - Can’t Live With ‘Em…Unless It Helps Debt posted at Free From Broke.

:) monawea presents Why Baby Steps Are So Important - Decision Happen Now, Results Take Time posted at Time To Budget.

Investing

Value Seeker presents Why Most Investors Underperform The Market posted at Stock Investing.

Dereck Coatney presents How To Make A Million Dollars In About 8 Years posted at The Best Stock Trading in the World.

The Investor’s Journal presents Lessons from the Dot-com Bubble posted at The Investor’s Journal.

Super Saver presents Staying Calm In A Volatile Market posted at My Wealth Builder.

FIRE Finance presents Our 7 Mutual Fund Investing Mistakes! posted at FIRE Finance.

Brip Blap presents learning to walk away posted at brip blap.

Pivotal Investor presents Top 10 Growth Stocks For Under $10 posted at Pivotal Investing.

Net Worth

Jacob presents Early Retirement Extreme: On how car dealerships helped me save money posted at Early Retirement Extreme.

Business

Woody Maxim presents What will you do with the message? posted at Woody Maxim.

Blaine presents Something From Nothing- Think Big, Start Small posted at BlainePower.com.

Sutocu presents Domain Name as a Business Brand posted at Your Website Profit.

Silicon Valley Blogger presents How Christmas Can Cost Your Life’s Savings posted at The Digerati Life.

Peter25 presents Building Relationships For Business Growth posted at Business Opportunities.

Blaine presents Business venture is starting to take root posted at BlainePower.com.

Kenton Newby presents Can You Really Make Money Showing People “How To”? posted at KentonNewby.com.

Credit

Credit Help presents Do Capital One Credit Cards Work Abroad? posted at The Truth About CreditCards.com.

Ted presents Using a Credit Card in College posted at The Campus Grotto.

General

FMF presents Sumo Omni: My Son’s Dream Come True (And How You Can Win One) posted at Free Money Finance.

James D. Brausch presents The $200 Horse posted at jamesbrausch.com.

Lynnae presents How Much Emergency Fund Do You Need? posted at beingfrugal.net.

JS presents Six True Stories of People Who Found Cash and Turned it In. Part 2 posted at Smart Money Daily.

paidtwice presents My Lack of Organization Costs Me Money posted at I’ve Paid For This Twice Already….

Ashley presents Why Didn’t I Major in Finance? posted at College of Cash.

supermom_in_ny presents Do You Have Money You Don’t Know About? posted at Getting Out of Debt.

Madison presents Volunteer Income Tax Assistance posted at My Dollar Plan.

Raymond presents Sometimes Saving Money Isn’t Worth The Extra Time and Effort posted at Money Blue Book.

Eden presents What I Have Learned Since Starting My ‘Finance and Fat’ Turnaround posted at Finance and Fat.

Paula presents Sleeping With Money: Going Along for the Ride posted at Queercents.

David presents Customer Service At Its Best - Thanks SmugMug. posted at My Two Dollars.

Blaine presents Frugality, America’s worst nightmare posted at BlainePower.com.

Joshua C. Karlin presents An Amazing Story posted at Marketing & Fundraising Ideas.

Silicon Valley Blogger presents How Christmas Can Cost Your Life’s Savings posted at The Digerati Life.

wilson ng presents No Luggage, No Hand Carrys in the Final Journey of Life posted at Reflections of a BizDrivenLife.

JP presents Being frugal posted at Watch Me Become A Millionaire.

That concludes this edition of the Carnival of Money stories. Submit your articles to the next carnival here.

December 18, 2007 | Filed Under Budgeting, Carnival of Money Stories, Credit Card Use, Financial Planning, Money Management Tips | 14 Comments 

Time To Budget as a Community

I am curious to know what you all think of the idea of making a community blog for Time To Budget. I am in the process of adding a community blog to Horse Approved and thought it might also be good for this blog. This community blog would a great place for like-minded people (those actively pursuing debt freedom) to have a place to post their own articles about how they are doing it. The community blog is kind of like a cross between a forum and a blog.

The community blog would be one where members could join for free and set up their own blog but the posts would be seen on the homepage of the community site (home site address  would be something like timetobudget.com/community). Anyway, let me know what you think! Do you think a community blog site would be useful?

September 3, 2007 | Filed Under Blogging Goals, Budgeting | 3 Comments 

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