I wanted to put out a little warning, well, really, a thought about purchasing and buying gift cards.  J and I have gone from being people who dined out quite frequently to almost never.  We can’t make peace with spending $30 on a meal.  However, we remembered we had a gift card for Landry’s restaurants, and it is one that starts to deduct from the balance if it goes unused.  We called to verify the balance, and then went out to eat after going to the mall to visit Santa.  We ordered modestly, skipping the appetizers and drinks so to be able to not go over our balance.  At the end of the meal, we whipped out the gift card and were pretty peeved when our server told us that they no longer took that particular gift card.  I called for the manager, only to be told that this vary thing had happened to other patrons.  I wondered why there was no small disclaimer on the door. In the end, he comped our daughters $2 kids meal, but we had to pull out the debit card *argh* to pay for the meal.

The moral of the story is to pull out the gift card BEFORE you order at a restaurant.  With the number of stores going out of business, I’d personally stay away from all of those that I didn’t feel totally comfortable with being there in 2009. Personally, I think gift cards are a cop-out.  You can’t opt out of the gifting process.  I don’t like receiving them, (unless of course it’s a Starbucks card).

I watched Dave last night and he said that the week before Christmas is traditionally when people start to blow Christmas budgets.  Since I buy most everything online, I’ve reached the shipping deadline, so I doubt there will be any last minute gift ideas now.  I was working on my mother a scrap book that did not get finished in time, so I had to get something online yesterday so that it will get there in time.  It wasn’t poor planning on my part.  I lost a substantial amount of time with the death of my grandmother.  I did go over what J and I said we would spend on one another.  I hope he forgives me and I have to promise to be a big girl and not be tiffy if he did the mature thing and stuck to the budget.  Next year, I’ll do better.  I doubt we’ll be debtfree, but we’re getting more financially mature every day.

We have $2800 left on one debt.  We’ve already planned to do our taxes early and pay that off and then our one and only debt will be my student loans.  We’re looking forward to a productive 2009.  I need to revisit last years resolutions.  Working on finances was one of ours.  I wonder how close we came to achieving it.

If I don’t have the opportunity to write again before the holidays are in full swing, please have a very merry Christmas and a Happy and Safe New Year.

J and I are working on keeping our Christmas at a bare minimum this year. Our children won’t go without because we have parents who overspend during Christmas, ignoring all practical financial advice. We’re working as examples to them and hope one day that we can bring them over to the peaceful side of finances.

The first mistake, Not Prioritizing, sort of hits a little about what I talked about in my last post. Dave suggests you differentiate between what HAS to be done, and what is just fluff. Holidays aren’t fun if you’re stressed out. Realized from the onset what is important, which is also his 10th mistake Forgetting Why We Celebrate. Family, friends, loved ones are more important than the material things.

The mistakes between 1 and 10 are Dave’s every day principles that have been translated into the holiday setting : make a list, make a budget, shop around, using credit cards. Number 4 Buying for Everyone is a common mistake. I’ve done it. In the past I’ve bought for my husbands nieces and nephews that don’t even know my name, and I’m hard pressed to remember theirs. Dave’s suggestions are to talk to people at work about drawing names for a gift. In the past, I’ve been in workplaces that do a month long secret Santa that really added up. In the current economic client, I’m doubt this behavior will decrease, and that spending limits for gifts will be decreased. For the past 3 years I’ve gotten to know a group of mothers in an on-line community, and exchanging Christmas gifts was part of the norm. This year, only 2 mothers signed up to participate. $30 is a lot to spend on a child not even your own. The decision was made to instead have an ornament exchange with a $5 limit. Before you get stressed out about the holiday, and you undo the hard work you’ve done in financial peace, stick to what you’ve learned and talk to family members and co-workers about realistic expectations. This economic crisis is not limited to a few, chance are, your friends and family members will welcome the suggestion.

So far, J and I are doing pretty well in our Christmas spending. I took all of our change buckets to the local Coinstar and got free coin counting because I redeemed my change for Amazon ecertificates. Until December 7, you can get a $10 bonus when you redeem more than $40. I just need to find my receipt and send it in. Before FPU, I wouldn’t have worried about losing “free money”, but now I really see the missed opportunity. J is working a 2nd job delivering pizza at night, and we’ve earmarked that money for Christmas, however, our hope is that we won’t use it and will make another big loan payment after the New Year.

Make a Christmas shopping plan and stick with it. Use all you’ve learned in FPU. Don’t use your credit cards at 18% interest to buy gifts for everyone you know. Make a list and stick to it. Shop sales. Study store flyers before going out so you know who has the best deal. Take sales papers with you to stores that price match. We live in a town with a handful of Wal-Marts. If you know that an item is cheaper at the Wal-Mart on the other side of town, be vocal about it and you’ll get the cheaper price. Stores want your business. I think Circuit City might be having some good deals because they declared bankruptcy and are facing closing their stores. I worry about shopping there because if their doors are closed, where do you take your returns?

When all else fails, bake something, make something, send a thoughtful handwritten card. I’m making a lot of gifts this year. I’m making my mother and mother-in-law a scrapbook. It really is the thought that counts.

~Manda

The great part about this budgeting software is that it calculates everything for you. So you just enter the numbers and then the software takes care of the rest. Percentages are also automatically calculated for you.

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There are some other tools that are useful as well. In the Tools section of the CD-ROM you can use the Financial Calculators, Glossary and Check Register. The software is fairly simple (as opposed to too complicated that you get frustrated and don’t bother with it) but very useful. The Debt Snowball program is one of the best features. Enter in all your debt balances with monthly payments and it will calculate how long it will take for you debt to be paid. The Debt Snowball features also allows you to view your progress in charts and graphs.

The software is $24.95 and totally worth it. I like having my budgeting software on my computer since it’s with me just about everywhere I go. You also have the choice of downloading the software straight from the website. No need to wait on getting your budget started. Check it out! Dave Ramsey’s Personal Finance Software.

~Mona

After giving up both of our nice vehicles, it is easy for me to look at what others are driving and feel envy, covet their ride. But, I definitely don’t want those car payments again in my cash flow plan. It is easier to live frugally now than it once was, even a year ago. I’ve said that I poked fun at my girlfriend, but now, I see the wisdom in some of her decisions. There are less and less people to poke fun at. I know, because of the emails I get from friends and family asking about our Financial Peace journey. It’s nice to know that we’ve made such a change that it is visible to those in our life. From the people who also want to get involved in Financial Peace, I’d hazard to say that it is a good change.

I’ve also realized that you don’t need to be cheap to be frugal. There is a difference. Someone who is cheap, is stingy. Someone who is cheap isn’t hospitable. Along the same lines, one doesn’t need to be unnecessarily wasteful. There is a happy, sensible middle. I think, for the time being, we’ve found it. We’re not wasteful, but also not cheap. It is this happy, sensible middle that will help us get through the next 18 months. Our living needs to be tolerable, or it won’t be doable. We’ve given our cash flow plan a couple of months. We talk, with less screaming, about money. We’re both involved in the financial decisions. We have the same goals. All of which are part of our not so quick get rich plan.

~Manda

ETA.  I’ve been reading the book of Proverbs.  It’s a terrific book to read each day, every day.  There are 31 chapters.  When you’re done, start over again.  It’s a book of finances, relationships, forgiveness, marriage, parenting, wealth, debt, and everything in between.  I’m amazed that each day there is always something that jumps out that is specifically relevant to what I’ve been thinking about, talking about, praying about…  Today it is Proverbs 21:5:

5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty,
But those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty.

This morning, J told his boss that he’d be unable to go. We’re okay with it. We were very excited about it 6 months ago, planned the trips we would take while in the San Diego area. But now we’re more excited about the opportunity to be debt free in 2 years. We can’t throw away all the lessons learned in the last 13 weeks for a trip that, as those striving for Financial Peace, those doing what rich people do, can’t afford. If I’m honest, we’re quite proud of our decision. We’re delaying instant gratification and instead walking the path of Financial Peace.

We’re living like no one else, so that later, we can live like no one else [and take a trip to San Diego that we pay for with cash!]

~Manda

The thing that J and I learned is that both partners have to be actively involved in the financial part of a marriage. Dave hosts a TV show on the Fox financial channel. He’s dubbed Friday’s as Debt Free Friday’s. People who have completed their debt snowball call in and celebrate the achievement. Before hanging up, they get to yell “I’m Debt Free”. In the interview, the wife and/or husband always report that being on the same page is an integral part of succeeding and becoming debt free.

J and I have had to learn to relate to money. The true state of our financial indebtedness was revealed to me over the course of FPU, not just in any particular week. It had to come to a point where I demanded that we get the new checking account open, and that I see the physical or virtual copies of our bills. All were caught up, except 2. As far as I knew, they were all caught up. I can’t pretend to explain J’s motivations, I only know what he’s told me: that he wanted me to take over the bills with all them up to date. The lesson learned is that if all had been laid out on the table during week 2 in Relating with Money, I believe that we’d be farther along now. J removes his band-aid as slowly as possible. He hates conflict. I’m a rip it off and get it over with type, and I thrive on confrontation.

That’s just one of our differences. Dave explains the differences between men and women. Women need financial security, and I am no exception. Opposites attract and marriages typically contain a free spirit and a nerd. J is our free spirit, and I am the nerd. No doubt, our financial situation would be better had I been the Nerd I should have been. It was just too easy over the last two years to let Jason take the stress of the medical bills from our daughter, our diminished income due to my no longer being an active member of the work-force. I suspected all was not well, but that is where my involvement ended. With suspicion. And yet I dared to be angry with him, to blame him, when, if I’m being honest, I’m at just as much fault as he. Finances in a marriage is not a one person show. No matter who “earns the money”. Both should know what is coming in, and every dollar that leaves should be accounted for. It is always time to budget, no matter how inconvenient it is. Both must be bothered. Both most be active and to get on the same page in order to acheive FPU. Thirteen weeks ago, J and I weren’t even in the same book.

J and I missed our final class (and church) because our Dave car wouldn’t turn over. We discovered it had an alarm, but not how to turn it off. We had to disconnect the battery in order to keep the neighbors from mobbing our house. The air conditioning went out in J’s truck, so we decided to stay at home today instead of subjecting the girls to today’s heat. I was disappointed to have missed today in order to celebrate our class. A few of us attacked our debt with Gazelle intensity. The class has been life changing for J and myself. I hope that in a year, maybe 2, we’ll be calling Dave one Friday (if I gather the nerve) to scream “We’re debt free”.

~Manda

The other reason I have been blogging much on Time to Budget is because I don’t really like to take about my financial stresses. Things have not been easy for my husband and I. The rising gas prices was the start of it and since the prices rose we have not been able to get a good handle on our finances.

When things become difficult to handle thoughts of throwing in the towel often pop into my head. When I have these type of thoughts I always come back to reasoning – eventually. Why would we just quit and forget all the progress we have made over the last few years? Sometimes quitting seems easier than moving forward but it really isn’t.

Quitting is not an option. If we were to quit now then all of what we have learned over the past few years will have been a waste of energy. The knowledge we have gained through Financial Peace would be meaningless if we do not put them into action.

We have to remember that steps in the right direction will eventually help us reach our target. How ever small the steps may be they will still take us to our destination.

We are still on the road to Financial Peace…one small step forward at a time.

~Mona

I think the topic of financial freedom is work discussing, don’t you? Stop by and contribute!

money.crowdvine.com (Financial Peace Community)

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.

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