I realized last night as I was lying in bed, waiting for sleep to take over, that I mostly covered the "behavior changes" more than the "actions" of how we are making progress on our debt. To You who asked, I'm so sorry! I guess I got so excited that someone was actually reading this blog, I didn't think clearly and plan my post well! =)
So...
1. We threw a huge chunk at our debt by canceling our vacation to Washington DC in February 2009 and using that $5000 to pay down one credit card. (The details are posted here.)
2. We give a name to every dollar. When a check is deposited, we sit down (together) and decide where every dollar will go. This does include the envelopes for gas, food and "petty cash". There is nothing left unallocated, just sitting in the bank.
3. Any extra money goes straight to highest interest credit card. (ours were at 0% and 3.99%, so the extra money would go to the 3.99% card.)
An example of this is:
So...
1. We threw a huge chunk at our debt by canceling our vacation to Washington DC in February 2009 and using that $5000 to pay down one credit card. (The details are posted here.)
2. We give a name to every dollar. When a check is deposited, we sit down (together) and decide where every dollar will go. This does include the envelopes for gas, food and "petty cash". There is nothing left unallocated, just sitting in the bank.
3. Any extra money goes straight to highest interest credit card. (ours were at 0% and 3.99%, so the extra money would go to the 3.99% card.)
An example of this is:
- We budget $67 each month for our electric bill. This month, we only paid $65. That two dollar difference goes directly to the credit card with the highest balance.
- We used to send an even $150 to credit card 0% when the actual minimum was $109. We flipped that and now the extra $41 goes to credit card 3.99%.
*This does NOT apply to cash in envelopes! If we are under budget for a date, that money goes back into the date envelope for future use. We do not change the name of cash dollars!
4. I began "bargain shopping" at the grocery store. I started bringing my daughter (and her calculator) and we now read "price per ounce/pound/unit/etc..." information and find the best deals. With that came label changes...it was a bit of a hurdle for me, but seeing the difference at the check-out has made it all worth it!
5. I started saying "no" and "if you want to pay for it". Our kids have been spoiled by me almost always saying "yes" to their requests. At Target, Goose will state he's thirsty. Well, of course I have to accommodate this need of his! "Sure, Goose, grab a soda." Brian was usually frustrated with this when his answer is always "There's a drinking fountain right over there..." or "We'll be home in 10 minutes, you can have juice when we get home." *It has happened that Goose and I were out one day getting supplies needed for his Tribe induction and he stated he was hungry and wanted Del Taco. I asked him if he wanted to pay for it....he hesitated and said "yes" - he even shared his rootbeer with me!!
I hope this has more accurately answered your question.
Thankfully, Chicka-Doodle is much more stingy with her money - she refuses to spend it on anything! Maybe there's hope for our kids so they won't end up in the mud-puddle we're climbing out of!
4. I began "bargain shopping" at the grocery store. I started bringing my daughter (and her calculator) and we now read "price per ounce/pound/unit/etc..." information and find the best deals. With that came label changes...it was a bit of a hurdle for me, but seeing the difference at the check-out has made it all worth it!
5. I started saying "no" and "if you want to pay for it". Our kids have been spoiled by me almost always saying "yes" to their requests. At Target, Goose will state he's thirsty. Well, of course I have to accommodate this need of his! "Sure, Goose, grab a soda." Brian was usually frustrated with this when his answer is always "There's a drinking fountain right over there..." or "We'll be home in 10 minutes, you can have juice when we get home." *It has happened that Goose and I were out one day getting supplies needed for his Tribe induction and he stated he was hungry and wanted Del Taco. I asked him if he wanted to pay for it....he hesitated and said "yes" - he even shared his rootbeer with me!!
I hope this has more accurately answered your question.
Thankfully, Chicka-Doodle is much more stingy with her money - she refuses to spend it on anything! Maybe there's hope for our kids so they won't end up in the mud-puddle we're climbing out of!
2 comments:
Those interest rates are not bad. Our rates are slowly coming down. When we started some were as high as 26%! that's crazy. We now have nothing over 10% - not as good as yours but so much better.
Those interest rates are awesome! One of mine is 19%! Thanks for all these tips. I'm going to ask DH about the envelope idea! Great idea!!
Post a Comment