Screw money... it's summer!!!

Yeah I said it... and I will say it again!  Screw money... it's summer! 

The summer mantra is on, and has been going strong for the past few months. After finally getting to see my guru, Dave Ramsey, my image of him shattered.  It was just so sad to see him over selling all of his "financial tools" to all of us poor people hanging on his every word.   Now to get him back...

Ha! I'll show him... no more drinking his kool-aid!  Right?!  Who's with me?!  No?  Alright then.

Kool-aid... the summer drink of champions and those committing revolutionary suicide.

If you are like everyone else in America that owns a house and lives somewhere that gets snow, you know you have 4 months to get your shit in order. Summer was once a time of fornication and getting lost in the haze... now it consists of 16 hour days on the weekend, sweating (and not in a good way), working in the yard or on the house. 

Since this spring/summer season began I have been un-friended by a surprising amount of people because they must think I died. It really hasn't been that long... they must have been waiting to pounce on that one.

However we have landscaped the front yard, and 1/5 of the backyard, put hardwood floors in 4 rooms and painted 3 rooms and a hallway.  What a great summer!  <we need a sarcasm face>

Yes, that will do!

Total bill so far?  Surprisingly we did 2 bedrooms and a hallway of laminate wood flooring for about $400. Hand scraped laminate hard wood in the family room for about $500.  Estimated landscaping $300. Paint $200... we had some issues with pink in the family room.

In light of the summer season, I guess I will just ignore the bill and worry about things when it gets cold again.. just like the hundreds of other people I see at Lowe's every weekend.

I think I did pretty well only using "Hard Wood" once in this blog. ;}

The Future: It would help if we had a plan

So false alarm on the last post... we will be paid for the dental work at some point. However I have bigger fish to fry. The future is a vast and glorious place in my mind... full of opportunity to eventually own a bigger house, live debt free, move to a farm, have a child to pass my useless knowledge to.  Who knows...

The problem with not knowing, is that we can't plan.

My dreams today (because they change on a whim) include a big 4 bedroom house, which includes a workout room with a sauna like we have now... but not at the expense of a bedroom, a room big enough for a baby grand piano I can play, a big family room complete with stone fireplace, a small barn out back to hold our chickens, ducks, cow and pig, and a gorgeous entertaining kitchen complete with gas range. Oh... its fun to dream, isn't it?

My spouses dream: To own a house that is close to the ocean/lake for sailing and close to the mountains for snowboarding, somewhere that has a strong sense of community, a house big enough for the two of us, but would include a room for instruments and a bar, relatively close to the airport so we can travel somewhere to snowboard in the summer.

This is the problem... so how can we come to an agreement?  So far we don't. We have fun dreaming up this beautiful house in the perfect location... that is in our price range... and that is as far as it goes. Perhaps that is as far as it will ever go. You don't need money to dream!

April Fools

April Fools was yesterday and while nothing particularly funny happened... I do get the feeling someone is behind the scenes, fooling with our budget every month. Our spending has progressively increased over the past 3 months but this is ridiculous.

Just when I think we are about to be in the straight and narrow, someone punches me in the stomach... or in this case, the wallet.  Feels the same though. My husband did some dental work on a relative and the lab bill came in at nearly $900. Instead of taking the money so we could pay the lab bill... he bartered some services for the summer.  WHAT????!!!!!

Seriously, I sat and cried this morning because I am at my wits end right now. Even as I write this sentence the tears are resurfacing. We are going to be fine... it isn't that big of a deal, but I have no idea what I can possibly do that will make us more money.

I am working full time now and I do bookkeeping on the side for another company. I have sold stuff and cut back... I have even created in depth reports for our sales team at work, so we all have a better chance at hitting our bonus. Please God just tell me what I can do, to bring in more money. I can't wait for someone else to do it... that just isn't going to work. It has to be me and I have no idea what else to do. I suppose a part time job wouldn't be terrible for a short time, but realistically who is hiring?

Time to get on springsjobs.com and figure something out.

It is always easier to see where the money goes when you have a visual aid. This is our first quarter graph on our expenses.  Student loan and bills eat us alive!!!  I can only imagine what life will be like once we are out of debt.

Unfortunately this is as big as I could make the graph... get your magnifying glass!

 As you can see here we have been getting lazier with the budget. The food expense is on the rise, but the entertainment expense is decreasing. It's not great but it could be a lot worse.

Dave Ramsey Live - I did NOT buy the T-Shirt

It was quite interesting to see Dave Ramsey live. There is what I took from the show:

1. I have officially learned everything he has to teach.
There were no new stories to hear, or life changing moments for me. I have read Financial Peace and Total Money Makeover at least 3 times a piece, listened to all 13 CDs for Financial Peace University, and watched two DVDs prior to this live event.

2. This is excellent, if your spouse is not fully on board.
While was filing the workbook before we covered the material, my spouse was listening and getting on board. He didn't show it while we were there, but the entire car ride home we discussed the budget and his thoughts on the show.

3. People are going into debt, trying to get out of debt.
Let me describe the scene:  Tickets $29 / VIP $69  - we bought the $29 tickets. We parked at the movie theater around the corner from the arena so we didn't have to pay for parking (Savings $5). At every break they sold Financial Peace University ($99), Financial Peace Jr. ($30), Total Money Makeover Starter Kit ($50), T-shirts ($15). Every person left there with bags stuffed to the gills.  We walked to our car empty handed except the free workbook.  I think we are the only people actual implementing his principles.

I believe in his principles because they work. I do not I believe in selling hundreds of dollars worth of stuff, to broke people that clearly need help.

 

Top 5 reasons you are broke!

#5 You Don't make Enough

I will let this one slide... there is ample opportunity out there to make some money but, you have to be smart. By smart, I don't mean book smart. I mean you need to be able to read people and know how to act. Which for a lot of people is easier said than done. Didn't get a second interview? You probably acted like a know-it-all, jackass in your first interview. Good  employers and companies hire good people based on attitude and personality. You can train almost anyone to do a job.

#4 Your Significant Other has a Spending Problem

This can go both ways people... women can be shop-a-holics, and men can be gear-heads or electronics junkies, or vise-versa. If you are married, your money should all be in the same cookie jar. You need to have a plan in place, so you don't argue about money. 80% of marriages fail because of financial problems. Take care of your spending first, BEFORE you do an intervention with your spouse.



#3 You Don't Have Time to Cook

Do you work 7 days a week, 16 hours a day?  I bet you don't.  You have plenty of time to go grocery shopping and make some meal plans for the week. Always buy a few extra bags of food for the freezer for those nights you really don't feel like cooking.  To say that you can't cook, don't have time to plan, or don't know how is basically saying:  I am a lazy, irritating person that doesn't care how I, or my family eats. Go cry to weight-watchers, because eating out also reeks havoc on your waistline.

#2 You Deserve It

I am all about self empowerment... but chances are you don't deserve a damn thing, besides someone kicking you in the ass and cutting up your credit cards.  I believe it is L' Oreal that uses "Because You're Worth It" as their campaign slogan. Brilliant really... until everyone in American now believes that they are entitled to, not only a box of hair dye, but a BMW, Gucci glasses and a Fendi Bag. If you don't have the money for it, you don't deserve squat.


#1 You Spend More Than You Make

What is a credit card for? For buying stuff you can't afford to buy now.  When you don't plan out your spending for the month, you end up spending more than you make. The only way to stop this cycle is to make a budget. "But I don't have time to budget." You can't afford NOT to make a budget! At the most basic level you need to write down total monthly income, minus monthly bills, and see what is left over. You can't spend more than that magic number a month, or you will be hanging yourself on your money tree.

Motivation - Gone.

I have officially lost my motivation. I bought 3 shirts this past weekend and haven't said no to a night out in 2 weeks. I am hoping to regain a sense of purpose, and hope, after attending Dave Ramsey's seminar on Saturday May 26th.

I thought that after we received the loan repayment, it would be the push we need to stay on track. That was not the case. It only served to push us into our bad habits by reminding us that there will be more money now than 1 month ago. That $466.66 we are saving per month is to be used to pay off the credit card and student loans. Really I am just creating this post to remind myself of what we should be doing with our money.

St. Patty's Day is always a day of celebration and green beer. We spent $75.00 on booze and 1 sandwich ($9). This is not surprising. We have done worse. However it is now time to straighten up and get back to business. What's on the calendar for the rest of the month?  Hockey game in Denver on Thursday and then DAVE RAMSEY!!!!   Only 1 week away!