How we pay for stuff

Half way through 2014 I took over the finances in the family, well, the day-to-day finances at least.  Mike and I decided that this shift in our family was necessary for a couple of reasons.  Mike has always been the one that is good at math and figuring and "seeing" the numbers.  He naturally fell into the role of Money-Man and I took on the role of housewife and mom.  Mike made the money, we live on his income alone, and it made sense to us that he knew where it should go, when it should go, and why it needed to go there.  It worked, but it didn't work well.  It wasn't seamless and it certainly wasn't effective in the longrun.  We would fight over money.  Mike would want to know where the "extra" money was going in the account at the end of the month and I could honestly not remember what I spent it on or where.  Looking back I have to imagine it was very frustrating for Mike.  He worked so hard each day to provide for his family and each month, at bill paying time, the "extra" cash wasn't there.  Bills were always paid, but where was the rest?  Where was it going?  I couldn't answer that question.  I didn't shop extravagantly.  I have never been a high-end shopper.  The kids needed clothes which I purchased on sale.  I had no big purchases hidden anywhere.  But yet, where did the money go?  Continual frustrations led us to the fact that something in our finances had to change.  We weren't happy.

So I, reluctantly, took over the finances.  Our original thought was to lessen the burden on Mike.  He dealt with enough issues at work all day.  I felt guilty enough that he worked so hard and I have been blessed to be able to be home for the past 10 years.  I wanted to do as much as I could to help keep this ship afloat.  So, mathematical phobias aside I took the reins.  I had no idea how to work the reins.  The reins were scary to me and confusing and overwhelming, but I was determined to ride it out.  I did a lot of research and I implemented a loose version of Dave Ramsey's envelope system.  If you aren't familiar with Ramsey and his ways here is an abbreviated summary.  

1. Debt is bad.  

2. Pay off your debt.

3. Credit cards are not okay.

4. Budgets are good.

5. There are 7 baby steps to financial freedom.

6. Give a name to every dollar you have before you spend it.

7. Tithing is the most important thing ever.

I am religious, but not in the way that Dave Ramsey is religious so he lost me when it came to topics that led him to quote the Bible.  I did however really like the sound of giving my "extra" cash a name before I went and spent it.  To plan ahead what expenses would pop up over the year, save for those expenses and pay in cash when it came time to do so.  My life was easier when the credit card bill was low.  I did not throw all our credit cards into the burning fires in Hell as Ramsey would preach me to do.  I did however limit our credit card usage to gas only.  Groceries, clothes, and family fun would always be paid for in cash.  Always.  We set up our envelope system for the second half of the year (I got a late start) and did our best to iron out the kinks.  It took the entire 6 months to figure it out.  I won't lie, it was far from perfect execution at the start.  Surprise expenses came up, grocery shopping bills added up differently at the store than they did on my calculator at home.  Again, math....  But, I will tell you this, there was no end of the month stress.  I was figuring it out.

At the start of 2015 Mike and I sat down to map out our budget for the year.  Mike got all nerdy and made an Excel spreadsheet.  A couple hours after sitting down and one freakout over a miscalculation in the spreadsheet, Mike's miscalculation, we were set for success!  We set up the bones for our years savings and expenditures.  I have this file system that I had purchased that would store our cash that we would be saving up for our major planned purchases over the year to come.  Dave Ramsey calls this the Envelope System.  You sit down at the beginning of the year (or month, whenever you begin) and you list each of the expenses that you have and how much it will cost you.  For each paycheck you get you put away a certain amount in an envelope towards each expense.  The envelopes add up and tensions over money ease.  It takes awhile to get a good flow however it is definitely worth it in my opinion.  Since starting this system Mike and I have not had one argument over money which to me is such a relief.  I really hated not being able to relay to him each  month where our money was going.  Now it is preplanned and good to go ahead of time.

This is the file bolder set I got from Amazon.  It is the first month using it and so far so good.  I will let you know how it holds up as the months go on.

Globe-Weis Poly Zip Files