Summary Sunday 4

How are we on our fourth Summary Sunday already?!

 

GOALS

As far as goals, go, we are still only really accomplishing 1, 2, 3, and 4; kind of accomplishing 8 and 9. I’m disappointed that we haven’t been able to save towards our trips yet, but we just discussed our March trip over our weekend and we really won’t need anywhere near $500. I’m sure once we get our credit cards under control there will be better cash flow into accomplishing those other goals.

I am impressed with our credit utilization drop though! Almost half way to our year goal!

1. 3% monthly change in credit utilization; minimum 36% change during 2017 (current: – 17.45%)

January(X) February() March() April() May() June() July() August() September() October() November() December()

2. $2,000 saved into a general saving account
3. $1,500 saved as an emergency fund
4. Continuously follow a “Savings Challenge”
5. $500 saved for our trip in March
6. $750 saved for our trip in July
7. $800 saved for my trip in November
8. Positive balances in both our checking account and bill pot at the end of each month

January() February() March() April() May() June() July() August() September() October() November() December()

9. That we have enough cash each week to maintain a pleasant lifestyle
10. Start a retirement account

How do we stand currently?

Credit Utilization: 32.55%

Savings: $428

Emergency Fund: $0

Savings Challenge: $55

Trips 1/2/3: $0/$0/$0

Checking: $350 – but I need to go to the grocery store, get gas, and withdraw cash.

Bills Pot: $450 and paid $100 towards card 1.

Cash: H $?, W $?, Gas $?

CREDIT UTILIZATION

	Card 1	Card 2	Card 3	Card 4	Card 6	Total Credit
Dec ’16	93.73%	30.38%	23.23%	34.55%	N/A	51.30%
Jan ’17 (1)	95.80%	22.81%	23.23%	34.55%	N/A	50.00%
Jan ’17 (2)	95.80%	22.81%	13.72%	33.24%	N/A	46.56%
Jan ’17 (3)	95.80%	23.38%	14.06%	19.03%	0%	33.33%
Jan ’17 (4)	92.47%	23.38%	14.06%	19.29%	0%	32.55%

 

Card 1 was paid this week and while it feels like it barely made a dent, it was still progress. Cards 2 and 3 have been sitting pretty the past two weeks. Card 4 went up . . . and I have not used it and paid off a big chuck of it last week. It’s supposed to be an interest free promotion, so the additional balance must be fees associated with the account. Ouch!

We still had a drop this week! Which is exciting!

I did make a purchase with card 6 for $25ish but I haven’t received a statement yet. I will pay that balance in full prior to the end of the first billing cycle. Hold me to it!

	Jan.	Feb.	March	April	May	June	July	Aug.	Sept.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	2017
Card 1	$100	$100	$100	$100	$100	$150	$150	$150	$250	$250	$200	$100	$1750
Paid	$100												$100
Card 2	$30	$50	$50	$50	$50	$50	$50	$50	$0	$0	$0	$0	$380
Paid	$30												$30
Card 3	$30	$50	$35	$45	$40	$45	$45	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$290
Paid	$55												$55
Card 4	$563	$193	$193	$193	$193	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$1352
Paid	$580												$580
To Pay	$723	$393	$378	$388	$383	$245	$245	$200	$250	$250	$200	$100	$3,755
Paid	$765												$765

 

I have extended this chart to include the full year, as well as Card 1. I may add Card 6, but since we plan to only use it for emergencies (aside from this first small initial purchase) it is unlikely. If we end up having to use it for some reason, then I will add it and devise a payment plan for it as well. As embarrassing as it is to admit, this plan will not pay off Card 1. Hopefully we will be able to pay it off in 2018, but I will gladly welcome any progress towards paying it off that will come in 2017.

SAVINGS CHALLENGE

WEEK	DEPOSIT	TOTAL	ACTUAL
1	2	2	$44.26
2	4	6	$49
3	6	12	$55
4	8	20
5	10	30
6	12	42
7	14	56
8	16	72
9	18	90
10	20	110

 

I made my big $6 deposit today. It seemed so trivial, six dollars. If you think about it, that could be a fancy cup of coffee or a meal from a fast food franchise. Instead, I deposited it into savings. The growth may be small but it is happening and as quickly as the weeks seem to go anymore it’s happening right before my eyes. We are also saving pocket change in our jar and I will use that as a bonus deposit towards the end of the month. Even if it’s just a couple of dollars, it’s building towards us having a savings built for emergencies. That is huge to me!

2017 PROPOSED BUDGET vs ACTUAL

	PROPOSED	ACTUAL JANUARY PAID
RENT	$1,400	$1350
ELECTRIC	$250	$308
PHONE	$215	$212
CAR INSURANCE	$114	$190
GAS/CAR STUFF	$260	$198
VET PLAN	$60	$90
H CASH	$400	$300
W CASH	$400	$238
DATE NIGHT	$40	$24
SUBSCRIPTIONS	$25	$25
CARD 1	$90	$100
CARD 2	SEE	$30
CARD 3	OTHER	$55
CARD 4	CHART	$50
CARD 5	Gone J	J
CARD 6	$0	$0
HOUSE CLEANER	$120	$50
GROCERIES	$600	$325
HOUSEHOLD	$280	$162
PETS	$125	$279
TOTAL	$4,679	$3,926
INCOME	Estimate: $4,040	Actual: $3,297
BONUS INCOME		$23

 

As of the 20^th of January we had paid all of our January bills! Hurray! Now we just have to start over again for February, unfortunately with the biggest bills coming due first. We have some money in our “bill pot” started though, hopefully that will grow enough to cover them all without having to pull from other areas.

With finding out that our dog is sick, our pet expenses have more than doubled our projected budget for the month and we still have a week and a half left. Luckily I stocked up on food a few months back because the $279 listed above does not include dog food. Fingers crossed I find another good sale before we run out.

FOCUS

We are finally getting to a point where I can say “we are out of money for the week” and it doesn’t make us cranky. Sometimes that means that we are down to the cash that we have, and sometimes that means we have money in the account but it’s destined for other things. We have had some fun meals this week after not grocery shopping last week (I cheated a bit and bought us juice, cheese, bread, and lunch meat) such as eggs with salsa and cheese for breakfast this morning. It is a perfectly fine breakfast, one that we enjoy. But we had woken up and were talking about all the fun breakfast foods out there and then got to the kitchen and realized we didn’t have bacon or sausage. We were out of fresh tomatoes and potatoes; the bananas are blacker than black. We laughed and made coffee together and then made our eggs. We enjoyed breakfast together on the couch and it was wonderful.

I think that more than this financial journey just bringing us a sense of being satisfied with spending less, it is bringing us closer together. Last night we had $20 for our date night. We went to subway and got food that met a promotion to bring the price down, shared a drink and passed on chips to avoid paying for things we didn’t really need. Then we headed over to a frozen yogurt place for dessert and both picked small cups. Our total for the night was $24 (which means our next date night has to be less!) and it was better than a big fancy expensive date. When you remove the stress of having to pay gobs of money for a night out you reveal this fun carefree spirit. I had so much fun!

We are still working on feeling satisfied on less, it is a process full of highs and lows. Most importantly we are enjoying this journey.

As always, I’ll see you tomorrow.

Tell ’em Tuesday

Hang on… this is a bit different from my normal posts. haha

For whatever reason, society and social media have programmed us to be ashamed of our financial status. If we have more than our friends we are seen as bragging and pretentious. If we have less, we should feel inadequate and apologetic. Why?

Honestly, how does your financial status affect anyone outside of your household? It doesn’t, unless you are dependent on them.

So why are we so afraid to utter those words? Just four little words. . . “I can’t afford it.”

Stop. Break the shame cycle and be honest with yourself. Stop giving that phrase so much power over your emotional well-being. Maybe change the statement. Try “I didn’t budget for that this week,” or even “how about next week? I think I’ll have a bit more wiggle room in my budget.” Neither of those statements seem to carry the stigma that “I can’t afford it” does. Perhaps because saying that you have a budget appears to mean that you are carefully managing your money. Perhaps it seems classier. It’s the same thing though when you get right down to it, the money isn’t there.

I’ve seen people’s body language change towards me when I say “I can’t afford to right now” and it made me feel guilty for trying to use my money wisely. I’ve had to borrow money from other areas in our budget to go out with friends in the past so that I could participate without feeling that weight of being less because I didn’t have the funds. But I’ve started to finally come to terms with the fact that I’m not my money. I’m a human independent of my financial status and have just as much to offer as the next person. I’ve realized that if people can’t see that I really don’t need them in my life. Find yourself even just one friend who is trying to save money and it will change the world for you. When you ask if you can see the matinée showing because it’s $2 less per person and they respond with “Sure, and we can just share a large popcorn” instead of “ugh, I really would prefer to go to the later showing. Let’s just do lunch and then go see the movie,” it will feel incredible. If you haven’t found that yet, keep searching. Hopefully you will.

On the flip side, BE that person. Be the friend that isn’t pushing for pricy outings or coffee out every week. Be the friend that suggests baking cookies for an afternoon or trying out a new recipe together. Recreate some of your favorite outings at home. You can rent a movie for around $1 most places or watch one that you already own, pop some popcorn and have a movie night in. Buy a bottle of wine and have everyone bring their own canvas and whatever art supplies they have on hand and do a night of art and fun at someone’s house instead of paying fees to go out. Heck, find an old Bob Ross video and make trees and birds out of your mistakes. Pick up some wings from the grocery store and watch the game at your house instead of a local sports bar. There ARE options for fun with friends that don’t cost an arm and a leg.

But above all, tell ‘em.

Tell ‘em you can’t go to the movies. Tell ‘em you can’t go get a pedicure. Tell ‘em you can’t meet them at the bar to watch the game. Tell ‘em that you can’t go shopping. Tell ‘em that you can’t go.

And then, tell ‘em why.

Tell ‘em: I’m broke, I can’t afford that, or it’s too expensive. Tell ‘em you’re saving money. Tell ‘em you are getting out of debt. Tell ‘em your car payment is due. Tell ‘em you have student loans to pay off.

I know it’s scary; honestly, the thought of doing it myself is enough to make me anxious. But it needs to happen. We need to stop being scared of the way that other people view our money.

There are probably a thousand memes out there that say “there is a difference in being broke because you wasted your money and being broke because you paid your bills.” Aspire to be that second kind of broke, because that type of broke is the broke that will find themselves getting out of debt and longing for a savings account. That’s the kind of broke that will have a place to live, food to eat, and a job to make ends meet. That’s the kind of broke that respects their money and will ultimately tell people “naw man, I have bills to pay.”

I challenge you to turn down the next invitation that you didn’t budget for. I know it won’t be easy, but if we start now it will get easier. Afterwards, come here and let us know how it went! Did you just turn it down, did you offer a suggestion that fit your budget, or maybe invite them over instead for a fun night in?

We work hard for our money right? Why let someone devalue that work for you, seems silly when you think about it.

Alright, enough. Ha ha. Chin up! Spend less! I’ll see you tomorrow.