Living on a Budget

Part of my quest to LIVE is to be balanced and in control of all areas of my life, physically, emotionally, spiritually, financially, etc. I have been way out of control financially. Lehi makes a good amount of money, but somehow I have managed to spend quite a bit more than he makes, hence the large sum of debt we currently have.

My Sister Patrice suggested that I go strictly to cash, so when the money is gone, there is no more spending. Period! No more debit or credit cards. I decided to try that for the month of October. It worked! So I am going to continue to work on a cash basis at least until our debt is gone.

I took my monthly budget and divided it by the weeks, so I get a weekly allowance. This way I don't blow all the money in the first or second week of the month. I am liking that.

So this week, the weekly budget was quite a bit less because I decided to get the kids yearbooks, and we went out to eat last Friday. So today, I headed to the store with my list and my allotted amount of money. At the register I made two piles one of needs and the other of wants. At the end of the need pile, I was already suddenly over my allotted total. I had to take about 8 things off and was not even able to get any of the wants. As I left I thought, wow, that was kinda embarrassing, but then I felt really good that I had paid with my cash and stayed in the budget, financially under control.

If any of you are struggling with your finances, or staying on the budget, I highly recommend going to all cash, no cards. It's a little more work to go to the bank every week and get my money out, but I never go over my allotted amount anymore. And with a bit of work, I will eventually be out of my consumer debt.