Thursday, March 4, 2010

Budgeting is Hard, Y'all!

Sorry posting has been light around here. As part of our homework for the Financial Peace University class we're taking, we're required to make a zero budget. I don't want to give away all of Dave Ramsey's secrets for free, but he requires that you budget your entire month's income down to zero. Every month. Zero!! That shit is hard, y'all. Not only is it heart-stoppingly scary to budget your entire income down to zero, it's damn near impossible especially when you go from no budget to a fairly restrictive one and you have no real idea how much you've been spending on certain categories every month.

He also suggests that you spend a lot of your money on a cash basis. For example, you budget $80 bucks for lunches/dinners/coffees out (and yes, that's our VERY restricted amount we've allowed ourself for this month) and you take that money out in cash and keep it in an envelope. When you want to go out to eat or grab a cup of coffee or order a pizza, you grab the money out of the envelope. When the money's gone for the month, that's it, no more dinners out, no more pizza, no coffee from Dunkin Donuts.

Mr. Daddy and I have worked on this budget almost every night this week and my brain is tired and we still haven't gotten it down to zero. And we still have a cash flow plan to work on.

Nobody told me there was going to be homework when I grew up. If I have to do homework, don't I at least get a Spring Break?


7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello. And Bye.

for a different kind of girl said...

We went through the Financial Peace classes last winter. We need to refresh our learning (the book has been on my kitchen counter ever since we took the class!). I have definitely seen it work, and it has definitely made us more aware in areas of our life. I'm hoping we can kick it back into gear this year.

AndreAnna said...

Oh lawdy, you don't have to tell me.

Dustin @ Envelope Budget said...

Oh now really is it that hard? If you have money left over, you create a category called "blow money" and put the remaining amount there. Done. Zero-based budget! :)

Katie in MA said...

My friend just finished the Ramsey course. She said it was tough, but the light at the end of the tunnel was worth it.

And if it makes you feel better, I have a $20 eat out budget per month. Thankfully, buying a bag of chicken nuggest to keep in the freezer for those rushed-nights doesn't come out of that budget! ;)

The Thrailkills said...

I read the book about a year and a half ago. This is our second full year doing his plan. I will confess that I carry those little cash envelopes with me everywhere. We even made ones out of scrapbook paper this year. I made the kids a set too (Save, Spend, Give). It is tough at first. But for me, we have outstanding debt and it is totally worth it to see the progress. I am now a believer in his system!

Lulu said...

Wow, your Anonymous commenter must really be excited about budgeting...haha!

Remember Sophie? Yes, she still works with me (even though my entire company has been working at home for the past 6 months due to some major flood damage to our office from last September, but that's a whole other story). Anyhow, she does the Dave Ramsey thing and is very successful at it. I, on the other hand, am not quite as disciplined, and not sure that I'm ready to face the harsh reality of where my money goes. I like to live in denial. And that is why one day, I will be BROKE! Haha! Well, guess I shouldn't be laughing about that. Maybe your posts about this will inspire me. My fingers are crossed.