Still Here

Well...it's been awhile. I've got a few pages written on another post that I haven't had the motivation to finish, so I thought instead I could come up with a little something to keep the blog going. 

I haven't written much about practical steps that LeAnn and I have been taking to change our financial situation. We've made a few positive changes over the last couple of months that have helped us to trim a lot of the fat out of our budget. Enjoy!

1. We dropped cable TV. After we did this our bill immediately dropped from $105/month to $55/month. I felt like a complete idiot for ever having it in the first place (we got suckered in by those great opening deals they offer- we started at $70/month before all the promotions ran out). Here a few months later I can't remember a time I wished we had it, and I have no regrets! (have to confess there have been a few times I've missed our DVR) We've started watching Netflix more than we had in the past, and we've also found some great websites that allow us to stream live NFL games that we would otherwise miss. We've also been going through seasons of The Big Bang Theory on another website, totally free of commercials! Better than cable :)

2. One of the things that grabbed my attention the most when I was doing our finances was how much we were actually spending on entertainment. Before we began this journey I looked at one of our months and we had spent over $500 going out!!! It seemed insane. It was my birthday month and it's easy to use your birthday as an excuse for not only blowing money on your birthday but in the weeks surrounding it. We've since cut our budget down to $200/month. LeAnn and I each get $50 for ourselves and we then have $100 for family outings. It seems like plenty of money but I've actually had a lot of difficulty in this! We babysit 2-3 nights a week and LeAnn and I take turns watching the baby and add half of the money we earn to our individual entertainment budgets, which allows us to do a little more if we'd like to. 

3. You're probably wondering about the Timeshare. Well, I got pretty far on the loan application process for my TSP, but in order to finish it we have to get the agreement notarized and I've been pretty negligent in that regard. I was able to put another $1500 towards the loan at the beginning of this month, but we still need to go ahead and finish that off so that we can CRUSH this thing.

4. I've been pretty lucky to get on a job at work with a short window of time in which it has to be completed, which means there is a lot of overtime involved =) I'm also working the night shift which adds a 10% differential to my base pay which is helpful as well. Depending on how the overtime works out I'll be making a few extra grand over the next month.Consequently, I haven't been as concerned about paying off the Timeshare because after this job I'd like to see what our money situation looks like. We might only be a couple months away from having the ability to payoff the loan on the Timeshare without having to take the TSP loan. Although it won't be the most financially beneficial solution, if I can avoid taking away from money in my TSP, it just makes me feel a little bit better. I hate to take away from our net worth and put it towards the Timeshare which could not easily be turned into cash in an emergency.

5. We've started shopping at Sam's club and buying in bulk more often, and this has especially helped me with eating at work. When I ride my bike to work I need a lot of calories to keep me going throughout the day, and I knew I needed  a healthy and affordable alternative to get those calories. Although nuts might seem expensive, they are actually very affordable on a cost per calorie basis. So, I bought a big jar of peanuts, a bag of almonds, and a box of raisins and started making a giant bag of trail mix to keep in my locker at work for whenever hunger strikes. It has done wonders in providing me energy while also allowing me the ability to satisfy the urge to snack. We also bought a huge bag of rice which I've been using to make a big pot of rice that is available as a quick meal or side throughout the week. I eat it almost every day for lunch with beans and veggies of some sort, and if there are leftovers with a little meat. Rice is amazing because it is extremely affordable, but it is also extremely versatile and you can eat it every day without growing tired of it. 

6. Not buying random stuff. When you have a clear goal with what you want to do with your money, it is a lot easier to say "NO" to all the little things that we impulsively buy. At the time these things always seem like a great purchase because they are on sale or because they would just make our lives so much more convenient. I've even erased a lot of things off of my "to buy" lists. For example, I said that we'd buy a second car when we paid off the Timeshare, but we've been making it for a year now with one car and we've been fine. We have to learn that we are already happy and content with what we have now and that adding  more stuff is just going to clutter our lives up more, and will be taking us away from what we REALLY want, financial independence and freedom. 

We've got a long way to go towards my goal of living off of 50% of our take-home pay, but we've gotta start somewhere! 

'Til next time...