Who knew that I had it in me? Well, my hubby says I always have plenty to say....he he.
We just finished our new budget. It is a bit tight, but the goal that we are striving for is going to be worth it!
I kept track of all our expenses last year. Regular monthly bills, groceries, home expenses, mad money etc...
I was shocked at the amount that we spent! {let me add a few more exclamation points!!!!!!!!} We could have paid off the student loans! Yikes! Once I showed this to hubby, he got right on board with a new budget. He hasn't always been a willing participant on the ole budget plan. {show him the numbers and he finally gets it!}
The new budget categories: all of the regular monthly bills, groceries, home repair, auto, hobbies, clothing, pets, school expenses, allowance, eating out, entertainment, gift giving, donations, savings and miscellaneous expenses. Absolutely everything has been accounted for in this plan. We will still have fun, but we will only do that within the budget.
So, there will be less eating out, less buying something because it looks cool, less buying magazines and more borrowing from the library and so on....
We really hope to eliminate $15,000 of extra debt this year, so that we can aggressively attack the mortgage. End goal? Completely debt free in 5 years. We CAN do this!
We've been working towards that too and I know we still spend way too much on stupid stuff. And congrats on the 101st post!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on making it to 101! I've never been very good with budgets and am always impressed with people who can stick to them. We have always been quite careful with money but my hubby can sometimes make some stupid impulse buys. (and he always wonders why I agonize over every purchase). Good luck on your plan to be debt free.
ReplyDeleteJudy
Yes, budgets can be challenging! My hubby's belief has always been: if we have money, we should spend it. Well, Dear that may be why we have this debt! UGH! ha ha
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments and support my blogger friends!