I will be 23 this month (August 29th), and while I can say I’m doing pretty good on my life track (especially compared to others my age), but I’m not doing good enough.  To my own standards.  It has less to do with money than it does with my own determination and persistence.

I’m changing that.  WE are changing that.

Our income may or may not change any time soon – and there isn’t a lot we can do about that.  Whining about it and planning the “WHEN/IF’s” is absolutely not getting us anywhere (except maybe pushing ourselves backwards).  So, we’re fixing it.  Here.  Now.

If you’ve been reading me for a while, you know that a while back we had some pretty big financial difficulties, but we came through that (thanks to some really awesome family and friends, by the way).  And, through it all we learned a lot of lessons:

I now know that I can plan a meal where each serving only costs $1-1.50 each.
I now know that with a bit of simple tweaking, Freecycle stuff can be really awesome.
I now know that you don’t have to pay for fun.  There are games, playing outside (geocaching, swimming, exploring, hiking, etc), crafting, borrowing movies, etc.
I now know that I will NOT die without cable or satellite TV.  In fact, we are CHOOSING (because everything is a choice) to leave it off and better allocate that money.
I now know that despite the happy smiles that people put on, almost EVERYONE in this country has some sort of money issues – all self inflicted in one way or another.
I now know that if you call companies BEFORE your bill is due, most of them are nice and will help you out.
I now know that Angel Food Ministries is wonderful, although the food isn’t as healthy as I like.  But, when you need it, you need it.  By the way, if you’ve never heard of this awesome program, you can get huge boxes of food for only $25!
I now know the power in planning meals – I managed to get us by on $50 of food for TWO WEEKS.  God is awesome.
I now know that money can really do damage on marriages and it takes a lot of work and the knowledge of this to keep it from hurting it.
I now know how awesome bartering is – and how wonderful it is to give away things you don’t need so that others may have.  I’ve now been on both sides of this.

I’m very thankful for the lessons I’ve learned.  I’ve learned how to be thrifty, and I know I can survive no matter what.  I have learned to garden, and will soon learn to can.  I have learned how to make my own things if I want them enough.  I have learned to put my faith in something much bigger than me…even when things seem like you won’t get through it.  Because you will.

And, we have come so very far.  But, there is more that I want to do in our lives.  I want to change our spending habits so that we can eat HEALTHY good food under $200/month.  Preferably under $150, but I’m giving myself some leadway until I learn this.  And, I don’t mean eating processed crap.  I mean healthy stuff.  Even…organic *gasp*.

I want to start saving money.  And, guess what.  Not only have we saved some money, but we are going to make it a monthly thing.

I want to get health insurance.  I have been determined…and guess what!  This month we are sending off the first check.  It took Steven trading in his vehicle for a motor scooter and the gas savings alone will pay for it!  We are thrilled.

I want to be able to do minor fix ups on our home.

I want to pay off our debts that we’ve accumulated.

So, now I’m exploring new ways of saving money.  We’ve REDONE our budget (AGAIN) and have it all listed out.  We have 2 lists – one with all of the things that MUST be paid (mortgage, bills, insurances, etc) and then the list with these 3 things: Food ($200), Necessities – razors, face wash, diapers, TP, paper towels, etc ($40), and gas ($160) for each month.  We have the money allocated for those 3 things cashed and we will put them in jars.  We will do our best to NOT spend all of this money.  We will also make a list of 3 goals for things we want to purchase once our savings have been built up.  3 Goals – from paying off a specific credit card to building a deck to buying a new whatever…And we will make a Jar for the top item on that list as well as a Entertainment jar.  Then, when we have EXTRA money in food, necessities, gas at the end of the month, we’ll divvy that cash out into the other jars (entertainment or goal).

Once a goal is reached, we’ll mark it off the list.  Only keeping 3 on at a time.  Make sense?

Not only will our goals be specific and on paper, we will have cash money in our hands – making us less willing to give it away.  And, of course, I am forever searching for healthy and VERY inexpensive meals and other ways to lighten the grips money has on us.

By the way…I’m needing to change to a cheaper toilet paper and paper towels.  We currently use Charmin and Bounty…what do you use and love (but is cheaper?)  Stop laughing at me, this is really important!  Tell me!

Welcome back!