27
Nov
It is odd that I have created a budget every year for my department at work, but never created a budget for my family. When I realized that my wife and I had never really tracked or budgeted our expenses, it was as if I had a out of body experience, why wouldn’t I run my family’s finances as I would my company’s?
Today I am going to outline the creation and implementation of a family budget.
It isn’t painful and should pay large dividends as we pay down our personal debt.
26
Nov
| Which kind of expense do you splurge the most on? |
| Expense |
Percentage |
| Food and dining out |
25 |
| Entertainment and recreation |
17 |
| Shopping and personal items |
15 |
| Home and housing |
7 |
| Children and schooling |
7 |
| Bills and utilities |
4 |
| Cars |
3 |
| Medical |
1 |
| Other |
4 |
| Nothing |
14 |
| Don’t know |
6 |
|
This poll was conducted by the Pew Research firm. It hit the nail on the head for me and my family. Our biggest splurges (wastes of money) were eating out and entertainment.
25
Nov
When I think back on my college/early work years, it was a struggle but it was certainly the best of times.
I started in my current career when I was 18 years old, I’ve been at it for 21 years, seen my highs and lows, but mostly highs. One of the things that I always reflect on was when I was struggling the worst financially.
I started my career making 16k a year, I stayed at that job for 6 years because not only was I able to pay my bills (I had zero debt) I was learning a lot about my craft from some of the best in the business.
This is a preview of
Getting in touch with my inner struggling college student
.
Read the full post (537 words, estimated 2:09 mins reading time)
25
Nov
When I had disposable income it wasn’t uncommon for me to spend a few hundred dollars a month on books, I love to read and didn’t think twice about stopping into the bookstore three times a week to get new reading material. Needless to say those days are over, but I am still able to get all the reading material I need. Instead of the book store, I now use Paperback swap.
Paperback swap is a web site that lets you trade books with the rest of the world at NO cost (other than shipping).
24
Nov
Is there such a think as Credit disease? @ Gatherlittlebylittle
Ben Franklin on frugality @ Dual Income, no kids
Christmas on a budget @ Momma and the boys
5 ways being lazy got me in debt @ lazy Man and Money
Like this post? Sign up for our e-mail newsletter! You can unsubscribe at any time.
Popularity: 11% [?]
Permanent link to this post (66 words, estimated 16 secs reading time)
21
Nov
One of the ways to pay off debt early is to make more money. There are so many ways to make money in your spare time that it is impossible NOT to generate a little extra income if you are willing to put in the time. Some ways I have found to generate extra income….
-Blog: This blog is too new to generate any real income but hopefully as it gains readers it will begin to ad a few extra bucks a month to my bottom line. I also have a couple of other revenue generating web sites that I will talk about later. If you can generate traffic, you can make a good income with a blog. There are many bloggers making a full time living just by writing. Check out Problogger for more information on blogging as a way to earn money.
20
Nov
The first thing we did and are still doing is adjusting our lifestyle. Now that we have rid ourselves of the obligations we incurred when I was making a lot more money, we are better able to chip away at the debt that is staring us in the face.
The good news is we have pared back our lifestyle and the debt isn’t growing and we still make a great income. Bad news, we have a long road to hoe before we will be free of debt and able to fund our retirement.
This is our plan to get back in financial shape.
20
Nov
- HELOC $ 61,622.16
- Credit Card # 1 $ 15,000.00
- Credit Card # 2 $ 11,206.94
- Credit Card # 3 $ 21,209.65
- Misc. Attorney fees $ 28,000.00
Debt to be repaid. $ 137,038.75
A large portion of the money we owe, 40k is a loan that we made to ourselves from our home equity line of credit to start our new business. It is being repaid by the company and should be even in 5 years. The rest, approximately 97k is ours to pay for no matter how long it takes.
Popularity: 19% [?]
Permanent link to this post (93 words, estimated 22 secs reading time)
20
Nov
I started this BLOG because I was inspired by a couple of web sites and the writers honesty and willingness to share their stories. Check them out. I have made them my first two blogs on my blog-roll.
It’s been a rough go for me and my family over the past two years, but likely not unlike the trials and tribulations that most families go through on a regular basis.
