Money & Such

Brad and I are newlyweds so we are still trying to figure out the whole money management thing. Luckily there isn’t that much to manage (hardy har har).

Since being married we made a budget every month but still used our debit card ( our savings turns into our overdraft money) and didn’t really follow it. We ended up having money come out of our savings to pay for the things we kept buying. We have weak discipline.

The only debt that Brad and I will have are my school loans. We don’t have credit cards or car payments so we are starting off pretty well. We are still living paycheck to paycheck right now and are not saving. This is really hard for me because ever since I have had a job at 15 I have saved from my paychecks, now Brad keeps stealing all my money (jk).

Finally in our sixth month of marriage we have made a budget that accounts for every little thing. We put everything down onto paper and then take out the amount of cash that is needed for each category & put into envelopes (as recommended by financial expert Joe Sangl).

All this looks so very nice

But it all has a place to go. Brad made cash envelopes that have the right amount of cash for all the things we will be spending them on each month.

I have an allowance again, just like I’m 12. It works though. So far I have used this money to buy tickets to Twilight, a couple of lunches and some clothing.

This has been our only slip up. I had to use my school loan money to buy a box of contacts since my new insurance doesn’t cover eye things or at least not very much. I had an expensive emergency eye doctor appointment and $50 eye drops to fix it.

Cash envelopes so far have been a huge help. There is work on the front end, but at least there is no guessing or doubt on whether or not you should buy something. I know this is going to help Brad and I keep our finances in order.

If you need help with your finances and live in the Wilmington area (and don’t already know) you NEED to come to Debt Free Wilmington on December 6th lead by Joe Sangl. It is from 5-7:30 p.m. and is only $10 bucks!