Starring at $184,400 in debt only three years ago was depressing.
No way around it. Every time I input the amount of money we could pay a month into the amortization calculator it was YEARS before we would see traction in our debt payoff. But that didn’t stop us.
Sallie Mae, student loan debt lady, was third wheeling her way into our marriage and she just needed to get out! That woman was not going to get in the way of my dream!
I have always budgeted. But when I heard about Dave Ramsey’s envelope system I had to try! Soon Robert was not too pleased with my “organizational” skills…or lack of.
Hmmm…Babe, do you know where I placed that gas envelope?? {3 months later} Ope! I found it!!
He fired me and my envelopes.
Problem solved.
I put all of those loose envelopes into one container.
My green schnaazy plastic coupon holder.
Inside I put the cash funds from my budget. It can be whatever you want. For me it’s usually the following:
- Gas $ for the week
- Food $ for the week
- Household $ for the week {paper towels, toilet paper, etc}
So let’s get personal and candid here. For me, that looked like this for the summer months.
- Gas $ = $20/week (for my SUV black Toyota Sequoia)
- Food $ = $100 (sometimes I can get it down to $50/week but with eating clean God’s foods, it gets difficult!)
- Household supplies $ = $20
I’m upping my gas money to $40/week now. I’m driving more to the gym and to Kindergarten!
That leads me to a weekly budget of $160/week. @ 5 weeks that’s $800/month. {When I divide for 5 weeks and there’s only 4 in a month then I feel accomplished because I usually don’t spend it all and I have saved money!}
Am I a crazy coupon lady? Nope! But I do plan. Not always. But I aim to try. When I don’t do this then I blow our budget and the end of the month does not look pretty…
Family!!!….God led us to a food fast! No food for anyone! {I joke, I joke…I haven’t done that…….yet}
Hope this helps!
Jamye
Want to know more about my dream for you & me? Read this post!
Jamye Sack 
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