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Trying

December 5th, 2009 at 10:59 pm

Sorry, it has been awhile since I entered my thoughts. Thanksgiving and family have made it really busy lately. We are in step #2 of the Dave Ramsey series and are just realizing how difficult it may be to meet the expectations the program lays out for success. We have found out that it is nearly impossible to start a budget in Dec. due to the Christmans season and the purchase of gifts for our kids and others. We have gone throught a rough draft of a budget with the margins being very small if non-existant. I did not receive my extra income this month due to the timing of the adjustment to my 401K distribution. Starting in January I will receive approximately $240/mo that will go directly to our emergency fund until we have $1,000 in that fund. At that time, we will use the additional income to service debt and other living expenses. My wife will continue to contribute to her retirement fund so we are not completely cutting off our retirement planning. As of now, I do not see much success this month, with the holidays and all going on. Hopefully January is another month where we can really buckle down and make some progress.

Hope all of you had a wonderfull Thanksgiving. God Bless

Posted in Personal Finance | 6 Comments »

6 Responses to “Trying”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    December 5th, 2009 at 11:45 pm 1260056749
    1260056749

    Great plan for getting that first $1000. It may seem daunting at first, but the rewards are GREAT!

  2. homebody Says:
    December 6th, 2009 at 04:20 am 1260073259
    1260073259

    Just try to pay cash for your Christmas and you will be ahead when you start to budget in January. Good luck and enjoys those kids, they grow up so fast!

  3. beawealthywarrior Says:
    December 6th, 2009 at 06:17 am 1260080220
    1260080220

    You can do this!! Use December to lay out your plans for Januarry. Also like homebody stated, try to pay cash for Christmas as much as possible. You will be glad you did come next month.

  4. lizajane Says:
    December 6th, 2009 at 08:17 pm 1260130639
    1260130639

    I like reducing the gift budget by giving "creatively"...i.e., not much spending involved. Gift cards earned from reward points are a big one. Homemade goodie baskets are always popular. I try to use coupons, sales, etc as much as possible on items I do have to buy. An another biggie is selling on ebay & CL the last 3 months of the year as much as possible to make money to use for gift buying. It really makes a difference. Our Christmas gifts have been paid in cash at least 980% for the past 5 years. I wouldn't have it any other way.

  5. baselle Says:
    December 7th, 2009 at 03:24 am 1260156290
    1260156290

    Sounds like a terrible thing to do, but definitely let the Great Recession help you out. Make three lists - the non-negotiable list (your immediate nuclear family), which you can negotiate a little bit; the folks whom you give gifts to, but can drop the costs on because its a recession after all (family, very good friends); folks you can drop entirely. If its your economic survival, you'll have to be ruthless. Lizajane's suggestions are especially good - a cash budget will definitely concentrate the mind. Hosting a low key holiday get together (cookie exchange, chili and cards, white elephant exchange, comfortable open house) can substitute for giving a lot of gifts. Christmas is supposed to be a goodwill holiday, instead of a "gimme" holiday.

  6. Rick Says:
    December 7th, 2009 at 03:21 pm 1260199310
    1260199310

    We just purchased Dave's Ramseys finance software.
    Because December is such a hard month to start a budget, we decided to get organized in December and start our journey on January 1.

    Good Luck

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