I received "Money Secrets of the Amish" in the mail the other day and have read all but three chapters. The book has proved to be very interesting and much like the other book *my husband bought* recently, very encouraging. Reading through it has even further opened my eyes to how really very frugal I have become. I'm growing increasingly more and more proud of this title.
One very interesting fact surrounding this book: it was recommended to me by one of my very favorite fellow bloggers who happens to reside within the beautiful British aisles, almost 4000 miles from my hometown. The author of this book she recommended happens to reside not even 40 miles from my hometown. One of those "it's a small world" moments?
Not only has this book brought to light how very poorly I practice delayed gratification but it's helped remind me that many of my financial weak points are still the exact same weak points I started this journey with. Here goes, I always pay the credit cards on time because credit cards are scary and they will not only throw down bigger than average late fees but you also run the risk of them raising interest rates. Now, I DO NOT need interest rates going up on these darn cards. I am not good however at paying all the other bills on time. A $6 fee on the electric or a $8 fee on cable here and there, I can handle that (and I always pay before shut off/ we've never had a service disconnected). But in reality we're just throwing cash in the trash. I really do play the money juggle game weekly particularly due to another family member but I'm going to try considerably harder to work on that issue as well (without nagging; I have ideas).
This month, with the remaining ten days I would really like to pay the rest of the bills on time (and all bills there after). I would like to end the month in the black and I can do it. A part from the fact that I've become a very frugal gal this blog has also taught me that when I set my mind to something (and I really truly have to set my mind to it; just writing it on a piece of paper, typing it out, and hoping it happens is not the same thing) I will accomplish said something! One of the Money Secrets of the Amish is to always pay bills on time. That's darn good advice that I have not been following.
The other motivating factor for spending $10 a day for the next 10 days is my daily spending average. It's been consistently sticking around $18 a day (a few pennies over in fact). I've quite officially found out what my spending average is. It's $18 a day. I really want to end the year under that number, even if that's a measly penny under, $17.99 a day, I want to end under. But averaging $10 a day for the next 10 days will get me to $17.65 a day and if I can stick closer to that then I'll be a little bit happier with where we're at financially this year.
This is not going to be an easy challenge. I will have to really set my mind to it. Planning is essential but I have a goal: paying all the bills on time. And I have the determination. Plus challenges are good especially for someone who lacks the will power to execute delayed gratification. Teaching an old dog new tricks (almost daily now)! Here goes!
Spending rundown today: $0 NO SPEND day 71 for the year.
My budget for the month is
Average daily spending for 2015: $17.95
What a wonderful goal - those late fees can really add up over time. I don't pay any bills late anymore (read ANYMORE) - we used to wait until we got the "red envelope" before we decided what had to be paid before it was turned off!!! We also knew (and this will really date me) how long each store took to cash a check....can't tell you how many checks we floated back in the day!!!!
ReplyDeleteIt is wonderful to not have to worry about what bill can be paid (am I am much older than you, so it took us a long time to get here), what I worry about is retirement - with Ted having been laid off for 4 years, we never changed our lifestyle (it wasn't extravagant, but we certainly didn't spend like we were unemployed) and went through a HUGE portion of our retirement - we are playing catch up now and I get very worried about retirement....lets face it, if we have to count on our kids to take care of us....well, I better find a big refrigerator box now :)
I guess this was my very LONG way of saying keep doing what you are doing and make those changes NOW while you are still young enough - KEEP GOING YOU ARE DOING GREAT!!!!
Thank-you so much Sue! You are ALWAYS super encouraging. I feel like (even though you aren't blogging YET and I don't get to follow your journey on a daily basis) you guys are on the right track, daily righting the wrong, and you've totally seen the error in your ways and are working it. Hey, it's never too late! That's what they all say, right? You got this!
DeleteWe have made SO many changes - I just hope my kids don't follow our example of when they were young and make some changes of their own to follow our example NOW!! We still make mistakes (and probably always will), but we have made a complete 180 and are working hard to build those savings up and pay off the house, etc.
ReplyDeleteWhat I am so impressed at is the example you are setting for Abe - he will see you growing your own food, recycling, using what you have for other purposes - I think it will make a HUGE difference in his life as he grows and matures. You may have made some mistakes in the past, but you are MORE than making up for them now!!! It took me a loooooong time to get Ted on board (he was never a spender, but didn't want to deal with saving either...does that make sense???) but we are FINALLY, after 32 years on the same page and it really does make things so much easier. Hopefully your hubs won't take that long :)
I LOVE that you are both on the same page now! Gee I hope it doesn't take my hubby 32 years :) only 19 more to go if so, really truly laughing out loud.
DeleteI don't know how my little guy will feel about money and such when he grows up but I do know that he is learning a lot. He will know that debt is bad and he will know how to save, that's for sure! I also don't know how he will feel about his mom's frugal ways BUT they sure will be at his core. And most of all I hope that I'm teaching him to appreciate the little things. The other day it started to down pour (we have tin siding on the house so it can be really loud when it down pours). You know how everything look SOO much greener when it rains and right after it's rained (oh, now I feel badly for asking you that considering...)? He ran to the window to see what that "terrible" noise was all about and said, "Oh mom, it's green sunshine. It's sooo LOVELY!" I knew what he meant. I love the way he sees the world!
What was it doing? I'm not sure I know what that "rain" thing means......lol
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the way Abe describes things - seeing and hearing things through a child's eyes is the most wonderful thing in the world!!! Of course then you have Stephanie who, when she was about 12 told me "If you just let me do what I want we won't have any problems".....can't argue with that logic, can you :)
Hey she knew what she was talking about. First thing this morning little Abe tried to tell me (while planning out his day for himself) "lots and lots of sugar makes me delicious and watching Gummy Bears (that old Disney cartoon) makes me fun." Oh boy!
DeleteIt ca be hard to stretch the money when there is more month. KNowing you have enough, but it is a timing thing should help you "convince" him that you're still meeting all the family needs and some of the wants. You're doing great.
ReplyDeleteI actually have a big issue with timing. I work with a zero based budget and for the most part I can balance each month but I still can't pay the darn bills on time. I've finally come to the realization that I need to have money floating in the account at all times, like $200 that we just never spend. Does that sound crazy, it sounds crazy to me. But I could have the budget balanced for 12 straight months and still pay over half the bills late. TIMING! I think I missed something from that budgeting 101 class I never took.
DeleteAlthough I did take financial peace university (Dave Ramsey), filled out all the budgeting forms and still can't figure out how to work off a zero bases budget and get the bills paid on time. Well, I'm not longer going to pay the bills late. Period and I'm going to get a $200 floater in the account. I realize I just made myself look stupid but seriously I can't figure out this conundrum.
I write about saving money but sometimes I feel that I don't try hard enough. I feel there is much room for improvement on the grocery front. Good luck and I really do think that you can pull this off!!!!
ReplyDeleteThank-you! Groceries are SOOO expensive though. I think there's virtually always room for saving on the grocery front, I mean unless you're sluggy and you get virtually everything for free.
DeleteI think the best thing about that book is that it doesn't tell you what to do - it just says a particular debt free community, (the Amish) does something, how would that translate into your life? It sounds as though you are thinking it through for yourself. I look forward to seeing how this works out.
ReplyDeleteI have a cash-flow spreadsheet and I've found it so very helpful. Predicting when the risky times are helps to keep the overall budget in order. I've been to quite a lot of the scary places you describe in my time and without the excuse of a family/partner. These days I sleep a lot better!
It's a VERY non-confrontational book. She writes very much in the style of sharing her experience and offering ideas and like you said, "this is how the Amish do it." Not here's what you need to do. I am impressed with how much I already do concerning ideas she outlines in the book but then looking over what I am doing I could see room for improvement across the board. The book definitely helped to add a little flame to the fire. I read through it in two days so I'm going to read through it again while I'm doing this little ten day challenge just to help keep me focused. And I feel like you always miss stuff on a first read. It was a quick read so another read through will be fun.
DeleteI use a spread sheet too. I usually have each week and each month budgeted out about a year in advance. It is very challenging altering the budget each week due to the other half but it will not always be like this, we are climbing out of the hole :) Hooray!
I have a question. How do you calculate your daily expenses? I have tried doing it many ways and I always come up with a much higher daily figure, even if I spend nothing out of pocket. I am truly curious. Do you include things like daily groceries, and gas for the wherever you drive daily? When I add everything my number seems incredibly high
ReplyDeleteHi Anne, under my header, the little bit darker green up top that says $12 a day, there are tabs. The first one says "the blog" the second one says "daily purchases." The things I have listed under that daily purchases tab are what I include in my average daily spending calculation for the year. I do NOT include bills or debt repayment. This number is only for spending/ purchases. I also do NOT include medical expenses, which we do not have a lot but I chose not to include them when I first started this blog. I drive A LOT for work so I also do not include auto expenses like gas in my daily spending average. In any normal situation gas would be a normal expense that someone would include. I get that but I drive way more than normal so I don't include that.
DeleteI do include all other spending. Really anything that we spend money on, except that when my husband spends money on himself it does not get put in the budget on this blog. I buy all the food for our family, household supplies, ect but when he buys something FOR HIMSELF I do not track that. If he brings home milk or dog food or anything for our family then I do track that.