Thursday, April 7, 2011

$250?

(Let me first admit that this post was supposed to go up at the beginning of the month, but my mom arrived April 1st and we have been having fun around town so I am a little behind...sorry!)

A few months back I mentioned that my husband and I are living on cash only.  Let me first say that my husband works with money.  He is brilliant at what he does and he has been trying to get me to see the light for years, but I am embarrassed to say I have been resistant really only for the reason of denial.  Debt is easy to deny.  We have never been in crazy debt way over our head.  We have a good amount of savings and for the most part live within our means, but we have credit card debt.  (I feel like I am at an AA meeting right now.) 

So a couple of months ago I finally read Dave Ramsey's The Total Money Makeover and I finally gave in to what my husband has been telling me all along...we need to pay cash for everything.  A totally reasonable, logical and terrifying idea!  But we are doing it!  We took our credit cards out of our wallets, wrote up a monthly budget and are pretty surprised by how easy it really is. 

But I will admit that I do slip in an extra pillow here or picture frame there and I have gone slightly over budget the last couple of months...ssshhhhh.  Which is why I am moving on to Dave's next step, the envelop system.  So basically we have budgeted $250 for my fun projects for April.  I have put $250 in cash in an envelop and I get to spend it until it is gone.  And then the scary part...when it is gone...it is gone.  No more for me until May!

We don't have any major projects to tackle this month so $250 should be plenty, right?  I want to work on the dinning room which means paint, some more plates for my plate wall and the plate hangers.  I also have a vision for the center piece on the table which will take some creativity to pull together on this budget.  Additionally, I need to finish my menu art project so I need a few more bulldog clips and menus.  And finish accessorizing the shelves in the living room.  (So many fun projects to share with you!) 

So the challenge is to do all of this for $250.  And if it can't happen for $250 then I guess it isn't happening this month.  So follow me over the next few weeks to see if I can pull it off.  Wish me luck!