Dave Ramsey Support Thread ~ Dec 10 - Dec 16

[5PrincessMommy]

Originally Posted by hsleonard I am so sorry, I hope you can attend the memorial I am the worst and deciding what goes in envelopes, but just keep trying and the more you know about your spending habits the easier it becomes. Just decide and stick with it and see how it goes, adjust your budget each month until you get something that is working. Also we don't add to an envelope every month. if we know we need spring clothes then in march's budget we set aside the money and either lower our SB payment or lower another category. As far as the "stuff" that comes up, we have a "life happens" envelope we put like 20-30 a month in it and just let it sit. if we don't use it for a few months we either stop adding to it or add it to the SB or another category Hope this helps

ok that is a great idea with the life happens envelope! I just get all frantic about my categories and don't want anything to get messed up. plus if I tell dh we have a specific amount he will be more likely to stick to it. If I don't and I ask "hey, can you go pick up sandals for dd?" he will just choose whatever ones, but if I say "we have 10 dollars, so can you go pick up some sandals for dd?" he will spend 10 dollars.

[frugalmomof2]

Originally Posted by slimy72 My grandpa passed away this morning. My mom is hopeful they can have the memorial after I arrive next week since I already have plane tickets purchased for next Friday.

I am sorry for your loss. It's never easy even when you know it's coming. Your family will be in my prayers and I hope your Uncle will decide to wait till the family is all there so you can be with your family for the funeral. I've had luck with a couple airlines when I've called and asked to move a flight a week forward/back. There was a small fee, but nothing like having to buy new tickets. Not sure if it's worth your call?

Originally Posted by 5PrincessMommy household items-toilet paper, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, face soap, toothpaste, detergent, etc-IDK how much, maybe $100? Coupons! We spend close to $25 a month for all tolietries just looking for printable coupons (cause I never buy the paper) and our Dollar General has a $5/$25 coupon every Saturday so that's when I buy the tolietries. I go once a month and have a list of everything we use - and if I'm a little short of the $25 I simply add in some $1 toothbrushes/floss/paste. Also, being willing to go from big Brand Name to smaller Brand Name can save a lot of money. I was a Dove/Caress Body wash, but I manage just fine with the $1 Suave body wash. eating out-$100/month (and stick to it!) Again, coupons! Not sure what your eating out habits are, but there are always fast food coupons (subway, burger king), pizza coupons (pizza hut) and sit down coupons (chilis, TGIF) available on their websites. Restaurants.com gives a quick discount as well.

The more you save on these above items and the more sacrifices you make, the more you can put to debt!

Originally Posted by drabekgirl My FFA fruit came in, but how is it personable when the person you buy it from leaves the sales forms at a public place and I had to turn it in to the school. Than he calls and says he is leaving the fruit at the same public place for me to pick-up? My children had to go around collecting their fundraiser sales and than deliver them with a Thank You note (per their parents). Could that be why they sold over 15% of all the sales for the entire school (of 102 children)? Your children and their thank you note would make me reorder as a customer!

[lakemom]

Originally Posted by drabekgirl I am getting estimates on the finishing of our basement muding etc. B/c I can throw mud onto the walls but I don't want people to see the seams later so I figure if I do the first couple coats and hire a pro it won't cost as much. I'd love to have it done ASAP dh is like in a couple months is fine. I've been looking at the partially drywall walls for close to 9 years already. And next week 2 Christmas parties with 20 people each are being held here. Last time we hosted we had items broken in the basement b/c we couldn't close areas off. .

A pro will only need to do 2 coats MAX depending on how well the drywall is put up (sloppy seams means more coats). A pro will do one coat, then sand, then decide if there are places that need a second coat. My bil did drywall for a while right out of high school and he could usually mud in one coat if HE put up the drywall and 2-3 if dh or I put up the drywall or the first layer of mud. Just a heads up that it may be cheaper to let the pro do it all then to fix your "mistakes".

[5PrincessMommy]

Originally Posted by frugalmomof2 I am sorry for your loss. It's never easy even when you know it's coming. Your family will be in my prayers and I hope your Uncle will decide to wait till the family is all there so you can be with your family for the funeral. I've had luck with a couple airlines when I've called and asked to move a flight a week forward/back. There was a small fee, but nothing like having to buy new tickets. Not sure if it's worth your call? The more you save on these above items and the more sacrifices you make, the more you can put to debt!

I just got back into coupons I was totally guessing on that number bc I have no idea how much I spend on that stuff, whoops! I have a hard time imagining $25 will do-we probably spend that in laundry detergent alone lol. But maybe $50? We are a family of 7.

For eating out-we usually get Del taco once a week. That costs aprox $15 to feed us all. It's about the cheapest we can get lol. And maybe once a month we go to a sit down place like ihop where kids eat free. I definitely could cut this out if I had to-but I don't want to unless I have to LOL.

[frugalmomof2]

DH got a very large Christmas bonus today! We are putting half into our emergency fund and the remainder to fund envelopes that are funded through overtime and variable income and then snowball the rest.

[bluecandi]

Originally Posted by frugalmomof2 DH got a very large Christmas bonus today! We are putting half into our emergency fund and the remainder to fund envelopes that are funded through overtime and variable income and then snowball the rest.

Woohoo!!!!!!

[EmmaGM]

Originally Posted by frugalmomof2 DH got a very large Christmas bonus today! We are putting half into our emergency fund and the remainder to fund envelopes that are funded through overtime and variable income and then snowball the rest.

Hooray!!

[lakemom]

Originally Posted by frugalmomof2 DH got a very large Christmas bonus today! We are putting half into our emergency fund and the remainder to fund envelopes that are funded through overtime and variable income and then snowball the rest.

yeah!! Good for him, and funding envies.

[KrisM]

Originally Posted by 5PrincessMommy Hey guys, I am going to jump in a bit. Dh has been listening to Dave Ramsey in the car. I've been loosely following Dave Ramsey for a while now. Anyway, I have a question. What do you do when you have a variable income? I have a set income-my job, but I also have a variable income-my ebay store. My profits in my ebay store have averaged out for the year to about $900 a month. However, I didn't REALLY start until Feb and didn't get super serious until summer. My average for the last 5 months is about $1300 a month profit. However, you just never know with ebay. All of our bills are covered with my set income, but with very little wiggle room for extras-clothes, field trips, school pictures, eat-in day at school, eating out, gifts, etc all come from my ebay income. However, I would like to start making a dent in my debt. I did really good last year, but haven't paid any debt since summer! We do not have any credit cards or car payments. All of my debt is old, random debt, such as a $5000 deductible from when I had pneumonia in 2008. It totals about $10,000. This is not including student loans-which are currently in deferrment bc I am a grad student. I am not worried about those yet-just want to knock out this 10,000 debt first.

Does your ebay profit account for taxes already? I am always shocked when it comes to taxes at what my profit really ends up as (much lower). I'd make sure you have enough set aside in case you owe on taxes, too.

[MotherMoonPads]

I hit my goal for covering the difference of the cost of replacing my roof (between what the insurance company gave us for half and what we need to pay). I am super thankful, but also a bit exhausted Now I need to focus on paying a few more bills this month. Just trying to get over that tired peak from the huge push from the roof.