Organizing our finances. Bleck.
I discovered how frivolously we have been living the last few years. Sure, we’re not decadent, but we had both been working decent jobs and now have nothing to show for it! We’re scrambling, now, trying to figure out how to live off one income. Trying to accept that we should supposedly be able to buy groceries for $100/month/person when we were spending $600. Accepting that our individual “fun” money each month is $30 and includes magazine subscriptions, domain names, and clothes. Thinking ahead to save for fixing the heater in the car, a chest freezer, and putting off the fancy touch-screen computer. The scariest part? It’s totally do-able! It’ll be tight, but possible. There’s not enough (yet) to save for a down payment on a home or a new car, but once we get caught up on the medical bills we’ll be able to. I also know, once we get used to our new frugality, we’ll be able to cut back a little more here and there and that amount will be able to be squirreled away. AND, once I go back to work, all that income will go towards those big savings goals! Yay!
So, for our finances, we gave a budget and a way to easily track it (we’re using www.mint.com and it’s accompanying apps). And we have started using my Ing Direct checking account for bill paying. Nearly everything has been automated and set to paperless. I move the monthly bill-budget from checking (earning .015% interest) to the savings account (earning .8% interest). The day before a bill is set to be paid, the allotted amount is transferred from savings to checking. We used the largest bill in the year to budget the power and gas bills, so, when the bill is less, the “extra” money is left in the savings account along with the semi-annual bill savings. I’m pleased with the set up. We’ll only earn a few cents off the interest, but keeping it not-so-visible is the key.
I don’t have a pretty picture for you, but my mind is a little easier knowing I have those essentials taken care of.