Minimalism: May Wrap Up and June Goals

May Goals

Focus Area: Money

We pretty much put an end to all spending that isn't a bill or living expense.  I re-established our "allowances" for those extra expenditures.  I actually upped the amount a little bit, because I think this will help us actually stick to the allowance.  I check the bank account regularly and have been doing some "research" on ways to save money.

Habit Former:  Rethink money and necessities.

It's amazing how much my spending has changed, lately.  This is in part, from realizing how little we can afford to spend on unnecessary things, and from hating the accumulation of stuff.  The only "thing" I bought for myself in May was a mug, and I use it about every other day.  Actually...I also bought a pair of cheap flip flops om the way to school after discovering I had an unmentionable pet present on the bottom of my sneakers. 


June Goals

Focus Area 1:  Money....again

I feel like I barely scratched the surface with this money thing, so I am going to dive into it a bit further, this month.

Focus Area 2: Misc.

I will also be doing a few miscellaneous minimizing things, this month.  Hopefully, I will muster up the energy to tell you about them (goodness I'm so tired).

Habit Former:  Wake up at a consistent time, every day.

This has nothing to do with my focus areas, this month, but it is an important key to getting things accomplished.  And....it is giving me a bit extra time to work out in the mornings.  Woo hoo!

Discouragement in the Journey Toward Minimalism

 by Fons Reijsbergen

 

I'm getting very discouraged in my journey toward minimalism.  I purge a room and get it all cleaned up and no more than 2 weeks later, it looks horrible again.  I decide I am not buying anything else and then I make an impulse buy on something totally unnecessary.  I prepare for a big yard sale and it storms, so I only sell 1/12 of what I hoped.  It seems hopeless.

But then I look at my living room and realize how much quicker we can straighten up, now.  I look in my basement and see the empty space left by my yard sale failure-turned Goodwill donation.  I find myself looking at things at the store and telling myself, "I don't need that."  I realize, it's working.

It's just taking longer than I wished it would.

A Simple Girl's Guide to Budgeting

I like detail.  I like the nitty gritty.  I like down to the minute planning.  But sometimes, I tend to over think it.  I've racked my brain trying to figure out a budget that would work for us.  I tried the Dave Ramsey style of budgeting every penny.  I've tried setting aside money each month for long term needs (car repairs, taxes, vacation).  I crunched the numbers and I crunched them again.  I just couldn't get things to add up.  My head would spin trying to figure out how I was ever going to keep track of all of these running numbers without 45 envelopes of cash floating around my home.

By Marcelo Moura

Somehow, I just couldn't grasp the intricacies of this type of budgeting.  So...I decided to make it simple, and this is what I came up with.

Set aside money for immediate needs and save the rest.

Simple, isn't it?  And for now, that's exactly what I plan to do.  When we got paid this week, I sat down and removed my immediate expenses (first on paper to make sure I didn't overspend).

1)Tithe (online)
2) Groceries (cash)
3) Power bill (check)
4) Medical bills (check)
5) Loan payment (check)
6) Credit card bill (online)
7) Change for the yard sale (cash)
8) Spending money for Brandon and I:  this is a must or we will simply spend money we don't have (cash)
9) Gas (leave money in checking account so we can use our debit cards)

After making sure I had enough money to pay all of these things, I either paid them or got the cash from the bank.  Then, I went online and transferred the remaining money into savings.  Now, I have my expenses covered and when something "extra" comes up, I can move the money from my stash and pay for it.

Simple

Minimalism: Some of My Money Lessons, So Far.

I'm still feeling sort of lost when it comes to my budgeting task, this month.  Have you ever felt like you have cut everything you could possibly cut and still aren't where you want to be?  While I know I have stuff I CAN cut, I don't think it is the best plan to do so in certain cases.

But, I have learned a few things, already.  Well, to be honest, I started this last month, so technically, I learned it before my May goal began, but who cares?

Look at your expenses.  I mean really really look at them.  Brandon and I sat down and wrote out how much we spend, in a year, on lots of different things.  I was shocked at how much I spent on certain things and how little I spent on others.  It is impossible to know where to save, if you don't know, for sure, where you are overspending.

Think about what you buy.  I am a REALLY bad impulse buyer.  REALLY REALLY bad.  When you want to buy something....think about it.  Many times you do not need or even really want the item.  This will save you money and reduce your clutter.  In order to keep my impulse buys at bay, I unsubscribed from notifications on great deals.  For example, Zulily and Pick Your Plum might have great stuff, but I don't need it.  If I don't know there is a great deal out there for something, I won't know what a great deal I'm missing out on.  Problem solved (somewhat).

Keep tuned for the other lessons I learn this month.

P.S.  I have some crafts that I really want to share.  I've just been too busy to edit the photos and write the posts for you.  Hopefully I can get them to you soon!

Mother's Day

I hope everyone had a good Mother's Day, yesterday.  I sure did.  My boys let me enjoy a day doing what I wanted.  I watched Netflix, we went to the local farmer's market (one of my favorite things to do, and almost torture for poor Brandon, but he took me because he loves me), and toured our local St. Jude Dream Home.  I got lots of hugs from my little man.  Now that's a good day.

Healthy Home: Financial Health

This month's Healthy Home post was written by Nick and Michaela Peterson from Livin' Lightly.  It goes right along with my May goal of minimizing financial stress.  I am really impressed with Nick and Michaela's courage to take big steps in order to reach their goals.  I hope you benefit from their advice on financial health.    Here's what they have to say!

7 Steps to Livin’ Lightly with your Finances

Your financial health directly impacts the quality of your life.  Zero savings, incurred debt, and past bills bring unneeded stress and worry.

When we were first married we had debt and financial stress.  Student loans had built up, along with credit card debt and a car loan.  We had no set plan and watched our monthly check fizzle away while we sat back and thought, “I have no idea where our money went!”  

Over the past 7-years of our marriage we have paid off our debt and felt the freedom from the bondage of debt.  We no longer fight over money and actually have money to GIVE to those in need.  No matter your age or how much money you make you can still be caught in the debt trap.  Here are some steps that we took and helped us in our journey towards debt freedom!

1. The Reason Why?

The first step in winning with your money is to dream up a reason or reasons why? Why do we want to get out of debt? Why do we want to save? What would we do if we didn’t have any more payments? What do you want your life to look like?

Finding your why will give you powerful emotional fuel to reach your goals. We recommend visually capturing this is some way. Maybe a bulletin board, maybe a sticky note on your mirror. Having this visual cue will help you remember why you are making sacrifices and what these sacrifices will bring in the future.

For us the turning point was the eminent arrival of our daughter, Paisley.

2. Learn About Personal Finance

In college I studied Business. I took accounting classes, finance classes, investing classes and I felt I had a pretty good financial head on my shoulders, yet personal finance is not about knowledge it's about discipline. How many broke MBA’s are there in the world?

Winning with your money is pretty basic: spend less than you make and save. That said, there is some basic knowledge needed for best financial practices (like good investment vehicles, the proper insurance to buy and budget basics) and it's a good idea to take some time and learn these basics. There are great resources that teach solid financial principles and we highly recommend “Financial Peace” by Dave Ramsey.

3. Get on the Same Page

To make any lasting progress towards financial goals it's CRUCIAL to get on the same page with your spouse (if you’re married, if not it’s still a good idea to find an accountability partner). As a couple you need to be moving in the same direction. This means having a joint account, discussing and finding your why, and making each individual's perspective valid.

Mastering this step has not only helped us achieve financial success but also improved our marriage. We now have monthly budget committee meetings where we each have an equal vote, we discuss the majority of our purchases and rarely fight about money.

4. Get on a Budget

You must give every dollar a name? If you don’t tell your money what to do, it will find something to do (and often find it’s way right out of your pocket without you realizing it).  We do a zero balance budget and spend every dollar on paper, on purpose before the month begins.  The most important part of this step is finding what works for you and sticking with it.  Momentum is consistency over time, multiplied by God!

5. Use the Debt Snowball

The debt snowball is a powerful tool for eliminating your debt. Here is how it works:

List your debts smallest to largest (regardless of interest rate).

Pay minimum payments on all account except the smallest one.

Attack the smallest account with any extra income.

Rollover minimum payments from paid off account to the next account.

Repeat until all accounts are paid.

The debt snowball goes against modern financial wisdom but it works! The key is early wins and building momentum. It's all about being emotionally engaged with the process.

6. Cut your Expenses & Increase Income

In order to free up cash for your debt snowball you need to cut expenses and/or increase your income. This could mean working overtime, delivering pizzas in the evening, selling unneeded stuff online, etc.

We cut out unneeded items from our budget like: gym memberships, excess spending money and slimmed our food budget. To get some extra cash we had a garage sale, sold a car, and listed miscellaneous stuff online.

7. Chart your Progress & Give Rewards

We had fun with this one by making a chart and filling in our goals on a bar type graph.  It was important for us to do small rewards along the way as well as plan out our BIG reward when all of the debt was paid off.  This could be anything from having a picnic outdoors together or planning a nice weekend getaway for the family.  I recommend holding off on anything too big (or pricey) until you reach your ultimate debt-free prize (and then of course saving up and paying for it in cash).  

Achieving debt-freedom requires discipline and the ability to say no.  We found that it can be difficult and we failed often, especially in the beginning, with keeping and sticking to our budget. It was hard when our friends were going shopping for fun, out to eat a lot or buying new cars and houses. Delaying gratification was worth it for us and we hope it will be for you too!  

We had always dreamed of traveling the countryside, visiting family and doing some sort of traveling ministry.  This past summer we purchased a ‘69 Airstream travel trailer and are in the process of fixing it up to live in full-time.  We know getting out of debt and making healthier financial choices in the past, along with God’s leading, have helped us in our journey of living the dreams and passions that God has placed on our hearts.

Do you have dreams and passions that you aren’t able to achieve due to financial bondage? You can be free.  You CAN be free.  You CAN be FREE!  

“Live like no one else now, so later you can live like no one else!”  -Dave Ramsey

Thanks, guys!  Somehow, it's easier for me to understand financial steps from people that are currently doing it, instead of just reading articles or watching seminars.  Take a look at their website to see how they are Livin' Lightly, and try out some or all of their steps in your finances.

Minimalism: April Wrap Up and May Goals

April Goals



Focus Area 1:  Clothes and Project 333


I did end up getting rid of some clothes (see my post on Impromptu Clothes Purge), but most of my clothing focus has been with Project 333.  I taylored it a little, to meet my personal clothing goals (retrain my thinking about clothes), but I am really loving it so far.  I found it hard to pare down to 33 things, but once I got started, I actually had items I wasn't using, so I swapped them out with things I realized I was missing.  This is proof that it is working.  We (or is it just me?) tend to think that we need things we don't, or we like things that we actually don't even wear.  Discovering these truths will really help me minimize my wardrobe.

Focus Area 2:  The house as a whole

I have a nice stock pile of  stuff for the yard sale, but I still have a ways to go.  I really sort of want to just sell everything I own and start over...but that isn't practical for me.
  
Habit Former:  Stop holding on to things that I'm not using.

This is hard for me.  I'm going through things to put in the yard sale.  But this is just difficult.  Even if I'm not using stuff, for whatever reason, I just want to keep things.  But, I'm making progress.


May Goals

Focus Area: Money

We spend above our means, plain and simple.  This month I am diving into our finances.  We are gonna get real at our house and make some changes.  Beginning in July, we will be taking a decent reduction in income, as Brandon's teaching contract concludes.  He has a summer job, but starting in August, things are totally unknown.  We really have to buckle down.  I'm hoping to share what I have learned and some suggestions from others, as well.

Habit Former:  Rethink money and necessities.

We often think we need things we don't, and money just seems to disappear if we don't think about each penny.  This month, I plan to change this.