Blogging Away Debt

Happy first day of March!

I hope all are doing well! I always like the first day of a new month because it feels like a mini “refresh” of some sorts. A fresh month, fresh budget, fresh chance to get it right.

And I’m in a bit of budget start-over mode over here.

I belong to a Dave Ramsey group on Facebook and took a screen shot when someone posted Dave Ramsey’s suggested budget percentages:

(I later found the image on Dave’s site HERE, just to give proper credit).

Here’s how it all breaks down:

	Recommended
Housing	25-35%
Saving	10-15%
Insurance	10-25%
Giving	10-15%
Transport	10-15%
Food	5-15%
Utilities	5-10%
Health	5-10%
Personal	5-10%
Recreation	5-10%
Clothing	2-7%
Cumulative Total	92% – 167%

Unfortunately, there’s such a huge range that the cumulative total ranges from 92% to 167%. That means, if I were to use this budget as a model, I’d need to stay on the low end for most of these categories.

But when I sat down and started trying to put pen to paper to see how this sample budget would work out for my household, I realized it just doesn’t. Why?

Because we still have a disgusting amount of DEBT, that’s why!

Notice there’s no “Debt” category at all in this budget! Sooooo maybe this budget is for people who are already debt-free??? Our debt takes up a huge percentage of our take-home pay (roughly a third). Plus, the budget above seems to be operating on gross pay but I typically budget using net monthly take-home pay (insurance and required retirement contributions are already withheld from my paycheck).

At any rate, this seems like a good starting point but I would love some tips or pointers! I’m really at a start-over here with our household budget, trying to make it all make sense. Now that hubs is working, a bit of the stress is off because he’s been able to pay for most of his own expenses (fuel, personal money, eating out, etc.). But we’re still not in a great financial position and I’m beyond ready to get a better handle on our finances again!

Any tips for budgeting suggestions, links to websites, books, etc., with suggested budget allocations that work for someone whose still in debt??? Is it

The Purge Begins

by Hope

When we moved out of our home into the 900 square foot apartment, we underwent a major purge. Then when we moved into the camper, we purged even more. Last year, our stuff fit into a small 6’x4′ cube for moving. And honestly, other than buying furniture when we moved into our new rental house last April we haven’t really gotten back into stuff.

Furniture

We each got a new bed, we each have a inherited chest of drawers and we each got a new desk (Princess’ was given to us.) I purchased a used table and chairs from an estate sale ($200) and my uncle gave us a antique dishes holder (not really sure what to call it.) That’s it. We don’t have any living room furniture at all.

Clothes

Princess and Gymnast continue to out grow clothes every season. (Although I think we are coming to the end of that with Princess.) With that being said, although they have all gotten new clothes over the 10 months we have been here, we have continued to donate items as new ones were brought in. (Remember when we did the 25 clothing items?)

The Purge

So what am I talking about when I say the purge begins…books. As you know, we have homeschooled for the past 9 years, since Princess was kindergarten age. I have curriculum for every subject beginning with lower middle school through high school. Now that the twins are out of high school (Sea Cadet graduates this year,) and the younger two are in public school…the books are gathering dust.

I’m going to keep select high school items, but otherwise, it is time to say good-bye to that chapter of my life. Typing this, I think to myself, that I sound so flippant about it. But reality is, my stomach still clenches in dread at never homeschooling again. Reality is, Gymnast LOVES the social aspect so much, he would be miserable coming home again. And Princess is just one year from being able to enroll full time at the local community college. (When all was said and done, she had enough high school credits to go in as a sophomore in high school. We just have to wait for her to turn 15 to be able to dual enroll.)

Therefore, my goal over the next week is twofold:

Sort through my bookshelves and pull out all of those books that can go
Find a place to sell them (where I can make the most money and encounter the least hassle)

I don’t know how much money I will recover off this endeavor, but something about these mass purges calms my soul. We are definitely minimalist even today. Some of us (me) more than others, but in general, we have far less “stuff” then most anyone I know. And I love it.

I’ll keep you posted on how this purge translates into money!

Blogging Away Debt Blogging Away Debt follows real people on their journey to debt freedom — with tips on the debt snowball, budgeting, cutting expenses, and staying motivated.

Budget Start-Over