(This post contains an affiliate link. Click here to read complete disclosure.)
I am an avid reader, and I love all kinds of books. Lately, I have not had the time to read the books I enjoy reading because of all of the literature I have to scour through for my dissertation (I know, crazy, right!?!?) When meeting with my professor one day, he recommended two books to me. I hurriedly jotted down the titles because I honestly think he recommended these same two books to me during a previous discussion with him. I figured, hey, if he is telling me for the second time to read these books, they must really be worth it.
When I got home that afternoon, I looked them up on Amazon. Neither of these books were about my degree or my dissertation topic. I smiled. Yes, a reason to read something else other than other dissertations and peer reviewed articles. I couldn't press the "submit order" button (budget buster, yikes) quick enough! They both arrived two days later.
The first recommended book I chose to read was Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids about Money that the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! by Robert Kiyosaki. What an excellent read! I couldn't put it down. I read it in two days. It was an easy read, but it was packed with common sense and advice on how to make your money work for you....not you working for money.
It all made so much sense, and it shed a new light on how I began to view my job, my commitments, and my time. (I will not spoil the book because it is such a good one.) If you decide to read the book, or if you have already read it, I would love to hear your take-aways from the book. For those who have not read it, I encourage you to do so.
After I read it, I began thinking about my previous conversations with my professor. Had I said something that made him think I needed financial advice (although, most of us do, or at least we need reminders)? Had I indicated I wanted to quit my job and figure out a way to make money work for me (surely not because I am in school to earn an advanced degree)? I believe all things happen for a reason. The reason he suggested I read the book was simply because I needed it, whether he knew it or not.
The other book he recommended will be discusses in another Book Talk post. Happy Reading!
As much as sitting down and making a monthly budget is tedious, it is a task job that must be tackled...and completed! Let me be quite honest, I am terrified of budgets. Yep, that's me! I am not terrified to sit down and create the budget; I am terrified I will not follow the budget. Thus, I fail. (Sigh)
However, this year- this new year- I vow to not get so worked up about failing. I am human. We are humans. And one thing I have learned in my life is we all have to start somewhere, no matter where "that" is.
In starting the year off with a new budget, I am solely going to focus on one month at a time. I am not going to focus on the next month or into the future other than the current month.
First things first...we listed our incomes. Since we are both working right now, we simply combined the two monthly incomes into one column. Next, we wrote down our fixed bills (those payments that are the same each month)...home mortgage, insurance(s), cable, internet, retirement accounts, school tuition for our daughter, piano lessons, gym membership, house phone bill, alarm bill, etc. Then we added another column of our other bills (those that are subject to change each month)...utilities, groceries, gas, , cell phones, credit card, etc. We added up our fixed bills and our other bills separately. Our next step was to look at what was left after we subtracted both columns from our monthly income. We were able to decide how much money we wanted to start putting into our savings account. We looked at expenses that were not necessary.
January is a hard month for our little family for several reasons. Our car tags on two vehicles is due in January, so we have to be very diligent about stashing away money monthly for this...which we did not do a wonderful job of this year. Since we dropped the ball on that, we will not be able to save as much money this month since it will be going to pay the car tags. This was definitely worked in our January budget to start putting money towards this January bill for 2016.
For this month, we are just going to cut out eating out...period...this will be the hardest for me because I seem to run out of time once I get off work and do errands, that I lose track of time so we wind up picking up supper. This is not a healthy option for us...physically or financially. This will take better planning and preparation on my part, but I am willing to do it to see results.
I will update you during the month as we venture down this road of not eating out...period! I know that I will need some accountability because I am the world's greatest at coming up with excuses for not cooking. Hold me accountable, folks!
We have talked long and hard about cutting back in certain areas. I feel like 2015 will be the year we take that step. We have some wishes and dreams for the future, and we want to be debt free to pursue those. Although there are many areas we can find to cut back, we are choosing to do them is small steps so we see little successes along the way. Each month we will add one or two ways to cut back, pay off debt, and save...and you will see our journey every step of the way.
If you have a budget success, please share it in the comments below. I love to see how others are winning at budgeting! And we can inspire one another along the way. Here's to a fabulous new month!
