Here is a quote from Elder Hales, "These two lessons are the essence of provident living. When faced with the choice to buy, consume, or engage in worldly things and activities, we all need to learn to say to one another, “We can’t afford it, even though we want it!” or “We can afford it, but we don’t need it—and we really don’t even want it!”
Travis and I have tried to make budgeting fun. For example, we established a "Smoke Fund." Basically we figured out how much we would have to spend to smoke a pack of cigarettes each week, and then we use that money instead to do something fun each week! What are some tactics that you guys use to make budgeting/finances more effective and fun?
Elder Hales talk, "Becoming Provident Providers Temporally and Spiritually" - http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/04/becoming-provident-providers-temporally-and-spiritually?lang=eng
One for the Money - http://www.lds.org/ensign/2007/09/one-for-the-money?lang=eng
Dave Ramsey -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng2f_ZlZjdQ
That's awesome. I totally bought "The Total Money Makeover" for Christmas and read it over the break. I'm a huge geek when it comes to finances. My mission--seeing so much poverty--really got me thinking about the subject. So I took two finance classes at BYU, and I have slowly accumulated my own little financial library. It's one of my favorite subjects to study/learn about. Did you notice that September VTing message was about self-reliance? I love that it brings out that the goal of self-reliance is that we can be in a position to help others.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, two things we do to make finances effective/fun are to compile a monthly net worth statement and track our expenses. I know those probably don't sound fun, but I sure enjoy it! (I told you I'm a geek about finances.) In the net worth statement, I compile an itemized list of all of our assets and an itemized list of all our debts. Then I subtract the debts from the assets to come up with our net worth. I do this the first of every month and e-mail a copy to Scott. It's fun for me to see our assets slowly grow over time.
As for tracking expenses, I have a chart that I laminated, and it's posted on the side of the fridge where we can see it. About once a week I update it to show how much we've spent in each category (rent, utilities, food, insurance, etc.) up to that point in the month. It kind of keeps us accountable and is a good visual reminder of how we're doing budget-wise.
That's not to say that we're amazing with money management. I wish we spent less on food, for example. But it's a work in progress.
That's about as fun as we get around here. But I plan to do more when the kids get a little older.
I am in a class called Family Finance taught by a very wise LDS lady. I love it! All our assignments are practical. We track our expenditures for a month, set a budget, complete net worth statements, etc. I am reading (its due Friday) The Automatic Millionaire, and its pretty good stuff. This is the author who came up with The Latte Factor (saving a tiny bit everyday).
ReplyDeleteAlso I stumbled upon this blog a while back that I really like: http://andthenwesaved.com/ The Author had $24,000 in debt and paid it off in 15 months by going on a "spending fast". It obviously changed her life and she shares great info, tips and blogs about living frugally (I just found this website http://www.5dollardinners.com).
I think personal finance is really interesting... so much that I might not sell my book back at the end of the semester...
Wow! I love your ideas Em! I'm definitely going to have to try that. I also tend to be a bit obsessive when it comes to budgeting and tracking our spending. Although I am not very good at it, I'm definitely improving. One thing that has really helped is a website that tracks my spending (it's linked to my bank account), puts it into the budgets I created, totals my assets, and allows me to see trends over time. Mint.com. It is wonderful.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to being a good steward, the other big incentive I see to managing money well is the the service opportunities it gives you. I tell Mark all the time that we will be able to contribute in a lot more ways to the Kingdom of God if we are financially successful and that motivates me to be better with our money.