NOTHING'S SACRED IN SAVING MONEY!

I have lived on a budget ever since I started living on my own, 10 years ago.

When my x husband and I got divorced (10 years ago) we had to declare bankruptcy. We never budgeted, had no savings and spent foolishly. New Mexico is a community property state and half of the debt automatically became mine (even though he had $60,000 in credit card debt already when I married him). There was no way I could pay off my half (in my life time) being on a teacher's salary. I have definately learned my lesson.

When I got together with Richard I realized he didn't even balance his checkbook, let alone have a budget. I certainly was not going to make the same mistake twice. So, when we got married, I took over the finances. He gives me all his receipts, I hold on to the checkbook (which we rarely use, since we pay most bills automatically), and he uses either the bank card or the Capital One Credit Card (which we pay off every month, but we use this because every dollar we spend earns us airline miles). I have to give Richard a lot of credit for becoming more organized, responsible, dealing with my hyper-sensativity about money, paying off his debt, and saving where ever he can. I couldn't have done all this with out his help and cooperation.

We had started a joint savings accound and Richard started a 401K through his job, but I wanted to save more, so I had to find other ways to cut back. One thing I picked up from Suze Orman is that NOTHING'S SACRED IN SAVING MONEY. So, I looked at our budget and first wrote down all the items that are NEEDS not WANTS: life and car insurance, tv, phone, intenet, cell phone, city water and sewer, utilities, gas, pet food, car payment, morgage and groceries (food, cleaners, cosmetics, medicines, toiletries etc). I analyzed these and found:

* we had double life insurance policies (saved about $50.00 a month)
* we were paying too much for car insurance (saved $100.00 a month)
* we were paying too much for tv, home phone and the internet (saved about $80.00 a month by "bundling")

* we do have two cell phones, but when my contract is up at the end of June we will be down to one (saved $30.00 a month)
* we need to wash our clothes in cold water (saved about $10.00 a month)
* we leave too many lights on, set the thermostat too high and leave our refrigerator too empty (full refrigerators work more efficiently) (saved about $10.00 a month)
* gas is cheaper to buy in the morning (saved about about $10.00 a month)
* most pet foods are the same (saved about $10.00 a month)

* making an extra $150.00 payment each month to the principal of the car loan, we could pay it off in 3 years not 5 (saved about $6000). Also, cars lose 20% of the value the minute you drive them off the lot, so after we pay off this car, we will keep these two until they are dead. We bought Honda's, which are very reliable and fuel efficient and they will last us a long time. So, in 2 more years we won't have a car payment at all.
* making just ONE extra house payment a year can cut a 30 year morgage down to a 20 year morgage. Some banks will allow you to make bimonthly payments automatically, but mine wouldn't, so I divided one morgage payment by 12 months and I send in that much more each month, having it applied to the PRINCIPAL. Also, very important to mention, is that we have a fixed interest rate and we did not take out a loan that we could not afford.

* we were wasting a lot of money on groceries (I will go further into detail on this in a future post, but to get your attention, we saved about $200.00 a month)

So, just on the NEEDS, not WANTS we have a savings of about........ $500.00 (not counting the car or morgage)!!!

The second thing I did was look at the items in my budget that are set in stone:

* Home Owners association fee
* Tithing 10% of income (I started slow on this, but when I finally jumped in the whole way and trusted God, the money I needed was there.) I give to a variety of sources that I am passionate about, but the total is 10%.
* SAVINGS 10%...You have to or you will NEVER be able to retire!!!

* animals yearly vaccinations (shop around, some vets are cheaper then others)
* contacts (my insurance covers the eye exam, but I pay for the contacts)
* AC/Furnace switched and serviced twice a year (I love my husband, but "handy" he is not.)

Thirdly, I looked at all the items that I save for:

* gifts (birthdays, xmas) (saved about $30.00 a month)
* home and garden (saved about $50.00 a month)
* miscellaneous (bedding, towels, appliances, toys, tools etc...saved about $50.00 a month)

That is a savings of $130.00 more a month.

IN ALL THAT IS A SAVINGS OF A LITTLE MORE THAN $600.00 A MONTH!!

SIDENOTE: NUMBER ONE TIP TO SAVING: PAY OFF YOUR DEBT! Except for our home and one car payment we have NO DEBT!!

This did not happen overnight and I continue to learn new things and "tweek" our budget constantly. It is a living document and if you don't change you aren't living.