We just completed month two of our journey to financial peace. We did well in some areas, and not so well in other areas. The main area we need to focus on is cutting down on our eating out. We have now paid off a total of over $$92,500 in debt and full established our emergency fund.
We received our tax refund and used it to fully establish our emergency fund, as well as pay off some debt. I did not follow Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace advice of paying off our debt lowest amount to highest amount. Instead, I spent several hours calculating what would bring our monthly payments towards debt down the most. We ended up paying off three debts, which totaled around $3000, and lowered our monthly payment towards debt by $255. Next month, I will go back to what Dave Ramsey suggests and add the $255 into our lowest debt payment.
Now, for the area that I need to work on most ... meal planning! There were a couple weeks that I had meals planned every night. Meal planning not only helped us not to eat out, but it was less stressful knowing ahead of time what I would be making for dinner. My children and I sat down on Saturday and planned out meals for the next two weeks. It is fun getting them involved in the meal planning and they are learning how to manage their own homes. They each take turns writing the weekly menu on a white board that we have hanging in the kitchen. Having the meals written down also stops the daily "what's for dinner?" question.
Last month, my husband was gone for a week to a conference in Florida. When he was gone, I didn't cook full meals like I should. It was really easy to just order a pizza or subs for the kids and I. And that was exactly what I did. Thankfully he does not go to conferences that often so this shouldn't be a reoccurring issue.
I have challenged myself for this month to not eat out. Not even once. I also need to start using the envelope system for groceries. It is too easy to add extra items into the cart when I use my debit card. We'll see how it goes!
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