3.30.2012

It's the end of the month and we're penny pinching!

Back in January, I read Dave Ramsy's Total Money Makeover. It was very motivating and after reading it, we decided to stop paying for things with cards and to only use cash. At the beginning of each month, we pull out a set amount of money and once it's gone, it's gone! We have saved a ton. Our spending each month has been very similar: At the beginning of the month, we splurge and spend a good one hundred bucks at Sams Club or Costco. During the middle weeks, we do a pretty good job at sticking to our budget. But by the last week, we are scrimping and saving! I find myself digging into the very depths of our cupboards and getting very creative about what we eat. (And creative does not mean tasty!) 


We're finally at the end of the month and we're out of cash until Monday. We are just fine except... Pizza Hut!!! Last night we both had an insane and desperate craving for Pizza Hut pizza. Now, Pizza Hut is great because it is so disgustingly good and greasy that after eating, I swear I will never eat another slice of pizza in my life! (The last time we had Pizza Hut was the night I went into labor with Jack - yuck!) It satisfies our pizza craving for a long time so in the grand scheme of things, we think Pizza Hut probably saves us calories and money. But back to money - we are out! And we weren't about to cave and use our debit card. But then I had an idea...surely our jar of change in our bedroom could add up to 10 bucks?!...


Turns out, it added up to $56 bucks!! We spend a good 45 minutes counting our change like 8-year-olds, found two free Aggie Ice Cream tokens at the bottom of the jar (score!), paid for our pizza with 42 quarters, 2 dimes, 1 nickel, and 1 penny (the pizza guy loved me), and celebrated the approaching end of the month and our new found last-week-of-the-month-craving-fund with some greasy pizza and Aggie ice cream! 




P.S. What do you do to save money?




P.P.S. My baby is almost rolling over!




2 comments:

  1. We're totally on the Dave Ramsey plan. Not having credit cards and using cash envelopes changed our financial lives. I'll never go back. We have envelopes for everything... Entertainment, food, gas, car repairs, diapers, vacation, cloths, gifts including holidays, taxes, and tithing. It's a win/win! Having cash for gas helped tons and we save so much on driving and be conscious on how much we do. With food, I find that having weekly budgets is better for me than monthly. Still the same amount of money, but I can go to the store weekly. Awesome story about the pizza! Love it!

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  2. i read that book too! except your doing alot better of a job because i have yet to implement it into our lives. we just use the method of not spending money unless it's going towards a bill. some months it works, others it fails miserably. on the plus side we seem to become better and better about our finances the longer we are married. love how pizza hut is your guys vice!

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