As promised, here is my first of 3 giveaways in a 10-Part Budgeting Series I post on Fridays. Thanks to Chris at The Dave Ramsey Show for their generous donations for our giveaway!
If you have missed the last two topics, you can click on the topics below to check them out!
What Are Your Financial Goals?
Giveaway
This weekends giveaway is a hard-cover edition of…
Total Money Makover – A Proven Plan For Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey
** If you don’t win it and would like to purchase it, go here and get it for only $14.99 (40% off the $24.99 cover price).
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How To Enter:
- Leave a comment below about your successes or failures at budgeting. What you need most help with or anything you would like to share around financial planning and budgeting.
- You can post one entry per day (Friday-Monday). So, a total of 4 entries.
- Deadline is Monday, March 9th at midnight. I will post the winner on Tuesday morning, using RANDOM.org .
Thanks for visiting!
Kelly
If you are viewing this in a reader or via email, click here to enter!
I went to your workshop on budgeting and planning in Februaury. I have been trying to cut down our grocery bill because of fear over the economy. In a month, I have been able to cut out bill from $130-$140 per week to about $85-$90. I am hopeful that the amount will continue to go down once I attend the couponing class that you will offer.
We have so much going out and not much coming in so it’s hard to figure out a budget. I guess that we just need to pay the essentials first and then worry about the rest.
Using coupons along with the weekly ads has made it more challenging to figure out my list but in a good way.
i have been watching our budget for quite a while now. We have recently dropped down to one income, due to me staying home with our daughter now, and so trying to work our budget with only one income but still be able to do things. I know I always struggle with the grocery part. It seems that the coupons that are offered don’t really match what I make for dinner. I don’t buy prepackaged things and so it seems that mostly the tomato sauce is about all I get out of the sunday paper for coupons.
Envelopes definitely work for us.
Our only debt is our house which will be paid off in 9 years!!! We pay cash or debit only and in that way we don’t get into trouble. If we don’t have the $ for it we don’t buy it.
My financial goals for this year. Well, to be honest – I have always been financially savy and this couponing has shown me a whole new level of savings. But my financial goal this year is to get from a place of self reliance and stockpiling – to learning generousity and freedom of worry. I’ve done GREAT at providing for my family but I want to give, tithe beyond what I think I can “afford” and know that we will be provided for. Cast that bread upon the water . . .
Live like no one else so you can live like no one else!
Putting the budget together is the easy part for me. Keeping it up is where it’s proven to be difficult. Especially when the budget keeps changing because of emergencies.
I am trying to make a budget now and also learning how to use coupons. It seems a little overwhelming but I listen to dave on the radio everyday and people are out there struggling also but making it work. I plan on making this work for me and my family.
The best thing I’ve done for our budget is to set aside a certain amount of money each pay period for gifts. I didn’t used to bother with a gift budget, so too many gift-giving occasions at one time would leave me a little panicky. It’s now so simple to do stuff for others now that I have an envelope filled with cash just for gifts.
I loved reading your financial goals and we’ll be writing ours soon. After attending your class I have cut my groc. bill in half. Thanks.
i have cut our gtocery bill quite a bit…my wife got laid off and any money savings is welcomed…my next plan of action is a detailed budget…thx for what u do…
One of the best things I have done is using coupons and combining them with sales to try to maximize my savings. I love the challenge and the excitement of seeing more money remain in our bank account.
I diligently keep track of everything we spend, but that doesn’t mean it always works out! I’m loving all the couponing help though!
Our biggest failure in budgeting, hands down, is not having an organized plan. Though we have taken steps that have helped us save in certain areas, we definitely need help pulling it all together so that all of our goals can be achieved.
We are now working on our emergency fund and then our goal is to come up with the $ so DH can go back to school at 46. It’s time to train for a new field!
Another thing we do is no credit card debt. We have a few medical bills to pay off—nothing much and no interest–and our house. Cash for everything or we don’t get it.
I’m a stay home mom and have been for about 1 year. I am very new to budgeting and saving money. We are trying to buy a new house and I have realized we never stopped spending like we had two incomes. I have been very excited about my recent “deals” on shopping trips and using whats in the pantry before going to the store, however, I want to apply these savings to all aspects of my life and haven’t quite figured it out yet!
I’m trying to get our grocery budget reduced and also find free deals so that I can donate more to food pantries. Thanks so much for coming to speak at AMH today! It was great to see you!!
I started couponing last spring after some of my friends gave me a book on couponing for my birthday. It has been great fun to see how much money I can save, and I’ve also been able to donate lots of freebies to our local shelters.
Thanks for this great giveaway. I’ve heard from several people what a terrific book this is!
We are in the process of researching to buy a new freezer or fridge/freezer so I can maximize my savings at the grocery store. I HATE leaving free stuff at the store because I don’t have anymore freezer space! I realized that having additional space to store frozen freebies and plan ahead meals will give us even more incentive to eat at home and more $ to put towards DH going back to school.
I keep a monthly budget in a spiral bound notebook. Every month I write down every purchase I make and check it against my bank and credit card statements. Then I can see where I can work on reducing my out of pocket expenses on things like food and clothing. I am now tracking my savings as well to feel good about what my goals for this year.