Budgeting Project: Baby Step #2, Progress Report 2

Quick update on my  Budgeting Project. I mentioned a few of these items on my Goal Setting post yesterday. Not much progress has actually been made on my debt snowball (unfortunately). However, I haven't added any NEW debt since my last update (Progress Report #1) which is HUGE for me! 

The New YNAB 

I started using the new online YNAB at the beginning of the year. It took me a little bit to get used to it, but now I'm loving it! It's extremely helpful and I like all the tools that they have. I think I'm sticking with new YNAB going forward.

I did have to "restart" my budget in May, which was really easy. I got off track when I was unemployed. Now, things are going smoothly and budgeting is getting easier and easier the more consistent I am. It's also easier as I adjust my budget categories and line items.

Can I say... that budgeting has become "easy!" I try to reconcile once a week, but sometimes only manage 2x's a month. Weekly is easier and faster. I have had to adjust my budget as I go, but I'm getting way better at anticipating expenses and I'm working on curbing my impulsive buys. 

Cash Envelopes 

I didn't think I would EVER use the cash envelopes. I just didn't see the point, as I use my debit card /credit card for everything. But the last few budgeting months I noticed I was going way over in some categories... Like eating out! That's when I decided that I needed to implement the cash envelopes for a few categories that I've been overspending in & obviously don't have the self discipline to not go over budget! 

My cash envelope categories: 

• Babysitting 
• Fun Money 
• Dining Out 
• Kid's Clothes 
• Yard Work
• Kid Commissions

I created a category in YNAB for "cash envelopes." I then pull all the money for these categories at the beginning of the month and put them in their envelopes. I just started this for this month (August). So far... It's working out! It actually has made me not want to spend my money! Lol. We have been dining out for a meal at least 1x a week (sometimes twice). Hoping this will help me curb my spending in these categories and help me develop some discipline. When the money is gone... it's gone and no additional spending in those categories. Or that's the "hope." 

Using Credit Cards

Ok, I know... I shouldn't be using credit cards anymore! But I'll be honest, I'm only using one credit card and it's only being used for a few things:

1. Amazon Prime Account (Subscribe & Save) 
2. Parking Fees for Work 
3. Netflix 
4. Groceries 

That's it! I've been using my debit card for everything else. What I have been doing is paying 100% of what I used for the month (plus the interest). So for example, if I spent $500 on my credit card and interest is $200, I pay $700 for that month. So I haven't been adding more debt. I'm only spending on the CC what I've budgeted for in that category. 

Eventually, I'll stop doing this. But right now I still feel more comfortable tying my CC to these accounts vs my debit card. 

So, just using the ONE credit card and paying off 100% of the charges I charged at the end of the month (plus interest). The CC I'm using is my Debt #2 that I'm working on eliminating. Eventually, I plan to cut up this CC when the balance is paid off. 

Auto Bill Pay

I've requested e-bills for all my accounts that I can and have it auto-paying every month. There's only a few bills I need to manually pay every month. This has helped make things more automated where paying bills are concerned.

Debt Charts 

I mentioned in my Goal setting entry that I started using the Debt Free Charts to color in. I thought at first, "oh that's silly!" But really, it helps! I love the visual and I look at it everyday. It makes me want to color in more debt I'm free of! 

New Snowball Spreadsheet 

I also started a really simple new snowball spreadsheet. It's making me want to attack my debt more fiercely! I've been very conservative and not making much progress. Partly because I was cash-rolling my IVF #3 cycle. Partly because I was trying to build up a month of money (budgeting for next month on last month's money). Now that I'm done with those two goals, it's really time to attack Debt #2. 

Monthly Goal Setting 

Which is where monthly goal setting has come in. It's so easy to get lost in things and lose track of where you are with things. Or just say, "I'll get to that next month" and then things never get done. 

Since I'm budgeting consistently and I'm a month ahead on my expenses, I really have a good idea on how much I can apply to my debt snowball. I'm putting those goals out there every month and going to really start attacking it. 

Planning 

I feel great about my financial position right now. I'm even budgeting for big expenses, like Christmas and my son's birthday. I started individual budget items for some travel we have coming up as well. I've found it useful to create a different budget line item per goal. So instead of a generic "vacation" fund, I have a budget item for each trip - so I know my budget limit for each individual trip and it doesn't dip into another one. I even split out each holiday, instead of having a generic "holiday" line item. I'm thinking this will especially help in January, as I can budget for all the holidays and/or trips for the next year beginning in January, making the monthly contribution less than starting to save in July. 

All of a sudden, it's all manageable! 

I've even started a list I named "Patty's Layaway." Lol. I'm adding items that I WANT, but didn't budget for. Impulsive buying and all. Previously, I would just buy it if it wasn't much. But it started adding up! This was another area that I didn't have much discipline in. So now, all things I want (all of a sudden) goes on the Layaway list - little or big. When it's time to budget for the next month, I make sure it's in the budget, if there's room for it. No more impulsive buys - even small ones! Or that's what I'm trying to prevent anyways.

Really trying to focus on the "DEBT FREE" goal. Need to keep my eyes on the prize. I have a long way to go, but I feel like I'm making positive progress and feel confident I'll get there someday. 

Budgeting Project: Baby Step #2 - Progress Report 1

As part of my Budgeting Project, I wanted to post Progress Reports for my Get out of Debt goal. I finished Financial Peace University (FPU) the same week I got laid off. But if you've been following my job hunting journey, you know I am starting a new job on 5/23! Yay :)

Getting laid off really put a damper on my budgeting project. I was scared to spend any money even though I was receiving a severance check. I just wasn't sure if or when I was going to get a job, so I really hunkered down. I completely stopped budgeting... I know --- BAD! But I think I was just scared of being in the red and not have anywhere to go from there.

Then, I got a job offer and then I felt free to spend (mostly to prepare for going back to work). I also had an appointment with a Financial Advisor in March, but since I got laid off -- It was just too much for me to deal with at the time. I did end up rescheduling and we met yesterday! Which I'm so happy we did, as now I have hope that YES, I can get out of debt. I just have to get back on the budgeting bandwagon.

I'm following the Dave Ramsey Baby Steps. I'll be on Step #2 (the debt snowball) for a long time...! But the good thing is -- I know I can do it! It might take awhile, but I will endure and make the necessary changes to finish each and every baby step. Right now the projection is that it'll take me 7 years to be 100% out of debt = 2023!! That's being extremely conservative. If I'm more aggressive (which I can figure out how aggressive I can be when I'm getting a regular paycheck), it can be a lot sooner. I am really gunning for 5 years = 2021!

Changes Prior to the Layoff 

Since I started Financial Peace University in January, I made some major financial changes and "found money," started budgeting, and made progress with a few debts (thanks to my work bonus and my tax return).

Started Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University: 1/14/16, Graduated 3/10/16

Total Debts: 10 debts (not including my mortgage) 

1. Debt #1 - Paid off on 3/3/16! YAY! Paid of the week prior to being laid off. 
2. Debt #2 - CC
3. Debt #3 - CC
4. Debt #4 - Student Loan 
5. Debt #5 - Student Loan 
6. Debt #6 - Student Loan 
7. Debt #7 - Student Loan 
8. Debt #8 - Student Loan 
9. Debt #9 - 401K Loan with old company, going to get a tax hit in 2016 
10. Debt #10 - 401K Loan with old company, going to get a tax hit in 2016

Baby Step #2: Pay off All Debt with the Debt Snowball

2016 - January

• Cancelled Gym Membership $264 yearly savings. 
• Massage Membership (cashed out remaining massages into gift cards) $708+ yearly savings. 
• Made a spreadsheet to do my Cash Allocation. Realized I didn't have enough income to cover my basic costs. Basically, I was in the red. That's when I started making major changes. 
• Stopped my 401K Contribution... this was HARD to do. I was contributing 5% and my company matches 5%... But after doing my Cash Allocation, I knew I had to do it. 
• NOTE: This made a big impact on my take-home pay. 
• New budgeting process: Use the Cash Allocation spreadsheet for budgeting and import the values into YNAB. 
• UPDATE: Seemed to work for the first month, but I think working out of YNAB directly works better for me, so I'm not double doing things/making errors/forgetting things. Plus, YNAB budgets me down to ZERO - essentially doing the same thing as the Cash Allocation plan but automated. YNAB also has a feature where you can put a "goal" to pay off a debt by a certain date. I've started using this feature for my debt snowball. 
• Picked a financial "Buddy" to help me with my budget and to run big expenses by. Had first meeting to look t my Cash Allocation plan and find areas to save. Also, my buddy's the one that told me to stop my 401K contribution... 
• Made a new policy: 1 week "hold period" for large purchases of >$100. 
• This was a HARD decision... I have a house cleaner come 2x's a month to do all the deep cleaning. It is such a stress reliever knowing she's coming and cleaning my house... But when I added up the price, it's over $2000 a year!!! So, with much hesitation - stress - and sadness, I decided to tell her I couldn't keep her anymore :( One last cleaning in February, then I'm done for now. 

2016 - February

• Changed Security System providers. My current provider was $61/month. I moved to another provider for $46/month. I get much more for the price. I had to pay $$$ one-time for conversion and new equipment, but it was put into 3 monthly installments. So, overall savings is about $15/month. 
• Changed my W4 elections. I am getting so much back on my taxes, trying to get more back a month. Have to see how 2016 taxes go and see if I should "up" my elections. The W4 calculator suggested I add +3 elections to what I currently had. But I didn't feel comfortable with that, so only added +1. I might change this next year, depending on how tax season goes.  
• NOTE: This made a big difference on my take-home pay. 
• GOAL: Get a month ahead on my bills. Which I *was* before the holidays hit. I get paid on the 15th and last day of the month. I would like to get to where those two paychecks go to the next month's bills. With my bonus and tax return, this is totally possible and I'm implementing that on my paychecks in March. So, I would basically budget for April with my March paychecks. Moving my budget planning earlier (About the 25th of the month, as all my monthly bills hit by then). 
• UPDATE: Found a "Fancy" Debt Snowball spreadsheet from Life with Sarah on YouTube. I started using this spreadsheet for my debt snowball and LOVE it.  
• Modifying Debt Snowball: Decided to modify the debts I'm going to pay off first. Dave Ramsey says to pay off smaller debt first, to not look at interest rates... Well, I decided to tackle all my credit cards first (due to the interest rates). I have some student loans that have lower balances than my credit cards, but the interest rate is so much higher on the credit cards. Paying one student loan off wouldn't even be a big impact, as the monthly payment is way lower than my CC's. So I'm tackling: 
• 1) Credit Cards - smallest to largest. 
• 2) Student Loans - smallest to largest.
• 3) Other Loans - smallest to largest. 

2016 - March

• Created a spreadsheet for Monthly non-recurring expenses to track: Birthdays for gift costs, special events (baby showers, weddings, birthday parties), Holiday expenses, my personal events (baptism, birthdays, etc), house maintenance (yearly AC inspection, carpet cleaning, tree trimming, etc). 
• The PLAN: At the beginning of the month, I will look at the calendar and estimate the expenses for each of these categories and add it to my budget. I'm hoping that doing this for a year, it'll become a good habit. These were the "small" or "forgotten" items from my January/February budgeting. 
• Set-up a meeting with a Financial Advisor, ELP!  <rescheduled after layoff to May>
• Contacted Zander Insurance Group to see if I can get quotes for Auto / House Insurance. Turns out, I have pretty good coverage already! Decided not to switch. I did change some of my coverage though, as I didn't realize my coverages were on the low-side. This did increase my insurance costs, but it was better to change to the higher coverage and it was still lower than what I was being quoted by the Zander group. 
• NOTE: This is the first month that I actually felt like budgeting was "under control" and becoming a better habit for me. I'm starting to notice where there were gaps in my budget and why I was forgetting things. 
• Bad spending habits to curb: I did a little "free spending" due to my tax return and bonus money to buy some toddler-friendly items for my backyard. What I need to do is NOT do that, even if the expenses are not that big. Because putting them all together, the expenses do add up. I need to "budget" for these items better. Like, if I already did my budget for the month, then I can't purchase those items for the month and need to budget it for the next month. I have a "I want it now!" child mentality when I get an idea in my head for things I want to buy. 

** And then I was Laid Off ** 

Changes-To-Come with New Job 

Meeting with the Financial Advisor really made me feel good. It's really getting me back on track and gave me a clear direction on where I needed to go next. It was nice discussing my retirement and how comfortable I want to be when I retire. I'm very excited about eventually getting past Baby Step #2. I just have to stay focused on the end goal... What are my financial goals? I guess I never really touched on that. They are simple: 

1. Get out of debt and NEVER get back into debt. No more loans EVER. 
2. Have a 12 month emergency fund. I know this is extreme. I'm going to start off with building up to 6 months (in baby step #3), but I really want a years worth. If I ever get laid off again, I never want to be in the position where I feel like I can't provide for my family. 
3. Have adequate life insurance policies to take care of my kids. 
4. Be on a projection to be able to retire by 65. Which surprisingly, I am on this projection with my current retirement accounts. Yay! 
5. Have a good college fund set-up for my children. 
6. Then... eventually be able to DONATE to my Alma Mater, my foster care agency, and my church -- as much as I want! 

After meeting with my Financial Advisor, here are the the next steps for me: 

• Cash Out Stand-Alone Stock - In progress 
• Start budgeting AGAIN - restarted 5/10. Need to see how things look after my first month of a new paycheck (June) to see how much extra I can add to the debt snowball (while cash rolling my IVF cycle). Review budget with Financial Advisor when completed. 
• Retirement: 
• Roll over 401K to Traditional IRA 
• Roll over Variable IRA to Traditional IRA 
• Roll over Pension (from old company) to Traditional IRA 
• 401K Loans: Earlier I mentioned debts #9 and #10 were 401K Loans. I have the option to pay monthly or to take a tax hit. It turns out if I take the tax hit, it's cheaper than trying to pay it off. So, I'm opting for the tax hit. I have enough deductions and itemized expenses that I don't think it'll be that big of an impact on me. But I will budget for next year the amount of the tax hit, in case I end up owing taxes. 
• NOTE: I will NEVER take out a 401K loan again. Dave Ramsey doesn't recommend it and I wish I would've taken FPU years ago. Of course in FPU Dave Ramsey says that once you take out a 401K loan, you'll get laid off. I remember that class and thinking, "Oh crap, I hope that doesn't happen!" Then it did. It does happen. So, never again will I take a loan out of my retirement account. 
• College Savings: Open up a 529 account for my son. This is WAY down in the baby steps. But I wanted to get the account open and add to it as I can. But I really won't be adding much to it until I'm done with the debt snowball. 
• Cash roll my upcoming IVF Cycle, no new debt! Adding as a budget item for June. This is a big ticket item. I'm still considering if this is the right option (a new fresh cycle), but I'll have a separate blog entry on that. For now, I can cash roll it and I will budget for it. 
• Insurance: 
• Review Life Insurance options at new company with my Financial Advisor. 
• Fill any gaps with Term Life Insurance. 
• Designate the beneficiary to all my accounts to my Living Trust, as I set-up my estate planning earlier this year. 

Ok, I think that's it. It's been a crazy thing since the layoff. But I finally feel like my life's projection is back on track. I need to make a lot of changes and really focus on my Debt Snowball with Gazelle Intensity!!! I can do it. I just keep imagining the life we will live without the burden of all these debts. It's going to be so nice being on the other side... when I get there :) 

Budgeting Project: Refinancing my House

I meant to post this last month, but totally forgot! I've been working on refinancing my house since October. Every since I attended the Dave Ramsey Smart Conference last year, I've been trying to focus on my Budgeting Project and getting better with spending money.

The process to refinance my house took longer than I expected, but it also went more smoothly than I expected.

When I originally bought my house, I bought it before the market dropped. So I bought "high" AND my house loan was on a 5-year fixed ARM. When the market plummeted, I went quickly under water on my house. I refinanced my house after 2 years to get on a 30-year fixed loan. The ARM loan scared me after the housing market dropped. However, when I refinanced the interest rate wasn't at the lowest.

Once I heard that the Fed would be raising the interest rates, I knew I had to refinance while the rates were still low. So, I jumped right on it.

Since I'm trying to follow the Dave Ramsey plan, they were trying to get me on a 15 year house loan. The problem with the 15 year:

1. It would increase my current mortgage +$200. 
2. I would have to pay out-of-pocket for a house appraisal +$500 

The whole idea around refinancing my house was to save money monthly. It's not like the extra $200 would kill me... but, it defeats the point of trying to pay down my debt. That's money that could go towards my student loans + credit card debt. 

I quickly decided against that. 

Then, we looked into a 20 year house loan. Ran into the same problem. It would still increase my monthly mortgage and I would have to do a house appraisal. 

Now, the interest rate was LOW if I went with the 15- or 20- year house loans. Like, by a lot! But I really do have to focus on getting my debt down, so I opted to forgo these options. 

Then, it was looking at doing another 30 year fixed. The interest rate went down over a point and my monthly mortgage went down over $100/month. I did have some closing costs, some of which I paid out of pocket for, but it wasn't much. 

I expected to get a better interest rate than what I received, but it is what it is!

The paperwork wasn't painless... but it wasn't too crazy. The mortgage company did a lot electronically and I got to sign paperwork electronically as well.

For closing costs, someone came to my home and we signed all the paperwork and I received a CD with the paperwork as well. What was nice is: they printed it on 8.5x10 paper instead of legal paper! Easier filing!

All in all, it took me about 2 months to refinance my house. It would've went faster if I responded quicker to getting some of the requested paperwork. It was relatively painless.

I'm hoping that when I get to the Baby Step #6, I can actually pay off my mortgage. One step at a time though! For now, with the refinance of my house I can put the extra money towards paying off my other debt and continue working on Baby Step #2. Slowly but surely, I hope to make it through these baby steps.

It's almost like I can imagine being at Baby Step #7...! Focus-focus-focus!

FPU: Session #1

I bit the bullet and enrolled in a local Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University (FSU). I've been listening to Dave Ramsey's talk show on the radio for a few years now. I also attended his Smart Conference last year. However, I never really considered signing up and joining FSU.

Why?

I guess I thought "I could do it on my own!" and "Why pay extra money to take a class when I can read the book?"

Truth be told, even though I read his book and attended his conference - I haven't really made the necessary changes to get out of debt. Yes, I've made small changes and started really focusing on it with my budgeting project. But the small changes haven't really been cutting it.

The big change for me is my adoption of Little Guy. What I want for my son:

• Be smart about finances
• I want to be able to provide a college fund 
• I don't want to struggle with debt while he's growing up 

To help my son be smarter about finances, I realized *I* need to be smart about my finances. I picked up on a lot of bad money habits from my parents. 

I want to provide my son with a descent college fund. But how can I do that if I am forever paying MY student loans off and accumulating more credit card debt. 

I want to be able to provide experiences for my son. But I can't do that if I'm living paycheck to paycheck and struggling with my debt. 

That was my turning point where my finances were concerned. Being single, some of the challenges are: being held accountable and having discipline in my spending. I always knew this, but thought I would be able to "do it myself." But the truth is -- I haven't been successful and now, I need to make major changes! 

So, I enrolled in Financial Peace University (FSU) at my church. 

We had our first class last night. I really like it! I feel motivated, I feel like I can do this, and I have a VISION of what life can be like debt free. 

I know it's going to be a long journey, there will be ups and downs along the way. But I'm really going to FOCUS on one step at a time. Right now, I'm on Baby Step #2 - the Debt Snowball. I'll be here for awhile, I know. I just added up all my debts.... I have to say -- It's overwhelming! Like by a lot. But what was interesting is -- once I saw the NUMBER and the AMOUNT of debt that I have, it made me want to attack it quickly! 

With the motivation, right now the FOCUS. Before I can really tackle my debt snowball, I have to BUDGET. I've been pretty good about tracking expenses the last few months, but the budget has been a little variable. I haven't been really focusing on "sticking to the budget". I blame it on the holidays and such! But, what's the use of the budget if you're overspending in some categories? 

I'm happy I signed up for FSU and I'm hoping at the end of this, I can call Dave Ramsey and say that I'm debt free! 

Focus-focus-focus. Baby Step #2 - Debt Snowball. 

Budget Project: Baby Steps #1 and #2

Update on my Budgeting Project! Which thankfully, has been going extremely well. As I've mentioned before, I'm following Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps to work on getting out of debt. Here's a quick update.

Baby Step #1: $1,000 into an Emergency Fund -- DONE!

I am now complete with Baby Step #1. I have to admit though, I've done baby step #1 multiple times and I *always* ended up tapping into it! This time, I'm going to make sure I'm more disciplined and held accountable and NOT touch it.

Reasons I tapped into the emergency fund: travel expenses, holiday costs, TTC costs. Not true "emergencies". So, now I've completed Baby Step #1 for the 5th or 6th time! Time to stick with it. So far, so good.

Baby Step #2: Pay off All Debt with the Debt Snowball -- IN PROGRESS! 

Things that have stalled my debt snowball: The holidays, the adoption costs, December birthday costs, and the IVF charges.  Haven't made much dent into my debt snowball. But good news is, I'm curving my spending somewhat. I have the following debt to pay off:

1. Student Loan debt
2. Outstanding Credit Cards - only 2 cards carry a balance. Out of those, only 1 of those I actively continue to use for the above mentioned debts.  

Budgeting using YNAB

I've been using YNAB consistently for 3 budget months now (Nov, Dec, Jan).

First, I'm BUDGETING! Sadly, this is the first time in my adult life that I've kept to a real - true - honest budget. After the hurdle of getting acquainted with YNAB, I've really gotten used to it. What I've changed about my habits:

• Daily: I input any expenses "on the go". For example, if I get gas - I input it at the gas pump on my app. Makes life easier to have everything in there as the expense happens. The great thing about YNAB is it remembers your payees, so this is really quick. I have gotten behind on this a little bit because I seem to be spending left and right for Christmas. Need to be more consistent! 
• Time: Takes only a few seconds. 
• Weekly: I have a Reminder set on my phone to review expenses / clear transactions from my accounts. Why weekly? Honestly, it was just to keep me honest and to keep me on top of it! It only takes a few minutes. I only have 3 accounts I really "work" with: my checking account, my savings account, and my only active Credit Card. This is also when I reconcile my accounts. I've started off doing it weekly, so I can get into a habit. Also, so there's "less" to reconcile at a time. 
• Time: maybe 10-15 minutes (tops - but this is mostly due to learning curve, I expect this to be more like 5 minutes in the future). 
• Monthly: Once a month (usually on the 20th of the month) I've been setting my budget for the next month. I chose the 20th because all of my current-month expenses are cleared by the 20th.
• First, I reconcile my accounts, to make sure I didn't miss anything from my weekly reconciliation. I was importing the transactions from my accounts, but since I'm inputting my expenses "on the go" - I do not have a need to import. This saves me time. 
• Second, I input all income I expect for the month I'm budgeting for. I'm a month ahead, so what I earn in one month, I spend for the next month (i.e. November earnings go to December expenses). 
• Third, I input all the planned expenses into my bank ledger for the next-month, so I can get my "working balance" (just a thing for me - I like knowing how much to expect in my account, one way I reconcile). This makes weekly reconciling easier, since I do the majority of the work here. 
• Time: 15-20 minutes 

I'm in the process of seeing where I can curve expenses. Expenses that I plan to cut in 2016: 

• Massage - Yearly Savings $708
• Gym Membership - Yearly Savings $245 

Rainy Day Funds and Savings Accounts 

Something new that I'm going to start, now that the new year is rolling around - I'm going to start allocating funds to my Rainy Day Accounts and Savings Accounts. I just need to assign values to each category: Ultimate Goal, Time to Goal, and then monthly allocation. What's great about this is that I can figure out the values relatively easy since I'm in the mist of the holiday/birthday season. Here's what I'm planning to save for: 

• Christmas Fund
• Kid's Birthday Fund
• House - Hardwood Floors 
• Travel/Vacation 
• New Car 
• Pet Care - these costs always seem to sneak up on me! 
• Gift Events 

Rainy Day Funds: 

• Emergency Fund 
• Clothing 
• Car Repairs - going to need new tires soon 
• Home Maintenance 

I totally customized my Budget Categories. The goal around this was to look at my optional spending and see about curving the costs. I also wanted to lump together my expenses that I need to report on my taxes. I work from home and track my utilities for tax reporting. I love how you can totally customize YNAB categories to whatever you want. Originally, I had the traditional categories (House, Utilities, Food, Auto, etc). This works so much better for me. It just took me a little while to get used to the different organization, as I prefer the traditional categories for mental peacefulness. 

• Mandatory - Monthly Fixed
• Mandatory - Monthly Variable 
• Mandatory - Not Monthly 
• Tax Reporting - Monthly
• Tax Reporting - Variable
• Savings - Mandatory (Rainy Day Funds)
• Savings - Optional 
• Optional - Monthly Fixed 
• Optional - Variable 
• Giving 
• Pre-YNAB Debt 

What's been difficult: It's hard because I normally like going by the balance in my account. Previously, I would move all my extra funds into my Savings account and keep the balance in my checking account at $100 (one way I reconciled). I have a higher interest rate in my savings account, the main reason I moved the funds.

Now, I'm going by the budget since I'm saving for future costs and just keeping the funds in my checking account. Was thinking I could still move it to Savings, but it takes too much extra time to look at each category, add it up, and move the right amount. So, now the balance in my checking account is higher than I normally keep it because all the "savings" funds are staying in there. I'm still working on overcoming this mental barrier to accept that since I've been doing my old method for the last decade or so!

Overall, I'm extremely happy with YNAB! I just need to stay on top of things. Now, I need to curve my extra spending and start making a dent in my Debt Snowball. 

Budget Project: Budgeting + Baby Step #1

Things have been busy and I've been behind on adding an update on my Budgeting Project.

Partly to blame for my lack of progress on my budgeting project is: all the TTC costs (hard to save when you're spending so much!), getting a new foster son (busy!), and just trying to find a budgeting system that works for me.

When I started this budget project in August, I was going to use YNAB (you need a budget). I initially loved YNAB! Here's why:

• Makes taxes easier by tracking expenses by category. 
• You receive emails on why it's important to budget. 
• They have great online tutorials 
• They offer online training sessions with live Q&A. 
• I liked the zero-based budget method. 

It takes awhile to set-up, but once set-up it's easy to maintain. So, I did track expenses in August -- then got OFF track and skipped September and October! I ended up doing a 'refresh' and starting over starting Nov 1. I modified my budget a bit and I'm hoping to start cutting back on unnecessary costs.

When I attended Dave Ramsey's Smart Conference that I found an app that I really liked: EveryDollar. It's free (although you can upgrade it for an annual subscription cost). I really liked this app and I found it easy to use. Very easy to set-up and very intuitive. The main thing with this one is it doesn't really keep a ledger of your accounts. I like keeping a running log of everything so I know my account working balance and know where I stand with my budget. EveryDollar is also new, so it doesn't have that many good reporting functions that I like in YNAB. 

For example, in YNAB I can keep things in categories so I can easily export these for tax purposes (i.e. utilities, fertility costs, RX costs, co-pays, donations, etc). I can log them in YNAB and just export at the end of the year. Right now I'm keeping an excel spreadsheet on Google Docs. Starting in 2016, I'll be able to get rid of the spreadsheet. EveryDollar doesn't allow for this or just prefer YNAB's report "looks". 

Right now, I have my first "real budget" for November on YNAB. I'm working out the kinks, but I think I've finally gotten it where I need it. I'm still "playing" with it and am looking to modify in future months as I get more data/can see more trends. 

The other thing about YNAB, is there's a one time charge of $60 to use. For EveryDollar, they have a yearly subscription of $99. I have to admit, I love EveryDollar's interface and love how easy it is to use. I was tempted to go that route. However, the yearly subscription for the enhanced version just didn't work for me. YNAB has more functionality for cheaper. 

Both have iPhone apps that I like. 

There are more in-depth reviews of YNAB vs. EveryDollar on YouTube and on various blogs. I think that either could work well, as long as you actually USE it! That's my problem, I just need to stick with it and use it. I think I finally have enough motivation to do that now. With the adoption coming up and life really changing for me, I want to focus on Dave Ramsey's baby steps and really start changing my life. 

What's nice is: 

• I've paid off all my CC's, accept for two. 
• I am half way to baby Step #1: $1,000 In An Emergency Fund. Which I will complete next month. 
• I'm refinancing my house to have a lower monthly payment. 
• I'm financially a month "ahead". Meaning I'm using income earned in prior month for current month expenses (i.e. money earned in Oct is being used for expenses in Nov). 
• What else is "nice" is that I should get a sizable tax return next year, which means I can make a huge dent on these last two CC's and then start making headway on my student loans. 

What's bad is: 

• There are so many more expenses to come this year! 
• I am going to have more out of pocket expenses for IVF. 
• Christmas is coming
• Little Guy's 2nd birthday is coming 
• Our adoption is coming 

What's hard is: 

• Not using CC - took them out of my wallet. All accept one, that I use for Gas and recurring charges (I don't like auto debiting from my checking account - had fraud before). 

I think that's one of my issues, I have a lot of recurring charges hit my CC and I'm not paying the entire balance every month. I'll get there though. I think after the holidays, after the IVF expenses, and all the events coming up -- things will be "calmer" and I can really tackle things. 

Some financial decisions for next year: 

• No big trips. 
• No big purchases. 
• Little to no travel. 

Wants: Attend Financial Peace University in 2016. 

I also wanted to note that I have a Blow$ Account. I put a certain amount of money directly into my account and I use it however I want to. I do not count this in my budget. It's automatically taken out and deposited into my Blow$ account. So, if I want something extra - I can only get it if I have enough Blow $. It just gives me piece of mind and makes me stress less. It's not a huge amount, but it's enough where I can do a little extra without feeling guilty about spending money in the budget. It works for me! 

Next Steps:

• Finish Baby Step #1. Already budgeted for next month. 
• Baby Step #2: Pay off All Debt with the Debt Snowball <-- I'll be here for awhile! Outstanding debts include: Student Loans and the two credit cards with high balances.

Budget Project: Where does it all go?

I've never been a big budget-er. I admit that I am not the best with money matters. I always make ends meet and have enough to go on trips/vacations when I want to.

But, I need to do better than that. With my upcoming adoption of Little Guy and all the TTC costs -- I want to implement something new & become more cognizant of where I spend $$$. 

With August beginning anew and no travel this month (Yay!), I'm now going track every single dollar I spend for the month. Then, from there - I'm going to make a budget and find areas to curve spending. After extensive review of budget management systems, I decided to download the free trial of You Need a Budget (YNAB). I think it'll work well with Dave Ramsey's zero-budget method.

I'm planning to re-start Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. Which, of course I've started and re-started so many times. I just need it to stick! Will be starting anew with Baby Step #1. 

Some Financial Goals: 

• Setup a savings account for Little Guy. For college or just a general one? Not sure yet, going to talk to a financial advisor before deciding. Questions: what if he doesn't go to college - what happens to the funds? 
• Pay off revolving debt
• Put funds aside to make some house improvements. Want to get new carpet on the stairs and possibly hardwood upstairs (replacing carpet). 
• Create a travel fund/goal. 
• Create a gift giving fund/goal. 

This is just to begin... but first Baby Step #1. 

First things first: 

1. I need to see where all my $ is going by tracking everything for the month. 
2. Need to invest in a good money management system. I used to use Quicken on my old computer, need to figure out which system would meet my needs & also not be hard to manage! Let's see if YNAB works for me. 

This project is long overdue! It feels good though, finally tackling it. 

Seems like a lot of stuff going on: adopting, decluttering project, money management project, TTC, photo booking projects. Weird, but I don't feel overwhelmed! I just feel like I'm getting things in order and getting things done :)

Next Steps: 

1. Track spending for August in YNAB 
2. Baby Step #1: Save $1,000 Fast to start emergency fund.