101 Days Left

Baby is coming in 101 days. That hardly seems real. It's going by so fast! That's definitely a good thing. I can't wait to buy her some things for her future room! Speaking of buying, since I started my job at Finicity I started using their online budgeting program. It has really made a difference in how we manage our finances. I immediately realized we could cut back a lot of spending in eating out. It's amazing how much we don't spend in that department now. We also cut back in our fun activities and other spending. It isn't particularly fun, but I am learning to have a lot more self control, and we are slowly but surely paying off some debts and working on our savings. We used to just divide up the money we got at each paycheck and I thought that was a fine way to budget, but we are able to really plan ahead now and never ever resort to credit cards. We are able to set aside money for our bills a month in advance, which is making me feel really in control of our finances. I finally cut up my Wells Fargo credit card and paid the whole thing off. It feels really good, especially since that one charged a lot in interest. We also paid off my Macy's card and have almost paid off our short term loan for tuition this semester. We will still have 2 more credit cards, one student loan, and our car loan, but I feel like we've gotten a really good start. We are focusing on putting extra on our next credit card, and I know we'll actually be able to pay it off soon with the cheap life we're living. I don't like working, but it sure does feel good to be getting on top of things. Finally! Our next top expense is gas, which is hard to help since we both drive a lot. We have put 20,000 miles on our car that we just bought in September! That will slow down once I stop working, but we are being more aware of the gas we use now. We are learning to make every single dollar count.

I like the advice we heard recently, though I can't remember where, that a person is not rich based on how much he or she spends, but on how much he or she saves. It doesn't really matter how much you make, but what you do with that money. There is really this idea that people who are rich are people that spend money, and a lot of people who have millions (or even those who have very little for that matter) end up spending more than they make. But anyone can be rich if you know how to save. So. We are going to give it a try. But first we're going to pay off these debts!