Tax season is not usually the most fun time of year but it is a great time to realign your spending habits with what is practical for you and your family plusss a reminder of that New Years Resolutions we may have let fall by the wayside… 😉
I will be the first to admit that I am far from perfect, but I believe that I have a solid foundation to fall back on when I feel like I may be spending a little out of control. Right before I got married, my parents had me go through the Dave Ramsey course that was being taught at our church in AR. You can usually find one being taught locally no matter where you are! It was here that I learned some very practical steps that I go back to when I believe that I need to add more structure back into my spending habits!
1. SET ASIDE 10-15% OF YOUR PAYCHECK
When you first sit down to make your budget-before you section of any of your monthly payments, pay yourself first! Put what you can, ideally 10-15%, away into retirement and savings. That way, the rest of how you spend your money is you living and enjoying your life now while still knowing that you can live well later too!!
…if you can do a bit of forward thinking, start a “nest egg”, plan ahead, you are able to take the bumps in stride!
2. GET BACK TO CASH
I’ve heard it so many times, swiping hurts less than paying in actual cash. And now that we can pay through our phones, its a dangerous system that lets us spend our money way to quickly. I am so guilty of this! To combat it, I will pull out cash and put them in envelopes that are labelled per spending category. That way, its not just one more swipe. If you are out…that’s it! In practice, I don’t love using this method for every single category of our budget. Instead, I use it on my weak categories like clothes and restaurants. Add it into your lifestyle for a few months and see if you can rewire your brain a bit!
3. SET FINANCIAL GOALS
We are so quick to decide how we are going to spend our vacation days that year, what about preparing ahead of time to spend the money on those trips? Or a new car in the next year or two? Figure out what large purchase you plan on making, narrow down about the cost of it, do the math to decide what savings you would be able to take out each month and how long it will take you to get there! I for one would like a new car within the next few years. Instead of waiting till the day I say “enough!” we are planning on setting aside a certain amount each month, that is comfortable for us, and just waiting it out until I have enough money to go all in!
Finances can be such a touchy subject, and money problems can come up in the blink of an eye. But if you can do a bit of forward thinking, start a “nest egg”, plan ahead, you are able to take the bumps in stride! Especially with our home buying process, I was SO thankful that we had our emergency fund when closing came in a little higher than we thought (HELLO, VA loan doesn’t actually mean you pay $0 on closing *face palm* read more about that HERE). If you plan to realign your budget this tax season, take a deep breath, we are with you, you’ve got this!!
