Money and Other Indignities

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We are on a strict budget at the moment. Really strict. We want to be debt free (other than our mortgage) by July or August. Money annoys me. Or the lack of money annoys me. After we got married we had close to $40,000 in debt between personal loans and credit cards. Nightmare. So to be in a position to have paid that off completely within 4 short years is a real achievement. I love that now whenever I buy something and they ask savings or credit, I always say savings. Yes, I am a geek.

The last time we were on a really strict savings budget was when I was pregnant, and it didn’t go well. Although we didn’t share finances at the time which I think is part of the reason why it was such a cataclysmic failure. And it’s a known fact that you will never have enough money to be able to afford children, so we just jumped in without worrying about it too much.

Now, we realise how wasteful we were before we had Riley. But I guess that’s kind of the point of being childless and having all that expendible income, right? You get to make all manner of stupid decisions and there is only one person that suffers for it – you. Now we have more expenses, less income and we don’t really notice the difference. It’s hard to go on pub crawls with a toddler. And dinner out? I haven’t even been game to attempt it unless we have a babysitter.

Now, we are in our second month of project stinge-alot and it seems to be going relatively well. I do have to be a wee bit of a tyrant as far as controlling the outgoings, but that’s ok. It’ll all be worth it in the end. The majority of my income is spent on paying off debts. That is so depressing. I’d feel so much better if it was going to something worthwhile like shoes, handbags or truly cute toddler outfits. Now that’s something I could be proud of.

I’m keeping my eye on the prize. To live basically debt free would be liberating. It means we have to be a bit hermit-like for the next 6 months or so. Mr Goog is in heaven. He’s so down with that. And I’m down with the fact that all the extra money at the end of it will allow me to buy some truly awesome baby stuff.

That being said, I’ll be glad when it’s over. It goes against my retail-therapy nature. My inner shopper is in the fetal position somewhere.

All money saving tips are welcome! I would love to know how everyone else saves a buck (or two)!

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Tagged as: budget, debt, finances, pregnancy

http://www.unlikelymama.com Amber

OOOHH what I would do to be able to say the same thing…almost debt free in 4 years is amazing. I’m about 20k in debt to my credit cards. I blame stupidity and living off of student loans/credit while in college. While I almost never use credit to shop these days, I could be paying off more debt, there’s no doubt about it.

We’re down to 1 real income and about half what I used to make on my side. Luckily Peter is a great saver and money manager and has almost no debt of his own (other than some measly student loans).

It looks like I’ll be going back to work full-time sometime this summer so we can really afford our move to Austin in the fall (fingers crossed) of 2011. I, like you, will be using my income to pay off debt. Hopefully, that…coupled with the house sale…will leave us debt free for our fresh start!
.-= Amber´s last blog ..Extension Granted =-.