NOW, I am not saying that every once in a while I won't splurge, but I'm also not going to go all crazy and shut the power off in the house at 9pm every night so we save a few bucks (yes, I've seen this on some TLC show...insane [I'm shaking my head while typing that last sentence]). I will splurge but ONLY if I've saved the money ahead of time. You've seen in my past posts that I've said that I "splurged" or "saved my pennies" for certain items. I am being 100% honest about all of that. But, I want to do better. I know I can do better about saving more AND be more frugal. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!!!
A couple weeks ago, I decided to try a new method of saving. It's an all cash system rather than putting money in my savings account. I've heard of a money guru Dave Ramsey that swears by the cash envelope system. We do not use that system and I'll get into what system we use in a later post...all that budgeting jive will probably end up being a multi-series post. Here's what I did:
- I purchased this accordion file from Target in the dollar bins. Love me some CHEVRON!!!
- The accordion file came with some handy labels, but in true Megan Style, I had to put a little fun into it!
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- The labels were rounded but...we all know I don't roll like that, so out came the Washi Tape!!! Pretty feather blue print. I made them rectangular labels instead of the rounded. I didn't feel like taking the scissors to round it out. And with the help of my trusty label maker I came up with the photo below!
- I thought about the different things I wanted to save for, so here are my categories:
- Vacation-we don't really vacation, but Hawaii IS in my future - maybe not now, or 5 years from now, but it IS going to happen
- Organizing Money -I'm fortunate enough that I have a large store of organizing supplies in my utility room (from YEARS of OCD), but sometimes, there's just a few items that I MUST have.
- Fun Money-this is money reserved for my shopping trips with my sister (sometimes my Mom and cousin get involved) and/or friends - usually consists of clothing, shoes and purses.
- Bedroom-I have a dream to re-do our bedroom. Nothing big; paint, curtains, bedding - but it's not free. :( I'm always brainstorming ideas to cut costs and do DIY's (Hubby is usually a must have in this department - he won't teach me to use the saw or nail gun - rightly so).
- Laundry Room - I want to paint, add new shelves and sew a shower curtain and window curtain...again, not free.
- Fives - I very RARELY have cash, but when I get my hands on a five dollar bill, I don't spend it. It goes directly into the 'Fives' category. No idea what I'm going to do with it, but I don't think about that money and someday, it will add up!
- Lastly, I thought having a type of ledger in a couple of the categories would be helpful. I estimated how much I thought it'd cost to do what I wanted to do in both the laundry room and bedroom. I wrote it all out and on the bottom half I put how much money is in the file and I'll keep adding to it as I save (just an FYI, this is a dummy ledger - I just implemented this new system so it's a work {I should say 'saving'} in progress). I simply used a piece of scrap paper that I had on hand and wrote out my estimates. While I REALLY wanted to use Washi tape, I refrained since this paper was cute and colorful on its own!
*Side note: There's yet another rogue bullet within my post...seriously, tricky little suckers!*
**Side note 2: Starting the week of April 28th, I will be posting every Tuesday and FRIDAY - rather than Thursdays**
Until Thursday...
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