Let's Talk About Debt, Baby

I started writing this and deleted the entire thing.  I was a little bit iffy about how the message would come across.  Then I was all "Pfffff I got nothin to say then" and then this lady came in my office with a sheet of paper that said, "Get out of Debt" and then I was all, "It's my blog, I can write whatever I want" slash "You're funny, God".

So here we are, and I'll try to keep this pretty plain Jane.  Really, I see so many of our friends in so much financial bondage, and hopefully I can offer a little insight and some things that DC and I do that help that will not cause you to feel like you are a pilgrim.  Most of all, I really just want to write it so I can look back later and see how we started out...so, you no likey, you no read-y.

DC and I will officially be out of debt next month.  While we're excited, it's not exactly the greatest feat in history. I came back to edit this because yes, it IS a huge feat.  We have stayed out of other debt unlike most newlyweds and I am proud of that. The extent of our debt consists of a car payment and a large purchase we made in August, and both will be paid off at the first of March.  We will welcome that extra money with open arms.  And then we will hug it and kiss it and throw it into our savings account.

Ok so that is the first thing.  We have a savings account.  I am baffled at how many people I know who do not have a savings account.  If you do not have one, get one.  Every pay period, I take 15% of our paychecks and put that amount in there.  We never ever touch it.  Ever.  If the perfect scooter came along and DC said I could get it but we needed that money, the scooter would have to keep scootin' by...also my husband wouldn't ever say yes, so, bad example.  Anyway, if you even put $10 in there every paycheck and never touch it, it will add up so fast.  Start small.  Bank of America has a Keep the Change account that I have been enrolled in for a couple of years.  I have effortlessly put away $900 using that.  Easy cheesy.

We tithe 10% of our income to our church.  Some of you don't have the same beliefs and this may not apply, but for most Christians with a home church, this is something we are told to do in the Bible.  DC and I completely  realize that the reason we have well-paying jobs and a solid income is because God decided to bless us with that, and all he asks for is 10% of what we get.  So, I set up an online account with our church because I had trouble keeping track of it.  We never miss that money, we never ever go without, and we know God is doing tremendous things with it.  And if God decides to take our jobs from us and we both have to work 9 part time jobs to make ends meet, we will still give 10%.  In the Bible there was a woman who only had 2 pennies and that is what she gave.  He totally gets that.

If you think there's no way you can do that, read Sarah's post.  It's not about tithing, but it gets the point across- if you make a commitment, there are ways to do it.

I have posted before about prepping food on Sundays to prevent wasting so much good produce.  Actually it was more about making it easily edible and having healthy snacks handy.  After a few months of doing this, I was still seeing huge grocery bills (it takes a lot of food to feed a man who does 12 hour mountain bike races) and we were still throwing stuff away.  So about 3 months ago, I started planning our meals for the week, and y'all, we have cut our grocery bills in half.  I have a worksheet (did I just say worksheet?  Hello 3rd grade) that I write out the planned dinners on, and it has a section for a grocery list.  I stick to that list and I get nothing else.  (Wait, if DC comes with me, we usually end up with about 5 extra things, but I try to limit him).  I typically cook 3 meals per week, and we eat leftovers 2-3 nights.  That leaves us 1-2 nights to eat whatever we want (like, not a planned meal) or maybe go out.  If we find something we know we use a lot of and it is on sale, we will buy multiples and freeze/keep them.

We also did some research about storing produce.  There are tons of websites about how each type of produce is stored best (i.e. bell peppers keep longer in a paper bag in a drawer, berries keep well in glass jars with a screwed on lid).

Last thing for groceries...I clip coupons as much as I can.  We don't get the paper, but I buy one every weekend and get the coupons out of there.  Plus I am signed up for an email that sends them out weekly.  They help.  Not for produce, but they help for other things.  So, it's not like I am taking extra food from work meetings and bringing it home for dinner, or saving ketchup packets, or pulling 3 ply TP apart to make 3 rolls...none of that hubbub; it's just simple stuff.

DC and I both work with people who eat out every day for lunch.  I do not comprehend this.  The cheapest meal I have ever had anywhere in walking distance of the hospital I work at was $7.00.  $35 a week.  $140 a month.  $1680 a year on lunch!!  Frig!  We bring our lunches to work.  We bring leftovers or sandwiches...whatever we want.  Not only does it save almost 4 grand a year, but it is also fantastic portion/nutrition control.  Eat only what you bring.  Done deal.

Next...we do not have internet.  Unfathomable, right?  We decided when we got married that 1. internet is dang expensive and 2. why would we want to be home on the computer in the evening when we just spent all day at work on the computer?  So, we save something crazy like $70 a month by walking to our apartment clubhouse with our laptop for free internet instead of having it at home.

We naturally like to do things outside that are usually free.  It keeps us active.

Don't spend money you don't have.  The car payment we have stems from me buying a car when I was single.  And I could afford to do that.  If I were still single, I still wouldn't be in debt other than that because I only spend what I have (not including my savings.  Me no touchy).  The huge purchase we made was for safety and health reasons (people who know what it is might laugh but it's true!!), and we knew we could do it.  You will never hear me say, "I'll worry about it later".  I just don't want something bad enough to lose sleep over how I am going to pay for it.

But here's the thing.  We still eat out.  We go out, we have drinks, we definitely shop, we have car issues, we have random expenses we didn't expect, we go on vacations, and all of the little efforts seem to help with that.

It's a habit and it's a commitment