We were enjoying Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University video series again this evening — he’s very watchable and informative. Dave was joking about the ‘spreadsheet nerds’ versus the ‘free spirit’ types, and about how they each perceive the dreaded budget meeting time. Kathy seems to enjoy putting the spreadsheet together and nailing it all down, while I tend to be rather impatient with the constraint of actually recording what we spend and earn.
Rachel walked by when the Ramsey DVD was playing. “So, he’s sort of like a Money Comedian?” Actually, that’s a pretty good summary of Dave Ramsey’s lesson style — Rachel always has had a way with words.
Kathy saves us money by cutting our hair … this is the ‘before’ picture for her customers (Sarah just snuck in for a photo op).
We sat down to tally up and close out the budgetary expenses for the month of May, and I reminded her of Dave’s words: “Remember, Dave says we ‘free spirit’ types can only handle up to 17 minutes of this budget talk!”
Two hours later, we were ready to report:
- God is still faithful (I know some of you out there were worried).
- We managed to pay all our bills without resorting to credit cards.
- We were able to continue to put money aside for Christmas and a new roof.
- We were able to pay down our debt by another good chunk, thanks to several generous gifts from God.
It sure is nice to see that percentage drop!
There were some tense moments. We accidentally went over budget in a couple of areas (not paying close enough attention) and so Kathy and I steeled our hearts and paid for the over-budget amount from our own ‘unaccountable’ money (we each get $50/month for lattes and gardening supplies — you figure out whose is whose).
It is crazy, but this whole budgeting thing might just work. We’re down to 68% of the debt we owed at the beginning of April. Not bad for two months … thanks to God’s generous provision for us!
Tim
