And We're Back: A Budgeting Tale (Part One)

After a brief break from blogging, we're back. We're sorry to leave you hanging like that. Before I get into the meat of my blog, a few schedule updates and housekeeping notes:

1) During the summer I will only be taking one class, and it will be on Wednesday nights. This should help the consistency of the blogs seeing as I'll be able to start sharing in the blogload again.

2) We've decided to change "Thorough Thursdays" to "Things We Love Thursdays." We decided the Monday and Thursday blogs were starting to become the same week after week. And by the same, we mean both days were becoming quite dull. This change allows us to talk about projects and/or distribute business/life advice on Mondays and recommend fun stuff we like on Thursdays.

3) It should be noted: in roughly one hour from this moment in time, I will be completely caught up on laundry...that means every single towel, white, and colored article will be washed...for the first time since the fourth grade!

And now...the blog. What should I write about? What is the most entertaining thing I can discuss? Budgeting. Yep, budgeting. Don't worry, I'm not going to go into detail about how Kelsey and I budget. That will come next week (or maybe the week after depending on how far I get tonight). Tonight I want to tell Part One of when I realized I couldn't buy whatever I wanted, when I wanted. Essentially, I want to tell Part One of when I realized it was time to grow up.

Budgeting is actually fresh on my mind at the moment since I'm reading a book by the very intelligent Dave Ramsey my father-in-law gave to me. For those unfamiliar, Dave Ramsey is a financial guru who has helped countless people get out of debt. While I'm not in debt, I do like to read about how millionaires became millionaires. Click on the picture of the book to go to Amazon and buy a copy. I honestly think if you're struggling with money, Dave Ramsey could change your life:

I don't have a story as engrossing as Dave's. He was a millionaire in his twenties, lost his fortune, went bankrupt, and then worked himself back out of debt into a millionaire again.

What I do have is a simple story that made me realize adulthood arrived. One Saturday in October shortly after my 26th birthday, I went to start my car. It would not start. I swore at it. It still did not start. I got out of the car and kicked the tire. Still, nothing. I'd tried everything. I asked around and someone who knew about such things told me it sounded like I needed a new alternator. I then Googled alternator. I still was not sure what an alternator did, but I knew having one replaced costed around $500.

The problem? I didn't have $500 of disposable income. I'd just purchased an engagement ring the month before. After a year of living at home, I now had bills again (roughly $1100 a month). Two months prior to my car dying, I took a pay cut to start at John Deere. When I read "$500" my stomach dropped. I wanted to cry. I started to think of all the stupid purchases I'd recently made. Two weeks before that I'd ordered $400 worth of DVDs on Amazon to fulfill a collection that mattered to no one but me. I'd bought an Xbox and three games the previous August. I bought a Wii and two games the month before that. These purchases coincided with several wasted dollars on fast food and pizza.

It might be healthy, but damn if it's not expensive.

The bottom line: I wasn't using my savings account to save. I was using my savings account as a checking account. I needed to make a change, and I needed to make it fast. I'd soon be married, and I'd soon have "real" expenses: mortgages, landscaping, furniture, yuck.

I decided to limit what I could spend on "fun" expenses. I gave myself $100 every fifteen days to spend on restaurants, videogames, movies, bars, anything. I took out the cash every paycheck and if it ran out, that was it. I was out. I couldn't get more. Thems the rules.

I also started to seriously evaluate my bills. I had a $90 cell phone bill for a phone I used once or twice a week. I had a Mediacom bill of $80 that covered Internet, cable, and phone for my apartment. I paid $60 for a parking spot each month. My apartment shared a brick wall with the out of doors, so my heating and air conditioning bill was nearly $250 every month. All that combined was $480 for bills on top of my $650 rent.

These women are very concerned about Bills, Bills, Bills. Also, one of them is Beyonce. I bet the other three wish they were Beyonce instead of being whoever they are.

 Around this time I was spending pretty much all of my time at Kelsey's house. After work, I'd usually stop by my apartment to change clothes and get my mail. Then I'd spend time with Kelsey and Dottie until they went to bed. Afterwards, I'd drive to my apartment and read until I fell asleep. I rarely turned on the TV. I was never at my apartment during the times I'd need to pay for a parking spot. Basically, I was wasting a lot of money on stuff I thought I needed but never actually used.

I quickly cut all the unnecessary apartment expenses. I stopped air conditioning and heating the place during the day. I'd use blankets in the winter and wear tightie whities in the summer. I'd survive.

By combining the bill cutting and the hard budgeting, I was able to start watching my bank account grow each month instead of break even. Sure, I had to defend my innocence when friends and family started to call me "cheap," but it was worth it. I started to feel more secure in my finances, and I got used to living like a near hobo. I could have lived that way forever, but fate intervened.

Kelsey did not want to a be hobo.

When Kelsey and I got married the following July, she didn't take too kindly to becoming a hobette. She didn't understand why a couple with two incomes couldn't occasionally enjoy a treat here and there. I started to think about it, and I didn't understand it either. But that is a story for another Monday. Next week I'll explain the system Kelsey and I created together after a few months of marriage...it's a system we still use today.

As for my car, I lucked out. The alternator was fine. I simply needed a new car battery (cars have batteries! who knew?) and a new something or other that connects a car battery to a car. But the scare changed me. I can still feel the drop in my stomach and the fear in my chest. I didn't want to feel that way again, and thanks to some planning and some adjusting, I haven't.