Ugly Day

Its ugly outside today....It looks like its 8:50 pm instead of 9:30 am. Anyways, I have been reading alot about finances since we bought our condo and I have really learned a lot from this site getrichslowly.org....it sounds cheesy but the guy who writes it is very honest about his own struggle with debt and how he erased it all. Adam and I are pretty good at saving..I mean we were able to save up a down payment in under a year of marriage and with only one full time income. I know it sounds crazy..but we can do more...i admit that i freak out when we dont save money every month and my idea of living paycheck to paycheck is when we can't put 1/2 of what we make into savings but I am just very aware of what can happen when you aren't savvy with your money. Plus, with Adam starting a private christian college next June I don't want any "marital problems" stemming from our finances. When we were in pre-marital counseling with Dick Bagwell he told us that finances, communication and in-laws were among the top 3 things that caused couples to fight and even divorce. So anyways, one of the tips that the site suggests is to keep a list of things you are doing correctly to encourage yourself to keep you motivated.
Here is our good list:

1. Make my own coffee-for me this is a huge savings even though McDonalds 87 cent coffee is pretty darn good.
2. Adam and I take our own lunch EVERYDAY...i can probably count on one hand the # of eat out lunches I have had since we have been married...its probably less for him since he rarely gets an actual lunch break.
3. We eat out once every week-after church on Sunday-and we try to always spend less than $15 which sometimes means sharing a meal (healthy and cost-effective)
4. We never go to the theaters to see movies....we rent movies occasionally but most of our movie watching comes from the T.V. ( we dont really have time for movies anyways)
5. New clothes are just not an option right now...and besides that we both accumulated enough new clothes during college to last us a while. We haven't done laundry since we moved in (about a month now) and we are ok.....that is a pretty good indication that we are good to go with clothes. I must admit though that I am an avid window shopper...my favorite saturday outing is going by myself to T.J. Maxx and Target and just walking around....its therapeutic and since I dont take my purse in I know I won't impulse buy.
6. We eat healthy foods...I have started to only shop the outside aisles at the grocery store....the only reason to go into the other aisles are for cereal and condiments. Other than that we eat a lot of fruit, veggies, chicken, yogurt and sandwiches....we have come up with pretty good recipes too so we dont get bored.
7. We have a lot of game nights with friends....cheap and easy...and potluck is so much fun!
8. When we do make a purchase (like our new dressers, or our trip to Charleston) we consider that our presents for an upcoming celebration. Our trip to Charleston was our birthday present to each other. For Christmas we only spent money on our family...and even then we gave them homemade presents such as my pottery or personalized photo albums. I have to admit that getting married in July and being showered with presents really didn't leave much to be desired in the way of Christmas presents but agreeing to not buy each other gifts that would probably end up in the back of closet was a good save....Adam broke the rule though and bought me a wall calender (my favorite $3 gift thus far).
9. We are going to drive our cars into the ground. My car is 11 years old and Adam's is 10. However, with older cars come lower insurance..much lower. Also, we both drive fuel efficient cars-mine gets almost 40 miles a gallon and Adam's truck is right behind it. We thought about buying a new car right before we got married but God literally spoke to us through some old friends and we ended up keeping our "paid -off" cars. What a blessing in disguise. When we do buy we have already decided to get a hybrid....and to be honest it will be hard to part with Toya.
10. These three little things can be combined as one. (a) we sleep with our windows open and have yet to turn on the air in our condo.....i am sure that living in the mountains of TN, with a master bedroom on the 2nd floor makes this an easier adjustment than most but i had to list it....(b) We turn off lights if we dont need them...granted we have a ton of light coming into our condo but who doesn't?..just open your blinds, push back your curtains and enjoy the extra couple of sunlight hours we get during the summer...and (c) we do things ourselves-we made our own bed, coffee table, bookshelves, headboard and home decor......and it looks FANTASTIC!!!
11. Our biggest financial blessing has been the fact that we tithe. I will be the first to admit that I am not always a cheerful giver...but that is one of my husbands' strengths. We know that our money is not ours....and we are blessed to be able to afford the things we have and continue our education. I am in no way trying to pat my own back but I do know that giving to God what is already His has become the best way we could ever use our money.
Matthew 6:20-21
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.