Connecting Rainbows

Every other Friday is pay day (for my husband, that is).  It became a natural and necessary thing to balance the checkbook and pay bills on Fridays.  It then became a habit, a part of my life balance routine.  After reading Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace, and accepting that some big financial changes need to happen around here, I have formally designated Friday as “Financial Friday“.

Financial Friday is my financial management day.  I still balance the checkbook and pay bills, but I also work on debt management strategies.  Using worksheets in Financial Peace, I am starting to analyze all of our income and spending on a monthly basis.  With the gruesome details layed out in front of me on paper, I can see where changes need to be made and I am forced to face the facts.

I’m having a problem though.  Debt busting and the ever-popular “snowball method” of debt reduction don’t work well for people who have no money left over at the end of the month.  I’ve reduced every bill that I can reduce.  Being a stay-at-home mom for the past five years has put a huge burden on our financial situation and we have acquired an enormous pile of debt.  Yes, my website business has brought in some income, but not enough.  We have more monthly expenses and debt payments than we have income.  Many months we rely on credit cards to buy groceries and pay medical expenses…  only compounding our problems.  (Maybe I should have named this post “Confessions of a WAHM”.)  Any way…  Enough whining…

One Financial Friday at a time, right?

Financial Peace: Revisited (Revised) With new chapters on marriage and money, kids and money, and singles and money, Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace Revisited helps readers to understand the forces behind their financial distress and how to set things right–financially, emotionally, and spiritually.