On a Budget: A new series

There are a handful of things that I am especially passionate about in this life, and one of those things is money. Now, I know what you're thinking- a lot of people are "passionate" about money because it's one of those things that makes the world go 'round. 

My passion for money comes from my love for numbers and my desire to save money in order that I may give freely because yes, money can make a difference in the lives of others (both good or bad). 

I love numbers, I love math, I love saving money, I love learning about money... in nursing school I wish I had had more time in my class schedule to be able to take some money type classes (I wanted to take accounting, you guys). 

Before Alex and I got married we took a class called Financial Peace University, that really set us on a path for financial success in our marriage. This class was created by Dave Ramsey- an outspoken "money man" who filed for bankruptcy years ago and now has a net worth of 55 million dollars. 

His thinking and his plan is simple but revolutionary: live within your means, pay off debt quickly, and live like no one else now so that you can live like no one else later. Way easier said than done, but Alex and I are totally on board with the plan. 

Alex and I have both been good with money, but this class elevated our knowledge base, and gave us some tools to be successful with money. Neither Alex or I claim to be financial planners (ha, I wish), and we have a lot to learn, but I also think we have a lot to share. 

We have successfully lived off of a single income for the past year, enjoyed our lives, and fully funded a nice vacation for ourselves as a one-year wedding anniversary present. 

We created a budget in the first few weeks of our marriage that set us on the right path with money. This budget has changed over the past year and continues to change, but we have developed a solid structure that allows us to spend, save, and tithe off of one income. I am so passionate about budgeting and money that I'm going to start sharing things that we have learned more often on the blog. I am going to start by having a series specifically for budgeting.

This series will include: 

-How to create a budget

-A closer examination of the categories that should be in your budget

-Logistics of how to maintain a budget

-Tips & Tricks for Budgeting (that we've learned along the way). 

Interspersed with this series, will be specific posts on practical ways to save on different things like entertainment, examining ways of thinking about money that are dangerous, and the importance of certain "monetary" practices like tithing. 

I hope you'll join me for this journey, contribute your thoughts, and help us all learn from one another as we seek to take charge of our money instead of letting it control us.

Click below to read the posts in this series (so far): 

Creating a budget

Spend less on entertainment

Save on household items

Disclaimer: As I said above I am not a financial planner and don't claim to be one. I am continually learning through reading, listening to podcasts, and life experience. This series is simply our experience with a budget, and useful things that we have learned along the way. I also talk about Dave Ramsey and his class and opinions a lot- I am not being paid for this (don't I wish), but simply want to tell others about the program and mindset that has helped us build a strong financial foundation.