How to have more money while making less.

A huge part of the process of me becoming a sahm is to be able to live on less money. This ladies and gentlemen is no easy task. I have always prided myself on being a bargain shopper and have done very well with not paying full price for much of what we own. However, the bargain deals add up and overtime you don't realize that those $3.00 clearance shirts are costing you $300 a year. You also don't realize that you now have more clothes that you need and the kids could go a month without wearing the same thing twice. This is where my problem lies. It's not that I ever spend a lot of money on any one thing it's that a little money on a lot of things adds up without you ever realizing it ever happened.

So begins my journey on the budget baby steps. My husband and have started out by taking Dave Ramsey's course called Financial Peace. (Thankfully it was offered through his work and is being reimbursed. ) This course on money management is more or less a kick in the pants. It helps you to do what you knew you should be doing all along. He has devised a plan to help you get out of debt and win with money. It was just what we needed. You can check out Dave's plan and classes at www.daveramsey.com

I would like to start a series of posts that will highlight all of the trials and errors of my family's journey to a more financially sound future. I will give you the tips, tricks, websites, and other pearls of knowledge that I found to help with budgeting, cutting costs, and saving money. I will not be quoting any of Dave Ramsey's methods or philosophy but I will mention things that I have put in place that are working.

The first step that has really helped my family recover from overspending is to make sure every dollar that comes in each month has a name. What I mean by that is to make sure that you know where each dollar is going at the beginning of the month. This way there are fewer questions as to where you spent money and less chance of you overdrawing your account or scrambling to pay the light bill when it is due. This has also help my husband and I communicate more effectively about money. We each have an equal say where the money goes and we take into account date night, special outing with kids, repairs or upgrades to the house or cars, and dinning out. This has helped reduce my stress tremendously as well as help us look at where we could reduce unnecessary costs. It really is like giving yourself a raise without having to deal with asking a boss.

I hope highlighting my wins and losses will help you see that even for a notorious over spender /shopper like myself it is possibly to reduce costs and make dreams come true.

If you have any special things that you do to help your family save money or use the money you have better please share them with me I would love to have more input.