[Andy is playing with his toys and mimicing the voices of his toys and holding Mr. Potato Head]The change falling from my Piggy's bottom had been in my possession since I was probably five or six. My pennies and nickels originally lived in an empty peanut butter jar. Then mom gave me a Sleeping Beauty Bank. Then I transferred all of my change to a cute Teddy Bear Bank. And finally, when I was 16 or 17, my change found home in an actual Piggy Bank, piggy noises included when you fed it coins.
Andy (as Mr. Potato Head) All right, everyone! This... is a stick-up. Don't anybody move! Now empty that safe!
[Andy empties Hamm the piggy bank and coins fall out]
Andy (as Mr. Potato Head) Ooh, hoo hoo! Money, money, money!
Andy (as Bo Beep) Stop it, stop it you mean old potato!
Andy (as Mr. Potato Head) Quiet, Bo Peep! Or your sheep get run over!
Andy (as the sheep, on the track) Help! Baaa! Help us!
Andy (as Bo Beep) Oh no! Not my sheep! Somebody do something!
Woody [voice box] Reach for the sky!
Andy (as Mr. Potato Head) Oh no! Sheriff Woody!
I can remember several instances where I would dump all my change onto my bedroom floor and count my change for hours...especially late at night when I really didn't want to go to bed. I've since realized that counting change is kind of therapeutic to me.
Then there was the night that I counted out over $100 in loose change. That was extremely exciting to a kid!
Naturally, when Bill and I got married, my Piggy Bank came along as part of my dowry. Having to do laundry through coin-operated machines eats up your extra quarters really quick - including those quarters in my Piggy. And one day those quarters were gone...
.........................................................
Bill and I have created a budget at least 3 or 4 different times over the course of our 9 months together and nothing ever seems to stick. On Bill's dad's recommendation, we attended Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University at BATC with our friends Al and Loraine back when we were engaged, hoping to start our marriage off on the right foot. And so we did! We accomplished Baby Step #1 by creating an Emergency Fund, and then we got out of debt - minus our student loans. Then we stopped and didn't finish up the rest of the Baby Steps.
Naturally, when Bill and I got married, my Piggy Bank came along as part of my dowry. Having to do laundry through coin-operated machines eats up your extra quarters really quick - including those quarters in my Piggy. And one day those quarters were gone...
.........................................................
Bill and I have created a budget at least 3 or 4 different times over the course of our 9 months together and nothing ever seems to stick. On Bill's dad's recommendation, we attended Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University at BATC with our friends Al and Loraine back when we were engaged, hoping to start our marriage off on the right foot. And so we did! We accomplished Baby Step #1 by creating an Emergency Fund, and then we got out of debt - minus our student loans. Then we stopped and didn't finish up the rest of the Baby Steps.
We didn't really have any financial struggles and we weren't in constant fear or where our next meal was going to come from. In fact, we ate like a king and queen...and I gained weight! ;) But it seems that we blow money whenever and wherever as long as there was money in the account...and we're not exactly saving anything.
We finally decided to take things seriously. At last. On Friday night, for date night, we worked through our finances. We went to America First and rearranged our bank accounts and created an envelope system for groceries, gas, and allowances. We logged everything into QuickBooks and we now have a perfect understanding of where everything is coming and going! It's kind of exciting in a really nerdy sort of way!
When we came home from the Credit Union, we realized that we still had my Piggy Bank that we hadn't accounted for! Now that we had created a VERY specific plan, we ran to the Dollar Store and bought 3 bags of coin rolls and paid the cashier 32 dimes. I saw kids in elementary school always pay with change, and the other day at work, a lady paid for her print job in zip-lock bags of 100 pennies, but I had never done it myself. Now I can take pride in being able to number myself amongst the change-payers of the world!
To make it a true date night, we dished up huge bowls of chocolate chip ice cream, turned on an episode of Top Gear (a HILARIOUS British car review show - this is a snippet from my favorite episode) and began counting out pennies, nickels, dimes, and sans quarters (thanks to our weekly tribute to the Laundry God).
When we were through, we came to a total of exactly $60.00 in change, only after we found a penny in the couch and leftover change on top of the dresser.
I can't wait until we have a house with our own washer and dryer!
And thus begins our new and official budget as husband and wife! We've totally got this! And to live up to the Dave Ramsey motto, we're going to "Live like no one else, so that one day [we] can live like no one else." :)
We finally decided to take things seriously. At last. On Friday night, for date night, we worked through our finances. We went to America First and rearranged our bank accounts and created an envelope system for groceries, gas, and allowances. We logged everything into QuickBooks and we now have a perfect understanding of where everything is coming and going! It's kind of exciting in a really nerdy sort of way!
When we came home from the Credit Union, we realized that we still had my Piggy Bank that we hadn't accounted for! Now that we had created a VERY specific plan, we ran to the Dollar Store and bought 3 bags of coin rolls and paid the cashier 32 dimes. I saw kids in elementary school always pay with change, and the other day at work, a lady paid for her print job in zip-lock bags of 100 pennies, but I had never done it myself. Now I can take pride in being able to number myself amongst the change-payers of the world!
To make it a true date night, we dished up huge bowls of chocolate chip ice cream, turned on an episode of Top Gear (a HILARIOUS British car review show - this is a snippet from my favorite episode) and began counting out pennies, nickels, dimes, and sans quarters (thanks to our weekly tribute to the Laundry God).
The task looked daunting at first, but it actually turned out to be a lot of fun! And dirty. Counting change makes your fingers black.
What were we going to do with this massive amounts of change? Take it to the bank and EXCHANGE IT ALL for quarters. We figure it'll get us through the next 3 or 4 months of laundry. :)
I can't wait until we have a house with our own washer and dryer!
And thus begins our new and official budget as husband and wife! We've totally got this! And to live up to the Dave Ramsey motto, we're going to "Live like no one else, so that one day [we] can live like no one else." :)
Happy budgeting!
2 comments:
This is great! Money is something I don't pretend to be good with, or even have a knowledge of. It will come soon enough, but I'm glad to know that you guys are making it work, so it can be done!
I remember how much I admired you for saving money. You always had a huge sum in your sleeping beauty piggy bank. Huge to a kid at least! Being married and poor is so fun, isn't it? Ha ha We just got our tax return and did a happy dance to have money in our savings for once! Woo! ;) Everyone says we'll always remember these fun times. It's a good feeling knowing you could live in a box, and as long as you're with your husband, you're happy!
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