There are four basic items that we must take care of first. Mr Ramsey calls them the Four Walls. They are food, shelter, clothing, and transportation. He says, “If you have food in your belly, a roof over your head, clothes on your back, and a way to get to work tomorrow, you’ll live to fight another day.” (p62) Making sure these are higher priorities on our budget is important.
The Monthly Cash Flow Plan Mr Ramsey recommends, is also called the zero-based budget. I will let him explain it: “With a zero-based budget, your goal is to spend your income all the way down to zero before you ever even get paid. You’ll right your income at the top of the page, and then you’ll write every single expense for the month under it, including giving and saving. By the time you get to the bottom of the page, your income minus expenses should equal zero.” (p67) In this way, you are assigning each and every dollar to some allotted item. Remember, we are going through the 7 Baby Steps, so you must keep them in mind too. Again, there are forms to guide you through this in the back of this book, but if you need a helping hand, please reach out to me. Mr Ramsey also talks about what to do with irregular income, so he has it all covered. The more we make this zero-budget our new monthly habit, the less stress we will experience and the more control we will have over our life.
Another powerful thing we can do is, instead of pulling out the debit card for certain line items, we can use Cash Envelopes for them instead. For instance, we use cash for our groceries and gasoline. We place the month’s budget amount for those things in an envelope and use the cash to purchase them throughout the month. Once the envelope is empty, then we cannot spend any more on that category. These cash envelopes can make us pay attention to what we are spending also, and encourage some creativity too. Here’s two quick examples that might help when the grocery envelop seems to be dwindling. First, I will implement the “no shopping until the freezer is empty” rule, as I go shopping for groceries in my freezer! We all do that right? We buy items but stuff them into the freezer, never using them, but then buying more products. Nope, not any more. Second, I start with the ingredients I have at home and make meals with what I’ve got, instead of going to get new items. Talk about getting creative! I am sure you will come up with your own tricks too. If you have any, leave them below so we can learn from one another. Making a zero-based budget and using Cash Envelopes for some items can take away so much of our financial stress!
2023’s Got A Minute? Book Club
January: The First & Best Book Ever: The Bible
February: Love Is In the Air: “The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts” by Gary Chapman
March: Spring Growth: “Secrets of the Vine” by Bruce Wilkinson
April: Living the Resurrected Life: “The Wonderful Spirit Filled Life” by Dr Charles Stanley
May: My Spiritual Mom: “Making Good Habits Breaking Bad Habits” by Joyce Meyer
June: Spiritual Dad: “It’s Not About Me- Rescue from the Life We Thought Would Make Us Happy” by Max Lucado
July: Financial Freedom “Complete Guide to Money” by Dave Ramsey
<>< Peace, Diane
