Debt

It has been a while since I have posted about our finances and debt, at Casa de Crews, and I think it's time we revisit. When Jason and I were first married, I asked a lot of people in blog-land if they and their spouses merged bank accounts, and if they talked about money at all.

At the time, I received so many opinions and suggestions. It was great! And slowly, over time Jason and I began to dig ourselves out of debt, and were contacted by CNN Money for a quick interview about our debt story, as newlyweds.

You can still find that story, here.

Fast forward a year, and our financial situation has improved...and also, has not improved. How does that make sense, you're probably wondering?

....WELL

We have paid a lot of our debt down {both credit cards and my student loans}, and thanks to a personal loan from a family member, after Jason started law school, we have a decent savings, as well. We are paying that personal loan back, but at a lower interest than some of our credit, and have saved money in the long run.

Because our bills aren't too terrible, there are more times than not, that our income combined, is more disposable than it should be. We don't have a lot of money, but with little debt, we're not hurting for anything, either.

But we have goals. I want to buy a house, soon! I don't mind renting {I am sure some of you out there who own are cringing at the thought of not gaining equity as I type this}, but we have outgrown our space and our rent won't do anything, but continue to go up. Also, we don't have anything saved for retirement {each time, we have both been laid off {three layoffs between the two of us in six years}, we have each cashed out our 401k accounts}, and my baby fever isn't going away. Nikki wants a bambino, soon.

And not to mention the student loan debt we're acquiring within the next three years, while Jason finishes law school. Yes we will hope and pray that those loans will pay for themselves once Jason gets a job post college, but it will take a while to pay it off.

So, we are going back to square one {read my first posts about our budgeting, here and here}. Back to the days of cash allowances {when the money runs out, that's it, until the next check} and creative ways to save a buck. As fun as it has been to not worry about money, I want to learn from past mistakes, so that we can secure our future. If that isn't a grown up statement, I don't know what it is. ha ha.

What sort of budget system do you have in place?

XOXO,
Nichole

Digging out of a Debt: A Newlywed's Tale

I am by no means a finance blogger. I think we can all agree, yes? But I have talked about some of our debt on my little ol' blog and have mentioned how Jason and I give ourselves an allowance each pay period and have cut back on my our spending.

...WELL

CNN Money found us through my blog and featured our debt story on their site! Go read it, people! Here!

Now, it is just a little excerpt and the writer didn't mention all of our money saving tips (probably because I gave her a plethora of "tips" and I mean we weren't the only newlyweds featured, here!) so I thought I would share some of the other things Jason & I do to save money but still live life to the fullest!

• We allow each other a monthly allowance
• We still go out to eat, BUT mostly with groupons, living social deals, etc. It makes it fun to try new places and we get a deal! We also find restaurants that have deals throughout the week (.50 wing night, $2 Beer Tuesdays, BOGO fajitas...etc)
• When I plan our weekly shopping, I try and buy most of our veggies & proteins, which are on sale only and plan our menu around it.(Lane has a great blog about this, too)
• Listen, Jason and I like our adult beverages, folks; it can get costly drinking out, so we buy more for the house and it lasts way longer that way (we're not huge drinkers when we're home. I get sleepy!)
• Currently we do get free movies at AMC Theatres (thanks to a friend who is a GM) and that saves us a TON when it comes to entertainment out of the house. I know that won't last forever, and when we're not lucky enough anymore, we'll need a Plan B. But why worry about that just yet?!

Very soon, I'll have a husband in law school and even though we will both be working, I am determined to get our debt down and find ways to save even more. Way before I met Jason, I was super irresponsible with money. I charged eve-er-y-thing I could. I also worked two jobs to get that debt down and pay off my car. I am itching for a new car because I want one, but also love that zero/month car payment! The younger me would just trade my car in but I've grown up and am more practical, now.

Not every day, are we both on track with our spending. We do go over our allowance and/or over spend when going out, but we're so much better about our spending that we used to be. AND neither of us have used cc's in forEVER.

That's our story, and we're stickin' to it!

How do you cut costs?

Life as a Newlywed {Budgeting 101}

This week, Jason and I had..."the talk". The least favorable topic any two people could discuss (well, in my opinion at least) had to be done.


It took (almost) ten months, but I finally got the hubs to agree to merging our cash. And since I am losing my job in T-5 days, it just made that much more sense. At first, you look at a joint bank account and think, "Holy crap, we have a lot of money"...not.so.much. Once our bills are paid, however and we still have quite a bit of money leftover and I have NO idea where it is all going!


J and I are so very different (have I not said that a bazillion times on here?)  when it comes to just about everythang. So of course that means the way we spend and save our loot is no exception.


But we sat down, hashed it all out  and it went pretty smooth, I think (this time last year, we were arguing over music for our wedding. For serious, like I was stressed and having temper tantrums for our first dance song and J did not like any of my selections. We have come a long way, ya'll).


Not gonna lie, before we merged, Jason still paid most of the time we went anywhere (he's good like that) and it made me feel good and also saved me  some cash!


But, we are a team now and even though part of me finds this budget talk un-romantic (I mean does talking about paying off debt float your boat? Eh, not mine), I am also seriouslsy stoked for this challenge we get to face together (cheesy, I know) as partners.


We've given ourselves an allowance. I will get $50/week to do whatever I want with (J will get a little more because he makes more money than I do). I don't know who you are, but sometimes $50/week seems like plenty and some weeks, I'm going to struggle with it. But you know what? Not all that long ago, I was working two jobs (60 hour work weeks), attempting school and still  struggling to stay afloat and pay all of my bills. So really, what the hell am I whining about? We're pretty lucky to have extra money left over to even pay our stuff off, let alone a friggin' allowance.


I'm ready for the next challenge as married folks. Bring it on!!

How do you manage your finances? Do you give yourself an allowance...or what?

Good-bye {to my single gal checking account}

Dear SGCA (Single Gal Checking Account),

As much as I hate to do it, we must say our final good-bye. I'm sure it seems silly to "write" a letter to you, but if you think about it, we've been through a lot together, through the years, yes? I can still remember the day my mom took me to the bank at a mere fifteen years old to "meet" you. I guess it was my first real taste of the grown up world.

I had to figure out how to balance a check book, write checks and use a debit card. By the time I moved out of my parents house and into my own place at eighteen, I thought I was a pro at this banking stuff. Man, did I have a lot to still learn...

And of course there were times when I didn't do any of the above tasks, correctly and bounced here and there (we won't talk about my early 20's when I didn't really pay attention to you and bounced quite a few things ) but these were my lessons to learn, and mine alone. I had to find a way to properly budget so that you wouldn't go over again and could take care of me (even if that meant eating copious amounts of ramen, hot pockets and Campbell's chicken noodle soup, at times) so that I could pay my rent and what not.

But I'm married now. And my new husband is stubbornly attached to his own checking account and is one of those "credit union" people. You know the type; the "my credit union is better than your bank" folk, who wouldn't dream of having an account anywhere else.

It's okay though, mostly my new spouse accommodates me and I usually get my way. But he wouldn't budge on this topic, so here we are.

We have had a great thirteen years (on a side note, has it seriously been that  long?!) and I will always remember you fondly. While we were together, I discovered a lot about myself and learned quite a few lessons along the way.

I hope you don't take this personally, and know that I'll never forget you.

Love,
Nichole

{Hubs & I went over our budget last night & worked on a financial plan together...more on that, later!}

It's Official

The spouse and I have merged bank accounts, ya'll...Why the heck would anyone else care about this, right? Welllll, as you know merging the funds has been a hot topic at Casa de Crews for months  now. One of the biggest things we fought talked about after we first got married, was merging everything. My lovely husband didn't see the need (if ain't broke, why fix it?) to do such a thing; whereas yours truly, did.

I actually posted about this when I first started this little ol' blog and everyone that commented had their own opinions...

Truth is:

We have some debt

Student Loans (well, I do anyway)

Car payments (hubs, not me (yippee!))

Plus the normal "ish" (rent, food, gas, etc)

Oh, and I'm losing my job come Jan 31st

I haven't discussed my master plan (I feel like I should have a mustache while I say, "master plan" but I digress) with J yet but I am determined to pay down what we can by merging our moola. I may have a slight issue with buying too much coffee and/or facial products. Hubs like those ginormous 7-11 cups of diet coke. He also pays a lot for moi when we go out so I know we're blowing funds that way, too. I think now we'll both have to be more accountable with how we spend our money (Jason, if you read this I'm so sure you're disagreeing with me. It's okay I still love yer face)...

How do you handle the money in your relationship, marriage, etc?!

10 Pound Challenge...

Can I tell you this past weekend I was craving some pizza? Like hard core wanted to order out and tell the hubs to deal with it ("it" being me whining about being fat and then me feeling bad after I eat said pizza, that is)...

But I didn't do it. Did you hear me, ya'll? I DIDN'T DO IT. In fact, the weekends are always where I falter from my diet "healthy lifestyle".  NOT this weekend... Honestly, I know it was because I was bored. I eventually found something low carb and healthy and moved on. Sometimes that is hard for me, though.

But let's be honest for a sec, yes? You all saw my birthday pictures? I was already big, but over the holidays, I ate whatever I wanted and I think that was beyond apparent in those photos. My face looked bloated and I felt like that Michelen dude. I was/am so unhappy with those pics even though the day itself was perfect.

No one can lose the weight for me. No one can can force me to have a beer or two (or...three?) or wine or whatever. No one can run for me or stretch it out or burn the calories FOR ME.

I have to do it. I know that. I have always known that. Some days are better than others...

An incentive should be enough (Oh, you know like getting married?!) but clearly that hasn't always been enough for me...perhaps cash money will get me to do what I need to.

So guess what? I am joining the 10lb challenge hosted my Newlyweds on a Budget! The goal is to lose at least 10lbs by April 9 (which just happens to be our one year wedding anniversary; I am taking this as a sign, ya'll). I *will* also blog about my weight loss journey in hopes to keep my booty in check...I need to. It was one of my main goals for 2012. I would love to lose a lot of weight but I said a "hope" for 2012 was that I would be more healthy, so....here we go.

If you'd like to take part in this awesome challenge, possibly win some dough and lose weight, check it out!

P.S. Don't forget to enter my giveaway for a jar of Kelapo coconut oil. It's healthy for the body and good for your skin and hair...go here!

We be broke (Meal Plannin')

Okay, so it's not like we can't pay our bills or anything, but money is a tad tight this month. We're still paying for our cruise that we're taking in March, hubs needs new tires, we're having a fab-u-lous party with our friends next weekend (ugly/tacky sweaters, ya'll!!) plus we are hosting Christmas Eve for my family this year as well (and we like to eat so can't skimp there). Oh and you know it's also Christmas, or something in a few weeks.

The only way to spend less is to eat in more. That is usually my goal each week but it doesn't take much for me to get derailed here. Guess what? When I don't have a plan, I spend more money and  I usually eat worse. And if I'm being honest here, I think my ass is growing. Sadly, not in a sex-ay J.Lo kinda way--no friends like I have indulged a bit too much lately and sat on said bottom more often, than not.

So I'm being that wife who makes a plan. And more specifically (another tackle at) a meal plan, chart, and list.


{First attempt at making a plan, chart, and grocery list for one week}



I'm hoping to kill two birds here, people: save some cashola and lose some poundage. That way I can afford a cute dress for the season with the money I (hopefully) save and fit into it better...

Here's hoping! How do you save money when things are tight (or 38 things come up at once?!)

Married peeps and meal plans?

T.G.I.F! I don’t know why, but this week has been so draining. I mean neither hubs nor I did much after work this week. Maybe it’s just all the busy-ness catching up with me?

But seriously, I have been super busy lately, and while I l.o.v.e. having lots to do; it makes me a poor planner for my home life. Meaning, I spend money I shouldn’t eating out and of course eating out doesn’t mean I always eat healthy. And then I have guilt for eating out so much, because we are saving up for our cruise in March. It's a vicious cycle, people!

Plus, now that I am a married gal, I try and have more of a plan for the week with meals. "Try" being the key word here. Hubs doesn’t expect me to cook dinner every night (no 50’s wife here, ya’ll) and we are both good about taking turns cooking. But since we are doing low-carb together, I feel like we need a game plan, that much more. Hubs is very low key and laid back and has no problem cooking for himself or making his own dinner…that’s great, right? You would think, but it drives.me.nuts. Mainly because I like when we eat together and feel like that is what we should be doing. I don’t know why it bothers me that we don’t always do dinner together, but it does maybe I am a control freak?!.

We moved in (for the second time, long story) a few months after we got engaged and our different meal times/menus didn’t bother me. Perhaps, because I was in school full time and planning our wedding is why it didn’t bug me but now, it does.

I feel like I/we have breakfast down. I usually make a frittata or crustless quiche a few times a week for us to eat in the am. Lunch, we pretty much do our own thang (For the record, J brings a can of green beans every day to work. every.day. I mean, who does that? This girl needs variety). (Oh yea, I guess this is a good time to point out, I also waste money at lunch too. But I mean some most days, it is just way better getting out and ordering something than eating another salad. By myself. See, this is why I need a plan!).


So I guess I am asking for advice from you all:

1. Do you have a "meal plan" down or do you do whatever the heck you feel like?
2. Who cooks more? You or your husband/boyfriend/man-friend/whatever?

Help a newlywed out, puh-lease!

The couple that saves together

This weekend, J and I decided to have a weekend all to ourselves. It has been awesome, and is definitely a rarity for us! We are always trying to save a dime, so everything we did this weekend had some sort of deal attached to it, which was a huge plus for us! The couple that saves together, stays together...right?

I have lost misplaced my camera, so unfortunately I didn't get a chance to snap any pics this weekend, sorry.

Friday:
 I forgot my shoes in the car (after all that blogging too) so my flip flops had to do. We started with happy hour at Green Iguana with 2 for 1 drinks. After two very strong vodka and diet cokes, it was time to move on for this kid (otherwise, it would have been nap time and that would have been the most boring Friday night, ever). After some cheap drinks, we decided to see a movie at Westshore Mall. One of my first jobs was working at the AMC theatre in Oldsmar, and I'm still good enough friends with a few people that work for the company, and so we actually have a free pass (cha-ching!). We saw 30 minutes or Less. It was okay, not the funniest movie but better than I expected. Plus I LOVE Aniz Ansari & Jesse Eisenberg...funny guys. After the movie, we finished our night out with dinner and more drinks at Square 1 Burgers. I had a groupon for $16 and after 10pm, drinks were discounted. I love this place, they have so many burger options to choose from! The hubs and I are usually low carbin' it, and SQ1 can serve your burger bunless on a bed o' greens if you like. I opted for a bunless Red, White and Bleu burger and a side of fries (I know, not low carb but hey it was date night). Jason ordered some hot dog concoction, with avocado. We sat in the bar area and stayed until closing. It was a great night and our final tab (before tip) only cost us $8.00 out of pocket.

Saturday:
After a trip to the gym and a stop in to my mom's salon so that J could get a haircut, we ended up at Ruby Tuesday's for lunch. I had a BOGO email that I was dying to use. It was lunch time, so we both got burger minis and the salad bar. When it came time to settle the check, I presented my coupon (by the way, I always wait until the end because I cringe when I see eager customers present their deal too early. I don't know why, I just do) and was told that the coupon wasn't good for our order....turns out, one of us needed to order an actual entree to get the deal. No biggie since it was our error but the server actually gave us 25% off our check and we ended up saving another eight bucks! I was not expecting that at all, so that was just an awesome plus. We hightailed back to my old AMC stomping grounds for another (free) movie and saw The Help (a great movie, go see it now!).

After a much needed nap (I cannot even tell you the last time I napped on the weekend!!), we had a late dinner at Cheesecake Factory. We had a $25 gift card from Christmas to use. I ordered the white sangria (OMG, delish) and chicken tacos. Jason has a beer and a burger with mac n' cheese on top. I initially thought my husband was kind of insane for ordering this but it was not overly heavy. It was actually pretty light for a burger loaded with....macaroni, lol. Turns out my sangria was ten freakin' dollars, so even though we saved $25, after adding a slice of key lime cheesecake to share, our out of pocket was $25, but hey, we did get a lot of bang for our buck (actually, Jason did. Since we haven't yet merged our moola and all). We then met up with some friends at Dagwoods for a "luau". Unfortunately, after our food comas, we had a few beers and left by 1am. The plus? One of our friends we met up with, is a server so he gets a hospitality discount, meaning the server at Dagwoods, gave us the same discount. Cha-ching, another (unexpected) deal!

Sunday:
Today, Jason and I hit up our last place for "date weekend". Thanks to yet another groupon, we ended up at Ceviche in South Tampa for brunch (side note, you know you're in S. Tampa, when the Jimmy Johns delivery guy drives a Lexus. Oi). Brunch to me, is God's perfect meal. So I was ecstatic to have mimosas and breakfast after noon on a lazy day. I ordered the Crab Eggs Benedict and Jason had a Spanish Omelet. I also convinced Jason to order a Bloody Mary that he was not too fond of. However, I loved it and may have had that in addition to my own mimosa (can't let good drinks go to waste, people). The food took a while but we were able to get a ton of people watching in (my favorite "sport" in case you were wondering). After our $30 groupon, the bill cost us $10, plus tip.

That's about it. We were in desperate need of some one on one time and I feel pretty refreshed after spending the weekend alone with my dude. For Jason and I, we like a good deal so that's why I feel like our couple motto is, what it is! Do any of you out there have a "motto" of your own?

We come together cuz opposites attract

Sorry, I couldn't help but bust out a cheesy Paula Abdul song. I promise it won't happen again.

In all honesty though, Jason and I couldn't be more opposite at times. Sure we share a lot of the same values, goals and ideas but in a lot of ways, we are very opposite. I tend to overthink react fast to situations and have a constant sense of urgency (sometimes this comes back to kick me in the keister) to get things done. Jason, on the other hand, well....doesn't. He is a very laid back and chill kind of guy and that usually is one of my most favorite things about him.

When Jason and I met, we both were pretty independent people. He had a roommate and I had just moved in with my little sister after living on my own for four or so years. I was happy to date a guy who knew how to feed himself, pay his own bills and do laundry. In some ways, I felt like I had won the boyfriend lotto!

J and I moved in together a few months after we got engaged and had a lot of wedding planning to do. I was also still in school, so had plenty of distractions. Now that the honeymoon is literally over, where do two "slightly" stubborn people who know how to take care of themselves go from here?
I am really wanting us to combine our paychecks/bank accounts and make more decisions together as a married couple. Nowadays obviously, most couples have already lived on their own and know how to take care of themselves and their own life, so does it really matter? But while I feel like we have to merge everything, Jason has the mentality, if it ain't broke, don't fix it...

I know every couple is different but for me, I feel like combining our finances will make both of us more accountable with our spending (I may have a slight addiction to all things coffee and Coach) and also help us to set more financial goals together.

So to all you married folk out there, what did you do once you said, "I do"?