Day 5 of the envelope method(and some rambelings)

Well its been 5 days of *trying* to keep track of our money. I say trying because it hasn't gone as smoothly as I though it was going to. We actually did really well grocery wise. Even with Jared having CQ twice(today is the 2nd time). Im even making home made lunch and dinner to take to him. With that we are right at our $350 budget.
I haven't totaled it yet but we have spent money for other things. $36 for gas(we budgeted $100 and about $20 for some inexpensive Halloween decor. We did have a forgotten about expense for a Brazilian jujitsu seminar for Jared which is $100.
This month is also mine and Rylans birthdays, so those expenses aren't exactly budgeted but kept in check. Yesterday we got him a much needed new pair of shoes, and for his birthday he is getting a trike with a helmet, some new clothes(hes getting so tall) and a toy or 2.
So to sum it up, next paycheck should go a little smoother than this one. Im learning what to tweak and not feeling so nervous about it.
With about 10 days left we have more money left in our account than usual and with only one bill left to pay(its automatic on a certain day) we are doing pretty good.
We are hoping to save enough money to have our first ever Halloween party at our apartment, and to invite some of Jareds work friends over.

This is a FAR cry from a little over a year ago, when being overdraft $300-$400 5 days out from being paid, was the norm.
We were lucky enough to pay off every debt except one with our taxes and still have a little over 2k left in savings from it. We were lucky enough to be able to save some money while Jared was deployed to soften then blow of him coming back home and transitioning back to normal pay(non-hazard pay).
Our one and only debt is our car, which we owe about $5800 on. Our plan for that is to put our savings into it and refinance with USAA for a lower interest rate.
All in all we are very lucky to be in the financial state we are and to be in so little debt(compared to many our age.

Im so much more laid back about money than I was before. It was my biggest stress. Although I do still get those flashes of anxiety when we spend money, just remembering the feeling of dread that we had over drafted again.

Day 1 of the Envelope System

So I was kind of thrown off track today because Jared has CQ until tomorrow morning, which means I had to do only some of the grocery shopping today by myself. Tomorrow morning I(or all of us) will be going to the farmers market for some more veggies and fruits, and after Jared sleeps we will go to costco.
Im only posting about grocery's for now because its or first big expense.
Instead of getting $350 I only pulled out $300. 1 because you cant get $350 out of an atm lol and 2 because I think we can do it on $300.
My list wasnt long but I did have to add some thing for Jared for CQ.

ORIGINAL LIST
*Chicken Breasts
*Beef
*MIlk
*Bread
*Cheese
*Eggs
*Onions
*Green peppers
*Buns
*Mac'n Cheese
*Turkey Dogs
*Yogurt
*lunch meat
*Veggies
*Bananas
*Flour
*sugar
*tortillas
*tomato sauce/paste
*celery
*whole chicken
-the bold items I did not get. we are waiting to get those at Costco tomorrow.

My most expensive purchase was Jareds 2 deli sandwiches for tonight and that was $7.98
My least expensive was a yellow onion for 32 cents

Including Jareds snack foods(chex mix, sandwiches, trailmix). At the commissary I spent $75.86
I gave $80 so my change was $4.14. $4 went to the baggers who helped me out and 14cents goes in the change jar.
So I count $80 as my grand total for the commissary.

Next I went to the px for Jared.
*monster energy drink-2.99
*mma magazine-5.39
*mens health mag. -4.49
TOtal-$12.87
Change-$7.13
$7 given to Jared and 13cents in the change jar.

TODAYS TOTAL-$99.86

Now here is what I actually got
-3pkg of baby snacks
-applesauce
-3cans pasta sauce
-3cans tomato paste
-1bag chili beans
-1leamon water
-1 honey tea
-5pkg mac 'n cheese
-2pkg tortillas
-1pkg fajita mix
-1pkg food containers
-1box eggs
-1gal milk
-3can biscut dough
-1whole chicken
-2pkg lunch meat(3lbs)
-1pkg bacon
-1pkg turkey dogs
-1pkg buns
-1pkg stew meat
-1pkg steaks
-2med heads of broccoli(about 2lbs)
-1head coliflower
-1pkg celery
-1 red bell pepper
-1 yellow bell pepper
-1 yellow onion
TOTAL-$75.86

The haul

big boy now/tomorrow

Big Boy Now
Rylan is doing really well with potty training. He asks to go pee and poop and hasn't had any accidents in the last 2 days. I even took a walk over to walgreens(just half a block away)with him with out realizing he was wearing regular underwear and not a pull up! He did awesome. He is even telling me when he has to poop more often. I think in the beginning he had "stage fright" so to say. Instead of going 2-3 times a day, he would go once and at the very last possible moment lol. He is doing really well and I think we may be fully trained in a week or 2.

Tomorrow
Tomorrow will be the start of our Envelope method. I will be withdrawing money for the allotted envelopes and that is that! Im also going shopping without Jared tomorrow seeing how he has CQ and wont be home till Thursday morning. Aside from having both boys with me, this will be easier since Jared tends to buy random things lol.
I will update tomorrow how it all goes!

Ive been gone for a while

Ive been gone. What can I say my darling husband finally came home from his LAST deployment!!! We still have 2 more years with the army and in these next 2 years we are going to work our buts off to set ourselves up financially. Neither of us want to instantly worry about living the civilian life instantly broke. We are hoping every thing works out right and to where Jared with have enough terminal leave to be able to find/start a job while still being payed by the Army(if you are not military its a bit confusing).
We do have a plan though. The first step is putting a large chunk of our savings in to paying down our car loan, then refinancing it with USAA at a lower interest rate because lets face it, with our current interest rate of %14.7 we are never going to pay off this car. Then hopefully find a car for me, nothing special. I hope to start going to school in January with the help of a pell grant and MyCAA scholarship. Which is where the car comes in, I need a way to get the boys to daycare and me to school!
I would like to get a job but the cost of daycare and the hours I would be able to work outweigh what little money I could bring in.

This brings me to what my main post is about.

THE ENVELOPE METHOD!
Jared and I agreed that starting next paycheck(the 15th) we are going to start the envelope method.
I'll explain it a little then post a link or 2 to some other explanations.

So here our our bi monthly expenses other than bills since all our bills are paid over the internet. We go by 1st and 15th of the month since that is when we get paid.

Food/Goods- $350
This is what we are budgeting, since this is our first time working cash only I want to make sure we have enough. If its to much it can be adjusted next paycheck.
This also includes diapers wipes, household needs like toilet paper, garbage bags. Hygiene products also like shampoo and conditioner, tooth paste, razors. Most of these things are not EVERY paycheck needs though.

Gas- $100
For Jared going to and from work and to and from BJJ.

Spend- $?
This is going to be about half of what is left of our paycheck. So say we had $100 left, $50 would go in our spend envelope and the rest in savings.
This is for say random meal out or maybe something fun to do. BUT what is in the envelope is all we have to spend.

So all of those bold categories are taken out in cash and put in to a labeled envelope. The cash in the envelope is ALL you have to spend on that categories. No taking from one to add to another.
At the end of the 2wks(or month if you choose). What ever is left(if any) is put in to savings.
Small change can be put into a piggy bank or what ever you choose.

The premise is that keeping your dealings in cash will force you to choose more wisely what you spend your money on. You have $10 left, to you buy the 1 meal at McDonald or buy inexpensive staples that could feed you for 2-3 days? Do you make that extra trip just to browse the book store or do you save your gas for more important things?

Here are some links I like
Dave Ramsey is incredibly helpful. He also has the Snowball method for paying down debt.
http://www.daveramsey.com/article/dave-ramseys-envelope-system/lifeandmoney_budgeting/

A good video tutorial on The envelope method.
http://www.ncnblog.com/2007/08/17/envelope-system-video-tutorial-step-by-step-guide-to-using-the-envelope-system-to-manage-your-cash/

And a blog I recently discovered about everything frugal!
http://smallnotebook.org/

I will be updating our progress once we start. I hope it helps us build our savings!!