The Answer Is In Your Checkbook
April 26th, 2010 | 
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My mom once told me, “You can learn a lot about a person by looking at their checkbook.”
Think about it. The way we spend money reflects our values, desires, and our current stage in life. If you glanced in my checkbook here’s what you’d learn:
1) I’m a giver.
To my church, charitable organizations, and beyond.
(No, I will not send you 20 bucks)
2) I pay a large student loan bill.
I smile thinking of our master’s degrees, yet my wallet cries daily.
3) We eat out way too much.
Busy lives sometimes equals take out. (working on cutting back )
As I examine how we spend our money, I am more and more aware of the person I am…. and the person I long to be. It’s a process, but I want to share with you a few changes that I’ve made. Here goes:
*Each week, I’m cooking at home an extra night and setting aside some cash for a family vacation.
* I don’t buy beverages on the go any more (Coffee or Cokes). Instead, I’ve got an envelope titled “What if”….. (for those times I say, “What if we escaped for two days and went to _______” ) Now I’ll have money to do it.
* I’ve started keeping track of the consumables in our house, and try to save money more than I ever have before.
So, dear friends, if I could glance into your checkbook, what would it tell me about you?
Are you ready for some change? Start an envelope… let’s go on this journey together!
What are some ways you save money?
Megan is mom who wants kids to come with a user’s manual. You can read about her journey in life and motherhood on her personal blog, Life As We Know It.
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Our bank has a feature online where it will categorize all your spending…we did that and found out that we spend WAY too much on eating out! We didn’t think it was that much, but seeing the percentage of our finances that went to eating out was staggering. We haven’t cut it out completely by any means, but even *knowing* has made a positive impact on that part of our finances!
i just take out $xx amount for groceries every week. when its gone-t.s.. and if i actually have extra (like this week we will-hubby is out of town and i have a $20 gift card to pizza hut!), i put it into a different account to save up for our disenyland vacay this fall.
oh and another way to save-dont tell hubby about the other bank account. you will have a new huge unneeded tv instead of a vacay account!
i used to do the whole envelope thing when i was single and it was great. but I really want to get back to it. at least just a “CASH” envelope.
i used to do the whole envelope thing when i was single and it was great. but I really want to get back to it. at least just a “CASH” envelope.
i just take out $xx amount for groceries every week. when its gone-t.s.. and if i actually have extra (like this week we will-hubby is out of town and i have a $20 gift card to pizza hut!), i put it into a different account to save up for our disenyland vacay this fall.
oh and another way to save-dont tell hubby about the other bank account. you will have a new huge unneeded tv instead of a vacay account!
Pretty sure it would say, “you eat a Chick fil a too much.” My husband would agree.
I don’t know – I gotta think about that one! Maybe – you do WAY too much stuff with your kids
Holly
I hear you on the Chick-Fil-A, Katy! It’s so good! My husband and I managed to trim our eating out budget to $50 or less per month. We love cooking at home and save tons of $$. I rarely use checks (I put every penny on our CC to get airline miles!) so my statement would say I’m a Mom who loves her girls and hubby, we like buying books for the kids, and we’re in “fast-growing” baby mode – need a bigger booster seat for the 2 yo, bigger shoes for the twins… but hopefully smaller pants for the Mama soon!
I hear you on the Chick-Fil-A, Katy! It’s so good! My husband and I managed to trim our eating out budget to $50 or less per month. We love cooking at home and save tons of $$. I rarely use checks (I put every penny on our CC to get airline miles!) so my statement would say I’m a Mom who loves her girls and hubby, we like buying books for the kids, and we’re in “fast-growing” baby mode – need a bigger booster seat for the 2 yo, bigger shoes for the twins… but hopefully smaller pants for the Mama soon!
The amount of take out we get is unreal. Every trip to the grocery store I swear I’ll cook more. We got groceries last night and I’m sitting here craving Chinese food. But I’ll be good, I swear…
Because….what if?