Thoughtful Maven...

My friends who have been to Rethink Money know all about this one. Click here to check out the monthly spending plan we use. There are so many reasons to have a spending plan--we have a plan to kill off our debt at a good pace, we know where every penny is going (even though it doesn't always go where it is supposed to go), and we are able to feel more freedom in our spending, giving, and living. I want to talk about that last one for a minute. In our spending plan for each month, we have a designated slush fund for Buck & me. It is usually only about $10. But, I cannot tell you how much that has freed me up. I still feel guilty for spending it on "me" sometimes, but Buck does a good job encouraging me in that way. If I want to stop in and grab a drink somewhere, or pick up that small thing at Hobby Lobby I just have to have....I have that money sitting there for me to spend however I want. It is a part of our plan. We don't have to feel guilty when we eat out since it is a part of our plan. The plan changes each month for us, but we sit down before the month and figure out what it is going to look like. Then we just do our best to follow the plan throughout the month. We sit down together several times a month & talk about where we are winning and losing for the month.

Anyway, I encourage you to have a plan, because it removes so much of the stress related to finances. Check out the Rethink Money link to the left for other resources.