Your Two Bits

When it’s summer hot chocolate may not sound like a treat, but it’s still great with this story.

A few years ago I was talking to a co-worker, Sally*, about budgeting and investing. She wanted to invest but felt like her spending was a little out of control; her husband felt like it was a lot out of control. So we talked about budgeting. She laughed at me because I sang the praises of budgeting, but I really do like the control budgeting gives me and how it helps me make a conscious decision about where my money goes.

Sally and I discussed a budget, how she and her husband could set one up, and how they could have money allocated for certain things. The beauty of allocating money is that she and her husband would be on the same page and there should be no problems as long as they both stayed within the constraints they had agreed.

The next week, Sally came up to me and said, “You’re right about the budget. My husband bugs me about spending money on things like hot chocolate at Barnes and Noble, because it’s so expensive. But I really like getting a hot chocolate there. So we made Sally’s Hot Chocolate Fund a budget category. We were at Barnes and Noble last night. I was going to ask him if I could get a hot chocolate. But then I remembered: I don’t need to ask him; we have money budgeted for this. It was so great! I didn’t have to ask, and he didn’t bug me because we both knew there was money budgeted for it.”

I’m glad Sally shared her two bits with me. She had caught the vision of the power of a budget and was excited about it. Something as simple as hot chocolate showed her how liberating a budget can be.

*Name has been changed to protect the recovering non-budgeter.

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For people looking to save a little money and do something fun as a family, there is a program that offers free bowling for kids every day during the summer. It’s a nationwide program but only available through certain bowling alleys. I found out about it from a post on I’ve Paid for This Twice Already… If you’re working on debt elimination, I recommend checking this blog out. The author posts on her progress toward getting out of debt, which can be quite motivating.

Regarding the bowling program, adults have to pay, but you can purchase a discount summer pass. You can find more details and the nearest participating bowling alley at kidsbowlfree.com. One catch is that you do still have to pay for shoe rental. Still, that’s not a bad deal. My family loves to bowl, but we don’t do it very often due to the cost. Unfortunately for us the nearest participating bowling alley is pretty far away…but hopefully it will work for you—just don’t incur any debt to do it.

If you do try it out, please share your two bits on how it goes.

While preparing for a presentation on debt elimination, I discovered two great calculators: one online and the other an Excel template. They are both well worth checking out.

The online debt elimination calculator is found at the Provident Living site among a list of other very useful calculators. You can enter all your debts and calculate the accelerated payoff by focusing on the highest interest rate or the shortest time left for the debt. You can also enter a savings interest rate, and the calculator will show how your your money can grow by saving and investing the money once the debts are paid.

The Excel template is buried on a site about personal finance, provided by BYU’s Marriot School of Business. This template essentially provides the same information as the online calculator, except it’s not nearly as pretty. It can even appear a little overwhelming at first, but it’s not that bad. There are two things I like about it:

1. You can save it locally to your computer, so you don’t have to re-enter the info each time you use it.
2. On any given month, you can enter custom amounts to be applied toward the principal (the same reason why I like Excel’s loan amortization calculator).

Either one of these will give you great information. However, if this is your first time trying out the debt snowball method (debt elmination acceleration), I recommend starting with the online calculator. It’s more visually interesting, and seeing what your invested money can grow to is exciting.

As odd as it may sound these calculators are fun and motivating. One person who attended the presentation said afterward, “I don’t have any debt, but I’m thinking maybe I should get some so I can play with these fun tools.” We had a good laugh.

So check them out and get going on your debt snowball!

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A friend lent me the book, The Four Laws of Debt Free Prosperity, which I read in my sparse spare time this last week. Fortunately, it’s a quick short read.

The book’s strength is that it keeps the principles simple and condensed to four main points, which is a great way to go to keep from overwhelming the reader—especially considering that the readers who most need this material are likely already feeling overwhelmed by their financial situation. The four main points or laws are:

1. Track your spending so you know what you are doing with your money,
2. Target or set financial goals,
3. Trim your spending so that you spend less than you earn,
4. Train yourself in financial matters so that you spend and invest well.

The book further explains and illustrates these points. I liked the chapter on debt-elimination the best. It has some good examples of how to accelerate debt-elimination and can help you not only feel like getting out of debt is possible but motivate you to do it.

The Four Laws was produced by or for Chequemate International (I don’t know the company). This book appears to be part of a system they sell to help you get out of debt and get ahead with your money. Not knowing the company or the rest of their products, I really can’t say anything about them. However, I think this book would be helpful to those who are not sure why they should have a budget or who want to eliminate their debt. It’s one of those books that has a storyline, and the principles being taught are overtly woven into the story—or rather the story is woven into the principles. While these kinds of books do not make for great literature, using the story format makes for a more entertaining read. Plus, this story is a good motivational read for those wanting to get out of debt.

That’s my take on it anyway. If any of you have read it and want to share your two bits, feel free.

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