5 Step Plan To Financial Success!

Here are 10 Simple (and not impossible) Steps to turning your financial world around for the better!

Step 1

Let's figure out where your money is currently being spent... Makes sense, right? We have to write down all of your bills, when they are due, how much each of them are, etc. Once we have an idea of where the money "Should" be going, then we will go to the bank and look at where the money "Actually" went throughout the month... Be prepared to have a total breakdown after you go through the bank and see where the money actually is going... It broke my heart; and of course with my ADD and OCD I decided to go further and do the month before (I mean, afterall, I had a bad month last month, right? No?), and the month before, and the entire year!!! Oh my goodness was my heart crushed when I realized how much money I had spent at just unneccessary places for things I definitely didn't "need"!

When I was spending the money each time, it didn't seem like a big deal; $5 here $10 there for coffee in the mornings for my daughter and I on our way to the shop or our booths... Well take that $5 (we'll use the lower number for my sanity) and X (multiply) that by the number of days we did this throughout the month (31 total days in May, take out Sundays & Mondays and we're down to roughly 22 days) So our $5 (which this is for 1 coffee, we all know the daughter had to get a drink every time we were there too with the random exception of her not wanting anything) X 22 days = $110 (and that is the LOWEST end)... That is over $1200 a year that I spent money at the coffee shop on bull blasters (which means a ton of sugar, Taurine, and garbage that I definitely didn't need)...

Here was my really big, depressing eye opener to the situation that was at hand here... Amazon. Dear old Amazon; I love how easy you make it for me to buy cute new things for my home, clothes for my children and fiance, dog treats, horse things, etc all in one place (and didn't even have to leave the house... Or spend money on gas!? Right? That's a plus?!)... After I broke everything down, I had spent OVER $15,000 in ONE YEAR, on JUST Amazon. And we do not make crazy money, we have a billion bills, we have 3 children full time and 1 part time, we pay child support, 2 car payments, $1000/month for rent, etc. How in the actual Hell, did I spend $15k in a year on just Amazon?! So the OCD and ADD teamed up and broke that all down... How generous of them, right? Ugh

To make me feel better I broke down the fiances gas station trips he does daily for Monster and chew and whatever else he thinks he needs that morning... His total was around $600/month, restaurants (I won't even get started here... Feeding 5-6 of us every time is about $70 each time) We were eating out at restaurants 1-2 times per week... Yuck on that money out the window!

What do you get out of all of this spending? I mean really, what do you really get at the end of it? A new picture on your wall? -Which by the way is one more thing you will have to pack and move when you ever leave this house that you're RENTING, just one more thing collecting dust. Great. Or the chew and Monsters and Red Bulls, what do you get? -Oh more money going out to the dentist that has to fix your teeth and gums that this garbage has been ruining for years, you gained a ton of weight you're unhappy about and have a hard time losing, and your borderline diabetic now; so that is fun... Totally worth it, right? And the eating out at restaurants, was it worth it? -Absolutely NOT! How many times did you get home and felt sick, how many times did you get sick from eating there, how many times was the food prepared wrong or the service was awful, and remember that weight we were just talking about that you gained and are having a hard time losing...? Yea, there's that too. ;P

Once I saw the numbers and where the money was being "Blown" regularly, I got defensive, then I got depressed, then I got VERY motivated to fix this situation because I started realizing... "If we didn't spend that money at all of these useless places for useless things that are just negatively effecting us anyways... That is SO much money, "extra" we would have to pay off things like; our cars, buy a house, dump money into our business we started, go on vacation, etc." I could instantly think of a million places that would have been way more fun to spend money then where we spent it. But then, one better, then I thought about, if we paid off the cars and paid the debts off, then we would have all of that money we spend every month on those debts "extra" too. This turned into a total spiral effect, realizing all I have to do is stop "blowing" money, get the fiance on the same page (that is VERY important), pay off debts with the money we were "blowing" and have all that debt money available for us to use now too! How exciting is that?! Which brings us to....

Step 2 "Thinning"

I like to use the word "thinning" instead of "cutting back" or anything like that. Cutting back sounds like you just removed an arm or leg... Which is exactly how you feel at the beginning of this when you are "thinning" down your spending. Thinning is the time to not have too much pride; I will say that right from the start. Thinning is also the step where you get to mold your life into the new and improved you; however you want! Thinning is where we are going to start recycling, reusing, reducing, etc. When you go to the store for groceries... Don't you dare go there without a list you made up before you ever left the house! Make a list, in your kitchen, walk around to the bathrooms and check toilet paper stock, check cabinets, freezer, refrigerator, etc. and you will not be buying things you already have (and don't need currently).

We don't need to hoard toilet paper like its 2020, lol.

Sit down with your whole family and plan out meals. Come up with breakfast ideas (side note: it is cheaper for the kiddos to eat at school than to eat the whole kitchen for breakfast... Just saying). Look at the calendar and figure out which days they are in school; those days... Don't buy breakfast stuff, don't buy lunch stuff, just dinner. Get rid of the dessert after dinner too; do you need it? No. Does it do anything good for you? Absolutely not, it just adds to that weight you're confused about losing... So get rid of it! My situation is slightly different as I homeschool my kids.... So in this instance; breakfasts and lunches are all on me... But I put myself in the schools shoes and dowsized the portions, bought cheaper breakfasts and not name brand everything my kids "think they need". Same with lunches. The fiance and I started making sandwiches to take to the shop, we don't need the "snacks" so we are cutting back on those. What else do you NEED? Probably a vegetable... Why? Because you can just grow that stuff yourself!!!! It costs $1 or less for a pack of seeds... Plant some carrots, lettuce, corn, plant all the things and save SO much money... Plus it is a million times healthier and you know exactly what is in it, on it, etc.

When you sit down with the family and are coming up with meals, you can do like some families, where every Monday they eat a certain meal, every Tuesday they eat a certain meal, and so on and so forth. Or you can switch it up and mix it up, however you want! No matter what, you are going to be doing better than you were before when you were going out to eat 2 times per week or more with the entire family. Start however you want as long as it's less than it was... Then thin again in a month or so. You can keep thinning and thinning as much as you want. I have turned it into a game almost at this point, I spent this much this month, next month my goal is, however much (but less than the month before). Thinning each month is also easier on your getting started. You don't want to just cut off everything like limbs and think you are going to do well. You will be miserable and then you will end up breaking down and losing your own game. Thin each month more and more. What is the point if you are miserable and unhappy through all of this and at the end? Which brings me to a simple one...

Step 3 - "Excuses are not tolerted here"

From this point forward you are not allowed to use the phrase (or anything remotely close to it) "You only live once"... As much as I agree with that phrase, it is really easy to just give up by making yourself believe that you will be happier if you just do this one thing, or spend this money one time because "you only live once" and "you can't take money with you when you die".... These are excuses.. Excuses are not tolerated here. If you really want to save money and do better, do it!

Step 4 - Set A Goal

So this one is a movable goal... You can bump this baby up to number 2 or wait until now to set it.. Whichever works best for you and your family... Afterall, you are the ones that has to live this life, you might as well mold it the way you want that is slightly more comfortable, right?

Setting a goal is very important! My fiance and I have tried to save money and do better with money, multiple times... The biggest and really only problem we kept facing each time was that one of us was more motivated than the other. Usually it was me being more motivated, but then we found this... We'll call it a project/Goal. Once we both went and looked further into this new project of ours, we both fell in love with it. We decided we needed to go home, look at finances and see how we could make this all work into our budget and make it all happen. It very quickly zoomed right past a dream and right into a goal. I looked at him and said, "Well, do you love this project enough to quit chewing now?" (we have been battling with him quitting the chew for 4 years now) and without hesitation he said "Yes". Seeing how quickly and easily and effortlessly he said Yes, made me realize if he could quit chewing for this, I could definitely quit spending tons of money on Amazon for this! This project was going to be way more exciting and beneficial and made both of us super excited so much more than anything that was going to shop in a bubble envelope or box on my front porch. And just like that, we were all in finally. So, you have to find that "thing," that goal that is going to motivate you so much, you WANT to change things to make that happen. Which then brings us to the hardest and final step...

Step 5 - Make it happen

This is where you start pushing. Just like when you were giving birth to all 3 of those beautiful babies! You wanted to be done being pregnant! You wanted to see those beautiful, healthy babies, and you PUSHED!!! Now, without making it super weird, PUSH (not so much physically like you did for the babies because that could get messy, but get your mental side of things in that mindset to PUSH no matter how hard it is).

There will be times where you might be running along smoothly, doing great, everything is going as planned, and then all of a sudden you have a hurdle in front of you... Now, the right thing to do here is jump over that thing and keep running, right? But we are human afterall, forgive your lazy self once in a while when you decide to run around the hurdle instead of jumping over it... Just don't get carried away and run across the field, through the streets and to the Amazon warehouse to get over that hurdle. A small hiccup is ok, and easily fixed. Don't throw everything out the window with all of your hard work here. If you jump over that hurdle and land on your face on the other side, its ok, make an agreement from the start with your other half that you both have each others backs through this; and have them help you back up and dust you off so you two can continue running this journey together smoothly.

To help you out a bit, here are a bunch of tips, trick, side hustles, ways and ideas for saving money!

1) Do your research and make sure you are buying groceries from the least expensive grocery stores. If you have to go to multiple places to get the best deals, do so! For example, in my little town, we have a Dollar Tree, Walmart, Safeway, and a couple super small name grocery stores, along with a newer "Grocery Outlet". These are all fine and dandy, however if I drive to the next big town (1.5 hours away) there is a Winnco... If you have a Winnco, go there!!!! SO MUCH LESS EXPENSIVE!!! I use to shop at Sams Club in South Carolina and Texas when we lived there; then we moved here and don't have Sams Club, but have Costco. So I switched and thought I was buying things cheaper in bulk through them. Well, Winnco takes the cake from all of them here; they are much cheaper.

2) Take a laundry basket (or 2... or 3) with you to hold all of your groceries. This will ensure you are not having to pay for each individual bag you use at any of these stores now that they are charging for them.

3) Take and use coupons! I don't go buying a newspaper just to get coupons in my small little town because it doesn't benefit enough. When I lived in Dallas though, we couponed like crazy and had SO much free stuff (maybe I will do a blog/post on that soon; check out my other blogs/posts/stories).

4) Mow lawns as a side hustle; I love this one because I am all about cleaning up the community and helping other people out. I know in our little town, there are so many people that are too old, disabled, etc. that could really use the help with their lawns and just don't have family around or anything to help them. This puts extra money in your pocket, its a good life lesson for your children (make them come along and help you), and cleans up your community along the way. It's great and makes you feel so much better at the end of it. You can do this will plowing/shoveling snow in the winter, etc. too! (mow lawns, plant flowers, weed gardens, plow gardens, rake leaves, trim branches, yard cleanup, plow snow, haul trash... just a few ideas)

5) Make everything that you can! I have gotten really crafty since we started all of this financial saving and stuff; it's amazing how you start to look at literally everything different then you did when you first started. If your kid rips their jeans, Google or YouTube "how to ...." and learn a new trade! Fix those jeans and keep rocking them! That just saved you like $30! I have gone as far as using this pile of wood that has been behind my neighbors house for over 2 years... They don't need it (I asked the land owner already) and have started crafting up Christmas gifts! How exciting is that?! I am saving SO much money by not having to buy all these peoples Christmas gifts this year, using up that old wood pile (which goes back to making the community look better too) and boom; just like that, getting Christmas done early and saving all the money! I make a lot of things and resell them too! I have made so many tables, desks, end tables, kids table and chair sets, etc all out of scrap wood that was just sitting around somewhere and when I got it all done; there is always someone SO excited about whatever it is that I made that they buy it! Now that is winning!

6) Meal prep when possible; it is so much easier to just pull into a fast food place when the baby is in the backseat screaming and get her a quick meal than to make a sandwich and everything for her on the road. Meal prep any meals you can; the quicker you make dinners at the end of a long day, the better and easier it is to stick with your plan. You can meal prep A LOT of meats and pasta salads, etc. Meal prep what you can for the whole week on Sunday (or whenever your day off for the week is)... (*Maybe a blog/post to come for that too soon?)

7) Sell things you don't use or haven't seen. Sometimes I go through the house, cabinets, closets, basement, garage, shop, etc. and I decide before I even go in there that, anything that I haven't seen or used in the past (I usually use 6 months as a spot to start), I don't need it... And can sell it! Garage sale, Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, etc.... All good places to unload this kind of stuff. This is great because it makes you feel better getting things cleaned up around the house, declutters, makes you extra money, and is equally as fulfilling as shopping (if you're anything like me).

8) "Use that free light!" is a saying I use DAILY at my house; and it has even stuck with the family at this point and you will hear the kids or the fiance saying it here and there now too! But its true! Open those curtains and blinds and turn off the lights! That light coming in the windows is FREE, use it!

9) Stalk the weather and adjust accordingly... I check the weather AT LEAST once or twice a day. If the weather is below 50; the heat needs to be turned out because our house is going to start getting cold (this will be different for every home... You will have to figure out your happy points). I would rather it stay a little cooler in the house than everyone getting sick. We have blankets on the couches, beds, add a sweater if you're chilly, etc. If the temp is over 80 outside, I turn the A/C on... Anything in between... The heating and cooling is off and if I can open the windows for some fresh air, I most definitely do!

10) Don't buy anything during that season, ever! If its winter time.. THIS is when you replace that grill, replace that air conditioner that crapped out last summer, replace that garden hose that the horse stepped on and busted a hole in, etc. Buy everything off the season it is normally in; it is always at its lowest price, nobody else wants the stuff at that time so its super cheap, and will save you money. If you go trying to buy an air conditioner in the summer when your breaks; you will be lucky to find one at all, but then you will also pay a premium price because of good ol' Supply and Demand.

11) Update your light bulbs.. But not until they need to be. So, you always hear people saying, "use this super efficient light bulb and save tons of money each year"... Well it does no good, financially, to just go buy a million of these new, slightly more expensive up front light bulbs and go replacing every bulb in your house if the bulbs you have are still working just fine. If a bulb burns out, yes, replace it with a more energy efficient one at that time. And keep using that "free light" as often as possible.

12) Watch how much trash you are throwing away each week! So this can go a couple different ways: the sanitation in my area charges you an extra fee if your garbage can lid doesn't close completely; they just add that on to your bill without any notice and it stinks... Quite literally too. You will want to look into this and see if it applies in your area before getting all crazy about your trash can... Also, sometimes we throw things away that can be used for something else, turned in to something else, etc. Reuse that stuff! (be careful with this though, yes we are saving money and recycling and whatnot, but don't become a hoarder and keep everything you could possibly ever need in the future!)

13) Don't buy junk food, snacks, pop/soda, juice and other things you don't "need". You can 100% live without all of that stuff; do it! You will be saving so much money on your grocery bill, losing weight you thought you would never lose, etc. When it comes to buying water... If you have decent and healthy water coming out of your faucet, drink and use that instead of buying water bottles and all of this nonsense! If the water tastes a little to your unliking but is healthy and fine... Use it! You are saving so much money on not buying water bottles and things. If you are one of those people that just need to have a water bottle and like to have a cold one, etc. Fill your water bottles with tap water and put those babies in the fridge.

14)You can make your own hand soap, dish soap, laundry soap, bath bombs, shower gellies, floor cleaner, window cleaner, counter cleaner, all purpose cleaner, and so much more out of things you probably already have in your house! Head on over to Google and YouTube and learn some new things!

15) Learn all the things from Google University (Google) and YouTube University (just regular ol' YouTube). This will save you so much money when you learn how to do things on your own, fix things on your own, etc. You will be saving so much money in now time! Or even learning a new trade and making a new side hustle that way!

I could go on forever with ideas but won't bore you with all of that. I hope you enjoyed my blog/post and I hope it helps you with your budget and finances and gives you some motivation and ideas to work on yours as we have with ours. It is amazing how quick you will see the results. Instant gratification in many cases! I love it! Have a great week!