Bad week moneywise

Spent my allowance this week, and we’ve got a little off track with our budget…..February 1st is next week so we’ll be able to start off new again and try harder….we’re learning though

Still just $96.10 in the savings account.

Now I am facing a dilemma….my wife takes a class of college students to Europe every other year for 10 days…..two years ago I went as well and loved it. This year we are returning to Italy and going to the French Riviera. I’d love to go, but that is money I could be saving…..it’s a tough decision

What a cheap lunch!

I went to lunch and only ended up spending $5.00 (well, $5.10, but I won’t count that dime). Lunch specials and water….what a money-saving combo!

So I transferred the remaining $5 to the ING account. This must be what Dave Ramsey refers to as gazelle-like intensity. I mean, I could probably get even more crazy with this, but I just started and think I am doing well so far.

Total saved now: $96.10

Why use Dave Ramsey ELPs?

I was looking at stats to see where people are visting the site from, and noticed someone had found my site by doing a google search for “why should I use dave ramsey elp” or something along those lines.

Personally, I have now used two Dave Ramsey ELPs. First, I used Churchill Mortgage to refinance my house. The process was very quick and painless, from the application process to closing. The guy I dealt with was responsive and helpful

Second, I used Southwestern Investment Services, Inc. for my financial planning needs. I have met with the guy twice and paid not a penny.

Basically, I use Dave Ramsey ELPs as a matter of trust, or faith. Dave Ramsey’s name is worth a lot of money, and if he puts it out there I believe he does so very carefully. If he put his name out there for someone who ended up being a crook, his name would suffer, which means his wallet would suffer. I don’t believe he wants to see that happen.

Anytime you do business with someone, you are forced to trust them. You look at everything with eagle eyes to make sure you’re not being screwed, of course, but there is trust. You trust someone you may know not one thing about.

At least with Dave’s ELPs, you know Dave trusts them and you have more info about them than you do some random business. So far, I have had absolutely no regrets going with a Dave Ramsey ELP.

Calling it a week

Well, it’s Friday, and I have decided to call it a week. I am going to lunch with a friend/coworker today so I will use $10 of my allowance, but the rest will go into savings.

Also, my wife’s mother owed her $20 for something so the wife said I could invest that $20. So I have transferred $40 into my ING Direct savings account, bringing the total savings so far up to $91.10. Almost $100 and January is not over yet. Next week I’ll have more allowance and hopefully can avoid spending it again, to bring the savings up to $120.10.

I’m debating what to do with the money. I could just save it in the ING Direct account, getting 4.5% APY (right now anyway) for the year, then invest that amount in my Roth IRA. To show you the results of my year of deprivation I would have to do the math….show you how much just that amount will grow at an average Roth IRA rate over the next 30 years.

I could invest in something else….stocks? bonds? something entirely different? I don’t know. Anyone have any ideas for how to invest the money?

No allowance spent yet!

So far so good….it’s Thursday and I haven’t spent a single penny of my allowance. I may go to lunch with a friend/coworker tomorrow, so that may change, but if I do, I’ll keep it under $10.

I’m really looking forward to February. I’ll have the $250 I need to start my Roth IRA, plus I discovered my wife has about $1,400 in old retirement plans that I’ll be able to transfer into the Roth.

It really makes things easier if you can get yourself into a mindset where you’re excited about saving and investing. It helps if you just do some math, such as looking at how investing $8,000 a year for 30 years, an investment of $240,000, can turn into millions.

I know it may be hard to put money aside to spend later, rather than spend now, but think about it this way. You can blow the money now, on trinkets and junk, trying to keep up with the Joneses, or you can set the money aside and later, in early retirement, you can say goodbye to the Joneses as they head to work at 62 and you head to Europe on vacation after retiring early.