Double F: Food and Finances

I have a secret: I love my crock pot! (okay, maybe it's not a secret) Not because it's top of the line or can on its own land a perfect 10 back flip like other fancy slow cookers. 

 See? Only 1 knob with 4 settings including OFF. So simple.

Rather, deep down at the root of my being (well maybe one of the root shoots) I love to multitask. Besides prepping the food (you know super hard cutting meat and veggies or opening cans), the crock pot allows me to cook and do everything else I need to do in a day! AND minimal cleanup time if you use these fancy bags!

 (I buy these in bulk.)

So this 5 year love affair has been blissful, and I can't imagine where I would be without my crock pot.

Seriously.

I'd like to say I'm joking but almost everyone knows that James fell in love with me AFTER I fed him crook pot roast in college. (Single Ladies out there, take note: there are 3 ways into a man's heart, accomplishing 2 will solidify a date. One of those ways is through his stomach, so learn to cook and quench his appetite.

So I write this post to explain how my crock pot fits into 2 pillars of our household (as previously mentioned in this post: finances and food. 

 

Finances: One of the main PROs of a crock pot is the financial efficiency of most meals. I say most because I'm sure there's someone out there making organic, farm raised meat meals who would beg to differ. (Future Rachel we are talking about you!) But point is: Lots of food at a small cost. This food can be eaten all week, frozen for later, or shared. I have done all three and still find it cheaper than a meal out at times (even if I feed 12 other people). So for those days you know you would come home from work and NOT want to cook and cave in to ordering pizza at 8pm or later because your husband sits on the couch the whole time and whines about being hungry but doesn't want to cook anything either, a crock pot would have been a better solution financially and health-wise, too. So think ahead, plan your meals, and don't give in to the "let's just go somewhere and spend money" temptation anymore! When you come home to the smell of dinner, you won't think ONCE about going out to eat. Unless you are thinking about how much money you saved by using your trusty friend the crock pot!

The other pillar: Food. My favorite things to cook in the CP: Roast (True life: I have never not cooked a roast in a crock pot) and taco chicken. I'm starting to crave both of these meals now. The truth is, I wasn't a chef prior to or even during college. In fact, my skills are still minimal compared to many women who have more experience than me (and less for you gifted ladies out there). I began "cooking" in college by using the crock pot. It was my gateway kitchen appliance if you will. There are recipes upon recipes for slow cookers out there, and I rarely find one that's bad. I'll eventually post my winners.

If you don't have a crock pot, buy one. It'll be an investment that will positively change your health and bank account if you find it hard to cook healthy meals and are wanting to save more money this year.

Peace, love, and crock pot meals.

~RR

The F's: Finances- Meet a Budget

James and I have realized, in the last year or so, there are 4 main topics we advise people on: Faith, Finances, Food & Fitness. We normally can share our Faith while discussing the other three, as it is the Core of our life and reasoning behind our lifestyle. This being said, I'm excited to post my first F blog! 

 (The 4 pillars of our life, or something along these lines.)

Ever since we took Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, we've been learning and sharing our financial insight, mainly with friends who are in the same "Family Lifecycle" (to use some marketing terms) as us, meaning, they're out of college & employed fulltime but don't have children. We've determined we both are financial "nerds" (okay, not a surprise here), so we took finances to the nerdy extreme. What does that mean? We find delight in making a budget, recording our expenses and analyzing our finances. 

So maybe everyone isn't as gung-ho as we are, but that doesn't mean the average person/family should avoid any sort of financial planning. The average American household income is about $50,000, yet the average American individual has $47,000 in debt and $23,000 student loan debt upon graduation from college. What do all of these numbers mean? It means we need financial planning in our lives.

Now before I continue, I need to say: We are not perfect! Phew, glad I got that off my chest! ;) My husband and I are still trying to perfect our budget and our spending, but we definitely are not perfect right now. I want to share our budgeting techniques though, because in our discussions with friends, we've learned our record-keeping techniques are rare. 

We "graduated" from Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, so of course most of our financial planning is based off of his teachings. His teachings are clear and simple for us to understand and implement, and they make logical sense to us.  (Side note: we highly recommend this financial class or ANY financial class to newlyweds. It is important to establish a financial plan and behavior as a married couple from the beginning. One that a married couple adapts together rather than someone's parent's or single life's budget.)

We organize our finances in an Excel Document we've created online in Google Drive. This allows us to access and edit it anywhere! This is great because we don't have an excuse to leave off ANYTHING! You can share these files with other people simply by allowing them access to the doc. 

So here's our budget form, taken from Dave and adjusted to fit our family needs, though I left many areas even we don't use.

 

 (Sorry I had to do 3 screen shots to get it all)

 A few notes:

1. There are some rows/topics that aren't applicable to everyone, just delete those lines. Or start saving for them if they will be in your future. ;)
2. Everything is budgeted. No more impromptu shopping trips, no more reckless spending. If we know James needs new running shoes for his half marathon, we budget for it. When we agree none of my pants fit, we allot money to purchase fitting pants. If I want a new pair of shoes or purse or jewelry or curling iron or makeup...that comes out of my personal fun fund. And I can save up for it or indulge carefully every month. My point is, my husband doesn't have to put me on a certain clothing budget, and I don't question him for spending too much money at BWW, because that money comes from our predetermined fun funds. It works for us right now, when we have many other financial goals to focus money on.
3. Some of these categories are either strictly saving or if we do not spend the entire amount, we put the remainder into savings. So, if we budget $80 for Rocky but only spend $50, at the end of the month we put $30 into Rocky savings (tune in next time for our savings spreadsheet).
4. Every dollar is accounted for. Sure, it makes us analyze every dollar spent-that's the point. Instead of asking where our money went, we tell it where it goes. If by the second day of the month we've used all $75 of our restaurant fund, then we better get creative with cooking at home.

If you want this template mailed to you, leave me a comment or send me a message and I will share. We love helping people become organized financially, because living free of financial stress through efficient and detailed planning has allowed us to enjoy life. When you aren't worrying about whether or not you can pay a bill, life is great. The financial peace in our lives has overflown to every other part of our lives.

I have 2 comparisons to how we feel about our budgeting: when you are out shopping and you just found an incredibly awesome sale and you know your friends or family would benefit from it, you call them up, text them or send a picture of your snag. You cannot contain your joy. 

Likewise, when you are filled with such joy of the Lord, you want to yell it from the mountain tops. When He heals the sick and provides for the poor, or you simply become overwhelmed with the blessing of mercy and grace, you cannot help but share your story to every person who would listen. This was me 5 years ago after my surgery; the Lord renewed my spirit through a miraculous healing and I could not help but tell my story to every single person. I show my scar to those with open ears. 

Well, it is with similar vigor we share our financial budgeting success. We have won over financial stress through God's guidance and the wisdom He has endowed upon us, and we want to share this blessing with anyone who is seeking the light!

~RR