So today we are ending our third week of the FPU series. I am working on our homework trying to prepare for class tomorrow night and thought I would share with you a little of what I have learned so far.

• In the past I always got frustrated, because I wanted Jordan to sit down and do the budget with me. I wanted him right there for every step of the money dividing up and bill paying. At FPU Dave explains how most couples have a "nerd" and a "free spirit". Well in different aspects of our lives Jordan and I are each of these, but when it comes to money I am the "nerd". Jordan doesn't care where it goes or the "nuts and bolts" of our finances. He trusts me 110%, and just wants to know that everything is paid. I on the other hand need a detailed plan of attack on our bills. I need to know exactly where it is going and why I can't buy a new Coach purse. I also have always struggled to tell Jordan NO! when he wants to buy something. So using Dave's plan has put us on the same page. I make the budget, and then sit down with Jordan and we go over it. He has to make at least one change, and we must agree on everything. Now some months I know this will be hard, but we are doing it!



• The next struggle I had was what if there isn't enough money to do it all. How do I know what to pay first? Dave has a Cash Flow Plan that lists everything in priority for you, and I mean EVERYTHING. I personally always paid the credit cards first, but Dave says to pay yourself (savings) and pay charity first. I do find this hard to do, but so far it is working. Dave says to call the creditors or bills that are below the line (the line being where the money equals zero) and explain to them what is going on, and that you can't pay them this month. So far I haven't done this, but that doesn't mean I won't have to. We have started to get lots of medical bills for small amounts that add up to big $.



• The most important thing we have learned is you must have a ZERO based budget. Dave has forms for this, and you can go to his website and use a version of his budgeting software for free. If there is money leftover in groceries at the end of the month you either go buy more groceries or you have a budget meeting and move the money to another item such as debt.

Jordan and I have also found crafty ways to still go out to eat. For example we had a $50 gift card to Chili's (one of our favs). We also have a card that gets us a free Appetizer with the purchase of an entree. So if we go to Chili's and use this we can both eat for around $13. With our gift card we can do this 4 times, and it will not use any of our food budget! I have also started making my lunch. I brought my George Foreman grill to work and I have been making Paninis :) This makes it much easier to eat in!!! OHHHH and I called Comcast to turn of our internet and they took $15 off our bill for the next 6 months! What they don't know is I am turning it off then. We rarely use the internet for anything productive! Cutting 10 to 15 dollars here and there really does add up, and we are trying to put all of that towards savings.