Introducing "Living Like College Students"

Happy New Year!

As a couple we have been together for 31 years, married for 30 and have a 27-year-old daughter and a son-in-law that we love. "We" refers to my husband and me. We have read Dave Ramsey's "Total Money Makeover" and have decided to try things he recommends.

We had already decided that we needed to reign it in a little where money is concerned. This past year included two remodeling projects for our old house, an apartment for my husband while he lived in the place he got his new job while I tried to sell our house. The cost of putting in a new septic system prior to sale of our old house and the purchase of a new one this year was very stressful.

At least we are under one roof again and in a few days it will be a year that my husband has been at his "new" job. We still have debt. We've cut up our credit cards and are living on cash only at this point. Yay! But we want to be completely out of debt, so we are going to "live like no one else so we can live like no one else."

There is one area that we are going to keep, that we couldn't afford when we were first married and having my husband in school, and that is, we are keeping our Y membership. We decided for health reasons that that was a must. However, we will be making many new changes to our lives in entertainment, shopping, activities, car pooling etc.

This blog is to keep me on task with this goal and hopefully share some of our successes and failures. I am going to try to get a part time job, and submit my line art to reproducibles publications to increase our income. I am on disability, but I am going to see what I can do to contribute.

We had considered getting a large, flat-screen tv, (yes, there is at least one family living in this century that doesn't have one yet.), but have decided that our 21 inch is large enough. We are considering getting rid of dish tv, and using that money to improve our internet service. We're still debating this. We thought about getting a Wii before Christmas, but are not sure if we will or not. These are some things we are planning to address as substitutes for current more costly entertainment. We may get the wii and join netflix. Maybe we will get the wii fit and cut down on our drives into town to work out and save some gas money.

We are trying to set up the field and live from that point on and see how much we can save and pare down our bills. Medication and doctor visits are necessity due to mental illness and so those are two things that cannot be dropped. Purhaps that doesn't seem fair to say we are going to be living on nothing, and then have these "luxuries" but in truth they are necessities.

I am looking forward to the challenge. I will pass on any money saving tips I can as I find them.

Have a happy new year!