food for finance: weighing in

(healthy) food for finance is a column where we talk about how fitness and finance correlate with each other. join us on our journey to be both physically and financially fit.

Kyle and I weigh in every week.  We try to do it on Tuesday nights before watching the Biggest Loser! Cheesy, but that is how we roll!   We need that accountability to make sure we're maintaining our weight.  It does not bother me to get on the scales.  And if I've gone off track (holidays) I expect my numbers to be 1 or 2 pounds higher.  But that is ok because I know how hard I need to work the next week.  I need that in my life.  I need that kind of support. Kyle is the same way. It was real fun when he was losing weight every week!  We would look forward to it. Crazy I know. But when he was putting in the hard work, it is exciting to see the results. 

We got married and started a budget or as I like to call it, stepping on the financial scale.  That was all of Kyle's doing.  We had our first money weigh in and it was not fun.  When you know you're overweight, you can see it in the mirror (a Dave Ramsey comparison). It was so much harder to see our debt's true weight unless we laid it out on the table.  Our financial cholesterol was not within range. So instead of our money telling us what to do, we decided we would tell our money what to do. It was time for a financial diet lifestyle change! So, we did what any new/semi Dave Ramsey follower would do....we did "our" version of his plan.  I blame me for that as I had not yet read the The Total Money Makeover. I just heard Kyle talk about it.  But then something happened. A girl at work let me borrow the audio cd and I have been forever changed! I had to hear it for myself and I'm sad it took me 2 years to come around. Don't get me wrong, we were doing "our" version and still paying off debt. But since we started using the envelope system, we are paying off debt at a much faster rate! 



Here is a picture of Kyle budgeting with our new envelope system. He LOVES this!  He gets gitty when he gets to budget. I just review it and go along. We really do go together like fitness and finance (refer to this post for the story). Our 'weigh in' for our fiances is keeping our daily budget. Goes back to the accountability. I get excited paying bills! I love to see the balance shed pounds using the debt snowball plan. Crazy I know!

We're projected to be debt free but the house in March.  No car payment! No credit card debt! Not even a single student loan! Only the house.  We've learned so much through this financial marathon and I want to share all of it. Can't wait for my next therapy posting! Writing down my thoughts helps me cope!