Showing posts with label tractor fund. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tractor fund. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

How Dave Ramsey supports my husband's tractor habit

Once I got on track with my envelope system, I decided to make myself stick to them no matter what, because once Cliff retires I won't have a choice; I figure I may as well train myself for lean times.  
If I need or want a grocery item, and that includes paper goods and other non-edible items on my list, I pay for it from the grocery envelope.  If there's no money in the envelope, I don't buy it; that hasn't happened yet, though.  I've stayed well below my $70 weekly allotment for groceries.  
If I want to eat out (it's always me that wants to, not Cliff), it comes either out of the grocery envelope or the entertainment envelope.  I know I should make up my mind and stick with one or the other, but this gives me more options.  
Cliff gets $120 a week for pocket money; he pays the guy with whom he rides to work $30 weekly ($7.50 daily), but the rest is not accounted for.  He buys gasoline with a credit card and we pay that monthly.  That bill isn't too outrageous because Cliff doesn't have to drive to work.  Up until six months ago, Cliff's "allowance" was $100 week a week, but he seemed to be running out of money all the time, so I increased it.  
Here's what would happen before:  I'd get a yen for pizza or Olive Garden or Subway, and Cliff would pull out his billfold.  Or we'd go into Orscheln's and buy a sack of sweet feed for Bonnie, and Cliff would pull out his billfold.  You get the picture.  
Now you'd be hard pressed to see me wanting to eat out, because it comes out of my envelope!!!!!  No way am I going to fritter away my grocery or entertainment money on such stuff, when I have plenty of cheap (or free) food at home.  If Bonnie is out of sweet feed, there's money in my "pets" envelope for such purposes.  
So Cliff ends up with about $80 left over each week.  He told me once to stop getting him so much money, but I told him to enjoy it while he's still working and just put it in his tractor fund.  When he retires he'll be able to buy paint and parts for his projects.
Now, I know Dave Ramsey would rather have me putting that money in savings.  But I haven't taken his course, so I make up a few rules of my own.  
Besides, we already have our emergency fund built up.

Thursday, August 05, 2010

bad news, good news

When Cliff had that quadruple bypass over four years ago, he stopped working overtime at work when it was offered.  We didn't really have to have the extra money, and after that little scare, he appreciated every bit of time he could keep for himself.  You can get more money in this life, but you can't get more time.  That's been our philosophy; and when, once in awhile, Cliff would mention that he perhaps should go in on his day off, I'd talk him out of it.  He has not worked a single hour of overtime in four years.  
Last night he got hit with a new rule they've made at his place of employment:  Everyone MUST work at least two days overtime a month.  Now we'll only have two three-day weekends per month instead of four.  
The good news is that Cliff's tractor fund is getting pretty low; that extra twenty hours per month will pump some life back into that fund at a pretty good rate.  I told him we'd consider every penny of the overtime pay as his tractor money.  
So he feels somewhat better about the situation.