Dave Says: Cash-only system can help reign in household budget

Dear Dave,

My husband and I have been living on a budget for a few months, and for some reason there seems to be leaks in our budget. It’s just a few dollars here and there, but added together it makes a huge dent. Can you give us some advice?

Joy

Dear Joy,

This kind of thing happens a lot in household budgeting, especially to folks who are new to the game. Here are some ideas to help stretch your dollars and plug those leaks.

Use the cash-only method, especially when shopping for groceries. Take only the amount you have budgeted, and don’t use your debit card or a check. Also, use coupons only for items you would buy anyway. In addition, you can stock up on items you use often when there is a big sale. These little things will add up.

Try eating out only on special occasions, drink water as your beverage and don’t be afraid to use coupons in restaurants, either. When it comes to buying clothes, make a habit of checking out the sale rack first. You can shop at thrift and consignment stores, and sell the clothes you don’t wear anymore.

With entertainment, use dollar-off and buy-one-get-one-free coupons whenever you can. See a matinée or a second-run movie, and if you’re going somewhere with a bunch of people, call ahead and ask for a group discount. You’ll be amazed at how much money these tactics will save!

—Dave

Avoid interest on loan?

Dear Dave,

In an attempt to improve my bad credit I recently bought a new car which I financed at 17.9 percent for 72 months. If I make the minimum payment of $468 a month, I’ll end up paying about $13,000 in interest alone. Is there a formula I can use to avoid paying all this interest?

Marcus
Dear Marcus,

There sure is. Sell the stinking car!

Your credit rating and interest rate are lousy because you haven’t paid your bills. And you haven’t paid your bills because you’ve been buying a bunch of crap you couldn’t afford — like this new car at $468 a month.

Listen, you could have more than $5,500 in just 12 months if you just saved up all those car payments. That would get you a good little used vehicle that wouldn’t be an anchor around your neck for the next six years.

Stop believing the lie, Marcus. Going into debt doesn’t improve your life.

—Dave

Offered a timeshare

Dear Dave,

Some friends recently offered me a timeshare. It’s an older place on the beach, and they’ve had it for about 20 years. I’d have to pay a transfer fee of $100, plus a yearly association fee of $500. I know you’re not a big fan of timeshares, but does this deal sound okay?

Jill

Dear Jill,
In essence, you’re looking at $500 a week. I know the $500 is technically an annual association fee, but you’re basically paying $500 for your week at the timeshare. And in the future, say five years from now, the association fee could increase. You might be paying $1,000 a year at that point — again, for your week.

In actuality, the numbers you’re talking about right now aren’t completely terrible. Still, it’s not a huge blessing. In my mind it’s kind of like, “How would you like a kick in the knee that’s not too hard?”

If it were me, I’d much rather spend my $500 a year on travel and be able to go and stay wherever I wanted. Not only does this free you up it that area, but you’d only spend the money when and if you did it. With a timeshare, you get charged whether you show up or not.

This one’s not as bad as if you’d have to pay $8,000 for the opportunity. But if these were my friends making the offer, I’d have to say no thanks.

—Dave

Using the mortgage to consolidate

Dear Dave,

I’m 38, single and I have three kids. I make $65,000 a year and have $34,000 in debt. I’m about to get remarried, and my new husband will make about $100,000 a year. Should I take the $34,000 and put it on my mortgage to consolidate it?

Leslie

Dear Leslie,
Please don’t consolidate this debt. If you guys are about to get married you need to learn, as a couple, to make debt a thing of the past and live on a written, monthly budget. Think about it. Once you’re married, your family will have a great income. You could really push and attack that debt, and have it paid off in no time.

As a new couple, you need to learn to set goals and work on things as a team. Budgeting is a great exercise for any marriage, but it’s an especially good thing for newly married couples to learn to do. A budget isn’t just controlling your money. It’s two people sitting down together and sharing their hopes and dreams for the future. Not just that, it’s the process of making an actual, workable, written plan that will help make these dreams become reality.

Don’t do a debt consolidation, Leslie. Debt consolidation is nothing more than a “con,” because you think you’ve done something about the debt problem. But the truth is the debt is still there, as are the habits that caused it. All you did was move it around.

You can’t borrow your way out of debt, just like you can’t get out of a hole by digging out the bottom!

—Dave

* Dave Ramsey is America’s trusted voice on money and business. He has authored five New York Times best-selling books: Financial Peace, More Than Enough, The Total Money Makeover, EntreLeadership and Smart Money Smart Kids. The Dave Ramsey Show is heard by more than 8 million listeners each week on more than 500 radio stations. Follow Dave on Twitter at @DaveRamsey and on the web at daveramsey.com.

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