I’ve been told my whole life, “don’t buy things you can’t afford” and “live within your means.” It’s sound advice, but when you break it down, what does it really mean? Affording things is great, but just because you can pay for something doesn’t mean that you should. My parents raised me to respect money and to have an appreciation…
Podcast
Episode 5: Baby time
Having a baby can be a stressful time. There are a lot of unknowns and nine months goes very quickly. Having a plan of action for your budget can help ease some of that stress. In this episode we talk about how we planned for and currently budget for a child. Please review and subscribe to our show on your…
Podcast
Episode 4: Unplanned, uncontrollable, must pay for now expenses
What happens when you have an unexpected expense that has to be paid for immediately? Do you have a way of covering the bill? In this episode we talk about where we put extra money from our budget and how to plan for the unexpected. Please review and subscribe to our show on your podcast provider of choice. Show Notes…
Podcast
Episode 3: $60,000 in debt!
Danielle and Nate talk about how they went into $60,000 of debt in just a few months to get solar panels on their house along with a new car. The plan to get out of debt along with the reasons for going into debt are discussed. Show Notes Nissan Leaf Federal EV Tax Credit State EV Tax Credit Solar Panels…
Podcast
Episode 02: How we setup our budget
In this episode we discuss what let us to create a budget, how we went about it, and how it’s evolved over time. We go into some details on budget line items, planning for retirement, and fitting in fun. Show Notes Required costs: Mortgage/Rent Utilities Internet/Cable Food Childcare Gas Car payment Solar panel payment Baby and pet items Optional costs:…
Podcast
Episode 01: Welcome to the Budget Couple
Welcome to the Budget Couple. We are a real-life married couple that discusses our finances and everything that goes into running a household. Show Notes Introduction About us and our budgeting story Budgeted items: Bills vs. fun money Budget adjustments: Time it takes to zero in on what things actually cost
Automobiles
We bought an electric car but not the one we originally wanted
I’ve been in love with electric cars for a few years now. I’m not going to geek out on why I love them, but I have a real passion for them. I really want a Tesla Model S, but we don’t have or want to invest $55,000+ into a car. A few months ago Tesla announced an “affordable” electric car…
Budgeting
Creating a Budget: Part 1 The Mindset
I previously talked about the reason for our budget, but now it’s time to break down how to create a budget. This “series” will happen in a few posts, but it’s more to fully explain our reasoning and not because it’s a complicated process. In this post, we look at the mindset behind budgeting. What is a budget? In simple…
Budgeting
How did we start our budget?
It seems like a simple question, but it must be answered in order to show the value of a budget. To properly explain the answer to this question I want to go back and share our brief experience of living without a budget. The setup Smalls and I were a newly married couple. We had a fully paid for honeymoon…