More Week Than Paycheck

Do you have more week left than you have paycheck?

I know we often do.  I know, I know it is so important to make a plan and to budget your money, but believe me, on one income that greatly varies according to the work load, I know about coming up short.  Sometimes the best of plans don't work out, and in a time when many people may be on furlough because of the government shutdown, for the next few weeks, I thought I would share some tips on what we have done (and are doing) to make things last and survive a long week or two.

My first tip is to have your money in order.  I'm no expert, and I can honestly say this is something we struggle with, but the best place for this in my opinion is to go to a Financial Peace University (FPU) class in your area.  They have a Home Study version, but I will say that doing the class with other people, helps you to stay accountable to each other and to yourself.  I still will go to those people I took the first class with for support when we don't know what to do.

Now, I could give you a link to Amazon (which I would get paid on) but once you take one of Dave Ramsey's FPU, you can always go back and take the class again for free and use your original materials.  Now, what we found was that our materials a few years later were updated, but so far, we have been able to follow along just fine.

This one class, I promise will be a life changing event if you take it similar.  Don't get me wrong, it takes a lot of work, but it will change your financial future.  It doesn't matter if you are just a little short on this weeks paycheck, or if you have so much debt you can barely breathe, or even if your finances are in order, this class will improve your financial life in some way.  So go ahead, look up a class in your area today!

We just started taking the FPU class this last week for our second time, so I'll keep you posted on how that works for us.  We are working on our "Quickie Budget" this week.  I know I am dreading the end of being able to buy what I want, when I want, but I'm also relieved that things will be back on track.
What are some of your suggestions for making it through too much week at the end of the paycheck?  Stay tuned as I share more ideas in the coming week or two.