Crossing The Money Line

Normally I have nothing to do with the finances in our family. My hubby is a finance major and works for a bank while I whip out a calculator to figure out what 9 times 8 is (it's 72) so needless to say that all the financial responsibly falls to him. However I have decided to wade into these murky waters and put us on a budget! I would love to say it's to save money and live simpler, but alas my intentions are not that pure, but vain in nature. We are getting fat, a fact that can be attributed to our habit of eating out 5 nights a week. So I figure if we are on a budget then I will not have the money to go out, or buy fancy food for decadent home cooked meals, ergo I will become one skinny bitch! Well, that last part is wishful thinking, but I would love to fix some of the aftermath of pregnancy.

Since I love the show Till Debt Do Us Part, I decided to give the "Magic Jars" a try. For anyone who is unfamiliar with the show, financial expert Gail Vaz-Oxlade helps couples get out of debt. One of her methods is the magic jars. They force you to live on cash only and keep track of your purchases so that you can see where your money is going. So I headed over to her site and used the interactive budget spreadsheet to figure out how much each jar gets each week and here is what I got.....

Transportation- $62.31
Food- $92.31
Entertainment- $23.08
Clothing and Gifts- $23.08
Everything Else- $32.31

Which adds up to a weekly total of $233.09. Now people who have seen the show might be shocked at how much money are in the jars compared to the people on the show, but the difference is that we have no debt, hence more disposable income.

More information about the magic jars can be found here
http://www.gailvazoxlade.com/articles/budgeting/magic_jars.html

Also, after inspiration from Nikki on her blog (The Wonderful World of Nikki) I have decided to plan my meals for the week. I have found her posting hers has given me some great ideas so I will also post mine. So for the rest of this week.....

Wednesday- Chicken Quesadillas

Thursday- Pizza Loaf

Friday- Chicken Noodle Soup

Saturday- Taco Salad


I know, the meals don't sound that healthy but seeing as how Ronald Macdonald cooks for me 3 times a week I figured I better wean my body off slowly.