Now that you have your first budget, let’s find you some hidden $. It’s there, you just need to look for it.

Start with the 2 big hitters

Housing (no more than 35% of TAKE HOME)

Example: Take Home: $4300, ALL HOUSING MAX? 1505/month

Cars (no more than 15% of TAKE HOME for all cars, gasoline, insurance)

Sell the cars, get hoopties. Gasoline is cheaper than ever in history. Insurance is where you can save.

Example: Take Home: $4300, ALL HOUSING MAX? $645/month FOR EVERYTHING CAR

Uh oh. You’ve way over here, aren’t you? This is what will keep you trapped.

I would start here. Dave’s Endorsed Local Providers are great and can help you:

https://www.daveramsey.com/elp/auto-insurance

Other ways to save on insurance$ combine with house, take online safety course, send in good report cards, send in proof of being a scientist, lawyer or doctor.

Let’s look at other items:

Electricity gets a lot of people.

Google “lower my electric bill (Texas)”

You can compare rates. Mine had crept up to 10.3 cents/kwh and now is down to 8.5cents.

Do this for all your utilities where you have a choice.

 

Remember, right now, if you have consumer debt, your house is on fire!

No vacations!

No trendy clothes or shoes!

No manis or pedis!

No restaurants!

No drive thru Strabucks!

 

You are going to war. Preparing for Baby Step 1-saving$1,000 to “keep Murphy and his cousins, Broke, Desperate and Stupid away.”

 

When you are ready, step onto Dave’s ladder:

https://www.daveramsey.com/baby-steps/

Dave Ramsey Baby Steps property of Lampo group. All effort attempted to give proper credit to Dave Ramsey and that entity.