Yes I have a savings goal now hahaha. No really I know what you are thinking but the first year that I stayed home the goal was just to make it. After finding out that I was not making it but rather pulling from savings every month because hubby had not gotten a grip on his spending and had made yet another IRS boo boo I got angry that was last January.

With anger comes determination at least for me. I put it ALL on paper and showed hubby just how much he was spending. Now this was hugely hard for me because I felt and still do that its HIS money. Granted I stay home and take care of the house and kids and everything else and I know this is work I do not bring home a pay check.

Anyway my feelings have always been well as long as he gives me enough to comfortably pay the bills then the rest is his to do what ever he wants. WRONG why? Well he was not giving me enough he was forcing me to pull from savings every month when I really didn't need to!

Ahh when I added up what he gave me for bills, (yes we have our own accounts I wouldn't have it any other way!) and then added up what he took home over the year the discrepancy was sickening! That's when my attitude really changed. Why was I trying so hard to save money and be frugal if he was spending like a fool? Me turning pennies into copper wire for him to throw it around?

I marched down to the bank a couple months later when things were settled and did something that my lazy ass should have done long ago. I opened a savings account and transferred all of what was left from a second checking account that I had. I opened that account when I was receiving Child Support so that I could save it away from my earned money, but there was no interest earning on it. I so should have done it years ago but better late then never.

When I set up the savings account I also set up a savings plan of $100.00 a month. I thought ok that's $1200.00 a year in savings much better then some and much more then I had ever been able to save! Well as I have been going over my bills and such I realized if I could get my Credit cards payed of and keep them paid off I could save a much bigger number per month. This realization was due to my best friend telling me the incredible amount of money she was able to save last year. Now don't think that I have some crazy amount of Debt we don't BUT it has been a habit of getting them way low then they get high again in no time its a bad cycle.

I looked at incomes and granted she and her husband both work but she doesn't have Credit card debt. If you knew the payments I made to them monthly you would croak!

So my plan this year is to do the debt snowball that Dave Ramsey talks about until its gone, I know it will be hard because hubby still isn't on board totally financially like me but I WILL do it and keep them paid off! That will enable me to pay for my daughters braces this summer in CASH and then I can work on making some serious deposits the rest of the year into savings.

I will be doing the envelope system with spending so I can easily keep track of my spending. I will work hard to get the deals I need, I will build my stock piles back up, we will have the IRS paid off this year thank the lords, I will earn more money with surveys, studies, my blog.

I will know what its like to be a peace with my finances! So what are you financial goals this year? Have you had an ah ha moment? What do you to watch your pennies?