my very favorite budgeting tool {it's free!}

Do you have a budget? 

mint.com

We do. I'm not a big "numbers" person, but I've liked keeping track of money with lists ever since I was in high school and had my first job at 16. :)

I think I'm the money/budgeting person in our marriage, for the most part. :) Rob does all the hard stuff like making phone calls, arranging insurance, and taking care of customer service problems, and I try to make sure the bills are paid every now and then, and set the budgets for each category. I'm the spender most of the time, so it's very helpful for me to do the budgeting. I like it, plus it keeps me in line! ;)

Back when we were getting out of consumer debt, I had simple text documents and paper journals with lists and lists of every debt and dollar we had left to go. As Dave says, every dollar was on paper, and had a purpose! :)

Since then, I've left behind the paper notebook, and have been using Mint, and I LOVE it.

I never learned how to work Excel or other spreadsheet programs beyond doing sums in college, so I've been so thankful there are budgeting programs out there like Mint. It's totally free, and you put it all of your bank account information and it will display every financial transaction you have done in one place so you can budget your money easily.

I have been a big fan {and user} of Mint for a few years now, and have only enjoyed it more and more as they've added features and mobile apps. 

I've never had any problems with it - it's super easy to use, and just works. I've not been scared to have all of my information in one place, either- it's kind of like having Quickbooks online or something- nothing really happens in this program but viewing the numbers and transactions from all your online accounts in one place, and it makes your life easier!

I stole some screen shots from their website {I don't think they'll mind since I love it, right? I'm not affiliated with them in any way, just in love with their free awesomeness and wanted to share....}:

mint.com

So it categorizes most of your transactions for you {which is lovely- I've used others that were manual!}, and based off what spend in each category, you can create budgets and track your progress inside of Mint like this:

mint.com

This is especially helpful for those of you who are brand new to budgeting and use debit cards, because if you're just starting out, you may have no idea how much you're actually spending. {this is why mint is amazing but also hurts at the same time- you can easily see how much money is going out the window!}.

We have done a cash system a few times, but I feel better using this program because it is so much easier for me to spend cash frivolously than it is for me to have to see that red or yellow line all month long. 

Now, I will say I do hate that single moment at the register when I'm handing over multiple $20's- I won't deny that sliding a card is easier then, but I think this budgeting method is more effective for me because I really hate seeing that $100 I spent at Target all month long as I stare at Mint. I'm weird like that. ;)

If I want to {and haven't been to Target lately!}, I can even go into the graph section and see what percentage of money I'm spending where on a chart {this isn't our budget, but we almost spend more on groceries/household items than anything else in our budget- we eat a ton of food! :) }:

mint.com

It's amazing. :)

Can you tell I really, really like using Mint? haha!

The only downside I can think of? There are some months I don't want to look at it or even sign in. But that's just my fault, not theirs. :)

What's your favorite way to budget? 

Are you a cash system person? Or are you more like me and try that over and over and give up every time? LOL! 

Are you the spender or the saver in your relationship?

I'm definitely the spender most of the time. Rob will buy anything for me, but hates buying anything for himself- he'd rather do without it. I dislike spending money to eat out more than he does, but I like to let him decide when we do that one! :) {I think he likes it when I don't have to cook- so again, it's probably more for my sake than his. He's such a good man! :D}

how to sell your stuff {and get out of debt}

{I thought you might enjoy this post from 2008 for today's thrifty thursday!}

we bought our first used van through the internet in 2008

As we are on the get-out-of-debt journey, we are finding all kinds of "stuff" to sell. Somehow we have crammed so many items in our 1500 square feet!

We've found that every penny counts as we try to get out of debt, and selling things we don't need really helps us get there faster!

My kids think I am selling everything. They even pulled out everything in their room into the hallway and told me they were selling their toys because they had enough! :) Dave would be proud...

On our journey, I've definitely learned a few things along the way. Here are a few tips on quickly selling your "stuff."

1. Put the word out.
Before you start listing your things on the internet or newspaper, just casually let your friends and family know you are selling your item. This usually works best for large items, but could work for clothing and toys too.

Your mother-in-law might not want your treadmill, but she probably knows a couple of people who do! You might just get your asking price before you even go to the trouble of listing it somewhere. It's always worth a try in any case!

2. Craigslist.
It's quite surprising to me how few people actually know about Craigslist. This is one of my favorite resources for buying and selling. You can list an item for free, and within a couple of hours have it sold and cash in your hand! I usually don't put a contact number in my ads, I just let the buyer email me, that way I can handle one buyer at a time.

If the first one falls through, I then contact the second one. I've sold everything from vases to scrapbooking materials to curtains and baby slings. I've also found that meeting the person at a location (with my husband) cuts down on no-shows. I've never had anyone no-show when they were supposed to meet me somewhere other than my home.

3. eBay, Half, and Cash4Books
While much more trouble than Craigslist, eBay is best for very good condition, high value items. I can sell name-brand bags for a profit, but smaller items like clothing and baby goods aren't as profitable after fees.

For me, Buy It Now (no bidding) is the fastest way to sell. It ensures that I am going to sell it for what I want to get from it, and I often have cash in my account before a regular auction would even end. In my experience, eBay is a seller's market, and there are fewer deals to be had there for buyers.

Half.com charges huge fees for selling books and media, but the site also allows you to ask a premium for your goods. I sold a $120 textbook of mine for $85 in a few days, and I was the lowest price on Half. If you are selling your textbooks, do it as quickly as possible when you no longer need them. Textbooks are a racket, and publishing companies come out with a new edition every 6 months to a year, making your books practically worthless. Sell them, and any other books you don't need as quickly as possible.

Cash4Books is also a great option for selling books quickly. You type in the ISBN numbers and if you like their price, they will even pay for you to ship the books to them! After they receive them, they can write you a check or deposit the money in your paypal account.

4. Garage Sales and Donating Items
Definitely my least favorite option, garage sales are places people shop to get things for almost free. Garage-salers are super-thrifty people and will ask to pay .10 instead of .25. This is pretty much a last option for us. After listing our donated items on our tax return, the credit was far more than any of our garage sale proceeds. The IRS lets you deduct a higher value for your items if you are itemizing your deductions, and programs like TurboTax and Tax Cut give you an easy pricing list based on IRS guidelines.

An example:
Those $35 jeans that don't fit you anymore, but are in great condition.

Garage Sale Value: $2.
Tax deductible value if donated: $12.
If you are in the 15% tax bracket, the tax credit of those pants: $1.80
If you are in the 25% tax bracket: $3.00

You get almost the same amount or more, and you didn't have to wake up at 6 am to move the tables out of the garage! And, you get that for every item donated! Just make sure you have proof that you donated the items (a signed receipt from Goodwill and an inventory of donated items would be best). Here's more on deducting charitable contributions.

So, the good news is, if you need to get rid of something quickly, you can always donate it as a last resort and receive at least some of the money back next year.

These strategies have worked well for me this year.

How do you sell your things quickly? I'm always eager to hear your ideas!