Paid Vacation

No, we didn’t win a free vacation, however, it felt like our vacation was free because we owed nothing more than we had saved at the end of it. We didn’t over splurge on extra excursions and food and we won’t have an extra credit card bill to worry about next month. After we did our taxes in April we literally owed the amount of a very, very nice family vacation. Our savings was wiped out and we thought we were going to have to give up our yearly camping trip to Fort Wilderness.

Thankfully, by setting up Summit's Climbr and sticking to a super tight budget, we saved enough to fully pay cash for the trip and pay for a doggie/house sitter. We got rid of every extra expense we had which included things like a gym membership, a car wash membership, audio book club membership and coffee shops. Before we started Project Money, I would gather all the expenses and hand write out how much we spent on variable expenses. I would always be so disappointed at how much we overspent each month and would vow to fix my spending habits the next month, but that never happened. Birthdays, anniversaries and holidays would come up and eat away at the budget and our savings.

Now, we have limits set on all the variable expenses like fuel, groceries, school lunches, and more. Before I go to the grocery store, I check my Summit Climbr budgets to see how much I can spend. I’m also alerted via email if I am getting close to overspending on any one budget item. Steve and I both use the same Climbr so we can both see the budgets in real time. This is a great way to hold each other accountable. We only have a few days left in July and are on track to sock another $600 into savings from not overspending on our variable expenses. This is on top of the money we have automatically transferred each month into savings. This system really works! It has been the first thing that has actually worked for our family. Thank you so much coach Jamie and Summit Credit Union!