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If any of your new year’s resolutions have to do with saving money, or finally getting a handle on your finances this year, then have I got a plan for you!

Some of you may have heard me talk about this (or even gotten an email about it recently) but I love Mvelopes! It is a web-based money management tool that has helped us save money and we have just been using it since about March. We have been able to save enough to pay off our car, my student loan and one of my husband’s student loans. We have also saved money towards Christmas this year and enough money for our home owner dues.

Here is how it works. You first create a budget of how much money you want to spend in each category that you make up: tithe, mortgage, groceries, eating out, entertainment, fuel…etc. You can also make categories for savings for things: savings for car, savings for Christmas money, vacation, etc.  The program links to your bank account and you “fund” each category with the amount of money you want to spend in that category. If you need $300 for groceries in a month, you put that much in groceries. If you want to save up $600 for Christmas money, you would set it up to put $50 each month in that category. You can set it up to automatically fund each category when your paycheck gets deposited. Then, the program collects all your transactions from your bank. So when you spend $100 at HEB, it shows up, and you click and drag it into the envelope for “groceries”. It subtracts $100 from the total in that envelope and shows that you now have $200 to spend on groceries.

We used to use Quicken to keep up with our money. This is the major way that Mvelopes differs and is better in my opinion. You know exactly how much you have left to spend in each category. This is like the envelope system that Dave Ramsey (of Financial Peace University) recommends, except you don’t have to go to the bank and get out cash and keep it in an envelope. I never wanted to carry a bunch of cash around so I never tried that method. And what if you want to stop by the store on the way home from work and your grocery envelope is at home. Or if you ask your hubby to stop at HEB but he doesn’t have the grocery envelope. Then it all gets messy. With Mvelopes, you don’t have that problem. Just keep using your debit card and organize all your transactions in the Mvelopes program every day or two.

Now…you do have to pay for this service, but I think it is worth it if you are wasting an equal amount each month and not even realizing it because you don’t keep up with your money. There are different options. Here are the current options:

• Two-year membership plan: Charges you $189.60 every two years which comes out to $7.90 a month
• One-year membership plan: Charges you $129.60 every year which comes out to $10.80 a month
• Quarterly membership plan: Charges you $39.60 every three months which comes out to $13.20 a month (We have this one because I wasn’t sure I wanted to commit to two years, but I don’t even mind paying this much because we have saved so much that we would not have otherwise. I need to switch to the longer plan, but just haven’t done it yet.)

There is a free 14 day trial to figure out if you like it, CLICK HERE to set that up and see what you think. Then if you used that link, you will get a 25% discount when you sign up for a membership plan!!! (And I get a $20 referral bonus ) (If you sign up before Jan 31st, 2010!) So that means it would really cost…..

• Two-year plan: $142.20 ($5.93 a month)
• One year plan: $97.20 ($8.10 a month)
• Quarterly plan: $29.70 ($9.90 a month)

I mean, seriously, if you do the two year plan, it is like the cost of one trip to Starbucks a month to actually save money because you know and keep charge of where your money goes. And if you do the quarterly plan because you aren’t sure you would really do it, or you don’t want to outlay that much cash at the front, it is still just about one trip for you and a friend to Chick Fil A a month. Not that much, especially considering you will save at least that and more.

Below is a screen shot so maybe you can kinda see how it looks. It is really pretty easy to navigate and has free chat support built in.

If you are at all considering this and have any questions, please leave a comment or email me or call me. I really am a fan of this because it has helped us and I think it is a good tool. I would be glad to answer your questions!

Here’s to a better fiscal 2010!

Here are some good links I found lately:

From Simple Mom: Back to the Basics: 10 Recommended Kitchen Items

From Simple Mom: Back to the Basics: Batch Cooking ( I want to try this!)

Improve Your Posture (I need to do this!)

The site that I used to figure out all the info in the Lurkers Outed post about where my readers are coming from is free. It is called StatCounter.com. You can just register your blog there and then there is some code you paste on your blog (in the CSS or as a text widget).

I love to get stuff in the mail! I have been the official “mail-checker” everywhere I have lived. Today I got two fun packages. First I got my first ever etsy purchase: a really cute red damask sunglasses case from thirtyone13 designs. Check it out!

(My friends mab and Britty have etsy shops too, you can check out their shops in my links if you scroll down.) It fits my glasses perfectly! I have a bad habit of putting them in my purse and the lenses get all scratched up. Also I got my fun Ann Taylor Loft purchases and I think they will all fit nicely, which I was sorta worried about having not bought much clothing online before.

I found this link on another person’s blog to day but I just had to share for you people with little kids.  It is a site where they make custom capes for kids to play with. It’s called Plum Apple Pear Designs and they are totally precious!  Knowing of my hubby’s love for all things superhero, especially Superman, I am sure that one day we will own one of these for a kid.

School has been going well this week. The kids are being good and I am reminded of how blessed I am to have this job of teaching some really sweet kids. And we have had four “spirit” days this week so that means wearing jeans/sweat pants and I LOVE when we get to do that. I have started a new thing of taking a shower and washing and drying my hair at night. This means I have more time in the morning to read my Bible, which I am usually AWFUL about doing during the work week. It is just so hard to get up any earlier. But this way, I don’t have to take a shower or dry my hair, so I can get up at 6 and still have 45 minutes but all I have to do is eat, get dressed, fix a lunch, and straighten my hair, so I have time to read. It has worked well for the past 3 days. I know it doesn’t really matter whether you spend time reading the Bible in the morning or evening, but it has been nice, when I am having a rough moment in my day, to remember something I read that morning.

I enjoy reading and I also like the blog SimpleMom. (Obviously, I am not a mom, but she has lots of good things to say about things like money-management, healthy eating, and simplifying your life, as well as just good random tips about stuff.) Well, she is doing a book club this year and I am planning to participate by reading some, if not all of the books. So here is the link and info in case you think you might want to join in or need some good book ideas.