Tracksuit CEO

by Tracksuit CEO

The TrackSuit Family is officially on a budget. And when I say officially, I mean we have a budget written on paper that breaks down what we should spend monthly in proportion to what we earn. So I guess I should say we have a budget. As far as being on a budget, well that’s the next step. I wrote before about becoming a Cash Money Superstar and I still do believe that using a cash budget is a powerful way to put you in touch with your money. But it’s just becoming too much of a hassle, so we’ve recently reopened the checking account and set our bill pay on auto pilot.

In a future post I will review the web 2.0 finance tools mint and expensr, but for now I’ll just say that we’re using our bank’s online bill pay service coupled with Mint and — other than some lag time in uploading our bank info — it seems like it’s going to be a good fit. If it all goes as planned (As Mint promises it should) we will be receiving emails and text messages letting us know how we are doing on our budget and when auto-payments are coming up. I’ll keep you guys posted.

Now we can focus on the important things in life, like being cheap. Or less being cheap and more living simply (which just ends up being cheaper).

I came across a story about the Economides on the Digerati Life:

“I’ve read about America’s Cheapest Family in various articles and posts but haven’t really seen them in action till I caught a repackaged episode of 20/20 where they were once more featured. I cannot believe how a family of seven with children ages 10 through 21 are able to pull off living on an annual budget of $35,000. They are the aptly named Economides family from Arizona, and they are super-savers.”

It really is inspiring to see how this big family can do so well on such little money. Although, with their recent success and book deal they may have to adjust that budget a little upward. One thing I’ve really grabbed onto that they talk about is preparing large meals for the week/month. This way you only cook once a week and you’re never tempted to pick up fast food. Having prepared food in the fridge/freezer is the culinary equivalent of having a savings account. With both scenarios you are less tempted to go for the quick fix (drive-thru or credit card, respectively).

I’m happy to report that as I write this post I am eating a breakfast sandwich that I prepared this morning in my own kitchen and I’m drinking a thermos of coffee I brewed myself. This is no great feat on its own, but when you consider that I’m sitting next door to a Starbucks, you can appreciate the discipline it takes for me to take the extra time to make my own. To help inspire me to do this I asked for a French Press from the wife for Christmas. And I’m sorry Starbucks but you can’t compete with the TrackSuit CEO’s French Press.

Our dear friends we met when living in Chapel Hill – who were also Tex-pats and who have also since returned to Texas – are taking the plunge into simple living. So much so that Rachel, the family’s resident blogger, discarded her vey successful Sarcastic Journalist blog to write The Simple Family: “This blog is about our hopes to go from a ‘typical’ suburban family to a greener, simpler and (hopefully) a happier one.”

She has also faced the coffee temptation and won:

“It is really hard, especially when I’m having a bad day, to not treat myself to something like coffee. One time, it was really hard– I craved it horribly. But then, that night, we ended up going out to eat anyway, so I felt better about the decision not to.

While the temptation is there, it isn’t as bad as I thought. I guess, for the most part, temptation isn’t that hard. What is hard is wanting to ‘let things slide’ or ‘only this time’ for those little purchases such as coffee. It is totally my personality to think ‘okay, this happened so I earned it.’ Only…if I head to Starbucks, I have two little children who realize that Starbucks carries Juice! and Chocolate Milk! And then…the trip has gotten twice as expensive.

(Besides. I have coffee at home. I should drink it.)” – The Simple Family: Update

She goes on to write that she’s teaching her daughter how to make her the perfect cup of coffee and she would get her son involved too but…well, you’ll just have to read her post. While I do still make my own coffee, you have to applaud her getting the family involved.

So here’s to a cheaper, simpler and (hopefully) a happier New Year.

TrackSuit CEO will be at SXSW Interactive March 9 at 11:30

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