Good ol' Dave

Well, if you don't know now you know, we LOVE Dave Ramsey.  

Yup.

Let me first say that i was a FULL ON skeptic when this all started.  Nick bought the book "Total Money Makeover" on his way back to Germany this last time and when he called me super excited about it i made fun of him.  I not only made fun of him but i told my parents and then we ALL made fun.  We were laughing hysterically at the fact that Nick told me we would be "2 millionaires by the time i retire" (10 years)... uh okay.  

Well now i am transformed after reading the book myself and now am a Dave freak!  

Here is how you KNOW i am changed.  

A couple of weeks ago we went to the pumpkin patch with our dear friends.

Now Nick and i hadn't thought about the fact that we would OBVIOUSLY offer gas money or that we might want to eat lunch after the pumpkin picking festivities.  Well the two went hand in hand and we offered to pay for lunch in leu of gas mula... good idea right?

well there went $60 of our $100 grocery budget FOR THE WEEK.  It was Saturday and we go grocery shopping on Saturdays... so literally $40 for the entire week.  So... we could have easily dug up our credit card (we buried Nick's and cut up mine).  but nope... we decided that dinner for 3 people YES Jack needed formula... WOULD be done with $47 (i had $7 left in Jack's budget) and... i spent $43 :)  

We lived on spaghetti and frozen rolls, i bought 2 cans of soup for a "treat" because those were $2 each! haha.  

Anywho... we have set up our "emergency fund" and paid off $5,000 in 2.5 months!  Seriously go get the Dave Ramsey book.  It was $30 well spent.  Also i don't feel like we are missing out on things we are living regularly we are just watching our money a lot more closely now that we use only cash.  Which leads me to my next point... you should make these after you read Dave's book:

Money Envelopes.

Seriously if you thread your machine, you can make these.  No really if you can pick your nose you can make these... If you can... you get the point.  

 First measure out your squares (2 for each envelope)

7 3/4 inch

The pattern i saw said to use some interfacing to make your envelopes stiff.

I didn't have any.

Some i used felt for the inside and those are more stiff than the ones i used just fabric but i don't mind them either way.  You decide for yours :)

 Iron your fabric before you cut.  It will help:)

 Place your two squares face to face.

The pretty sides should not be showing.

 Now find your markers on your machine.  I used my 1/4 inch marker to guide my fabric through guaranteeing a straight line.

 Then line up your fabric perfectly with each other and the marker and feed 'er through.

 When you get to an end stop your machine and lift up the presser foot but not the needle.

This lets you pivot your thread without breaking the line.  

Set your presser foot back down and continue on.

 Line up your fabric with each other and the marker again...

 Make sure you sew 3 1/2 sides.  Leave a hole in the fabric to turn it inside out.

Mine is 3 fingers worth.  You can make yours smaller or bigger but this was just about the perfect size for turning mine inside out.

 Before you turn yours inside out, cut the corners as close to your sewing line as possible on the angle.

This gives your finished product a sharp corner.

 Now i trimmed my sides too, just to ensure a perfect square, not a bunchy one.

BUT i left my hole long so i could tuck it in and sew it closed easily.  

 Now flip yours right side out.

 Then i used my seam ripper to pull the corners out.

Before:

 After:

 Now iron that little sucker.

 Now i folded my hole ends into the inside.

 Sew that side shut first just so you remember the hole.

Use your 1/4 inch marker again and sew around your whole envelope.

 You may have to re-tuck your ends as you go.  I did.

Once you have gone all around the perimeter of your square, fold it in half and sew up two of the sides to make an envelope.

 I got a few bubbles as i went... i don't know if you can see it too well but it puckered up in between my presser foot's teeth.  Just lift the presser foot, pull the fabric back down, lower the presser foot again and keep on.

 When you get to the end reverse using the arrow button and then go forward again just to ensure the stitch.  3 or 4 stitches is plenty.

 DONE!

The best part is, these are all made from old things we had around, shirts, scarves, bedding :)

I didn't buy a single thing.  AND it took me less than an hour to make 5 :)

Note.  I like things perfect but NEVER spend the time to make them that way.  My tips are MUSTS for a better product.  Believe me i spent years doing shortcuts and nothing ever turned out.