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Why We Pay CASH for Cars and How You Can Too

August 5, 2019 //  by Jenn//  2 Comments

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Reading Time: 12 minutes

The thing that keeps Americans the MOST broke is….

car payments.

We always had car payments. It’s just part of life, right?

I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t have to be!

I realize now that the dumbest thing I ever did was trade in my paid-for high school car to get a small SUV. It was after we had our first baby, and we felt like we needed something new. It wasn’t brand new but it was slightly used. We were young and our credit wasn’t too established yet, so we didn’t even get a good interest rate.

Taking on a car payment is one of the dumbest things people do to destroy their chances of building wealth. The car payment is most folks’ largest payment except for their home mortgage, so it steals more money from the income than virtually anything else.

The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey

Nothing was wrong with the car I had. We were just doing what everyone else was doing – getting a nicer ride when the old one gets old. It made us feel good.

Plus, we thought we needed more room with our one baby. Yes the extra room was nice, but when I look back, needing extra room was not necessary to go into debt.

Ohhh, if I only knew what I know now. Experience is the best teacher, isn’t it?

“But we could afford the payments. Then, in 5 years it’ll be paid off.”

I bet you’ve said that, right?

Unfortunately, what a lot of us do is once we pay it off, we get tired of that one and finance a newer one… or we start having trouble with the 6 year-old car and go get a newer one with a car note so we don’t have to spend the money to fix it. We don’t get nearly what we paid for it, but we gotta do what we gotta do – queue the vomit.

Did you know that you can completely rebuild a car about three times over before it would add up to the cost of a brand new car?

Did you know that 9 times out of 10 it’s cheaper to fix your car than to go buy a new one? Even if it’s a $1,000 repair, it’s STILL cheaper to fix it than to finance a new one that WILL keep you BROKE in the long run!

According to Experian’s Q4 2018 State of the Automotive Finance Market report, the average car payment for a new car is about $545 and the average interest rate is 6.13%. The dealership won’t tell you that your brand new car loses 60% of it’s value within the first five years (which is about the length of the loan by the way). After five to six years, you’ve paid almost $33,000 for a 26,000 car, which is now worth maybe $6,000.

On top of that, a recent study showed that 7 million Americans are more than three months behind on their car payments!

5 years 0% interest is NOT the same as cash – no such thing when you’re financing. First, cash gets you a better deal. Flashing Benjamins will have them drooling, trust me.

A little side note: The Dealer doesn’t make the most money on the sale of new cars, the most money is made in the finance department.

Second, most people don’t pay it off after the grace period of no interest and are then stuck with all of the interest tacked on to the back of the loan in the end – all for a car that’s lost 60-70% of it’s value and now worth pennies compared to what you’ve paid for it!

And third, you can’t save that much on the side for another vehicle later when you’ve been paying a note for 5-6 years can you? That’s why most people just end up financing another one over and over, and the cycle continues.

Everyone knows that new cars go down in value like a rock, and they’re still financing them! But whyyyy???

You don’t have to admit it if you don’t want to, but the cold hard TRUTH is that we just love driving around a brand new (or slightly used) car because it makes us feel good inside.

We will use every excuse known to man to justify our financed vehicle decision.

I want my car to have a warranty.

I want a reliable vehicle.

I travel a lot, so I need a brand new car.

It’s what I hear all the time, and it’s what I used to believe too. Until there’s a complete culture shift in the brain, we’ll always believe we need a brand new car. 

Maybe you’re thinking that a slightly used car is okay. As long as there’s no payment, then yes, it’s okay. You will pay more for it, but if you have the cash, go for it.

There isn’t much difference in a used car with a payment or a brand new car with a payment, besides the fact that the brand new car loses so much more value. Whatever you can afford with cash, that’s what you can afford. The whole thing. No payment.

The WHOLE truth is that unless you’re a millionaire, you cannot afford to buy a brand new car (even with cash) because you cannot afford to lose that much money. News flash: a car is NOT an investment. Recap: you just bought a $26k car, paid $33k+ for it with interest over 5 years, and now it’s worth $6k… if you’re not a millionaire, you can’t afford to be losing $27,000 every 5 years.

If we’re all honest here, we’d probably say that this is what car payments feel like…

Why We Pay Cash for Cars and How You Can Too

You can laugh now! You know it’s true!

But how do you get to the point to where you can pay cash for a car?

That’s where your good ol’ budget comes in handy. If you’re new to budgeting, or you need a crash course on getting better with your money habits, take my free 5-day eCourse, Creating a Less-Worried Life: Better With Money. I teach the steps we took to get out of debt and turn our finances around forever.

It really does depend on your situation to decide how old and how many miles you’re okay with on your car. For example, Ernie is extremely familiar with a 350 Chevy engine, and he can make the necessary repairs to keep us going. With our Audi, there were a few things that he just couldn’t fix because it’s a foreign car he’s unfamiliar with.

All in all, it’s still NO excuse to finance a vehicle ever again.

I’m about to give you some REAL numbers that Ernie and I discussed and put together for you to see how buying used cars with cash saved us a buttload of money (like, an unbelievable buttload of money).

BEFORE we first began this journey, we had just traded in two vehicles for a brand new 2009 Honda Civic. The dealer gave us what we owed on the two car notes we had, and we financed a brand new car that was still on the lot from the previous year’s design. They were coming out with newer models, so we were able to get this one with a discount. With a very little down payment and the trade-ins, this deal saved us at the time because we were about to be late for the first time on our car payments. We were in a tight spot and needed to do something.

Ernie had a nice truck and I had a slightly used “mommy-mobile” small SUV. Now, instead of two car payments, we had one. Sounds like a bargain, but knowing what we know now, we would’ve actually done that differently.

Again, this was BEFORE we found out the truth about car payments and how they keep you broke. This new car deal only solved our money problems for a little while, you see. That’s how car payments and car leases work for the broke folks. They get us by for a little while. But, if you just keep putting band-aids on everything, you never get down to the root of it.

Two years later, we were becoming broke again. Go figure. Tough financial times were like a cycle for us. We’d be okay for a little while, but then it would come again, and we’d chalk it up to something that wasn’t our fault. We continuously lived paycheck to paycheck and thought that we just didn’t make enough money.

I read a book, took Financial Peace University, and a light went off.

We needed to get rid of car payments.

Forever.

We decided to see what we could get for the Civic using Kelly Blue Book, and surprisingly it was exactly what we owed on it. We were on a mission to find something cheaper that we could pay off faster. We didn’t have the cash to buy a car outright just yet, but we did have a small emergency fund if anything was to happen in the meantime.

Ernie loves car shopping, so he ended up finding a 2003 Cadillac Escalade with 180,000 miles on it.

I’m going to tell you now: This was absolutely the most scary thing to me. 180,000 miles? Are you nuts? We’ve never driven a car with more than 60k miles on it!

We took it for a test drive and sold us for $8,500. It was super clean and in great shape. Do I recommend an $8,500 car for your first car if you can’t afford it? No. I recommend a $2,000 car to get you by for the next 10-12 months until you can save for a nicer one (more on that later). We were new to this.

All I knew was that we had to fit two big car seats and still have room for everything else. I trusted Ernie on this one. I asked him a million times, “Are you sure about this?”

He kept saying, “Yes! I’m not scared of miles!”

Okie dokie then.

Why We Pay Cash for Cars and How You Can Too

Three years later, after we paid off all of our debt, we realized we were driving a big vehicle we thought we needed, but we never used the third row seat. Ernie had a company truck, so it was mainly just me and the kids going from point A to point B all the time. I felt like I didn’t need that big vehicle anymore and was fine with just a car that would get MUCH better gas mileage.

We ended up selling the Escalade for $7,000, which was a total blessing out of nowhere but Heaven.

This would NOW be our FIRST EVER car deal made with CASH! Whoo hoo! We were super excited! We wanted something nice, something I always wanted – an Audi.

We found a super-clean, 2005 Audi A6 with 140,000 miles on it for $7,500.

Why We Pay Cash for Cars and How You Can Too

About two years later, after buying our dream home, Ernie’s company truck was now getting some new company rules to abide by. We could no longer use it for personal use. Therefore, it was time to get a bigger vehicle again. We sold the Audi for $6,500, and found a Chevrolet Traverse LTZ with 150,000 miles for $8,500.

Why We Pay Cash for Cars and How You Can Too

After about a year or so with the Traverse, we had some new things under our belts – Travel baseball, a chocolate Labrador, and lots of packing and loading and traveling. I wasn’t ready for driving a tank, but Ernie was antsy about having more room. I loved the way it drove and hugged me in the driver’s seat (I’m petite), so it was definitely my favorite so far.

We sold the Traverse for $7,000, and found a Yukon XL Denali for $7,500. This vehicle had a little over 200,000 miles on it. Before you pass out, let me clarify that we never intended on keeping this vehicle too long (maybe a year or so). We’re in the process of saving up for something else more important, and we needed to get by with what we can for the moment.

Why We Pay Cash for Cars and How You Can Too

As you can see, these are all really nice cars. People often say that you can’t get a nice car for that price. I beg to differ.

People are scared of repairs (I was, too). BUT even with repairs (even with paying someone else to do it), you would save at least 60% in total vehicle costs over a span of time. The Audi was the most expensive to repair, costing over $2,000 in repairs because Ernie couldn’t work on it himself. Even still, we came out miles ahead, rather than buying a brand new car. It’s a risk you take, but in our case, it was worth it over the long haul.

What’s worse than repairs? Repairs AND a car payment!

Brand new, the Audi would’ve been about $40k, the Escalade about $60k, the Traverse about $35k, and the Yukon XL about $60k.

Here’s the math breakdown from 8 years of car purchases so you can see what I’m talking about:

Vehicle Purchase Price Repairs SOLD for
2003 Escalade 8,500

600

7,000

2005 Audi A7 7,500

2,300

6,500

09 Chevrolet Traverse LTZ 8,500

50

7,000

06 Yukon XL Denali 7,500

500

N/A

[Purchase] +  [Repairs] – [Sold for Price] = $14,950 (and our current vehicle may sell for around 7,000, which would bring the total to $7,950, plus the cost of another vehicle with cash from the sale of this one). This is because when it’s sold to an individual instead of trading to the dealer for hardly anything, you get more for it. Then when you shop with cash, you get a better deal, and you don’t have to come out of pocket with much more for the next purchase. It just keeps rolling.

Do you see how used cars don’t lose value like new cars? That’s more money in your pocket.

Remember, this is for an 8-year span. It includes all car repairs, and the two times we needed towing. This doesn’t include tax, title & license since it’s different wherever you go.

Your head may be spinning with numbers right now, but the point is this:

If we would’ve stayed on the same path we were on, only buying new cars (or even slightly used cars) with car payments, we would have paid over $60k-70k-80k in the span of 8 years, maybe even more! Holy moly!

Would we have done this differently if we went back in time? Yes, there’s a few things we would’ve done differently to save even more money and less headache. If we would’ve just kept the Escalade from the beginning, we may still be driving it, who knows? But still, that’s a lot of money saved!

Again, this is NOT what it has to look like for you. Our family was growing, jobs were changing, and we had different levels of goals during those moments of time. We did what we thought was best for us at the moment. The point here is that we paid a fraction for what it really could’ve cost us (even with repairs).

The car we drive now with over 200,000 miles on it is just temporary to get us where we’re going. It’s a sacrifice we’re making for a very short time, and then we’ll upgrade soon enough. Even if we have to get towed, we have an emergency fund to back us up. No hurt feelings and I can still sleep good at night. If I need to buy a beater car in the meantime, I’m totally cool with it.

We have goals to crush. Taking risks and crushing goals is now our game.

Everyone’s situation is different, and that’s why I’m going to explain that what may be best for us may not be what’s best for you when buying cars with cash.

But ONE thing remains true for everyone:
Car payments hold you back.

Are you ready for a culture shift? Are you ready to be different? Are you ready for a change? Then keep reading.

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Why We Pay Cash for Cars and How You Can Too

What if you bought a car with cash for only $2,000. It looks bad on the outside, but it drives like a champ. You only do this for about 10-12 months, but for the sake of easy math, let’s say 10. Instead of a $400-500 car payment you used to have, you now put aside that money every month for 10 months. At minimum, you’ll have about $4,000 + the sale of your beater car for about the same price you paid for it ($2,000). Now you have $6,000 to spend on another beater, except this one will be a little upgrade to get you by for another 10-12 months.

You get the idea. Now you’ll have about $6,000 from the sale of your upgraded beater AND another $4,000 – $5,000 you’ve been saving. You now have $10k-$11k to spend on an even better upgraded used car that should last you at least 5 years are more. You can do the same thing 5 years later and keep saving, but it gets better.

It doesn’t stop there. If you’re happy with your cash-paid-for car, you could now invest that car payment into a good mutual fund earning at least 10% return. After 10 years, you’d have over $100,000 in that fund! Yes, please!

In 30 years, that mutual fund would be worth over $1 million. Have I changed your mind yet?

For the sake of buying cars, let’s just say that you took out one-fourth of that mutual fund after 10 years to buy a new used car for $25,000. You could get a really nice slightly used car for $25,000 couldn’t you? You wouldn’t even have to put another dime into that fund ever again in order to supply yourself with a new slightly used car every 5-10 years, plus extra.

You could certainly do that on a smaller scale to fit your needs, but the point here is that most Americans are spending wayyyyyy too much money on things that go down in value, and it’s  stealing from our hard-earned income every single month!

If you already have a car that’s almost paid off, and you like it, just keep it a little longer after you pay it off while you save up for your next cash purchase. You’ll never regret not having a car payment!

Remember, there’s nothing wrong with having a nice car, but don’t let the nice car have you.

I hope this motivates you to take a look at your car payments in a new perspective.


Ladies! I have an upcoming masterclass to share what we did to change our finances around. I don’t want you to miss this!

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Category: Better With Money, Blog, Money Masterclass SeriesTag: car debt, cash for cars, debt, Debt-free, debt-freedom, financing vehicles, payoff, vehicle

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Donna Naquin

    August 5, 2019 at 2:34 PM

    Awesome, awesome. I just bought a slightly used SUV. Lol, the big note. Love it but really wish I would have kept my paid for truck.

    Reply
    • Jenn

      August 6, 2019 at 10:23 PM

      Oh how I would’ve done things SO differently years ago! My first car was an Oldsmobile Alero, and nothing was wrong with it when we traded it! I got barely anything for it. We’ve learned to always sell to an individual to get more for a really used car.

      Reply

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Creative Cajun Mama | Jenn

Thanks for stopping by! I’m Jenn! I’m a wife and mom of 3 who wants you to know that a simpler, less-chaotic life can exist in this modern world. I like to talk about things like life’s victories & struggles, faith, family, food, and getting better with our money habits.

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I’m a mama who’s concerned about our son in middle school and making sure he has the tools he needs to succeed in this world.⠀
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I’m currently reading “Planet Middle School,” by Dr. Kevin Leman, and I just wanted to share this excerpt with you. Give it to your child to read for himself, or save it for later. Sometimes when you’re a teenager, advice from other adults sink in a little deeper than words from your own parents. ⠀
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#PlanetMiddleSchool #teenagers
Instagram post 2170516047115619452_452106066 Did you know?⠀
We don’t have a very big refrigerator, so we save space by using fresh eggs because unwashed, fresh eggs can remain at room temp for at least a week. Simply wash off as you’re ready to use.⠀
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They’re also a part of the #functionalDecor in our kitchen.⠀
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Thanks to @dedie72 we get fresh eggs whenever we can, and they come unwashed.⠀
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Who else in here keeps your #freshEggs out at room temp for a little while?
Instagram post 2168256219117132197_452106066 Which hand soap do you prefer?⠀
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FOAMING -or- LIQUID⠀
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I love the foaming ones! What about you?
Instagram post 2167521352234413548_452106066 I had an IDEA💡⠀
Create 3 reachable Goals for the month, specifically this way:⠀
1. Daily Goal⠀
2. Weekly Goal⠀
3. Monthly Goal⠀
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The way to reach BIG things is by tackling the SMALL things EVERY DAY.⠀
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1️⃣ #DailyGoal :: Track expenses every single day. I know that sounds over-the-top, but let me elaborate - If I wait to do it once per week and that gets pushed back a few days or another week (because life), it takes LONGER to catch up, which in turn makes me not want to to it at all. If I spend a few minutes per day doing it, I won't get behind (because yes, even I get behind). I'm super excited to now have Every Dollar Plus, which will definitely save me time also. Want to learn how to budget & track successfully? I have a course for that! I also have lots of free info on my website. Link in profile (@creativecajunmama)⠀
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2️⃣ #WeeklyGoal :: Meal planning is something I've always done, but when LIFE & WORK gets super busy, I slack in this area & by 3 pm I still don't know what's for dinner. It's been happening too often lately. Sometimes the last thing I want to think about is preparing dinner, even though I love to cook, it gets old at times & I'd rather be doing something else productive. We try our hardest to only eat out once/month, so this is requires planning. Dining out is one of Americans' top budget busters. We have major financial goals up ahead, and this is an area that we CAN control if we put in the effort.⠀
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3️⃣ #MonthlyGoal :: Do something extra for myself. Yeah this is one of my biggest struggles. While this should be really easy, I struggle with treating myself. It just doesn't bother me to go without or put myself last. Reality is that we should be caring for ourselves FIRST so that we have the capacity and the energy to care for others. Plus, I never liked spending extra money on myself when I feel like it could be used for something so much more meaningful or on someone else. Did you hear that nonsense? How would it feel if you spoke to another person like that? We need to stop the negative internal language to ourselves. Treat yo-self. Not because you "deserve" it, but because it deserves YOU.⠀
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Like this idea? Let me see YOURS! 👇
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This can apply to anything, but I just want to encourage you in the kitchen today. Just because you mess something up, burn something, or ruin dinner, it doesn’t mean you “can’t.”⠀⠀
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As the old saying goes, “You can do anything you put your mind to.”⠀
Yes, I do believe that, but it should end with “...if you don’t give up.”⠀
*You can do anything you put your mind to... if you don't give up.*⠀
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We were blessed with some homegrown sweet potatoes, and a friend gave me the idea to make some sweet potato hand pies. This is something I never made before, but I knew my grandma had a good recipe for that. The potatoes needed to get used soon, so I had to make time somehow to get them cooked.⠀
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But we had an out-of-town wedding to attend over the weekend, so I had to figure out what I was going to do to not waste these potatoes. Solution -- bake the potatoes, skin them, and then make the dough. On Monday, I'd have it all ready to make the pies. So that's what I did.⠀
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I felt good about myself Friday night after I made the dough, wrapped it and put it in the fridge. Then, I remembered...⠀
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I forgot one stick of butter because originally I was halving the recipe🤦🏼‍♀️. Now how I'm supposed to add a stick of butter to already made dough? Oh geez. Just laugh at myself.😂 ⠀
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Figured it out on Monday, added more flour, etc. But still... It took MORE extra time - the time I was supposed to be SAVING making things ahead. I saved the potatoes, the recipe, they came out amazing, and the kids devoured them (and I put some in the freezer). Total of 40 pies plus some.⠀
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Point is --> I still mess stuff up all the time, even though I seem to have it all together in the kitchen. So to those of you who feel like you just "can't" #cook or #bake or whatever -- you really CAN. Just don't give up.⠀
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Instagram post 2164692162780618241_452106066 "Mom! That looks like cinnamon!" ⠀⠀
But it's not! It's a DRY roux (oilless roux), and it was a success! I loved it! Thanks to the tips from a friend's Facebook post, I gave it a try.⠀
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This is a 7-quart black iron pot. I was trying to brown enough flour so that I'd have some for later use (about 3 cups total). I used this particular roux to make a stew, or "fricassee," and I have about 1 cup left to use later for a gumbo 🙌🏼.⠀
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The great things about this:⠀
1) No extra oil or butter to make my stomach upset⠀
2) Easy storage in the pantry for later use! Win!⠀
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You simply put the flour in the pot, and cook on medium to med-low heat until browned to desired color (color of cinnamon works perfectly!). Stir continuously just like a standard roux. It took me about the same amount of time as a roux with oil.⠀
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*NOTE:The usage of the dry roux is a little different from a standard roux. Typically, with a standard roux, you would add your onions to brown with the roux once the roux was done. With the dry roux, you must cook your veggie seasonings and meat first, add the liquid, THEN add the roux as needed until you get the desired flavor and consistency. ⠀
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It's pretty simple, but just like trying anything else different, you must test it out for yourself to get it how you like it best. For a great Cajun gumbo recipe using healthier ingredients, check out my Gumbo recipe on the blog👇🏼⠀
Link in profile (@creativecajunmama)⠀
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Instagram post 2161111894542110302_452106066 On one hand, we think we don't serve money, yet on the other hand, we tend to depend on this world's system of financial success.⠀
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What if we depended on the Biblical system of handling money and being good stewards as we’re taught in scripture? Would we need to borrow money anymore?⠀
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The world's system says you need a good credit score to be successful with money. It doesn't matter how much money you actually have, just that your credit score is good. A credit score is NO indication of your wealth. It only enables us to “look” good, even if we can’t afford it. And how do you get a credit score? Take on debt. ⠀
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Debt sends your income out the door every month with someone else’s name on it. But what if there was another way, a way that you really could live without it?⠀
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Budgeting money successfully sorts out every single dollar of our income, and forces us to be good stewards. We literally tell our money where it’s going to be spent before we get paid. Bills are taken care of, Groceries are planned out, and unexpected expenses ARE expected. ⠀
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Wait what? Yes! ⠀
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Doesn’t that sound much better than flying by the seat of your pants every week?⠀
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THIS is exactly how we don’t let money control us ⠀
—> W E  control  I T <—⠀
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THIS is exactly how we don’t serve it:⠀
—> I T serves U S <—⠀
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👉🏼 with a B U D G E T!
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When we make money behave and serve us, we can fully focus on serving God and have the capacity to do what we’ve been called to do. Because let’s face it, it’s hard to make choices sometimes when our money is out of control.
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What budget questions can I answer for you today?
Instagram post 2157387370037749577_452106066 Happy Friday! It's been a while since I've shared a little about myself, so I figured now was the time!⁠ (I hate talking about myself btw... but it’s for my blog 🙃)⠀
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My name is Jennifer Bourgeois (BOO-jshwah), and I'm the face behind Creative Cajun Mama. I'm a wife, mom, and graphic artist. My husband and I paid off a lot of debt in a few years, also while growing our family and developing a healthier lifestyle.⁠⠀
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I feel like I'm FINALLY in my element because I've combined my creativity and my love for teaching others with my passion for better money habits & health, while keeping the Bible as the center. I now work full time to help people just like you stick to a budget, pay off debt, get healthier, and save money doing it.⠀
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If you've been following my blog for a while - THANK YOU. You're why I do this. If you just started following, I hope you learn, grow, laugh, and teach me some things, too. I'm always trying to make this blog better, and I love answering questions 💛⠀
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And just for fun, here are 3 things you might not know about me:⁠⠀⠀
1. I LOVE LOVE Sweets. Sometimes I eat dessert before the meal 😆. You can fully enjoy it with an empty stomach, right?⠀
2. I enjoy living a simple life, and I could definitely live without a TV. If it was up to me alone, we wouldn't even have one.⠀
3. I edit the wording on my posts an average of 15 times before I share (ugh).⠀
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I'd LOVE to hear one thing about you! Let me know something about yourself in the comments 👇
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Creating a Less-Worried Life: Better with Money




Creative Cajun Mama

Favorites

Jambalaya - Pork, Chicken, and Sausage - Level: Easy

JAMBALAYA – Pork, Chicken, and Sausage

May 26, 2017

The Mom That Never Gave Up

May 14, 2017

Our Debt-Free Journey: How We Got Out of Debt for Good

OUR DEBT-FREE JOURNEY: How We Got Out of Debt for Good

September 26, 2015

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