Financially Healthy?

Another aspect that I have goals to be healthy in are finances!
Yes this is something, I have great aspirations for. But don't we all?
When it comes to finances I have always been prudent in my expenditures. When I first contemplated buying a car, my father had to talk me into buying a brand-new car. What 18 year-old do you need to convince that they need a brand-new car? I'm guessing that shortly after my 18th birthday I woke up to be 50.(not too much different than Sophie in Howl's Moving Castle.) What can I say? I like to knit, stay at home and go to bed at 8:30.
When my One and I got married, we enrolled in a church sponsored financial class, entitled, Financial Peace University, by Dave Ramsey. I have come to love this man. Honestly I think he has some very good ideas about money and life.
Some of his views may be "extreme" but I am grateful my husband and I have worked hard to follow the idea of a debt-free lifestyle. We paid off my car early, paid off our one credit card and limited our purchases to needs instead of wants. We even do cloth diapers, which are awesome by the way, but that is a post for another day. We have done strict budgeting and somewhat lax budgeting. We try to predict what our needs will be for the upcoming month and plan for expenses according to their importance. Food, Clothing and Shelter (including utilities) are the primary concerns. Everything after that is more in a want category.
You see, this last year has been hard for us financially. My husband has had less and less work and so I switched from once a week RN to Part-time RN. Not a huge leap, but this did take some adjustments on all sides. Believe, I have tons of respect for those full time working mothers.
Anyway, we have had to be more anal about budget, and far less whimsical in expenditures. For a time, our prospects and situation seemed bleak compared to what we had been used to. Work still seems low, even on the horizon for my husband, and there has been stress and frustrations on all sides. However, we have also found some good things.
This has given us a chance to work on communicating with each other. I have personally be able to grow in practicing self restraint. We have also been able to count our blessings. Specifically the blessing that aside from our house, we have no debt. This major blessing is one that I would wish upon all my friends and family. I feel blessed that even when money is tight and income is lower than the outcome, we are doing just fine. It feels so good to be healthy, and I owe that to my husband and Dave Ramsey.

A few things to help me be financially healthy
1. Making and sticking to a budget. This is something my husband and I talk about at least once a month. Some months are better than others when it comes to the actual details of the budget. :)
2. Limiting frivolous purchases. (But I really wanted that second Snuggie!!!)
3. Hiding my debit card.
4. Joining a food co-op. This helped in the most unexpected way! every week I donate a set amount of money and 5 days later I pick up a most delightful selection of fruits and veggies, fresh and tasty. This is nice because the only things I get at a grocery store now are eggs and milk products. This has really cut down my food budget without cutting out the quality of food.
5. Finding fun free things to do. This includes going to the park, going to the aquarium with a season pass as well. This season pass counts as free because after going twice, admission is free! Having movie night at home is also good.
6. Using reusable items. We go through two to three dishtowels a day instead of half a roll of paper towels. I opted to use cloth diapers on my boys since they were born and I have never regretted it. (In fact I cringe at the price of disposable diapers.) Using reusable items is green. Good for the environment and gives you more green. Huzzah for being semi crunchy. :)

Hope this may inspire others to have good financial health. :)