Showing posts with label Dave Ramsey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dave Ramsey. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Book Review: Rich Dad, Poor Dad
My nerdy side loves reading up on stuff about personal finances. As far as I'm concerned, you can never have too much wisdom in that area, so bring it on! I had heard great things about Robert T. Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" so it was hovering at the top of my list of non-fiction goodies to digest this year.
The short of it? I think this is a fantastic read. I really like the overall message of the book, which is how to get out of the rat race of the middle class and start thinking like a rich person. I love this concept because that is exactly why my husband and I are busting our butts right now. Sure, we're broke today, but we're not sitting still. We're heading for rich.
Kiyosaki was raised in Hawaii and tells of how he grew up with two dads, his "rich dad" and his "poor dad." His own father was the "poor" one and the father of his best childhood friend was his "rich" dad. Both were great men, but Kiyosaki was challenged with polarizing views on money and success between the two of them. His poor dad was a big believer in education and the importance of getting a good degree and finding a secure job so you can make a good income. (Is any job really all that secure these days?) His rich dad argued that we need more than education. We aren't taught anything about personal finance in school. (Think about it - when did you ever have a class on how to handle money?) So naturally, any financial education a child receives is left up to his parents. Rich dad maintained that finding a "secure job" was not the answer. Learning about money and how to make it work for YOU is the real solution.
Now Kiyosaki's own father wasn't what we think of as "poor." He wasn't necessarily struggling to put food on the table, but he simply thought like a "poor" person thinks... make the donuts, pay the bills, make the donuts, pay the bills. Never getting any traction, like a mouse in a wheel. He was highly educated and well respected, but found himself in this perpetual rat race. "One of the reasons the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and the middle class struggles in debt is because the subject of money is taught at home, not in school . . . Schools focus on scholastic and professional skills, but not on financial skills. This explains how smart bankers, doctors and accountants who earned excellent grades in school may still struggle financially all their lives. Our staggering national debt is due in large part to highly educated politicians and government officials making financial decisions with little or no training on the subject of money."
It's often hard for a family with an income of $46,000 (what the average American household makes) to understand how a family making twice that or more struggles living pay check to pay check. "If only we made this much more, than we'd be OK." The truth is, when we make more, we spend more. Dave Ramsey talks about how most Americans take a $300/month raise and immediately turn it into a $400/month car payment. Car payments have become a way of life and are poison to the middle class. They keep the middle class... in the middle class. And that's exactly why the hub and I don't play that game anymore. So it's not all that difficult to imagine how a high income earning doctor or lawyer can get caught up in the race. Make more money, get more stuff. Make MORE money, get bigger better stuff. And on and on...
So obviously, book smarts and lots of letters after your last name mean nothing when it comes to handling money wisely. Hello, I'm a CPA for crying out loud. I was well educated on accounting for money. I learned how to account for different transactions and how they are presented on financial statements and recognized on tax returns. But never in any of my undergraduate or graduate classes did I learn anything about personal finance. Or even wise financial decision-making in business, for that matter. I simply learned how to properly present what's already there. So what we're ultimately left with is what we learned from our own parents. Even if your parents said very little on the subject, you learned a great deal just from watching how they handle money.
My parents were (and still are) very responsible with money. As far as I could tell, they were a good hybrid of savers and spenders. Definitely not hoarders and definitely not over-spenders. And my Dad tried to teach me the importance of saving for retirement. I say *tried* because while I totally understood and agreed with the concept, it wasn't something I was able to get all that excited about at the time. And though I like to think of myself back then (in my teenage years) as being well grounded and self-aware, I know that I, like many young adults these days, felt a sense of entitlement when it came to having stuff. I wasn't a spoiled brat, but I do think I somehow developed this I-deserve-this mentality. A little materialistic? Yeah, probably. My parents were great examples, and I had a few pages out of the manual on being responsible, but I was lacking the motivation to win (not to mention the real definition of winning with money) and the self-discipline to say no. And thus began my early adulthood and early years in marriage... on the quest for stuff (because the accumulation of stuff means you're winning, right?) and continually trying to out-earn our stupidity.
Thankfully, there is a movement to get sound financial education in schools, but much like sex education, parents are ultimately responsible for teaching their children. My gosh, if you teach your kids nothing else, please teach them about money and sex! No two things are more spiritually connected or potentially detrimental. Teaching our (future) kids about money is something the hub and I are SO excited about. We've got lots of great ideas and that's another post for another day, but yes it's something we consider to be extremely important. The fact is, however, most people grow up simply with the "get a good education so you can get a good job" mentality. And that's just not enough. They fall it to the rat race with no hope of escaping.
So what is the "rat race?" Kiyosaki explains that the poor and middle class work for money. And it's fear that keeps most of them working at their jobs - fear of not being able to pay bills, fear of losing their jobs, fear of not having enough. So we therefore become slaves to our money. Slaves to our employers. Along with fear, greed steps in. "Once we get that paycheck, greed or desire starts us thinking about all the wonderful things money can buy. The pattern is then set," taught Kiyosaki's rich dad. "Offer them more money, and they continue the cycle by also increasing their spending. This is what I call the Rat Race."
Rich dad went on to explain that the "rich" have a different worldview. They make money work for them. The book goes into a lot of detail about how the rich focus on money-making assets, having a balance sheet view. Whereas the poor are always focused on the income statement - money going in and money going out. Now, I'm an accountant so all this balance sheet and income statement talk made total sense to me. I don't know how easy it would be to grasp if you don't stare at financial statements all day like I do! But I think it's written in a way that anyone could understand the key points here. One point in particular is that the poor tend to buy liabilities that they think are assets... like cars. That's not to say you shouldn't buy a car! But don't fool yourself into thinking you're investing in an asset. And rich people of course buy cars. But they understand that "stuff" is just stuff. They don't immediately run to buy more and more stuff as their money grows. They understand and practice the concept of delayed gratification. This is a huge distinction between the rich and the poor. Kiyosaki even argues that your own house is not ultimately an asset. True assets earn you money. Your house doesn't earn you money, it costs you money. Even if you own it free and clear, it still costs you. You're not making any money off of it. No, you're continually repairing it and improving it.
The book goes on detailing how differently the rich see things than most of us do. As I mentioned, the rich have a "balance sheet" mentality instead of focusing on income and expenses. The rich pay themselves first. They have very little or no debt. And they understand the importance of giving. Kiyosaki adds, "My rich dad gave lots of money away. . . He knew that to receive money, you had to give money. Giving money is the secret to most great wealthy families." None of this rich-people-thinking was necessarily new information for me (since Dave Ramsey has been drilling it into my head for the last couple of years), but I really loved the author's approach to this concept. At the end of the day, winning with money is largely about behavior rather than know-how. You have to change the way you think.
Where the book leaves me going, "Huh?!" is when Kiyosaki goes into detail on how he personally invests and finds opportunities. He is a huge risk taker, which has often brought about great returns for him. But he's also admittedly gone broke over and over again. OK, I only want to go broke once (been there), figure out what the hell I did wrong (done that) and then never do that again. I don't buy into the idea of making high risk investments and leveraging debt to make quick returns. I'm a crockpot, not a microwave. Sure, I may never see some of the huge payoffs that a big risk-taker sees, but I will avoid the heartache when an investment turns sour. And hell if I'm putting my family's security at risk in an effort to make a quick buck. Building and sustaining wealth takes time. And we certainly won't be using debt as a "tool" to build wealth. So on his investment strategies, I have to say, "not for me, Mr. Kiyosaki."
Investing differences aside, I think the overall premise of the book is excellent. If nothing else, it'll challenge you to think about money in a completely different way and really brings light to the fact that NO ONE is teaching our kids about money. It's a very entertaining and quick read. Yes, there's a good bit of financial jargon in there, but I don't think it's anything the average reader couldn't grasp. Grab this book and get out of the rat race!
Next Up: "Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters" by Meg Meeker, MD
Previous: "Sex and the Soul of a Woman" by Paula Rinehart
The short of it? I think this is a fantastic read. I really like the overall message of the book, which is how to get out of the rat race of the middle class and start thinking like a rich person. I love this concept because that is exactly why my husband and I are busting our butts right now. Sure, we're broke today, but we're not sitting still. We're heading for rich.
Kiyosaki was raised in Hawaii and tells of how he grew up with two dads, his "rich dad" and his "poor dad." His own father was the "poor" one and the father of his best childhood friend was his "rich" dad. Both were great men, but Kiyosaki was challenged with polarizing views on money and success between the two of them. His poor dad was a big believer in education and the importance of getting a good degree and finding a secure job so you can make a good income. (Is any job really all that secure these days?) His rich dad argued that we need more than education. We aren't taught anything about personal finance in school. (Think about it - when did you ever have a class on how to handle money?) So naturally, any financial education a child receives is left up to his parents. Rich dad maintained that finding a "secure job" was not the answer. Learning about money and how to make it work for YOU is the real solution.
Now Kiyosaki's own father wasn't what we think of as "poor." He wasn't necessarily struggling to put food on the table, but he simply thought like a "poor" person thinks... make the donuts, pay the bills, make the donuts, pay the bills. Never getting any traction, like a mouse in a wheel. He was highly educated and well respected, but found himself in this perpetual rat race. "One of the reasons the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and the middle class struggles in debt is because the subject of money is taught at home, not in school . . . Schools focus on scholastic and professional skills, but not on financial skills. This explains how smart bankers, doctors and accountants who earned excellent grades in school may still struggle financially all their lives. Our staggering national debt is due in large part to highly educated politicians and government officials making financial decisions with little or no training on the subject of money."
It's often hard for a family with an income of $46,000 (what the average American household makes) to understand how a family making twice that or more struggles living pay check to pay check. "If only we made this much more, than we'd be OK." The truth is, when we make more, we spend more. Dave Ramsey talks about how most Americans take a $300/month raise and immediately turn it into a $400/month car payment. Car payments have become a way of life and are poison to the middle class. They keep the middle class... in the middle class. And that's exactly why the hub and I don't play that game anymore. So it's not all that difficult to imagine how a high income earning doctor or lawyer can get caught up in the race. Make more money, get more stuff. Make MORE money, get bigger better stuff. And on and on...
So obviously, book smarts and lots of letters after your last name mean nothing when it comes to handling money wisely. Hello, I'm a CPA for crying out loud. I was well educated on accounting for money. I learned how to account for different transactions and how they are presented on financial statements and recognized on tax returns. But never in any of my undergraduate or graduate classes did I learn anything about personal finance. Or even wise financial decision-making in business, for that matter. I simply learned how to properly present what's already there. So what we're ultimately left with is what we learned from our own parents. Even if your parents said very little on the subject, you learned a great deal just from watching how they handle money.
My parents were (and still are) very responsible with money. As far as I could tell, they were a good hybrid of savers and spenders. Definitely not hoarders and definitely not over-spenders. And my Dad tried to teach me the importance of saving for retirement. I say *tried* because while I totally understood and agreed with the concept, it wasn't something I was able to get all that excited about at the time. And though I like to think of myself back then (in my teenage years) as being well grounded and self-aware, I know that I, like many young adults these days, felt a sense of entitlement when it came to having stuff. I wasn't a spoiled brat, but I do think I somehow developed this I-deserve-this mentality. A little materialistic? Yeah, probably. My parents were great examples, and I had a few pages out of the manual on being responsible, but I was lacking the motivation to win (not to mention the real definition of winning with money) and the self-discipline to say no. And thus began my early adulthood and early years in marriage... on the quest for stuff (because the accumulation of stuff means you're winning, right?) and continually trying to out-earn our stupidity.
Thankfully, there is a movement to get sound financial education in schools, but much like sex education, parents are ultimately responsible for teaching their children. My gosh, if you teach your kids nothing else, please teach them about money and sex! No two things are more spiritually connected or potentially detrimental. Teaching our (future) kids about money is something the hub and I are SO excited about. We've got lots of great ideas and that's another post for another day, but yes it's something we consider to be extremely important. The fact is, however, most people grow up simply with the "get a good education so you can get a good job" mentality. And that's just not enough. They fall it to the rat race with no hope of escaping.
So what is the "rat race?" Kiyosaki explains that the poor and middle class work for money. And it's fear that keeps most of them working at their jobs - fear of not being able to pay bills, fear of losing their jobs, fear of not having enough. So we therefore become slaves to our money. Slaves to our employers. Along with fear, greed steps in. "Once we get that paycheck, greed or desire starts us thinking about all the wonderful things money can buy. The pattern is then set," taught Kiyosaki's rich dad. "Offer them more money, and they continue the cycle by also increasing their spending. This is what I call the Rat Race."
Rich dad went on to explain that the "rich" have a different worldview. They make money work for them. The book goes into a lot of detail about how the rich focus on money-making assets, having a balance sheet view. Whereas the poor are always focused on the income statement - money going in and money going out. Now, I'm an accountant so all this balance sheet and income statement talk made total sense to me. I don't know how easy it would be to grasp if you don't stare at financial statements all day like I do! But I think it's written in a way that anyone could understand the key points here. One point in particular is that the poor tend to buy liabilities that they think are assets... like cars. That's not to say you shouldn't buy a car! But don't fool yourself into thinking you're investing in an asset. And rich people of course buy cars. But they understand that "stuff" is just stuff. They don't immediately run to buy more and more stuff as their money grows. They understand and practice the concept of delayed gratification. This is a huge distinction between the rich and the poor. Kiyosaki even argues that your own house is not ultimately an asset. True assets earn you money. Your house doesn't earn you money, it costs you money. Even if you own it free and clear, it still costs you. You're not making any money off of it. No, you're continually repairing it and improving it.
The book goes on detailing how differently the rich see things than most of us do. As I mentioned, the rich have a "balance sheet" mentality instead of focusing on income and expenses. The rich pay themselves first. They have very little or no debt. And they understand the importance of giving. Kiyosaki adds, "My rich dad gave lots of money away. . . He knew that to receive money, you had to give money. Giving money is the secret to most great wealthy families." None of this rich-people-thinking was necessarily new information for me (since Dave Ramsey has been drilling it into my head for the last couple of years), but I really loved the author's approach to this concept. At the end of the day, winning with money is largely about behavior rather than know-how. You have to change the way you think.
Where the book leaves me going, "Huh?!" is when Kiyosaki goes into detail on how he personally invests and finds opportunities. He is a huge risk taker, which has often brought about great returns for him. But he's also admittedly gone broke over and over again. OK, I only want to go broke once (been there), figure out what the hell I did wrong (done that) and then never do that again. I don't buy into the idea of making high risk investments and leveraging debt to make quick returns. I'm a crockpot, not a microwave. Sure, I may never see some of the huge payoffs that a big risk-taker sees, but I will avoid the heartache when an investment turns sour. And hell if I'm putting my family's security at risk in an effort to make a quick buck. Building and sustaining wealth takes time. And we certainly won't be using debt as a "tool" to build wealth. So on his investment strategies, I have to say, "not for me, Mr. Kiyosaki."
Investing differences aside, I think the overall premise of the book is excellent. If nothing else, it'll challenge you to think about money in a completely different way and really brings light to the fact that NO ONE is teaching our kids about money. It's a very entertaining and quick read. Yes, there's a good bit of financial jargon in there, but I don't think it's anything the average reader couldn't grasp. Grab this book and get out of the rat race!
Next Up: "Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters" by Meg Meeker, MD
Previous: "Sex and the Soul of a Woman" by Paula Rinehart
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
A Few Goals for 2011
While I'm grateful to be back to 100% after my surgery two weeks ago, it looks like my 3 month hibernation from society has officially begun. Every year I think, "Oh, I'll totally be able to get everything done I normally do during tax season." And every year I fail - as if that's surprising. This is my... 12th tax season. You'd think I'd have figured it out by now. So while I have several bloggy ideas floating in my head at any given time, I find it harder and harder to get on here as we approach those big tax deadlines. I'll do my best to get a couple of posts up each week, but working an extra 2-3 hours a day just leaves me in a comatose state when I get home at night - no matter what time it is. And seriously, the last thing I want to do is get BACK on the 'puter after staring at four screens for 10 hours straight.
But wow, it's already February and I haven't shared any of our big goals for the year. We're always kind of slow to get them figured out and down on paper, but we've got some good ones for 2011. We tried really hard to nail down at least one goal (as a couple or individually) in each of these categories:
- Financial Goals
- Professional Goals
- Personal Development Goals
- Marriage & Family Goals
- Physical Goals
- Spiritual Goals
- Social & Community Goals
So here are just a few of our personal goals for 2011 that I wanted to share...
1. Financial: We will get our debt snowball down to the last debt on our list, the hub's student loan.
Predicting exactly when we'll be done with our debt snowball is tricky since our income fluctuates each month, plus *hopefully* we'll be forced to temporarily stop our snowball later this year to stash away cash for maternity leave. But we feel very confident that we can hack through everything that is in front of that last big debt by the end of the year. Also, a piggyback goal to this one... depending on our income levels in 2011, we may have to add our HELOC to our debt snowball. Normally, a 2nd mortgage or HELOC is paid off in Baby Step #6 on Dave's plan, but if the balance is less than half of your annual income, you add it to your consumer debt snowball in Baby Step #2. It would definitely drag out Step #2 (and therefore drag out our rice and beans lifestyle a bit longer), but it would have a HUGE long-term payoff if we were able to do that. So while we're VERY ready to get past Step #2, we hope that our income will be great enough to require us to stick with it a little longer.
2. Personal Development: I will read 50 non-fiction books in 2011.
Y'all have already heard this one... I initially had it for 25 books, but with the pace I was setting in January, I decided to be brave and double that goal. Tax season will probably slow me down some, but I'm still confident I can get 50 books under my belt this year. I just finished my 5th yesterday. So why non-fiction? It's purely about growing my brain and also growing my faith. So yeah, this double dips as a spiritual goal too. A lot of the books I'm reading are faith-based, but many are personal finance or business books. I've had a lot of these books on my list of good intentions for a long time and I decided 2011 is the time to make it happen. Charlie "Tremendous" Jones said, "You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read." So there you have it. I don't want to be the same person in five years. I want to be a better, wiser, stronger version of me.
3. Spiritual: I will read through the entire Bible in 2011.
Yeah, y'all know about this one too. I began reading just before Christmas to get a good jump-start. I am using The One Year Bible on my Kindle and am loving it (revisit this post for more on this particular Bible). I really thought I would just make a goal of regularly reading through the Bible, like 5 days a week. And I wouldn't give myself a hard time about finishing it in 365 days. But after starting it, I found it SO easy to fit in the reading each day. And I also keep a notebook where I jot down the "synopsis" of each day's passages along with any verses that strike me or questions that arise. I feel silly for thinking this was going to be a chore. It has been an incredible joy. I know most of the big Bible stories, but it's been SO long since I read them all in great detail. So I decided to forget being passive about it and declare that I would indeed get the job done in 2011. I'm right on track.
4. Professional: I will begin writing a book on struggling with infertility this year.
I don't know how the hell to do this one, but I'm just going to fly by the seat of my pants here. Whether this will be a published work at some point, God only knows. But it's something that's been swimming around in my head for a couple of years and I figure, what better time to start than when I'm in the thick of it? Not that I think my hurt and fear will be forgotten if and when our dreams of parenthood come true, but I want to document those feelings now while I'm facing them. And hopefully be able to reflect back once I've overcome them. There's not enough good information on struggling with infertility and I feel led to contribute somehow, so perhaps this is a big first step. My goal is to have a rough draft by the end of 2011. Probably really rough, but we'll see.
5. Spiritual/Social: We will use $30 once a month to bless a friend or neighbor.
You've heard me talk about how big our hearts are for giving. The hub and I love, love, love it and can't wait to have the financial means to give in big ways later on. But for now, we are pretty much restricted to tithing while working our debt snowball. Though, the other day I thought of an idea for a particular friend... just a small little unexpected gift that I knew would bring a smile. And then I thought, why not do this every month? $30 is not a lot. But $30 well spent can lift a spirit. And shouldn't we all be in the spirit-lifting business? I'm excited to see where this goal takes us this year.
How are YOUR goals coming along?
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
A Life-Changing Giveaway!
No, it's not a million dollars. But it does have the potential to change your life, dear readers. After getting such an awesome response to my recent post on spending less and saving more (and a shizload of requests for our budgeting templates), I figured y'all deserved a fabulous budget-themed giveaway!
Up for grabs is Dave Ramsey's Cash Flow Planning DVD (a $19.95 value), which is the 3rd lesson from Financial Peace University (his 13-week course on how to handle money). This video is all about the nuts and bolts of budgeting. A DVD on finance stuff? Seriously? I assure you it's no snooze fest. It's packed full of great information, but it's also freakin' hilarious. It'll make you laugh. It'll make you cry. It'll make you say, "Aw shit, that's us." You will love it.
Here are the deets...
In this 85-minute lesson, Dave walks you through a step-by-step method for setting-up a household budget that you can live with. No longer will you have to dread living on a budget.
Dave shows you how to live on less than you make, pay your bills, allow for entertainment and still have money left over at the end of the month. You'll never feel confined by a budget again after you learn how to do a budget the way thousands of other families have, the Financial Peace way.
You'll Learn How to:
-Stretch your money further
-Set up your own cash-flow system
-Live on a budget
-Have money left over at the end of the month
-Spend money without guilt
-Get control and keep control of your money
We've been through the class twice and I've listened to the audio from this lesson countless times. It is priceless information and a perfect way to get your butt in gear for the new year! One winner will be picked by random number generator. To enter, simply leave a comment on this post answering the following question:If you were able to find more money left over at the end of the month, what's the first thing you would do with it? Entry deadline is Monday, January 10th (midnight ET). A winner will be announced on Tuesday the 11th. Please provide an email address in your comment so I can contact you if you win! Best of luck...
Up for grabs is Dave Ramsey's Cash Flow Planning DVD (a $19.95 value), which is the 3rd lesson from Financial Peace University (his 13-week course on how to handle money). This video is all about the nuts and bolts of budgeting. A DVD on finance stuff? Seriously? I assure you it's no snooze fest. It's packed full of great information, but it's also freakin' hilarious. It'll make you laugh. It'll make you cry. It'll make you say, "Aw shit, that's us." You will love it.
Here are the deets...
In this 85-minute lesson, Dave walks you through a step-by-step method for setting-up a household budget that you can live with. No longer will you have to dread living on a budget.
Dave shows you how to live on less than you make, pay your bills, allow for entertainment and still have money left over at the end of the month. You'll never feel confined by a budget again after you learn how to do a budget the way thousands of other families have, the Financial Peace way.
You'll Learn How to:
-Stretch your money further
-Set up your own cash-flow system
-Live on a budget
-Have money left over at the end of the month
-Spend money without guilt
-Get control and keep control of your money
We've been through the class twice and I've listened to the audio from this lesson countless times. It is priceless information and a perfect way to get your butt in gear for the new year! One winner will be picked by random number generator. To enter, simply leave a comment on this post answering the following question:If you were able to find more money left over at the end of the month, what's the first thing you would do with it? Entry deadline is Monday, January 10th (midnight ET). A winner will be announced on Tuesday the 11th. Please provide an email address in your comment so I can contact you if you win! Best of luck...
Monday, January 3, 2011
Resolving to Spend Less?
We aren't. It's damn near impossible for us to spend much less than we already do. But as a reformed shopaholic, I can proudly boast that I now kick ass at spending less. But as most of y'all know, we were forced into a financial makeover more than two years ago. So we didn't really have the choice to say, "Oh I think we'll resolve to spend less this year." No, we just kinda had to. And of course, as I've said countless times, it was probably one of the best life lessons we've ever been handed.
I know "spending less" and "saving more" are two of the most popular New Year's resolutions people have. It's very easy to say, but not so easy to do - especially if you don't have a plan. So as someone who not only spends less on everything, but has also been on a self-imposed shopping hiatus for over TWO years, maybe I can help. At the very least, I can tell you how we do it. We've been sticking to our guns for over 26 months, so I can guarantee these methods are tried and true. You may argue, "that's great for you, but that wouldn't work for me." But all I hear is "I'm not willing to make those sacrifices." The truth is that it does work. It doesn't matter who you are or what your financial situation looks like. There's nothing fancy or sophisticated about this, but you gotta work it. I realize it's a lot harder to *choose* to cut back than to be forced into it. But if you want it badly enough, you can do it.
Below are five keys to spending less and saving more. I didn't make these up. These are things we have learned and ingrained in our heads over the last two years. They are not temporary changes - they are lifelong. Whether we have $10 in the bank or $10 million, these principles hold true.
1. Get on a budget (and actually stick to it).
Oh, that dreaded "B" word, I know. Someone says "budget" and we immediately picture a straight jacket. But the big secret is... a budget is not a form of bondage; it is freedom. Most simply put, it is a plan. As my go-to guru Dave always says, "If you don't tell your money where to go, you'll wonder where it went." And a budget is just that: telling every dollar where to go. We do what's called a "zero-based" budget every month. This means every single dollar that we know is coming in has a name on it before the month begins - before it ever hits our account. So, income minus expenses each month equal to ZERO.
Pictured here is an actual screen shot from our current budget. Just a snippet, obviously. But this is basically how our main budget is laid out each month. We have 13 different categories of expenses and three are shown above. Amounts that are estimated are highlighted in green until I receive the bill and know exactly what's due. If you're interested, I'd be glad to go into a lot more detail with you about how we run our budget. I use Excel to keep up with the budget (which is one file with several worksheets) and I use Quicken to track our cash flow. Drop me an email if you have questions - I seriously LOVE helping people with this stuff, so feel free.
Aside from the mechanics of the budget itself, it's extremely important to do this with your spouse if you're married. A plan is no good if only one of you is on board. The other one will screw it up in about two seconds flat. This doesn't mean you both have to sit down at the computer and hold hands as you punch out your budget. I'm obviously the nerdy one in my marriage - so I actually put together the budget and pay the bills each month. But the hub is certainly involved in all decisions and we sit down together monthly (at least) to go over what's going on in the upcoming month. Generally, one of you is better at handling the budget, but you both have to be involved in carrying it out. Once you've settled on the budget for a given month, consider it a contract between the two of you. This is our plan, and we're sticking to it. You of course will run into something every month that wasn't in the plan. That's just life. Take a time-out, juggle some things around and continue on.
2. Give, Save, then Spend.
Without a plan, most of us will spend, spend, spend... and if there's anything left at the end of the month, we might give and/or save. What's a sure fire way to rock your financial world? Turn your old spending habits upside down. I dare you to give FIRST out of your monthly income. Pay YOURSELF next by saving. And lastly, live on the rest. This concept alone has changed our lives and the hub and I both agree it's the best decision we've ever made together. At the very top of our budget each month is our tithe. It comes out automatically twice a month, so it's gone. And thank God for the automatic withdrawal because if it didn't go first I know there's many a month it might not have gone at all. Second on our budget is our "Savings" category. I will touch more on savings here shortly. Everything that follows is general "spending." Our monthly bills, debt payments, and everyday living expenses.
Understand that there is something incredibly spiritual about this ordering. It doesn't always seem mathematically or logically sound. All I can tell you is that it will mess you up - in an amazing way. Tithing, specifically, is about trust. It will open your heart in ways you can't believe. In ways no financial expert can quantify.
One other thing I should say about giving... We personally only tithe right now. Our budget is extremely tight, so we do not currently do any giving on top of our tithe to our local church. We're told to take care of our own households first and foremost, and the hub and I take that seriously. When we're out of consumer debt and able to give more (one of the things we can't WAIT to do), it will of course fall in this "Giving" category on our budget. I know people are always pulling at you to give $20 here and $30 there for great causes. If you can, do it! But if you're in a financial bind, it's your responsibility to take care of you and your family first. It's OK to say NO, and you should. I have a big heart for giving and definitely understand the urge. Use your time and your hands instead. There are many opportunities to serve that don't require you to write a check.
3. Build an Emergency Fund.
And no, a credit card does not count as an "emergency fund." How many of you have stuck a credit card in your wallet "just in case?" That's a recipe for disaster, as I'm sure many of you know. Whether you're a proponent of credit cards or not doesn't matter here. I think you know my position (or you will by the end of this), but you've got to set CASH aside for emergencies regardless. Otherwise, your beautifully planned out budget can take a big unexpected whacking and suddenly bills aren't getting paid. A solid emergency fund is made up of 3-6 months of expenses. That's not 3-6 months of income; it's 3-6 months of funds needed to LIVE. So if you normally spend about $5,000 per month on the mortgage, utilities, debt payments, grocery bills, and other necessary spending, you need to set aside $15,000-30,000. In CASH. Not invested in the stock market or locked up in a 401(k). This is not an investment; it is insurance. It's "a buffer between you and life," Dave says. Stick it in an interest-bearing savings account and leave it alone.
That's a lot of money, right? And if you're familiar with Dave Ramsey's plan, you know the fully-funded emergency fund is actually baby step 3 (in his 7-step plan to financial peace). So if you're in the midst of paying off consumer debt, as are we, limit your emergency fund to $1,000. If you know a storm is coming, of course stop and save, save, save. Otherwise, believe it or not, you will get by just fine with only $1,000 put away. We have for over two years. The amount is small for two main reasons: It's easy to save quickly, but it's small enough that it's a little scary. The idea is to push you to get your debt paid off so you can fund the rest of it.
And remember we're talking about saving for *emergencies* here. New tires are not an emergency. Back-to-school clothes are not an emergency. Christmas gifts are not an emergency. An emergency is an unexpected event and none of those I mentioned qualify. But there are things, such as Christmas, that pop up every year that we need to plan for. And this is where other short-term savings come in to play. For example, put $100 in "Christmas Savings" on your budget every month and you'll be able to shop pain-free in December. Whatever you're saving for, the biggest point I'm trying to drive home is that your savings must have a purpose. If you just have a savings account at your local bank that you stick money in here and there with no real purpose, those "savings" are likely to disappear. You walk past a pair of hot new boots and suddenly you're transferring money from your "savings" account on your iPhone and viola! You've got killer boots and no savings.
Just like your monthly income, every dollar that goes into a savings account needs a name on it. Don't just save for the sake of "saving." Save with purpose. Whether you're saving for emergencies, future spending, or retirement, save with purpose.
4. Use cold hard CASH.
Maybe you're picking up on a reoccurring theme here... intentionality. Basically that's what all of this is - being intentional with your spending and saving rather than flying by the seat of your pants and hoping everything falls into place. We tried that method! It worked for a while. And then it didn't. So if there's one fool-proof key I can give you to carrying out your intentions each month (i.e. sticking to your budget), it's the cash envelope system.
To me, this is the absolute secret to success. It is so simple yet SO effective. It is revolutionary, yet it's not - it's just common sense. In fact, your grandmother probably did this. The short of it? Use cash (as in the green paper stuff) for your everyday spending instead of debit cards or credit cards. On your budget, identify what categories you'll use cash for and designate a dollar amount. We typically have cash envelopes for Food, Entertainment, Dogs, Dry Cleaning, Gifts (birthday, etc), Hair Cuts, and Miscellaneous. Some months call for an added category or two, but these are our most-used ones, personally. Each pay day, I pull out the amount of cash we need to replenish our envelopes (we fill them every pay period, not just once a month). When I go grocery shopping, I use cash from the Food envelope. If we go to the movies, the hub pays for his popcorn from the Entertainment envelope. We both have our own Miscellaneous envelope for whatever. But once an envelope is empty, it's gone. There is no "borrowing" from other categories or whipping out the debit card. If it's gone, it's gone.
Why is this method successful in cutting back spending? The truth is, spending cold hard cash "hurts" more. Psychological studies have been performed that prove there is an element of actual pain triggered by spending cash. Using a debit card still triggers some pain, but much less. Spending with a credit card registers virtually no pain. Translation? You spend a lot more when you use a card, especially credit cards. According to a Dunn & Bradstreet study, consumers spend 12-18% more when using credit cards. Do the math - that is a HUGE chunk of your budget. Huge. Think about it... why did all the fast food joints transition over to taking plastic? It's not for your convenience, that's for sure. McDonald's reported that their average ticket rose over 55% once they accepted cards. You spend more when you use plastic. You spend less when you use cash. If you want to spend less, use CASH.
I realize it's a big change for most. Pictured here are my actual cash envelopes. (I have a smiley on Food because I love food.) I was lucky if I had a single dollar in my wallet before we moved to an all-cash system. I whipped out the debit card for everything. But I think you'll find that being on a cash envelope system provides a lot of freedom. You've already pulled out the cash for the $100 you budgeted for clothing. You don't have to think about it or feel guilty for spending it. You (and your spouse) agreed to that amount on your budget and it's there for you to use accordingly. And once it's gone, you're done. No more shopping till next month.
This has particularly been a huge help for us on our grocery bill. As I'm going through the aisles, I'm tallying up everything I put in my cart. I round up to the nearest dollar to keep it simple, but I know how much I'm spending before I ever get to the checkout line. I've only got a set dollar amount in my envelope and I know I can't go over it. And yes, I've totally had to put stuff back after realizing I was exceeding my budget. And given that our grocery funds are very limited, I've become a coupon nut too. We've completely changed the way we grocery shop. I never paid attention to prices before, not really. I was a sucker for creative packaging. If it looked good, I bought it. And I'd swipe my debit card at the checkout, hardly ever taking real notice of what I spent. If I've learned nothing else, I've learned the true value of the dollar.
The biggest protest I hear regarding using cash is the we-run-everything-on-our-American-Express-and-pay-it-off-every-month. If that's your thing and you're "doing fine," go for it. I can give you a list of reasons why I don't agree with that method, but people are going to do what they're going to do. I just gave you one freaking huge reason. So if you really want to spend less in 2011, get out of that habit. You can easily afford airline tickets with the money you aren't spending on other crap.
5. Identify areas where you can make sacrifices.
"Every little bit helps." The hub and I say that all the time. When we were initially making over our finances, we had to quickly examine our spending and find things we could cut out or cut back. You may not have to do this, but maybe you do. We found ourselves immediately ditching our maid service, cable TV, and home phone service. We also cut out any dining out. We used to eat out ALL the time. So that one was a big adjustment for us. We still only eat out maybe once or twice a month at most, and if we do it's at our local dirty Mexican joint 90% of the time (very cheap). What's eating up your budget that you can trim down? The daily Starbucks? Weekly golf games? Pricey concerts? Gym memberships? (I'm not encouraging you to stop working out, but you don't need a gym.)
Whatever your goals are for 2011, there is undoubtedly an amount of sacrifice involved in order to win. Whether it's not spending money on something you normally would, or not spending time somewhere else in order to have more time doing something more worthwhile... we often must give up something in order to achieve something better. Sacrifices, even small ones, can have big payoffs. With spending less and saving more, you have to learn to say NO to some things. You have to learn to say NO to yourself. Dig through your bank statements and seek out areas you might need to say NO to... I'm pretty sure you don't need that $5 latte.
I share these things with you not because I know it all. Again, I didn't dream up these ideas - we learned them and incorporated them into our lives. And we are SO the better for it. I was running our spending report on Quicken the other day - I get a really nerdy satisfaction out of revisiting where our money went over the last 12 months. As I did for 2009, I ran a tally of all my "shopping" for 2010. This is money spent on clothing and accessories for me, just because. I couldn't give you an "old me" tally because I didn't keep good records then. Let's just say it was exponentially higher than the numbers I'm about to give you. In 2009 I told y'all I spent $45.57. The only other spending I did that year was for a bridesmaid dress and shoes, which I didn't include in that figure. In 2010, I beat that number! Drum roll, please... I spent $34.90. Ten dollars was spent at Old Navy and the rest was on a Vera Bradley bag I ordered. Now of course I have gotten other clothes as gifts and have received a gift card here and there that I've used to buy clothing. But only $35 came out of my wallet. Pretty damn good, I say! Shopaholic reform is possible, girls, and I am living proof.
So if you are resolving to spend less and save more in the new year, you've now got a solid how-to. Incorporate these principles into specific goals for you and your family. Whether or not you want to do it is ultimately up to you, duh. But if you're serious about it and ready to make some big changes, you will find success if you apply these principles. All of this is an expansion on topics specific to spending and saving, but if you're really looking for a top-to-bottom money makeover, please go rub elbows with Dave and get cracking with the baby steps to financial peace. It'll rock your world.
I know "spending less" and "saving more" are two of the most popular New Year's resolutions people have. It's very easy to say, but not so easy to do - especially if you don't have a plan. So as someone who not only spends less on everything, but has also been on a self-imposed shopping hiatus for over TWO years, maybe I can help. At the very least, I can tell you how we do it. We've been sticking to our guns for over 26 months, so I can guarantee these methods are tried and true. You may argue, "that's great for you, but that wouldn't work for me." But all I hear is "I'm not willing to make those sacrifices." The truth is that it does work. It doesn't matter who you are or what your financial situation looks like. There's nothing fancy or sophisticated about this, but you gotta work it. I realize it's a lot harder to *choose* to cut back than to be forced into it. But if you want it badly enough, you can do it.
Below are five keys to spending less and saving more. I didn't make these up. These are things we have learned and ingrained in our heads over the last two years. They are not temporary changes - they are lifelong. Whether we have $10 in the bank or $10 million, these principles hold true.
1. Get on a budget (and actually stick to it).
Oh, that dreaded "B" word, I know. Someone says "budget" and we immediately picture a straight jacket. But the big secret is... a budget is not a form of bondage; it is freedom. Most simply put, it is a plan. As my go-to guru Dave always says, "If you don't tell your money where to go, you'll wonder where it went." And a budget is just that: telling every dollar where to go. We do what's called a "zero-based" budget every month. This means every single dollar that we know is coming in has a name on it before the month begins - before it ever hits our account. So, income minus expenses each month equal to ZERO.
Pictured here is an actual screen shot from our current budget. Just a snippet, obviously. But this is basically how our main budget is laid out each month. We have 13 different categories of expenses and three are shown above. Amounts that are estimated are highlighted in green until I receive the bill and know exactly what's due. If you're interested, I'd be glad to go into a lot more detail with you about how we run our budget. I use Excel to keep up with the budget (which is one file with several worksheets) and I use Quicken to track our cash flow. Drop me an email if you have questions - I seriously LOVE helping people with this stuff, so feel free.
Aside from the mechanics of the budget itself, it's extremely important to do this with your spouse if you're married. A plan is no good if only one of you is on board. The other one will screw it up in about two seconds flat. This doesn't mean you both have to sit down at the computer and hold hands as you punch out your budget. I'm obviously the nerdy one in my marriage - so I actually put together the budget and pay the bills each month. But the hub is certainly involved in all decisions and we sit down together monthly (at least) to go over what's going on in the upcoming month. Generally, one of you is better at handling the budget, but you both have to be involved in carrying it out. Once you've settled on the budget for a given month, consider it a contract between the two of you. This is our plan, and we're sticking to it. You of course will run into something every month that wasn't in the plan. That's just life. Take a time-out, juggle some things around and continue on.
2. Give, Save, then Spend.
Without a plan, most of us will spend, spend, spend... and if there's anything left at the end of the month, we might give and/or save. What's a sure fire way to rock your financial world? Turn your old spending habits upside down. I dare you to give FIRST out of your monthly income. Pay YOURSELF next by saving. And lastly, live on the rest. This concept alone has changed our lives and the hub and I both agree it's the best decision we've ever made together. At the very top of our budget each month is our tithe. It comes out automatically twice a month, so it's gone. And thank God for the automatic withdrawal because if it didn't go first I know there's many a month it might not have gone at all. Second on our budget is our "Savings" category. I will touch more on savings here shortly. Everything that follows is general "spending." Our monthly bills, debt payments, and everyday living expenses.
Understand that there is something incredibly spiritual about this ordering. It doesn't always seem mathematically or logically sound. All I can tell you is that it will mess you up - in an amazing way. Tithing, specifically, is about trust. It will open your heart in ways you can't believe. In ways no financial expert can quantify.
One other thing I should say about giving... We personally only tithe right now. Our budget is extremely tight, so we do not currently do any giving on top of our tithe to our local church. We're told to take care of our own households first and foremost, and the hub and I take that seriously. When we're out of consumer debt and able to give more (one of the things we can't WAIT to do), it will of course fall in this "Giving" category on our budget. I know people are always pulling at you to give $20 here and $30 there for great causes. If you can, do it! But if you're in a financial bind, it's your responsibility to take care of you and your family first. It's OK to say NO, and you should. I have a big heart for giving and definitely understand the urge. Use your time and your hands instead. There are many opportunities to serve that don't require you to write a check.
3. Build an Emergency Fund.
And no, a credit card does not count as an "emergency fund." How many of you have stuck a credit card in your wallet "just in case?" That's a recipe for disaster, as I'm sure many of you know. Whether you're a proponent of credit cards or not doesn't matter here. I think you know my position (or you will by the end of this), but you've got to set CASH aside for emergencies regardless. Otherwise, your beautifully planned out budget can take a big unexpected whacking and suddenly bills aren't getting paid. A solid emergency fund is made up of 3-6 months of expenses. That's not 3-6 months of income; it's 3-6 months of funds needed to LIVE. So if you normally spend about $5,000 per month on the mortgage, utilities, debt payments, grocery bills, and other necessary spending, you need to set aside $15,000-30,000. In CASH. Not invested in the stock market or locked up in a 401(k). This is not an investment; it is insurance. It's "a buffer between you and life," Dave says. Stick it in an interest-bearing savings account and leave it alone.
That's a lot of money, right? And if you're familiar with Dave Ramsey's plan, you know the fully-funded emergency fund is actually baby step 3 (in his 7-step plan to financial peace). So if you're in the midst of paying off consumer debt, as are we, limit your emergency fund to $1,000. If you know a storm is coming, of course stop and save, save, save. Otherwise, believe it or not, you will get by just fine with only $1,000 put away. We have for over two years. The amount is small for two main reasons: It's easy to save quickly, but it's small enough that it's a little scary. The idea is to push you to get your debt paid off so you can fund the rest of it.
And remember we're talking about saving for *emergencies* here. New tires are not an emergency. Back-to-school clothes are not an emergency. Christmas gifts are not an emergency. An emergency is an unexpected event and none of those I mentioned qualify. But there are things, such as Christmas, that pop up every year that we need to plan for. And this is where other short-term savings come in to play. For example, put $100 in "Christmas Savings" on your budget every month and you'll be able to shop pain-free in December. Whatever you're saving for, the biggest point I'm trying to drive home is that your savings must have a purpose. If you just have a savings account at your local bank that you stick money in here and there with no real purpose, those "savings" are likely to disappear. You walk past a pair of hot new boots and suddenly you're transferring money from your "savings" account on your iPhone and viola! You've got killer boots and no savings.
Just like your monthly income, every dollar that goes into a savings account needs a name on it. Don't just save for the sake of "saving." Save with purpose. Whether you're saving for emergencies, future spending, or retirement, save with purpose.
4. Use cold hard CASH.
Maybe you're picking up on a reoccurring theme here... intentionality. Basically that's what all of this is - being intentional with your spending and saving rather than flying by the seat of your pants and hoping everything falls into place. We tried that method! It worked for a while. And then it didn't. So if there's one fool-proof key I can give you to carrying out your intentions each month (i.e. sticking to your budget), it's the cash envelope system.
To me, this is the absolute secret to success. It is so simple yet SO effective. It is revolutionary, yet it's not - it's just common sense. In fact, your grandmother probably did this. The short of it? Use cash (as in the green paper stuff) for your everyday spending instead of debit cards or credit cards. On your budget, identify what categories you'll use cash for and designate a dollar amount. We typically have cash envelopes for Food, Entertainment, Dogs, Dry Cleaning, Gifts (birthday, etc), Hair Cuts, and Miscellaneous. Some months call for an added category or two, but these are our most-used ones, personally. Each pay day, I pull out the amount of cash we need to replenish our envelopes (we fill them every pay period, not just once a month). When I go grocery shopping, I use cash from the Food envelope. If we go to the movies, the hub pays for his popcorn from the Entertainment envelope. We both have our own Miscellaneous envelope for whatever. But once an envelope is empty, it's gone. There is no "borrowing" from other categories or whipping out the debit card. If it's gone, it's gone.
Why is this method successful in cutting back spending? The truth is, spending cold hard cash "hurts" more. Psychological studies have been performed that prove there is an element of actual pain triggered by spending cash. Using a debit card still triggers some pain, but much less. Spending with a credit card registers virtually no pain. Translation? You spend a lot more when you use a card, especially credit cards. According to a Dunn & Bradstreet study, consumers spend 12-18% more when using credit cards. Do the math - that is a HUGE chunk of your budget. Huge. Think about it... why did all the fast food joints transition over to taking plastic? It's not for your convenience, that's for sure. McDonald's reported that their average ticket rose over 55% once they accepted cards. You spend more when you use plastic. You spend less when you use cash. If you want to spend less, use CASH.
I realize it's a big change for most. Pictured here are my actual cash envelopes. (I have a smiley on Food because I love food.) I was lucky if I had a single dollar in my wallet before we moved to an all-cash system. I whipped out the debit card for everything. But I think you'll find that being on a cash envelope system provides a lot of freedom. You've already pulled out the cash for the $100 you budgeted for clothing. You don't have to think about it or feel guilty for spending it. You (and your spouse) agreed to that amount on your budget and it's there for you to use accordingly. And once it's gone, you're done. No more shopping till next month.
This has particularly been a huge help for us on our grocery bill. As I'm going through the aisles, I'm tallying up everything I put in my cart. I round up to the nearest dollar to keep it simple, but I know how much I'm spending before I ever get to the checkout line. I've only got a set dollar amount in my envelope and I know I can't go over it. And yes, I've totally had to put stuff back after realizing I was exceeding my budget. And given that our grocery funds are very limited, I've become a coupon nut too. We've completely changed the way we grocery shop. I never paid attention to prices before, not really. I was a sucker for creative packaging. If it looked good, I bought it. And I'd swipe my debit card at the checkout, hardly ever taking real notice of what I spent. If I've learned nothing else, I've learned the true value of the dollar.
The biggest protest I hear regarding using cash is the we-run-everything-on-our-American-Express-and-pay-it-off-every-month. If that's your thing and you're "doing fine," go for it. I can give you a list of reasons why I don't agree with that method, but people are going to do what they're going to do. I just gave you one freaking huge reason. So if you really want to spend less in 2011, get out of that habit. You can easily afford airline tickets with the money you aren't spending on other crap.
5. Identify areas where you can make sacrifices.
"Every little bit helps." The hub and I say that all the time. When we were initially making over our finances, we had to quickly examine our spending and find things we could cut out or cut back. You may not have to do this, but maybe you do. We found ourselves immediately ditching our maid service, cable TV, and home phone service. We also cut out any dining out. We used to eat out ALL the time. So that one was a big adjustment for us. We still only eat out maybe once or twice a month at most, and if we do it's at our local dirty Mexican joint 90% of the time (very cheap). What's eating up your budget that you can trim down? The daily Starbucks? Weekly golf games? Pricey concerts? Gym memberships? (I'm not encouraging you to stop working out, but you don't need a gym.)
Whatever your goals are for 2011, there is undoubtedly an amount of sacrifice involved in order to win. Whether it's not spending money on something you normally would, or not spending time somewhere else in order to have more time doing something more worthwhile... we often must give up something in order to achieve something better. Sacrifices, even small ones, can have big payoffs. With spending less and saving more, you have to learn to say NO to some things. You have to learn to say NO to yourself. Dig through your bank statements and seek out areas you might need to say NO to... I'm pretty sure you don't need that $5 latte.
I share these things with you not because I know it all. Again, I didn't dream up these ideas - we learned them and incorporated them into our lives. And we are SO the better for it. I was running our spending report on Quicken the other day - I get a really nerdy satisfaction out of revisiting where our money went over the last 12 months. As I did for 2009, I ran a tally of all my "shopping" for 2010. This is money spent on clothing and accessories for me, just because. I couldn't give you an "old me" tally because I didn't keep good records then. Let's just say it was exponentially higher than the numbers I'm about to give you. In 2009 I told y'all I spent $45.57. The only other spending I did that year was for a bridesmaid dress and shoes, which I didn't include in that figure. In 2010, I beat that number! Drum roll, please... I spent $34.90. Ten dollars was spent at Old Navy and the rest was on a Vera Bradley bag I ordered. Now of course I have gotten other clothes as gifts and have received a gift card here and there that I've used to buy clothing. But only $35 came out of my wallet. Pretty damn good, I say! Shopaholic reform is possible, girls, and I am living proof.
So if you are resolving to spend less and save more in the new year, you've now got a solid how-to. Incorporate these principles into specific goals for you and your family. Whether or not you want to do it is ultimately up to you, duh. But if you're serious about it and ready to make some big changes, you will find success if you apply these principles. All of this is an expansion on topics specific to spending and saving, but if you're really looking for a top-to-bottom money makeover, please go rub elbows with Dave and get cracking with the baby steps to financial peace. It'll rock your world.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Finding Contentment
“There is no end of craving. Hence contentment alone is the best way to happiness. Therefore, acquire contentment.” - Swami Sivananda
So I was listening to a bunch of debt-free screams on the Dave Ramsey Show today in my car while driving back from acupuncture. Dave often asks the callers what the hardest part of their journey was or what was their "key" to getting out of debt. There are lots of common answers... learning to say "no," sticking to a budget, working together with your spouse, for example. As I'm listening to these callers, I'm always imagining what the hub and I will say when we finally get to call in and scream. I think the hardest part and the easiest part -and certainly the most necessary part - of our debt-free mission is the monthly budget. But at the heart of it, I think the real key for us has been finding true contentment.
I've had satisfaction and contentment in my head a lot lately as the Beth Moore study I'm doing (with my girls' small group) is focusing this week on finding ultimate satisfaction in God. So I really have to credit God with my ability to be so content with where we are and what we have. You'll constantly see me joking about the decisions "old me" would've made versus the "new me." Because my world focus is so different than it was two years ago. You can see it spelled out in my blog... thumb back through my content from the first year or so and there's a lot of jibber jabber about shopping and the latest and greatest hot new item that I'm wanting. But over these last 24 months, you'll have to do a fair amount of digging to find much of anything devoted to shopping. Simply because I've barely been shopping in the last two years! I mean, seriously... you remember my shopping tally from 2009? As in total dollars spent shopping for myself? $45.57. Old me would've spent that much in a skinny minute on a random Tuesday afternoon without blinking.
I honestly can only point to God's intervention when it comes to my learning how to say NO. I've said it a million times, but when we made the decision as husband and wife to turn our finances around, get on a budget, and do this money thing the right way, we didn't look back. It was not an overnight success. It was very hard. But month after month, I began to trust God more and more and more. I could see him working and my faith got bigger. And somewhere along the way, saying NO was no longer hard to do. I'm not sure where exactly along the road it happened, but I'm just not at all tempted by new and shiny things anymore... whether they be shoes or furniture or cars or anything.
I think this change happened for several reasons. First, through this process, we've really learned the value of the dollar. We do all of our discretionary spending in cash. As in dollar bills. We do this because (a) we've found it's the only way to really stick to the budget and (b) when you use cash, it hurts more, so you therefore spend less. (This has been scientifically proven and is also, on the flip side, why fast food joints started taking cards.) Handing over cold hard cash is a lot harder than swiping a card. You can bet your britches I know my total before I get to the cash register, no matter where I am.
The second reason I think I've really found contentment is the fact that the hub and I are so focused on our goals. We constantly have our eye on the prize. Our debt snowball is taped to our bathroom mirror. It's there every day, staring us in the face. Dave said, "When something is important to you, you will move Heaven and earth to make it happen." Well, this is the most important thing to us right now - becoming debt-free. So spending money on things like shoes, which I already have a million of, seems ridiculous and I'm not even tempted. In fact many things I used to find so much value in somehow made their way over to ebay. I've learned that cash in my pocket is better.
The funny thing is, after two years of learning to rewire my thinking, I now have a hard time shopping when I actually do have money to spend. Whereas before, any little trinket that caught my eye would do... now it's a very well thought out process. Lots of weighing opportunity cost. OK, I've only got this $50... I've got to make it count! And don't you know I'll stretch that $50 as far as humanly possible. We set aside some money for the hub to get some new clothes for his new job this month. It felt SO weird to be shopping. Not a guilty feeling, just weird. Unfamiliar. And the way we approach a shopping trip is so vastly different than it was before.
But whether we can afford to shop in a given month or not, I must say that true contentment is nothing short of priceless. More now than ever, I realize chasing after the latest "must-have" item never truly satisfies. Solomon had it right... it's all so "meaningless." But don't get me wrong, girls... there's nothing wrong with shopping till you drop. If you've got the cash, go for it! There will be a day when I'll be back at it - rest assured! I never stopped loving "stuff." But don't go chasing contentment in a shopping bag. You won't find it there.
I've learned and am still learning that only God and God alone can truly satisfy. And this is the biggest and best reason that I've embraced real contentment. Instead of looking in my closet, or at my friends, or the Joneses, I'm looking up. This whole money makeover we've been doing the last couple of years has been more of a spiritual journey than a financial one. Of course it is greatly financial, but through this process our hearts have been changed. We're content. We're able to make sacrifices today more easily because we're on our way somewhere better. And that's where God is really doing his work.
And just for laughs on my way out, here's an old favorite SNL skit. Dave always plays this before his Live Event. It's hilarious because it's true...
So I was listening to a bunch of debt-free screams on the Dave Ramsey Show today in my car while driving back from acupuncture. Dave often asks the callers what the hardest part of their journey was or what was their "key" to getting out of debt. There are lots of common answers... learning to say "no," sticking to a budget, working together with your spouse, for example. As I'm listening to these callers, I'm always imagining what the hub and I will say when we finally get to call in and scream. I think the hardest part and the easiest part -and certainly the most necessary part - of our debt-free mission is the monthly budget. But at the heart of it, I think the real key for us has been finding true contentment.
I've had satisfaction and contentment in my head a lot lately as the Beth Moore study I'm doing (with my girls' small group) is focusing this week on finding ultimate satisfaction in God. So I really have to credit God with my ability to be so content with where we are and what we have. You'll constantly see me joking about the decisions "old me" would've made versus the "new me." Because my world focus is so different than it was two years ago. You can see it spelled out in my blog... thumb back through my content from the first year or so and there's a lot of jibber jabber about shopping and the latest and greatest hot new item that I'm wanting. But over these last 24 months, you'll have to do a fair amount of digging to find much of anything devoted to shopping. Simply because I've barely been shopping in the last two years! I mean, seriously... you remember my shopping tally from 2009? As in total dollars spent shopping for myself? $45.57. Old me would've spent that much in a skinny minute on a random Tuesday afternoon without blinking.
I honestly can only point to God's intervention when it comes to my learning how to say NO. I've said it a million times, but when we made the decision as husband and wife to turn our finances around, get on a budget, and do this money thing the right way, we didn't look back. It was not an overnight success. It was very hard. But month after month, I began to trust God more and more and more. I could see him working and my faith got bigger. And somewhere along the way, saying NO was no longer hard to do. I'm not sure where exactly along the road it happened, but I'm just not at all tempted by new and shiny things anymore... whether they be shoes or furniture or cars or anything.
I think this change happened for several reasons. First, through this process, we've really learned the value of the dollar. We do all of our discretionary spending in cash. As in dollar bills. We do this because (a) we've found it's the only way to really stick to the budget and (b) when you use cash, it hurts more, so you therefore spend less. (This has been scientifically proven and is also, on the flip side, why fast food joints started taking cards.) Handing over cold hard cash is a lot harder than swiping a card. You can bet your britches I know my total before I get to the cash register, no matter where I am.
The second reason I think I've really found contentment is the fact that the hub and I are so focused on our goals. We constantly have our eye on the prize. Our debt snowball is taped to our bathroom mirror. It's there every day, staring us in the face. Dave said, "When something is important to you, you will move Heaven and earth to make it happen." Well, this is the most important thing to us right now - becoming debt-free. So spending money on things like shoes, which I already have a million of, seems ridiculous and I'm not even tempted. In fact many things I used to find so much value in somehow made their way over to ebay. I've learned that cash in my pocket is better.
The funny thing is, after two years of learning to rewire my thinking, I now have a hard time shopping when I actually do have money to spend. Whereas before, any little trinket that caught my eye would do... now it's a very well thought out process. Lots of weighing opportunity cost. OK, I've only got this $50... I've got to make it count! And don't you know I'll stretch that $50 as far as humanly possible. We set aside some money for the hub to get some new clothes for his new job this month. It felt SO weird to be shopping. Not a guilty feeling, just weird. Unfamiliar. And the way we approach a shopping trip is so vastly different than it was before.
But whether we can afford to shop in a given month or not, I must say that true contentment is nothing short of priceless. More now than ever, I realize chasing after the latest "must-have" item never truly satisfies. Solomon had it right... it's all so "meaningless." But don't get me wrong, girls... there's nothing wrong with shopping till you drop. If you've got the cash, go for it! There will be a day when I'll be back at it - rest assured! I never stopped loving "stuff." But don't go chasing contentment in a shopping bag. You won't find it there.
I've learned and am still learning that only God and God alone can truly satisfy. And this is the biggest and best reason that I've embraced real contentment. Instead of looking in my closet, or at my friends, or the Joneses, I'm looking up. This whole money makeover we've been doing the last couple of years has been more of a spiritual journey than a financial one. Of course it is greatly financial, but through this process our hearts have been changed. We're content. We're able to make sacrifices today more easily because we're on our way somewhere better. And that's where God is really doing his work.
And just for laughs on my way out, here's an old favorite SNL skit. Dave always plays this before his Live Event. It's hilarious because it's true...
Sunday, October 10, 2010
(Real) Change is here.
Well I certainly didn't intend to take an entire week to post about our day with Dave last weekend... but you know, life. It's been a busy, busy week here with the approaching 10/15 deadline at work and of course, my birthday! I was out every night this past week, so I had very few waking hours to visit bloggy world. But I can't let any more time pass or I'll forget everything!
So the hub and I volunteered last Saturday at Dave Ramsey's LIVE Event here in Atlanta. We've seen his live show a couple of times but this is the first year we've volunteered. It was a very looooong day. We had to be at the arena at 9am and didn't leave till around 8pm. We were on our feet for many of those hours. But we did get to see most of Dave's show (it's a 5 hour show - kind of like a seminar, but awesome). And I did get to meet Dave and shake his hand! (I was too frantic to get a picture though.) We manned an FPU table before the show and during the breaks. Our table wasn't in the best of spots for traffic, but we did sell a lot of kits (the materials for the 13-week class). Working with Dave's team was so fun too... you can really tell what a great organization it is just from how his people interacted with us and how the flow of the day went along. They even had us take 5 minutes to pray over Dave and his message and for all the people who'd be walking through those doors that SO needed to hear truth (whether they knew it or not). Like I've said many times, it's 5 hours that'll change your life, if you let it.
It was really cool being on the "other" side this time, seeing the crowds come in. Around 7,000 people. There were lots of those (like us) who had been through FPU and were big Dave fans. But there were SO many people there that were obviously drug there or didn't really know what the heck it was all about - and that's what I was so grateful for. I seriously get teary thinking of these Dave virgins getting a big helping of truth and hope. Many of them never saw it coming. And many of them never saw this nerdy volunteer coming either... Hello!
My dad asked me if his show was any different this time around. Nope. That's the amazing thing about Dave. It doesn't matter what's going on in the world, what the stock market looks like, or what the unemployment rate is... his message is the same. Because it's simple and it works. And the fact that he can deliver that same message, those same jokes, and same quotes over and over again with such enthusiasm is nothing short of a gift. I get annoyed if I have to repeat one sentence to my husband! Seriously.
But speaking of my awesome husband, I must say the *coolest* happening that day involved him.
A couple of years ago, we enrolled in an FPU class immediately after seeing Dave live for the first time. Like literally butt in chair the very next day at a local church for FPU Class #1. We were sold. And when you get fired up about something, you like to tell the world. Well, most of y'all don't know my husband, but he is the type of person who'll have a conversation with a doorknob. He LOVES to talk and engage people. (I am the opposite, mind you.) Seriously I can name several friends of ours that we know only because the hub randomly struck up a conversation with these people in the strangest of places. Along with his gift for gabbing, he has a true heart for helping. It's one of the many things I love about this man.
So one afternoon the hub was visiting a local real estate agency to introduce himself to a few of the agents and drop off some business cards (this was back when he was doing mortgage lending). While he was there, he ran into an agent he had never met and while saying hello, he could tell she was upset and on the verge of tears. As he's telling me this, I'm picturing a woman who's doing everything she can to hold herself together at work but she's just seconds away from breaking down. We've all had those days! So obviously there's some kind of personal issue going on with her. The hub says to the agent, "Hey, let's go sit down... tell me what's going on." So she led him to a conference room and UNLOADED. This of course was back when the real estate market was plummeting, so she told the hub of her terrifying financial situation. She was in danger of losing her home and her car. She was absolutely hopeless and scared. The hub listened to her, told her about our journey (which was just starting!) and told her about FPU. "I'm open to anything," she told him. So he gave her $100 - as a gift. Not that $100 would solve her problems, but just as a gesture. (He likes giving, you know.)
A few months later, the hub ran into her at a baseball game. He hadn't talked to her since that day and she told him that she had just gotten started with a local FPU class. She seemed to be making some progress, but he could tell she was still strained. Some people who go through the class never quite "buy into" it... the truth is it involves a lot of hard work, tough decisions, and sacrifice to really work it. But hopefully she would be one of the ones that got it. He didn't hear from her after that day. That was nearly two years ago.
Last Saturday we were on the final "break" of Dave's show, selling FPU kits at our table. Sometimes they'll send volunteers up and down the stairs inside the arena wearing a goofy looking apron selling books like a hot dog vendor at a baseball game. We saw one of those particular volunteers coming down the corridor towards us... apron on, arms full top-to-bottom with children's gift bags. She was a feisty looking volunteer - you know how some people just have that "go-getter" look? Yeah, she had it. Well she's about to pass our table and the hub stops her. It's the real estate agent.
They both were just completely shocked to see each other. "I can't believe you're here!" Over and over. Now I was not there the day the hub first met this woman, but he said this volunteer was a completely different woman than the agent he met two long years ago. She was absolutely on fire! She explained that she's now leading an FPU course and that a bunch of her class members were there at the event. She had tried to contact the hub several times but only had his old number and email from his former job (which he left over a year ago). And then the thing that makes me cry every time I think about it... With tears in her eyes and her hands on my husband's arms she said, "Scott, there are so many people here today because of you."
Yeah, I about lost it. Total God moment. And so humbling to see how God used my sweet husband two years ago - in a major way - without him even realizing it. I'm so proud that he recognized someone hurting and took the time to say, "I'm here." I mean, who does that with a stranger?! Amazing. And just further confirmation that we're on the right path ourselves. One of those frozen moments in time when all you can say is, WOW.
So yes, last Saturday was a GREAT day. We were completely worn out and in bed by 9pm that night! But it was so rewarding and I definitely want to do it again next year. It's a good day when you can climb into bed and think to yourself, "I helped change lives today." It just doesn't get any better than that.
So the hub and I volunteered last Saturday at Dave Ramsey's LIVE Event here in Atlanta. We've seen his live show a couple of times but this is the first year we've volunteered. It was a very looooong day. We had to be at the arena at 9am and didn't leave till around 8pm. We were on our feet for many of those hours. But we did get to see most of Dave's show (it's a 5 hour show - kind of like a seminar, but awesome). And I did get to meet Dave and shake his hand! (I was too frantic to get a picture though.) We manned an FPU table before the show and during the breaks. Our table wasn't in the best of spots for traffic, but we did sell a lot of kits (the materials for the 13-week class). Working with Dave's team was so fun too... you can really tell what a great organization it is just from how his people interacted with us and how the flow of the day went along. They even had us take 5 minutes to pray over Dave and his message and for all the people who'd be walking through those doors that SO needed to hear truth (whether they knew it or not). Like I've said many times, it's 5 hours that'll change your life, if you let it.
It was really cool being on the "other" side this time, seeing the crowds come in. Around 7,000 people. There were lots of those (like us) who had been through FPU and were big Dave fans. But there were SO many people there that were obviously drug there or didn't really know what the heck it was all about - and that's what I was so grateful for. I seriously get teary thinking of these Dave virgins getting a big helping of truth and hope. Many of them never saw it coming. And many of them never saw this nerdy volunteer coming either... Hello!
My dad asked me if his show was any different this time around. Nope. That's the amazing thing about Dave. It doesn't matter what's going on in the world, what the stock market looks like, or what the unemployment rate is... his message is the same. Because it's simple and it works. And the fact that he can deliver that same message, those same jokes, and same quotes over and over again with such enthusiasm is nothing short of a gift. I get annoyed if I have to repeat one sentence to my husband! Seriously.
But speaking of my awesome husband, I must say the *coolest* happening that day involved him.
A couple of years ago, we enrolled in an FPU class immediately after seeing Dave live for the first time. Like literally butt in chair the very next day at a local church for FPU Class #1. We were sold. And when you get fired up about something, you like to tell the world. Well, most of y'all don't know my husband, but he is the type of person who'll have a conversation with a doorknob. He LOVES to talk and engage people. (I am the opposite, mind you.) Seriously I can name several friends of ours that we know only because the hub randomly struck up a conversation with these people in the strangest of places. Along with his gift for gabbing, he has a true heart for helping. It's one of the many things I love about this man.
So one afternoon the hub was visiting a local real estate agency to introduce himself to a few of the agents and drop off some business cards (this was back when he was doing mortgage lending). While he was there, he ran into an agent he had never met and while saying hello, he could tell she was upset and on the verge of tears. As he's telling me this, I'm picturing a woman who's doing everything she can to hold herself together at work but she's just seconds away from breaking down. We've all had those days! So obviously there's some kind of personal issue going on with her. The hub says to the agent, "Hey, let's go sit down... tell me what's going on." So she led him to a conference room and UNLOADED. This of course was back when the real estate market was plummeting, so she told the hub of her terrifying financial situation. She was in danger of losing her home and her car. She was absolutely hopeless and scared. The hub listened to her, told her about our journey (which was just starting!) and told her about FPU. "I'm open to anything," she told him. So he gave her $100 - as a gift. Not that $100 would solve her problems, but just as a gesture. (He likes giving, you know.)
A few months later, the hub ran into her at a baseball game. He hadn't talked to her since that day and she told him that she had just gotten started with a local FPU class. She seemed to be making some progress, but he could tell she was still strained. Some people who go through the class never quite "buy into" it... the truth is it involves a lot of hard work, tough decisions, and sacrifice to really work it. But hopefully she would be one of the ones that got it. He didn't hear from her after that day. That was nearly two years ago.
Last Saturday we were on the final "break" of Dave's show, selling FPU kits at our table. Sometimes they'll send volunteers up and down the stairs inside the arena wearing a goofy looking apron selling books like a hot dog vendor at a baseball game. We saw one of those particular volunteers coming down the corridor towards us... apron on, arms full top-to-bottom with children's gift bags. She was a feisty looking volunteer - you know how some people just have that "go-getter" look? Yeah, she had it. Well she's about to pass our table and the hub stops her. It's the real estate agent.
They both were just completely shocked to see each other. "I can't believe you're here!" Over and over. Now I was not there the day the hub first met this woman, but he said this volunteer was a completely different woman than the agent he met two long years ago. She was absolutely on fire! She explained that she's now leading an FPU course and that a bunch of her class members were there at the event. She had tried to contact the hub several times but only had his old number and email from his former job (which he left over a year ago). And then the thing that makes me cry every time I think about it... With tears in her eyes and her hands on my husband's arms she said, "Scott, there are so many people here today because of you."
Yeah, I about lost it. Total God moment. And so humbling to see how God used my sweet husband two years ago - in a major way - without him even realizing it. I'm so proud that he recognized someone hurting and took the time to say, "I'm here." I mean, who does that with a stranger?! Amazing. And just further confirmation that we're on the right path ourselves. One of those frozen moments in time when all you can say is, WOW.
So yes, last Saturday was a GREAT day. We were completely worn out and in bed by 9pm that night! But it was so rewarding and I definitely want to do it again next year. It's a good day when you can climb into bed and think to yourself, "I helped change lives today." It just doesn't get any better than that.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Are you ready for your makeover?!
Happy Saturday, all! And let's give a big congrats to... drumroll, please....
You are my fabulous winner of my Dave Giveaway! The signed copy of Dave Ramsey's The Total Money Makeover will be on its way to your doorstep along with a free 3-month subscription to his online resources at http://www.mytotalmoneymakeover.com/! Thanks to all of you who entered - I really loved reading about what all you'd do if you were debt free.
I wish I had a copy for all of you! I mean this book should be shelved in the This-Will-Change-Your-Life section at Barnes & Noble. I hope you will go out and grab it and give it a go. Now y'all have heard me rave about Dave over and over again and I'm sure you're over it. You have to understand that when something changes your life so much for the better, you want to tell everyone. You want everyone to know the joy, freedom, and peace you now know. You want to tell the world. We get this a lot from friends: "Well, that's great for you guys, but it's just not for us." Ugh, if they only knew. So enough from me... take a quick read of this review I found on Amazon for Dave's book. I couldn't say it any better...
I have to admit, I thought Dave Ramsey was below my level. I thought I wouldn't get much of anything out of this campy book, that I haven't already heard i.e.: always buy a used car, invest in your 401k, pay you credit card in full every month, ect, ect. If I had read this book and wrote a review 3 years ago, I probably would have even panned it for being "to simple" or used MBA jargon and some slick equations I learned from college to explain how returns from investment can outpace debt, so make the minimum on your house payment, take the tax write off, embrace a value investment strategy in secular growth stocks that provide a high dividend yield to offset the payments, debt is a tool, use your cash flow to build credit... Blah, blah. Just trying to prove I am more sophisticated than the audience to which books like this are written for.
I read this book, and I feel like a total tool.
It's not that I have debt problems. I don't. I have a nearly paid off loan for a 2007 ford escape I bought at CarMax and a mortgage for a small house in Texas with a good rate that I could potentially pay off in less than 2 years, or today just by selling one of my two profitable rental properties (also mortgaged) that have held their value over the recession. I even have a solid job, which pays very well and a couple of nice big investment portfolios.
My problem is that I am tired of playing the game. It's never been that case that I buy things I can't afford to impress people I don't like... It's that I go out, work my a$$ off and budget and invest accordingly, to pay a substantial amount of interest to financial institutions I don't like. After watching things unfold over the last few years, and my experience with the banks, these banks that suck up my money and make poor investments with it, I can't wait to be completely debt free. Dave made me realize that I, like many others, had a culturally accepted notion that debt is part of life. It's not. He also made me realize how much of my hard earned money I am giving away towards items I thought were "investments", that only continue to keep me in financial servitude and stress me out. His plan is solid regardless if people think his one-sized approach is too simplistic (my own campy Ramseyism: There's only one right way to do things, and hundreds of wrong ways).
In fact I would say anyone who writes a bad review is either living in denial, doesn't have enough experience (possibly an aspiring B-school student or alum), or is trying to prove their genius in the same sort of way the financial institutions did right before the taxpayers had to bail them out... This book is full of truth, and I recommend it to EVERYONE. I did not expect to gain much of anything by reading it, but it's completely changed my perception on how much better off my life could be, and how much easier it would be to build wealth, if I didn't have any financial obligations holding me back.
by "Previously Ignorant"
(gave the book 5 out of 5 stars, duh)
The Mrs. from One Fabulous Mom!
You are my fabulous winner of my Dave Giveaway! The signed copy of Dave Ramsey's The Total Money Makeover will be on its way to your doorstep along with a free 3-month subscription to his online resources at http://www.mytotalmoneymakeover.com/! Thanks to all of you who entered - I really loved reading about what all you'd do if you were debt free.
I wish I had a copy for all of you! I mean this book should be shelved in the This-Will-Change-Your-Life section at Barnes & Noble. I hope you will go out and grab it and give it a go. Now y'all have heard me rave about Dave over and over again and I'm sure you're over it. You have to understand that when something changes your life so much for the better, you want to tell everyone. You want everyone to know the joy, freedom, and peace you now know. You want to tell the world. We get this a lot from friends: "Well, that's great for you guys, but it's just not for us." Ugh, if they only knew. So enough from me... take a quick read of this review I found on Amazon for Dave's book. I couldn't say it any better...
I have to admit, I thought Dave Ramsey was below my level. I thought I wouldn't get much of anything out of this campy book, that I haven't already heard i.e.: always buy a used car, invest in your 401k, pay you credit card in full every month, ect, ect. If I had read this book and wrote a review 3 years ago, I probably would have even panned it for being "to simple" or used MBA jargon and some slick equations I learned from college to explain how returns from investment can outpace debt, so make the minimum on your house payment, take the tax write off, embrace a value investment strategy in secular growth stocks that provide a high dividend yield to offset the payments, debt is a tool, use your cash flow to build credit... Blah, blah. Just trying to prove I am more sophisticated than the audience to which books like this are written for.
I read this book, and I feel like a total tool.
It's not that I have debt problems. I don't. I have a nearly paid off loan for a 2007 ford escape I bought at CarMax and a mortgage for a small house in Texas with a good rate that I could potentially pay off in less than 2 years, or today just by selling one of my two profitable rental properties (also mortgaged) that have held their value over the recession. I even have a solid job, which pays very well and a couple of nice big investment portfolios.
My problem is that I am tired of playing the game. It's never been that case that I buy things I can't afford to impress people I don't like... It's that I go out, work my a$$ off and budget and invest accordingly, to pay a substantial amount of interest to financial institutions I don't like. After watching things unfold over the last few years, and my experience with the banks, these banks that suck up my money and make poor investments with it, I can't wait to be completely debt free. Dave made me realize that I, like many others, had a culturally accepted notion that debt is part of life. It's not. He also made me realize how much of my hard earned money I am giving away towards items I thought were "investments", that only continue to keep me in financial servitude and stress me out. His plan is solid regardless if people think his one-sized approach is too simplistic (my own campy Ramseyism: There's only one right way to do things, and hundreds of wrong ways).
In fact I would say anyone who writes a bad review is either living in denial, doesn't have enough experience (possibly an aspiring B-school student or alum), or is trying to prove their genius in the same sort of way the financial institutions did right before the taxpayers had to bail them out... This book is full of truth, and I recommend it to EVERYONE. I did not expect to gain much of anything by reading it, but it's completely changed my perception on how much better off my life could be, and how much easier it would be to build wealth, if I didn't have any financial obligations holding me back.
by "Previously Ignorant"
(gave the book 5 out of 5 stars, duh)
Thursday, September 23, 2010
One more day!
I'll be back later today with my Moo Goo eats, but just wanted to post a quick reminder to you all to enter my Dave Giveaway! All you've got to do is leave a comment on this post telling me what you'd love to do with your money if you were DEBT FREE! It's fun to dream, so come play! Up for grabs is a signed copy of The Total Money Makeover along with a 3-month subscription to the online TTMM site. Enter by tomorrow!
Also, Atlanta pals, don't forget to grab your tickets for Dave's LIVE Event on Saturday Oct 2! It's one afternoon that has the potential to change the course of the rest of your life. It did for us two years ago! Hope to see you there! Here's a clip of an old entry video from one of his past shows. OMG it gives me goose bumps - I'm such a nerd.
Also, Atlanta pals, don't forget to grab your tickets for Dave's LIVE Event on Saturday Oct 2! It's one afternoon that has the potential to change the course of the rest of your life. It did for us two years ago! Hope to see you there! Here's a clip of an old entry video from one of his past shows. OMG it gives me goose bumps - I'm such a nerd.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Woo hoo! It's a Giveaway!
So this has been a good week. Scratch that. Make it a GREAT week! The hub is officially EMPLOYED!!! As in full-time, 9-5, desk with a chair, four walls, and a W-2 to boot! And big props to my husband for having the courage to make this job happen. He was initially turned down for the spot a month ago, but on a whim decided to take the guy who interviewed him out to lunch and said, "you need to hire me, fool." OK, maybe not in those words. But seriously, I'm amazed by his spirit. I SO could not do that. But wow, what a year it has been. I've stated many times that I didn't think we'd make it out of 2009 alive... the hub's last full-time pay check was deposited into our account on 9/30/2009. And here we are, right at a year later, still kickin'... and praise God, he's been blessed with a new, very exciting opportunity. These last 12 months have been a true exercise in faith, trust, and most of all... patience! God is so faithful and we are just overwhelmed with gratitude. And excitement!
So now the real test begins.... over the past two years we've been "forced" to live on a very tight budget. I mean, if the money's not there, you can't spend it. Eating and paying bills were our priorities. Now with the potential of a lot more income coming in, we will have to really hunker down. Because now doing the *wise* thing will truly be a choice. Eye on the prize!
And I must say, as usual, Dave Ramsey could not be coming to town at a better time. He always does that! He must be checking our schedule or something. We are volunteering at his Live event when he comes to Atlanta on October 2. And yesterday afternoon my mom and I went to his "tweet-up" and walked away with some fabulous freebies! So in honor of a fabulous new job for the hub, and Dave's arrival here in a few weeks, I'm doing a great Dave giveaway!
If you're not familiar with Dave's teachings, this book is the best place to get your feet wet. The Total Money Makeover, if you work it, will change your life. Personally, our perspective on money is completely different today than it was two years ago. We've learned how to handle money the way God intended us to, and it has done wonders for our marriage and faith. The thing about the "makeover" is that it's a lifelong journey. It's not a 6-week program or something that only makes sense for a certain crowd. It's for everybody, no matter your financial situation. Whether you're living paycheck to paycheck or counting your millions in your nest egg, everyone can learn something! And what makes his advice so real and relative is the fact that he's been there. As in, 20 years ago he went bankrupt and lost everything. He then decided to figure out how money *really* works. After meeting with millionaire after millionaire, he learned the real key to building wealth is getting out of debt and staying out of debt. And the real charm of the book is his straight-forward, no-nonsense approach, topped with his uncanny humor. What's not to love?
So, again, in celebration of a fantastic new job for the hub and Dave's upcoming Live event, I am giving away a SIGNED copy of Dave's NY Times best-selling book, The Total Money Makeover, along with a free 3-month subscription to his online Total Money Makeover website where you can access budgeting software, get involved with an online community of people going through the program, and much more.
So I'm asking you to dream a little... To enter, leave a comment on this post with your answer to the following question...
If you were debt-free... if you had no payments to anyone... what's one thing you'd love to do with your money? Your income is your most valuable wealth-building tool. When it doesn't have a bunch of other people's names on it, you can do some amazing things. So, what would you do?
You have until Friday, September 24th at 12 midnight EST to enter! I will announce the lucky winner the following Saturday. Go get 'em!
P.S. God, awesome job on answering big prayer request #1. If you answer #2 (for a baby, duh), that would be friggin' sweet. And September 2010 will officially go down in history as my favorite month EVER!
So now the real test begins.... over the past two years we've been "forced" to live on a very tight budget. I mean, if the money's not there, you can't spend it. Eating and paying bills were our priorities. Now with the potential of a lot more income coming in, we will have to really hunker down. Because now doing the *wise* thing will truly be a choice. Eye on the prize!
And I must say, as usual, Dave Ramsey could not be coming to town at a better time. He always does that! He must be checking our schedule or something. We are volunteering at his Live event when he comes to Atlanta on October 2. And yesterday afternoon my mom and I went to his "tweet-up" and walked away with some fabulous freebies! So in honor of a fabulous new job for the hub, and Dave's arrival here in a few weeks, I'm doing a great Dave giveaway!
If you're not familiar with Dave's teachings, this book is the best place to get your feet wet. The Total Money Makeover, if you work it, will change your life. Personally, our perspective on money is completely different today than it was two years ago. We've learned how to handle money the way God intended us to, and it has done wonders for our marriage and faith. The thing about the "makeover" is that it's a lifelong journey. It's not a 6-week program or something that only makes sense for a certain crowd. It's for everybody, no matter your financial situation. Whether you're living paycheck to paycheck or counting your millions in your nest egg, everyone can learn something! And what makes his advice so real and relative is the fact that he's been there. As in, 20 years ago he went bankrupt and lost everything. He then decided to figure out how money *really* works. After meeting with millionaire after millionaire, he learned the real key to building wealth is getting out of debt and staying out of debt. And the real charm of the book is his straight-forward, no-nonsense approach, topped with his uncanny humor. What's not to love?
So, again, in celebration of a fantastic new job for the hub and Dave's upcoming Live event, I am giving away a SIGNED copy of Dave's NY Times best-selling book, The Total Money Makeover, along with a free 3-month subscription to his online Total Money Makeover website where you can access budgeting software, get involved with an online community of people going through the program, and much more.
So I'm asking you to dream a little... To enter, leave a comment on this post with your answer to the following question...
If you were debt-free... if you had no payments to anyone... what's one thing you'd love to do with your money? Your income is your most valuable wealth-building tool. When it doesn't have a bunch of other people's names on it, you can do some amazing things. So, what would you do?
You have until Friday, September 24th at 12 midnight EST to enter! I will announce the lucky winner the following Saturday. Go get 'em!
P.S. God, awesome job on answering big prayer request #1. If you answer #2 (for a baby, duh), that would be friggin' sweet. And September 2010 will officially go down in history as my favorite month EVER!
Friday, August 20, 2010
Financial Goals: Eye on the Prize!
The difference between a dream and a goal is a plan.
I either heard that on the radio or read it on twitter earlier this week (via Dave Ramsey, duh)... love it! And it's so true. You can't get to your destination without a map. Stuck-in-the-mud right now or not, what keeps us going and plugging away each day is focusing on where the hub and I want to be 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, and 30 years from now. It's incredible to think about! Creating financial goals together is so important (and fun!). It's about asking, "Where do we want to go, what do we want to do?" and then putting together a plan to get there.
For us, the quick and dirty version is to rid ourselves of all debt, stay out of debt, build wealth and give. Obviously our strides are short right now as we're still in *income crisis* mode while the hub is searching for full-time work. But even with our tiggity-tight budget, every decision is made with these goals in mind. And of course we have other "fun" goals mixed in... things we want to do with the house, traveling, newer cars, a boat.... I could go on! Every goal of ours, big or small, has a strategic plan. And just to share with you all, here are some of our biggest and uber exciting goals for the not-too-distant-future...
1. Become debt-free (but the house) by the end of 2011. The absolute dates here are fuzzy right now since our income is up in the air. Once the hub lands a new job, we'll be able to knock the shit out of this one. Progress right now is very slow - but there is still progress every month. And we're throwing one heck of a party when we finally get there!
2. Get college and wedding accounts rolling for the (future) kids. Wedding? Oh hell yeah. I told the hub the other day, "OK, if we have a daughter and put $100 away each month, with 10% growth we'll have $100,000 for a wedding by the time she graduates college!" Of course by then, $100k will only be worth about $50,000 or so in today's dollars. But we can easily do fabulous on $50,000! I love weddings, you know. These are the crazy dreams I come up with! Also, we plan to get college funds rolling as soon as possible too. Pigs will fly over a frozen hell before we let our kids get a school loan. And I would love, love, love for our kids to go to my old junior high and high school, which is private... so that of course would be figured in there too. But none of this can happen before #1 (getting debt-free) is done. And there's some other stuff that's gotta happen first too (emergency fund, etc.), but this is a fun one to think about!
3. Pay off the house. I get a head-to-toe rush through my body thinking about this one. Maybe it's the Holy Spirit saying, "Git 'r done!" Who knows... but wow, can't wait to get there! Again, it's a little hard to speculate in our current income situation, but we expect to be able to accomplish this by my 40th birthday. I'm about to turn 33. But I look 19! (So I was recently told. Thanks, checkout guy at Costco!) All these goals - this one especially - have refueled my drive and energies at work. Well, and my job being the only full-time one between us right now kinda forces us both to appreciate it more! But having this goal in the back of my head, everyday, helps me plug away. And we've also discussed that when the house is gone, I'll have the freedom to be a SAHM or do whatever I want. So that's incredible to think about too!
4. Become millionaires within 10 years. This one is just fun, right? And really, all these steps we are making will easily lead us here, so it is really just icing on the cake. This should happen very quickly after #3 is done. I'm a nerd, so you know I've run the numbers! Millionaires with no debt. No payments to anyone. Can you imagine the amazing things we will be able to do? The giving we can do? The fun we can have? The wealth we can build? I saw a segment on the local news this week where a nearby Boys & Girls Club location was vandalized and all of their A/C units were stolen. In this incredible heat! That made my blood boil. I want to be in a position where we can cut them a check and make them whole again. That's the kind of stuff I get PUMPED about! That is true life, right there. And we cannot wait! As much as the hub and I love *stuff* and love to do fun things and travel and whatnot, we really have a heart for giving. I so cannot wait!
You guys always hear me talking about the budget, cutting corners, NOT shopping, paying off debt... well, this is WHY we do it. Because we've got somewhere to be and we want to get there as quickly as possible. It involves a lot of sacrifice today. Saying "no" a lot of times to friends who want to go out, taking "staycations" instead of the real thing, driving a 12 year old car that locks up every time you try to put it in gear... but we're content. We're content because we know where we're going. We have to say "no" a lot right now so that one day we can say "YES!" And my sweet 98 Accord will get us there just fine, won't ya, girl?!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Are you ready, Atlanta?!
In less than two months, Dave will be here! Get your fist pump going! If you're on the verge of wanting/needing to make some big financial changes in your life, this is the event that will kick your butt into gear. I know I've mentioned this before, but it wasn't until we saw Dave live two years ago that everything really *clicked*. But no matter where you are with your money, this show is for everyone. And the icing? It's incredibly entertaining and hilarious. It will change your life. Promise.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Reader Question: How do you find peace?
Yay for Fridays off! I only have two more after this week, so I'm really trying to soak up the fun while it lasts. What will I do when I have to return to 5 day work-weeks? Goodness. The hub is doing some PT work today, so it's just me and the girls at the house. I've got some small projects on the to-do list, but nothing crazy.
So last week I got this great email from Jenn over at Living the Good Life asking how I manage not to lose my cool when money seems to be leaving a heck of a lot faster than it's coming in (story of our current lives!). Here's a bit of her message...
"My husband and I have paid off all of our debt with the exception of one car and our house. We're now working to pay that car off and save up as much money as we can so that we can move in the next year but it seems like one bad thing after another keeps happening and I feel like I'm going to have a panic attack watching our savings dwindle down! It's really the most depressing thing. Since the end of May we've had to pay $7k in miscellaneous expenses (car repairs, plane tickets to a family member's wedding, getting a nice family of bats out of our attic, the list goes on and on.)---how do you keep from totally freaking out when it feels like you're just hemorrhaging money?? I know our savings is there for emergencies, but I have such anxiety over all of the unwanted and unnecessary spending. Any advice for me?!"
I totally don't consider myself a money expert by any means, but the hub and I have been to hell and back when it comes to figuring out how to win with money. So for that reason, I'm very passionate about the subject and freaking LOVE to talk about it. So I always welcome any questions on the matter and if our story can help others in some way, bring it. And by the way, being a CPA doesn't mean you're good with money. I mean haven't you seen doctors and nurses outside the hospital doors smoking? Yeah.
We're currently held up in what I call our stuck-in-mud phase of our plan. Which makes it hard to move forward, but we are. Creeping, but moving. As most of y'all know, the hub and I are total Dave Ramsey groupies. Me especially. It's like Jesus, then Dave. And we're currently on Baby Step #2, paying off all of our consumer debt (everything but the house). The hub has been unemployed for about 10 months now - which of course has turned our debt busting shovel into a flimsy plastic spork. So we're really just in survival mode right now until the hub is able to find full-time work. We have been really blessed with some great part-time opportunities that have helped along the way. I didn't think we'd make it past 2009 on my income alone. And here we are, knocking on the door of August 2010.
I can very much relate to Jenn's anxiety. Our situation isn't the same, but you know we girls tend to *freak OUT* when it comes to money (or the lack of really). It's a security issue for us, while it's a pride issue for the guys. So it's totally natural. But how do I keep from letting that anxiety and fear overtake me? I shared with Jenn what have been three personal mainstays in my life over the last couple of years that have helped me maintain peace in financially stressful times...
1. Tithing. Back in October 2008, when we ran our very first (EVER) monthly budget together, we decided then and there to start tithing (giving 10% off the top of our income to our local church). The hub and I have always loved to give when able, but we were never intentional about it before. We don't tithe because it's some item on a checklist of "things Christians do." We don't do it because God needs the money (ha!). It's simply about trust, and that's it. "God, we've obviously been idiots here, so we're going to do it your way from now on and trust YOU and not ourselves." We've been doing this for almost two years and the hub and I agree that is the single best decision we've ever made together. It has truly changed our lives. It looks ridiculous on paper, but that 10% comes right off the top - no matter what. No. Matter. What. We've never faltered on it, not even in months where we had no idea how we'd make it to the next. I can't even put into words the tremendous peace this has brought us. It is not an easy change to make. But nothing truly good comes without great sacrifice.
2. Worry not. Ha, easier said than done, right?! Oh how that worrisome fear can be so overpowering and crippling sometimes. And that's why I must continually drill this passage into my head...
3. Pray. My daily prayer to God is that I seek his wisdom in my everyday decisions with money. That we take all of this one day at a time. That we look to him for strength instead of being handicapped by worry and fear. And to recognize how truly blessed we are that we've made it this far, for the amazing life lessons we've learned along the way, and for the work God has done in our hearts. When you feel overcome with fear, the best thing you can do is get down on your knees.
So there you have it. And yeah I know it's completely engrossed with God stuff. But hey kids, true peace is only found with God so for me, there's no other answer really. I know lots of people out there are struggling financially for many reasons... Maybe it's an income crisis, like us, or perhaps you've got a big storm coming that's going to suck up all your savings, or maybe you've lost everything but the shirt on your back. Whatever it is, terrifying as it can be, there is always hope. You always hear about these people taking their lives over financial crises. Fear really can take your life. The trouble is, they had no hope. There is always hope. You have to succumb to the fact that you can't do it on your own. So get on your knees and ask your Father for some help.
I hope you all find true peace!
So last week I got this great email from Jenn over at Living the Good Life asking how I manage not to lose my cool when money seems to be leaving a heck of a lot faster than it's coming in (story of our current lives!). Here's a bit of her message...
"My husband and I have paid off all of our debt with the exception of one car and our house. We're now working to pay that car off and save up as much money as we can so that we can move in the next year but it seems like one bad thing after another keeps happening and I feel like I'm going to have a panic attack watching our savings dwindle down! It's really the most depressing thing. Since the end of May we've had to pay $7k in miscellaneous expenses (car repairs, plane tickets to a family member's wedding, getting a nice family of bats out of our attic, the list goes on and on.)---how do you keep from totally freaking out when it feels like you're just hemorrhaging money?? I know our savings is there for emergencies, but I have such anxiety over all of the unwanted and unnecessary spending. Any advice for me?!"
I totally don't consider myself a money expert by any means, but the hub and I have been to hell and back when it comes to figuring out how to win with money. So for that reason, I'm very passionate about the subject and freaking LOVE to talk about it. So I always welcome any questions on the matter and if our story can help others in some way, bring it. And by the way, being a CPA doesn't mean you're good with money. I mean haven't you seen doctors and nurses outside the hospital doors smoking? Yeah.
We're currently held up in what I call our stuck-in-mud phase of our plan. Which makes it hard to move forward, but we are. Creeping, but moving. As most of y'all know, the hub and I are total Dave Ramsey groupies. Me especially. It's like Jesus, then Dave. And we're currently on Baby Step #2, paying off all of our consumer debt (everything but the house). The hub has been unemployed for about 10 months now - which of course has turned our debt busting shovel into a flimsy plastic spork. So we're really just in survival mode right now until the hub is able to find full-time work. We have been really blessed with some great part-time opportunities that have helped along the way. I didn't think we'd make it past 2009 on my income alone. And here we are, knocking on the door of August 2010.
I can very much relate to Jenn's anxiety. Our situation isn't the same, but you know we girls tend to *freak OUT* when it comes to money (or the lack of really). It's a security issue for us, while it's a pride issue for the guys. So it's totally natural. But how do I keep from letting that anxiety and fear overtake me? I shared with Jenn what have been three personal mainstays in my life over the last couple of years that have helped me maintain peace in financially stressful times...
1. Tithing. Back in October 2008, when we ran our very first (EVER) monthly budget together, we decided then and there to start tithing (giving 10% off the top of our income to our local church). The hub and I have always loved to give when able, but we were never intentional about it before. We don't tithe because it's some item on a checklist of "things Christians do." We don't do it because God needs the money (ha!). It's simply about trust, and that's it. "God, we've obviously been idiots here, so we're going to do it your way from now on and trust YOU and not ourselves." We've been doing this for almost two years and the hub and I agree that is the single best decision we've ever made together. It has truly changed our lives. It looks ridiculous on paper, but that 10% comes right off the top - no matter what. No. Matter. What. We've never faltered on it, not even in months where we had no idea how we'd make it to the next. I can't even put into words the tremendous peace this has brought us. It is not an easy change to make. But nothing truly good comes without great sacrifice.
2. Worry not. Ha, easier said than done, right?! Oh how that worrisome fear can be so overpowering and crippling sometimes. And that's why I must continually drill this passage into my head...
"Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. " Matthew 6:31-34
3. Pray. My daily prayer to God is that I seek his wisdom in my everyday decisions with money. That we take all of this one day at a time. That we look to him for strength instead of being handicapped by worry and fear. And to recognize how truly blessed we are that we've made it this far, for the amazing life lessons we've learned along the way, and for the work God has done in our hearts. When you feel overcome with fear, the best thing you can do is get down on your knees.
So there you have it. And yeah I know it's completely engrossed with God stuff. But hey kids, true peace is only found with God so for me, there's no other answer really. I know lots of people out there are struggling financially for many reasons... Maybe it's an income crisis, like us, or perhaps you've got a big storm coming that's going to suck up all your savings, or maybe you've lost everything but the shirt on your back. Whatever it is, terrifying as it can be, there is always hope. You always hear about these people taking their lives over financial crises. Fear really can take your life. The trouble is, they had no hope. There is always hope. You have to succumb to the fact that you can't do it on your own. So get on your knees and ask your Father for some help.
I hope you all find true peace!
Friday, January 15, 2010
Ketchup.
So getting up at 5am has not gotten any easier. But I successfully did so every day this week. The only day I didn't "hop" out of bed at 5am (since I started this craziness) was last Friday, but that was on purpose. We were out late watching the national championship game the night before (way to go, Bama!) and didn't get home till like 1am. I don't know about you, but I cannot operate on 4 hours of sleep. Other than that hiccup, 5am it is! But ugh, I think the long days from early this week caught up to me sometime Wednesday afternoon, because getting up yesterday and today was AWFUL. Thank goodness for our new Keurig (or as the hub and I call it, "Ka-ZOONG!" - I have no good explanation for why). I still did it though. The key for me: not allowing myself to hit snooze AT ALL and hopping in the shower as soon as I get up.
OK so enough alarm talk. I've had no time in bloggy world this week, but I'm guessing Haiti has been a big topic. (As well as PANTS-ON-THE-GROUND! Seriously can't get that out of my head.) The Haiti situation is so sad - I feel very removed from it, honestly just because I've been so busy and swallowed up by work this week. So I feel like I'm just now catching on to the sadness and concern the rest of the world is feeling. I've actually been to Haiti - just for a day on a cruise years ago. But I can't imagine how scary that environment down there must be right now - seriously I just have no comprehension of that. And for the families here that are missing relatives and friends and are just waiting... how terribly frightening. Big prayers for Haiti and all those involved. And as usual the relief efforts are in full force and organizations here are raising money left and right. And I think this donate-money-by-text thing is BRILLIANT. I heard today that the Red Cross has raised over $5 million just through texting - amazing. I mean it really is genius... I think a lot of people have good intentions to donate but fail to do so out of pure laziness or forgetfullness or life. But how long does it take to text? Like a half second? And it comes through your cell phone bill, so it plays into our nation's (unfortunate) buy-now-pay-later mentality. I'd love to give so much more, but even I can sign up for this one! Here are a couple of donate-by-text options...
Text the word HAITI to 90999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross.
Text the word YELE to 501501 to donate $5 to Yele (Wyclef Jean's organization).
Both groups will send you a text back to confirm your intent to donate and you'll need to reply with "YES" to complete the donation.
Nothing much else going on right now but work. And such is life for the next 3 months. Three months as of today, actually - so the countdown begins (till April 15th)! And because I'm a tax accountant and also way too nice, I'll open the floor for any tax questions you have. Now just general questions please, I don't want to do a freaking tax research project here. Ha! No but really, I'd be glad to answer any questions y'all have - just leave a comment on this post.
As far as the rest of our goings on, I'll just leave y'all with some bullet points. I've got some work I've got to get on, so this will have to do for now!
- Lucky's wedding (two weeks ago now, geez) was fab! The whole weekend was a blast and she made an absolutely stunning bride. She and her new hubby are on their way back now from an amazing honeymoon in Italy.
- The hub is still in the middle of his job search and we're starting to see some progress, but of course nothing ever progresses as fast as we'd like it to! Just continuing to pray for patience and trusting that God's at work here. We have all these amazing goals for 2010 laid out but until we get the job squared away we kinda feel like we're standing in mud. Prayers, prayers, prayers.
- Speaking of goals, I still plan to slap those on here as soon as we finalize them - we're almost there! We're slow.
- And on a completely superficial note, my silver Revas are starting to look really rough but I refuse to stop wearing them. Though I'm not sure I'd buy them again (not that I could right now) because now like everyone wears them and that's a TOTAL turn-off to me. As soon as anything is on everyone, I can't do it anymore. Because then I just look like everyone else - *snooze*. It's for this reason I've closeted Uggs and Coach bags.
- We are signed up to take FPU again starting next month! Like I said, we've got lots of goals for 2010 and many of those are financial, so we just felt like taking the class again to keep that "Gazelle Intensity" and accountability. I think we've coaxed some friends into taking it along with us, so I'm looking forward to it. I can't get enough Dave, so it'll be good. Classes are starting up all over - plop in your zip code on the site and find one near you. Whether you're broke and freaked out or raking it in without any debt, this 13-week class has something for everyone. It's a life-long journey and you can hop on no matter where you are. And if you work it, it will do incredible things for your marriage.
- My favorite K-cup right now is the Coffee People x-bold Donut Shop. It blends beautifully with my French Vanilla creamer. Tell me your faves, Keurig people! We're still sampling.
- Oh and people of the world, please stop referring to Atlanta as "HOTlanta." That's so over.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Nightmare to end all nightmares!
OK, not really. But, Dave Ramsey has apparently set up camp in my psyche and has no plans to leave. I'm not complaining, but I had a horrible nightmare two nights ago. I seriously woke up in a sweat over a dream involving... buying a brand new car... and (are you ready?)... FINANCING it!
Sheer terror! I vividly remember bawling in my dream after the realization that the hub and I bought a brand new Nissan something-or-other (What the hell? I've never owned a Nissan in my life.) for $13,500 and we now had car payments! Horror! Like I was seriously stressed out in my dream and was freaking out. I kept saying through tears to the hub, "How could we do this? This puts us right back where we started! We might as well have never sold the 4runner at all! OMG!!!"
Then I woke up and was SO relieved to realize it was 3am and that we have no car payments or a random new Nissan in our driveway. I tapped the hub on the shoulder to tell him I had a nightmare (we always do this if we do). After a drousy "sorry babe," he pat me on the head and rolled back over.
So random.
But, I daresay, it's a great lead-in to a post I'll put up here shortly regarding a couple of great Dave/money questions I got from some readers recently. Oh how I do love to talk about money! Back soon with those...
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Almost there.
Hey all! What is it with me only posting on Tuesdays lately? It's not really on purpose, but it's just kinda happened that way for some reason. Not forever though - I promise. October 15th is almost here! Last big deadline of the year at work and hopefully I can have a little more breathing room afterward. Goodness.
And of course, I don't have a ton of time to blabber right now, but just wanted to pop in and say hello. And thanks so much for all the birthday wishes from last week. I had a GREAT birthday. The hub really surprised me - which is quite a feat for him since he can't keep a secret to save his life. While I was snoozing away on the morning of my birthday, he got up and snuck into my office at work (he conspired with one of my co-workers to get into the building). He gets up insanely early quite often to go play raquetball, so I certainly didn't suspect anything. So when I got to work, I was very surprised to find this...
These pictures don't really do his work justice AT ALL because there were balloons everywhere! I took these after making a "path" to my desk. And I was using my phone to take the pics, so they aren't the best. He also had heart confetti all over my desk - too cute. So needless to say, there was no hiding the fact that it was my birthday at work. Geez, not that I would. I love my birthday!
We really don't do birthday (or any other) gifts for each other right now while doing our debt snowball, so it forces us to get creative. But I gotta tell ya... I have gotten some of the best "gifts" over the last year. When funds are tight, you really do have to use your brain. He probably spent, what... $20 doing all that? But OMG... it was the best.
Alright, no real news here today. Gotta be off to work. Oh but one big thing - we sold the Lexus last night! Got $3500 for it - woo HOO! We were just hoping to get $3k or more, so we were thrilled. A huge, huge blessing that arrived at the perfect time. Hope you all are having fabulous weeks. Stay dry, Atlanta girls. Back later...
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Thirty-two. But who's counting?!
It's here! My favorite day of the year! That's right... my birthday! I think I will always love my birthday, no matter how many candles there are on my cake. Thirty-two does sound kinda old though. Hmmm...
Anyway, yay for today! And I'm so sorry to be so absent-go-bloggy lately, but it's just been a very busy few weeks here. I have tons of stuff I want to post about but just haven't had the time to sit down and do it! But I'm still alive and kickin'.
I've already gotten some fab birthday prezzies. Y'all already know about the freezer, my new best friend. And my godmother gave me a gift certificate to a local gift shop here that carries Vera Bradley. So I got this little ditty...
I'm in love! I needed a wallet SO badly. I've been carrying around a Dave Ramsey wallet since it was made to hold his cash envelopes. It's fine and all, but it ain't cute. And you know me... I like cute. So I found my birthday to be a good opp to get a new CUTE wallet. But it has to somehow hold my cash envelopes, and this cutie one does perfectly! I got it in the new Paprika pattern - SO cute.
I also got a giftcard for J. Crew from my MIL - sooooo excited! I screamed a little when I opened it. OK, maybe a lot. The hub and I also had a birthday-day-of-fun-on-a-budget on Sunday. We went to church, had brunch at The Flying Biscuit, went to Fernbank (on BOA's dime), and then later went to see The Invention of Lying that night. Really cute movie - I loved it. Tonight, the hub has something up his sleeve, but I'm not sure what it is. Though I'll probably know by 11am. He can't keep a secret to save his life. It's terribly cute, though.
So far, 32 looks pretty good. I think I'll like it. Hope you all are having a great week! And hopefully I'll find some more time to hop on here and jibber jabber. I know my commenting has been nearly non-existant lately, but I'm keeping up with you lovelies on my reader!
OH also - Javis Davis is having a big sale this month, so hop over here and check out the details. If you have some momma friends looking for crib bedding, now's a great time to go custom!
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