I LOVE surprises! And tonight, I had TWO! Please, let me share...
I've been writing this blog to hold myself accountable - to journal to myself so I can read and re-read it to reflect on where I've come from and how I got to be HERE. It's been a tremendous help to me. When I got home after a trip to Target for necessities for this one last camping trip for the boys for the summer, I logged on to re-read about my progress...
Surprise! I had two - count them - TWO! - comments on my last entry. Thank you to the authors of Small Town Blessings and Letters to Elijah, for reading my blog!
Before answering the question of the top 5 things we've done to get out of debt, please understand I am NOT a financial adviser. What is working for us is not necessarily "the answer" for anyone else. Taking this into consideration, I will happily share what we've (I've) learned.
Not in any order, the things that have made the difference for us...
1. We built a budget, taking into consideration Brian's pay schedule and what needs to be paid out of the first check of the month and what needs to be paid out of the second. This was a HUGE help to see how "top heavy" our months are so we can budget the first check to spread out to assist the second check.
2. God Bless Envelopes!! As my post stated, this isn't the first time we heard of this...mind blowing where we COULD be, if only we had applied what we learned back then! Basically, anything that is variable is envelope money. Gas, groceries, eating out, date money, hobby money, etc... Example: We budget $330 a month ($75/week) in groceries. When I go to the store, I take only $75 with me - in cash. When that money is gone - no more groceries for the week. (And I learned that "Kroger" brand is usually just as tasty as "Ego" brand) If we eat Mac n' Cheese for two nights, that's the way it is. (So far, with our daughter's help, we have been under budget EVERY week!) =)
3. We have played the "no interest" credit card game. We quit using credit cards for ANYTHING and we transfered all of our credit card debt from high interest cards to 0% interest cards. *We have opened 4 lines of credit to finagle this game. The good news is: We have already paid off and closed three of them. Our 2006 Saturn is a 0% loan for 6 years.
4. We agreed to take this journey seriously. Both agreeing that the sacrifices we each make now will speed the path to debt free living - where we won't have to sacrifice any longer.
5. We (Brian...and me, by default) found a "support group". In our case, it was the Financial Fitness small group class that was offered through our church. In this class (that I fought attending!) We studied The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.
6. We shared with our kids (to their level of understanding) our goal of being debt free so we have more freedom to do what we want as a family - spend Christmas break at Whistler Resort in Canada, go to Disney World, buy new_____ (whatever that fits in the moment of financial freedom) and, my personal favorite: GO TO WASHINGTON DC!
I know it's not just because Brian and I are working our tails off to make this happen. Our sweet Father wants us to prosper and has great things planned for us. We could not be accomplishing any of this without His grace.
To address the next issue:
I shared in my first post how much money freaks me out. Paralyzes me. It has ever since I can remember. It is no exaggeration that I had to write my side of financial conversations with Brian. I can imagine it was hilarious to him when we first got married and I had to (write) tell him that my car insurance was expiring in just 4 hours! I honestly couldn't TELL him. I had no voice! My vocal chords where somewhere in my ankles, no where to be seen...
Something changed. Something caught my attention and made it possible for me to talk about money with my husband, the bread-winner, the head of my family. God blessed me with a tickle in my ear (the advise of Dave Ramsey) that I (the least money-comfortable person in the relationship) should "control" the finance meeting, so I didn't feel "lectured". Whoa!!!! Talk about a sun rise!!
I started our first meeting looking at Brian's pay stub and deducting from it the bills...and realized what a burden my lack of participation had been on him. Whoa! Being a burden is not how I picture God's plan. I was created as a woman, to be a help mate for my husband. Well, I was certainly falling short of that! If God's idea was for me to "help", I thought it was time I trusted Him to show me how to at least stop being a burden!
I have been blessed with the husband God gifted me with...he is so patient with me and so supportive and encouraging. Through the whole line of events since early June, God has been working on my heart (and my habits) to make me grow into a financially responsible partner in my marriage.
I hope this has been encouraging. I know I'm not the only one with the "perfect-for-me" husband. And I know our Father has fantastic plans for our futures. He's just good like that!
Blessings on your financial journeys!
I've been writing this blog to hold myself accountable - to journal to myself so I can read and re-read it to reflect on where I've come from and how I got to be HERE. It's been a tremendous help to me. When I got home after a trip to Target for necessities for this one last camping trip for the boys for the summer, I logged on to re-read about my progress...
Surprise! I had two - count them - TWO! - comments on my last entry. Thank you to the authors of Small Town Blessings and Letters to Elijah, for reading my blog!
Before answering the question of the top 5 things we've done to get out of debt, please understand I am NOT a financial adviser. What is working for us is not necessarily "the answer" for anyone else. Taking this into consideration, I will happily share what we've (I've) learned.
Not in any order, the things that have made the difference for us...
1. We built a budget, taking into consideration Brian's pay schedule and what needs to be paid out of the first check of the month and what needs to be paid out of the second. This was a HUGE help to see how "top heavy" our months are so we can budget the first check to spread out to assist the second check.
2. God Bless Envelopes!! As my post stated, this isn't the first time we heard of this...mind blowing where we COULD be, if only we had applied what we learned back then! Basically, anything that is variable is envelope money. Gas, groceries, eating out, date money, hobby money, etc... Example: We budget $330 a month ($75/week) in groceries. When I go to the store, I take only $75 with me - in cash. When that money is gone - no more groceries for the week. (And I learned that "Kroger" brand is usually just as tasty as "Ego" brand) If we eat Mac n' Cheese for two nights, that's the way it is. (So far, with our daughter's help, we have been under budget EVERY week!) =)
3. We have played the "no interest" credit card game. We quit using credit cards for ANYTHING and we transfered all of our credit card debt from high interest cards to 0% interest cards. *We have opened 4 lines of credit to finagle this game. The good news is: We have already paid off and closed three of them. Our 2006 Saturn is a 0% loan for 6 years.
4. We agreed to take this journey seriously. Both agreeing that the sacrifices we each make now will speed the path to debt free living - where we won't have to sacrifice any longer.
5. We (Brian...and me, by default) found a "support group". In our case, it was the Financial Fitness small group class that was offered through our church. In this class (that I fought attending!) We studied The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.
6. We shared with our kids (to their level of understanding) our goal of being debt free so we have more freedom to do what we want as a family - spend Christmas break at Whistler Resort in Canada, go to Disney World, buy new_____ (whatever that fits in the moment of financial freedom) and, my personal favorite: GO TO WASHINGTON DC!
I know it's not just because Brian and I are working our tails off to make this happen. Our sweet Father wants us to prosper and has great things planned for us. We could not be accomplishing any of this without His grace.
To address the next issue:
I shared in my first post how much money freaks me out. Paralyzes me. It has ever since I can remember. It is no exaggeration that I had to write my side of financial conversations with Brian. I can imagine it was hilarious to him when we first got married and I had to (write) tell him that my car insurance was expiring in just 4 hours! I honestly couldn't TELL him. I had no voice! My vocal chords where somewhere in my ankles, no where to be seen...
Something changed. Something caught my attention and made it possible for me to talk about money with my husband, the bread-winner, the head of my family. God blessed me with a tickle in my ear (the advise of Dave Ramsey) that I (the least money-comfortable person in the relationship) should "control" the finance meeting, so I didn't feel "lectured". Whoa!!!! Talk about a sun rise!!
I started our first meeting looking at Brian's pay stub and deducting from it the bills...and realized what a burden my lack of participation had been on him. Whoa! Being a burden is not how I picture God's plan. I was created as a woman, to be a help mate for my husband. Well, I was certainly falling short of that! If God's idea was for me to "help", I thought it was time I trusted Him to show me how to at least stop being a burden!
I have been blessed with the husband God gifted me with...he is so patient with me and so supportive and encouraging. Through the whole line of events since early June, God has been working on my heart (and my habits) to make me grow into a financially responsible partner in my marriage.
I hope this has been encouraging. I know I'm not the only one with the "perfect-for-me" husband. And I know our Father has fantastic plans for our futures. He's just good like that!
Blessings on your financial journeys!
2 comments:
Thanks for posting this..
there are lots of us that are in the same boat... and are learning from past mistakes. I just have to remind myself that this(adapting to a frugal lifestyle) is a long term project
Of course I read your blog :) I LOVE reading about your life.
I am struggling to make my budget successful. I'm on my first grocery budget and I'm stressssssed. You make it seem so doable! Thanks for all the tips :)
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