...it's the journey on the way!

Accepting Who I Am

2011-01-10T12:20:00.000-05:00

A facebook poll says I'm Peg Bundy. Hmm...
Not sure I agree with that, but I'm not sure
there is a tv mom that fits who I am.

Warning: This is an expression of some personal emotions I've been dealing with. Some of this may be offensive to certain people, but that it not the intent. Please proceed with caution.

Last year at this time I wrote a post about my decision to become a stay-at-home mom and adjusting to the new job. As crazy as it sounds, I'm still adjusting a year later. I sort of had a light bulb moment last week. Because I let the holiday weight add back up, I decided it was time to do something drastic. I was going to join the gym. I made an appointment for Tuesday morning to check out one near here. As I dropped the kids off at school, I realized I had become one of those moms.
The moms that show up wearing the hot pants and gym shoes sipping a Starbucks latte as they kids their kids good-bye for the day. The ones that made me ask, "Don't they have anything better to do?"

As I was cooling down on the treadmill it occurred to me. What's wrong with being one of those moms? Much of the last year I've been fighting my roll as a stay-at-home-mom. Part of it was the fact that I never thought I'd be able to "afford" to stay home, part of it was dealing with the fact that it's not favored in my family, and some of it was guilt over the state of the economy and all those without work by force and not choice. I felt like I still needed to "work" to justify my existence (and extensive education). I started volunteering my time, taking on projects around the house, and taking on the responsibility for much of my grandmother's care. Basically I was as busy as ever. In the process, I totally lost track of me.

I've spent so much of the last year trying to deny who I am for fear of how others would feel or what others would think, but the fact of the matter is... I'm a stay-at-home-mom. Tim and I worked really hard to get to the point where we were debt free and could afford me that luxury. I just needed to accept that it is just that, a luxury... not a curse. In a few years the kids will be in school during the day and I'll most likely go back to work. I might as well enjoy this precious time while it's here.

So, my plan for 2011 is to embrace the life we have worked so hard to create. I'm giving myself permission to join the gym and make it a priority on the days the kids are in school. I'm going to attend field trips and make lunch dates with my friends. I'm going to do crafty and creative things. I'm even going to give myself permission to pamper myself a little. My hope is that if I get more organized, I can take advantage of these times without too much guilt. Use the days the kids are in school to recharge myself so I can better enjoy the days they are home.

Of course, with the joys of being a stay-at-home-mom I also have to accept the responsibilities. This year I'll also be trying to get a better grip on maintaining the house and getting a sensible dinner on the table each night. I have no intention of becoming June Cleaver. I just don't have it in me. But I am hoping that by allowing myself the opportunity to recharge on a regular basis and enjoy my time, it will make it easier for me to do the work that goes with it. I don't see me becoming super mom or a clean freak. I still value time with my kids over a clean house, but letting go of the guilt has to be a step in the right direction.

Financial Goals: 2010 Update

2011-01-08T18:32:00.000-05:00

As I look back on our 2010 Goals I'm amazed by how much things change in a year. The goals we followed we smashed. The rest, well... they just seem so insignificant to me now. I see the value in the accountability, but the reality of the time involved in tracking stuff in the blog format, creating a price book, etc just doesn't fit with living life with a young family.

Here are the updates on the 2010 goals that we did focus on:

Goal: Set specific dollar amount to save for car replacement, home improvements, and other major savings categories and track it in side bar. -- We set the amounts early in the year, but didn't track them in the sidebar.Goal: Save 50% of car replacement fund by the end of 2010.- Actually saved 100% of the amount we targeted AND bought a new to us car. Paid cash for the whole thing.
Goal: Save 75% of deck replacement fund by the end of 2010 (other 25% in 2011). - Actually saved 100% and built a new deck in pergola. Paid cash for the whole thing.
Goal: Budget money each month for clothes for the kids, so there are fewer surprises and less temptations. - I got a lot better at separating my categories in 2010. My spreadsheet is a lot longer, but I have separate categories for clothes, gifts, entertainment, blow, etc now that I didn't have in 2009

We also did pretty well at the resolution to have more fun in 2010. Tim actually got to golf more, we took a couple weekend trips as a family, joined the Children's Museum, Center for History, and Potawatomi Zoo, I spent some money on my new obsession - Thirty-One, etc. Overall, it's been a great year.

How did you do in 2010? Did you set goals and stick to them?

Getting back on track!

2011-01-03T07:42:00.000-05:00

It's time for a new year and reality check. After a week and a half of having a 2 parent household filled with activities and fun, Tim goes back to work today. The house is trashed. My bathroom remodel is only 3/4 the way through. The Christmas decorations are still cluttering the living room. Oh, and the kids are very antsy.

My plan for today is to get back on plan. The Motivated Mom's calendar is printed and on the fridge, I've dusted off the kid's commissions charts (adding one for Addison), and I'm looking forward to a productive day. In addition to our chores for today, I need to put away the decorations (sort what we don't need or is broken), organize my returns, plan out the rest of the week so I don't forget anything.

This week we'll be hosting FPU Alumni where we'll discuss goal setting for 2011. I'll share those later this week once I have formalized my own. What's on your list for today and the new year?

The Smell of Tradition

2010-12-05T17:49:00.000-05:00

As December rolled in, so did the wave of memories and holiday traditions. I woke up Wednesday morning to the smell of apples and cinnamon. As I turned on the light to kitchen, I had a flashback to my youth. On the back wall were two felt Santa's with 24 mini candy-canes decorating their Santa suits, just like the ones my mom had made for me when I was little. On the counter were applesauce-cinnamon ornaments that had been slowly drying for the past couple days. While I love the practicality and savings of home-made gifts and decorations, it's carrying on the traditions that is truly priceless. I LOVE THE HOLIDAY SEASON!!!

ps - Troy's dislike for the candy canes wasn't even enough to damper the cheer in my heart.

Holiday Grand Plan: Holiday Decor Week

2010-11-29T07:30:00.001-05:00

I think I missed a couple weeks due to the Thanksgiving "break" and insanity of trying the sell the house. One good thing about the house being on the market is that I have had to do a couple big cleans from top to bottom, so it's staying in pretty good shape. I still feel the need to get back on track with the Holiday Grand Plan.

Holiday Decor Week
I love decorating for the holidays. It's one of my favorite times of year. I love watching the house transform in to a festive place with a smile around every corner!

Holiday Prep:

Sort Lights - pitch broken lights and inventory remaining
Updated (outdoor) Lights to LED - done
Decorate house - inside and out - done
Make applesauce-cinnamon ornaments with kids - done
Finish Advent Santa for the kids - done

Update Master Wish List for kids & wrap up shopping
Finish Christmas shopping for extended family
Finalize Christmas plans with family
Make grocery list for holiday treats (see what can be made ahead)

I am hoping for a little less insanity this week, but I start facilitating my first FPU Class on Wednesday night and we're going out of town again on Friday, so I'll be happy with what ever I accomplish!

A little holiday fun!

2010-11-21T19:20:00.002-05:00

Holiday Grand Plan: Garage and Storage

2010-11-08T10:25:00.002-05:00

We had our first Open House this week, so I basically condensed the last couple months of cleaning in to 2 days. While I'm EXHAUSTED, it's so nice to have a clean house. Unlike other times I cleaned, I tried to avoid just shoving things in closets (since people will look in your closets). I still have a lot to do, but am much further than I have been in years!!!

This week in the Holiday Grand Plan is the garage and storage. The garage is pretty much Tim's territory, but there are a few things there that I would like to get done this week. I'm also going to use this week to try to sort through the storage and stacks of stuff that I didn't actually get to over the weekend. Confession -- I have a couple baskets of stuff that got thrown together and put in the car as we left for the open house.

Cleaning:

Sort baskets of paper - file, recycle, shred - half done
Clean hall closet - sort, pitch, donate
Attack front section of garage - sort, pitch, donate
Tool cabinet - sort, pitch, donate (consider moving what's left downstairs)
Revisit Motivated Mom list to help maintain the house. - printed

Holiday Prep:

Make one batch of holiday goodies (figure out what I can make ahead and freeze)
Decide one what I'm taking to Thanksgiving
Inventory card situation
Create Christmas Card list
Buy Thanksgiving Dinner for church donation (goal: buy 2 this year) - done. Can I do 3?
Pick an Advent option - done, will post pictures soon.
Order on-line gifts
Create Master Gift List for kids - done

I am still shocked how clean our house is right now. Tim even cleaned the carpets in a few rooms. I know it won't last. It never does. But I am hoping that I can find a way to at least keep it clean enough that I can have it "show worthy" in a short amount of time.

Any suggestions for frozen meals? Do you use an Advent Calendar?

Holiday Grand Plan: The Pantry & Closets

2010-10-25T21:11:00.002-04:00

So, last week I joined Kara in the Holiday Grand Plan. I can't say I got very far on the list, but it was certainly a nice start on getting back on track for the holidays. In addition to Week 9's task for the Pantry and Closets, I'm also playing catch-up. Here's my plan for this week (with fingers crossed):

Week 9: Pantry & Closets
A lot of people dream of more closet space. I find it to be a curse. I hold on to WAY more stuff than I need to simply because I have a place to put it. I'm really glad this is the focus of the week, because it's a priority in getting the house ready for sale and regaining my insanity. Note: Helping a 91 year old woman move and sell her house will make you wish you had a LOT less stuff.

Cleaning:

Sort master closet - sort, pitch, donate unworn and unwanted items - Done - ~~four~~ six bags to Goodwill and counting.
Store summer clothes - Done
Sort cleaning cabinet under sink - pitch, pitch, pitch
Sort Bathroom closet - pictch expired, inventory cold meds, etc
Sort hall closet - sort, pitch, donate

Holiday Prep:I have a lot of catching up to do here, especially since I basically did NONE of it last week.

Make one batch of holiday goodies - Done
Make one freezer meal
Create Master Gift List - Almost done. Still not sure on a couple things.
Purchase pumpkins for Halloween - Actually might skip this year. Bad mommy!
Carve pumpkins - Actually might skip this year. Bad mommy!
Finalize costumes for kids
Make Halloween Felt Game

Catching up
Since I started the Holiday Grand Plan on Week 8, I'm playing catch-up along the way. I'm started where I joined and working my way backwards. I didn't get too far last week, but have decided it's better to keep going than to beat myself up over what's not done.

Week 6: Kid's Room
There isn't much to do here, since I had just spent serious time on these rooms before listing the house.

Dust ceiling fans
Clean switch plates

Week 5: Master Bathroom
Since there isn't much to do in the kid's rooms and my master bathroom is in MAJOR need of attention, I decided to add it to this week as well.

Medicine Cabinet - empty, clean shelves, pitch expired medicines
Vanity - empty, clean, sort, pitch, donate
Clean mirrors
Find new spot for basket on vanity counter
Clean and organize shelves above toilet
Recycle old magazines
SUPER CLEAN shower and toilet
Recaulk shower
Sweep & mop

Big list. Wish me luck!

Holiday Grand Plan

2010-10-18T09:09:00.002-04:00

Now that phase 1 of our house clean-up is done (in preparation for putting the house on the market), it's time to get deeper in to cleaning and organizing. I've been reading along with Kara's Holiday Grand Plan. She always inspires me. I'm proud to stay I actually know her in real life too! While I don't think I could catch up, I think I'm going to follow along with her for the remainder of the Holiday Grand Plan and hopefully fill in some of the past weeks when I have time.

Background: Holiday Grand Plan is a system by Katie Leckey and Cynthia Ewer of Organized Christmas where you break down all of your holiday tasks into weekly lists and complete a total home deep cleaning at the same time.

Week 8: Kitchen
I've already done a lot of cleaning in the kitchen, but this is one of those rooms where there is always more to do. It's also one of the rooms that is the hardest for me to slim down. I'm pretty attached to most of my kitchen gadgets, even though a lot of them are only used 1-2 times per year.

Cleaning:

Clean out cabinet under the sink - pitch any old or unused cleaners
Clean out and organize other cabinets - in progress
Clean out and organize drawers
Clean fridge - half done
Wipe down appliances
Clean microwave cabinet - done
Bleach sink
Reorganize hutch - done
Pitch, sort, donate
Mop by hand
Wipe baseboards
Wipe switch plates
Organize pantry - done

Holiday Prep:
I have a lot of catching up to do here...

Make one batch of holiday goodies
Make one freezer meal
Create Master Gift List
Purchase pumpkins for Halloween
Finalize costumes for kids
Make Halloween Felt Game

Catching up:
I need to revisit weeks 1-7 and finish some of them as well. I think I'll work backwards...

Week 7: Guest Room - we don't host guests for the holiday, but still need to work on the 4th bedroom for the sale, so this will be a good list

Spend at least 1 hour organizing desk area
Sort bookshelf. Donate any unneeded books to Better World Books
Spend at least 1 hour organizing closet
Fix window screens
Dust ceiling fan

I'm trying not to get too giddy about the fact that this totally feeds my love for lists! I think it's also time for me to revisit my Motivated Moms Calendar too. It'll be a lot easier to get ready for showings if I keep up with it as we go. If I get really brave, I'll add some before and after pictures along the way.

Changing things up

2010-10-12T07:19:00.003-04:00

Now that I have my other site to write financial ramblings (although I haven't written much lately), I'm going to use this site to do more life stuff. Today I need a plan and this is probably the best place for me to work out that plan. I'll be writing a post soon on our decision to downsize. Trying to get the house ready to go on the market is a lot of work, but it feels good to be productive. Here's the plan for the next 2 days:

* ~~Get rid of dresser on Craig's List~~
* ~~Find someone to install carpet - Do we install the remnant, order new, or give credit??? Can't decide.~~
* Finish organizing basement
* ~~Move carpet out of Troy's room to make way for new carpet~~
* ~~Fix closet doors in Troy's room & organize~~
* ~~Rehang shower curtain in kids bath & declutter~~
* ~~Quick pick up in Addison's Room~~
* Declutter & organize master closet
* ~~Quick pick up in master bedroom~~
* Clean bathrooms - master, ~~kids~~, ~~half~~
* ~~Empty cabinet in dining room (move downstairs)~~
* ~~Set up/organize table~~
* ~~Declutter dining room~~
* ~~Quick clean/declutter living room~~
* ~~Quick clean in kitchen (already decluttered)~~
* ~~Quick clean in family room (already decluttered)~~
* Finish basement
* Laundry
* Switch seasons in closets and store summer stuff
* Sort kids clothes and give away what they've outgrown
* Sort pantry
* Deposit checks

So much time and so little to do. Strike that. Reverse it!

Secrets Revealed...

2010-07-05T21:33:00.000-04:00

Curious why I have been missing in action lately? I'm been working on a new website/blogsite. I'm pleased to announce Financial Peace Network!

I will probably continue to write on this site (probably the more personal things), but will likely spend a lot more time there. I hope you will continue to follow my journey on the new site.

The snowball is starting...

2010-07-02T10:17:00.000-04:00

I have a phone interview with the local FM station in about 15 minutes. Topic of discussion... FPU Alumni! Put that together with my exciting new project and this snowball might actually start gaining some speed. Wish me luck!!!!

Giving Back

2010-06-28T19:52:00.003-04:00

Troy started his first Vacation Bible School yesterday. As part of their week, they have a different item each day that they are requested to bring in for the Food Pantry. This morning Troy emptied the "giving" slot on his piggy bank and we headed to Aldi's. It was a perfect opportunity for us to talk about the importance of giving back, those less fortunate than us, and why God wants us to care for those around us. I think he got it. I'm sure it will sink in even more once he gets to take his 12 boxes up to the stage tonight.

Here he is with his tower of mac-n-cheese!

I can't wait to hear how things went tonight!

Where have I been hiding?

2010-06-23T22:01:00.002-04:00

Wow! I can't believe it's been over a month since I've posted here. I've been working on a couple VERY time consuming projects. While one of them is still very hush-hush (although, stay tuned because it will be coming soon), the other has been the bigger challenge. A few months ago I connected with a very new chapter of an international not-for-profit -- Fuller Center for Housing. From the same creator of Habitat for Humanity, this is an organization that really highlights a lot of my beliefs and passions.

The local organization is still developing, getting in to its rhythm, and finding its way. It has taken a lot of time, but I know it will be well worth it. I really wish I could find more time to devote to getting things off and running because I strongly believe in their mission. I sort of feel like I'm trying to cram a full time job in to a few hours a week. I hate doing things less than 100%, but keep trying to remind myself that it's more help than they have had in the past.

It wouldn't be so hard if I didn't have my hands in a couple other things at the same time. I'm hoping the bulk of the work on at least one of those projects is mostly behind me. I'm not sure what it will mean for my time to blog, but I at least wanted to let you all (all 2-3 of you, LOL!) that I'm still around!

More soon!

That's a side I haven't seen in a while!

2010-05-21T13:42:00.003-04:00

I went to the mall with the kids this morning. It's a rainy day "activity" that allows us to get out of the house and play a little, plus I had some clothes to return. Usually the biggest stressor of the trip is keeping the kids from throwing a fit when it's time to leave. Today I was faced with a whole other demon.

I've been going through some horribly difficult emotional issues in my life lately. A lot of things from my past resurfaced at the mall today. Every where I looked there was either some thing I wanted to eat or some thing I wanted to buy. I found myself 'jonesing' for clothes for myself. If you know (the current) me, you'd realize how odd this is. While I love shopping for the kids and admit it's a bit of an addiction, I rarely actually crave stuff for myself.

I quickly crabbed my phone and started texting my husband. Even with his help talking me down, I finally just had to leave the mall. I had to get away from the temptation before I craved. I overwhelming saw today how much I used to rely on food and retail therapy to solve my emotional problems. It's no wonder I racked up a significant school loan debt (bought way too much in college) and credit card bill. I was constantly seeking things that I thought will fill the void, solve the problem, make me feel better.

I've done pretty well at getting my food cravings under control lately. I rejoined Weight Watchers last summer and am currently in the middle of my 6-week maintenance for my lifetime membership. I've had to learn to "budget" my food much like I budget my money. I'm usually 95% successful with that approach. The other thing I had to do was admit that I'll never be back down to the weight/size I was before I had 2 kids. Today I got a glimpse at how quickly all that hard work could slip away from me.

Without careful attention, I could easily down the 1/2 pound of fudge while spending hundreds at Victoria Secrets. It would be an easy thing to do. What we have to remember on the journey is that it's just that... a journey. Even after you reach your goals, you still have to maintain them. It's not a punishment. It's simply a reality. If you change your habits, you'll find success. Recognizing your weaknesses and developing positive coping techniques, however, is the key to maintaining that success.

So... what are your weaknesses? Do you consciously keep these in mind? What positive ways have you found to avoid those temptations?

FPU Alumni Summer Schedule

2010-05-18T19:19:00.003-04:00

After a couple e-mails and some discussions, we've set the schedule for the FPU Alumni Summer Series.

June 2nd - Living the "single" life: Tips and tricks for budgeting on a single (or reduced) income
July 7th - Filling in the gaps: A look at some of the things Dave didn't talk about in FPU.
August 4th - Help for the holidays: How to avoid sticker shock during the holidays.

I'm excited about having specific topics and hope it will generate some interest with the members of the church as well. We've talked to the Communications Director and will be getting some extra publicity for the upcoming events. Our group has always sort of been a quiet church bulletin announcement, but hopefully that will change starting this Sunday.

The format is an open forum discussion. We'll provide some material and research, but we really look for additional ideas, help, and feedback from the rest of the group. While I could talk for hours, I really enjoy hearing other peoples suggestions and tips even more.

The church provides childcare (for free) and welcomes any one who wants to attend, so we might try promoting the event to other churches as well. If you live in the area, registration will be available soon...
Registration

Thank you for your input and suggestions!

FPU Alumni

2010-05-17T09:57:00.004-04:00

A few months ago I started a FPU Alumni Group at church. The idea was to create a place where like-minded people could gather once a month to ask questions, ask for advices, share success stories, and all around support each other. I was also hoping it might help people who had drifted away by inspiring them. It's scheduled for the first Wednesday of each month, which I thought would go well with beginning of the month budgeting.

The first month we had 2 couples come. Both had finished Baby Step 3 and were doing quite well. It was nice to visit with them and know there were others out there, but they didn't return the 2nd month so I guess they didn't "connect" with the idea.

The second month we had 2 couples from the class we were helping facilitate. I shared a couple articles on Dave's opinion on success vs. failure (Successful people are simply failures that learned from their mistakes). It was a very short gathering since the actual FPU class started 30 minutes after our group met, but it was nice to see some people come.

The third month - last month - was a total bust. No one registered. No one came. It's frustrating because our church provides childcare, so that's not the excuse. I also hate when I don't succeed at things, so there is some disappointment there. I'm not totally surprised. Money is a hard thing to talk about. I was hoping to light a fire with people who had lost momentum, but people aren't likely to come and confess that they have lost their way.

Now I'm stumped... summers are hard to get people to participate. One thing working in our favor is that our FPU class just finished up so there are some people who might now be freed up to join us. I think if I include a specific topic in the church bulletin people might be more likely to attend (we opened it to any one interested, not just people who have been through FPU), but I'm not sure what the next topic should be. I'm considering...

* Christmas in June (tips on creative gift giving and planning ahead)
* Secrets of success - I'm hoping a friend we just met will come talk. He's on Baby Step #7.
* Couponing 101 - possibly even bring in a local coupon guy

Do you have any ideas? What topics would you like to hear more about?

Financial Check-up: April 2010

2010-05-14T07:42:00.002-04:00

It's been a really long time since I have posted. We've been working through some family issues, but hopefully things are leveling out a little and I can refocus on blogging again. It really is a form of therapy for me.

Here's our Financial Check-up for our April goals:
* Complete "Love Letter" of Financial and Personal Information to give to Tim - I struggled with this one. I started gathering all the information and then was suddenly overwhelmed with fear. The "Love Letter" has you list all your account numbers, your passwords, etc. It's a great concept (and probably greatly needed), but I got this overwhelming rush of "What happens if this falls in to the hands of the wrong person." I'm not really sure how to address that issue yet. It makes me understand why so many people have safety deposit boxes. Any suggestions???
* Explore Excel version of FPU forms. See if they will work for us or can be easily modified. - These forms were great. If any one wants me to share I can gladly e-mail them to you. I'm not sure they will work for us because we don't actually use the cash envelope system. I need to explore a little further.
* Help Dave & Shelly get their budget in a format they are comfortable working with. - This is going well. I'm going back again this week to help figure out why it's not balancing correctly. I'm just thrilled they are willing to ask for help. That's a hard thing to do.

May Goals:
* Figure out tax letter (I got a letter that I still owe them money - YIKES!) for Federal and State.
* Re-evaluate "fully funded" emergency fund
* Explore ways to promote FPU Alumni Group -- suggestions welcome!

He's Getting It

2010-04-18T08:14:00.004-04:00

We've been trying to teach Troy the importance of his decisions as we've been working on our commissions system. There are so many basic things that they have to learn. It was awesome when I recently saw one of these basic life lessons sink in with Troy.

Ever since we started going to the zoo a couple years ago Troy has been asking to use one of those machines where it smashes a picture in to a penny. We've always been able to talk him out of it. When he started on commissions, I decided that it was his choice. If he wanted to spend his $0.51 on a smashed penny, that was up to him.

We were walking through the amphibian house when we came to one of those things where you can put coins in and watch them spin down (or race another coin). I offered him a penny and he froze. He loves doing this, so I was really confused. He had this puzzled, almost panicked, look on his face. When I asked what was wrong he said, "But I really want to put my penny in the machine outside." It occurred to me, he was thinking that if he put his penny here he wouldn't have one for his penny picture outside. Opportunity costs!!! He gets it!!!

Luckily, I was able to show him he had more than 1 penny in his money pouch, so he got to enjoy both. He was thrilled!!! It seems like such a basic thing to a grown up, but for a child this is a HUGE realization. He's been exposed to the idea before, but it's nice to see him being able to apply it to money too.

Spring Cleaning for your Financial Documents

2010-04-14T22:10:00.002-04:00

I always struggle with what records and documents I need to keep and for how long. I'm pretty sure I no longer need my taxes from 1992, but what about some of the other "questionable" things?

Dave has a great resource on his site. Go here for a complete list of what you should keep (and thus what you can declutter and pitch) and how long you should keep them.

This is a perfect resource during this time of spring cleaning!

Asking For It!

2010-04-11T20:58:00.002-04:00

One of my favorite lines that Tim uses is, "You get 100% of what you don't ask for!" That's a reminder that plays in my head pushing me to ask for more discounts and bargains. We're currently in the process of remodeling our deck. We have saved up and decided to get composite material so we won't have to mess with maintenance for a long time. We researched quite a bit and found that Home Depot had some Trex on clearance. It was still expensive, but we were able to get the higher quality stuff for the same prices and their cheaper brand.

Today I was at Home Depot again returning some things and picking up more stain. I noticed that the in-stock Trex material was almost gone - only 5 boards left (glad we got there when we did). I also noticed that it was clearanced even more. It was $7 cheaper per board. With 35 boards in our order, that was really significant. I asked the cashier if they do price adjustments. Of course, she said no. Well, actually, she said I could return it and rebuy it but since they were 16' deck boards that were delivered on a big truck... I wasn't going to return them.

I thought it a little more on my way home and wasn't satisfied with that answer. When I got home I called and talked to a manager and then sent Tim back to Home Depot. He's usually better at being firm and getting his way. Amazingly, they didn't give him a hard time. They made one call to the lumber department and then credited us... $262.15!!!

Bottom line... Ask the hard questions, don't accept "no" for an answer, and don't be afraid to ask for the manager. It's much better to have the money in your pocket than regret on your mind.

I'm here!

2010-04-09T21:27:00.003-04:00

Want to know why I haven't been posting as much... check out this and this. Visit this pageof my blog often over the next couple weeks to see me work my way through the house. Be sure you weigh in on my challenges and successes! I can almost promise this will lead to a post (or series) on garage sales!!!!

Wiggle Room

2010-04-09T12:08:00.005-04:00

I've decided to give myself a little bit of a break and go slightly "off program". No, I'm not getting a credit card or any thing crazy like that. I just decided we really shouldn't be so hard on ourselves. Tim and I have both been feeling guilty about our hobbies. He really wants to play golf and I just started a cake decorating class, but it's hard for us to spend money on these things.

I started thinking about how ridiculous that was considering all we've done and how far we've come. Here we are, debt free with a fully funded emergency fund and I'm still being incredibly regimented and strict. I talked in a previous post about how we have established a percentage based formula for irregular income. Normally I would include apply this to any source of income. While that has been great at keeping us on track and moving in the right direction, I've decided NOT to do that with our tax return.

Now, I'm not talking about thousands of dollars. If you get that much back, I hope you are looking at adjusting your with holdings. We really try to minimize our return, but it's hard with my business. This year we got a return from Federal, but had to pay the State. The net difference was a few hundred dollars.

I have decided not to our tax return as irregular income this year, but look at our current situation and priorities instead. I set aside enough to pay my term life insurance for a year (which should be approved and due soon), put some towards an extra house payment, and then decided Tim and I deserved some "blow fund" money for our hobbies. I think it's important to reward ourselves with guilt-free things every once in a while. I wouldn't suggest this to some one who was being truly gazelle intense, but I have to remind myself that we can occasionally apply the second half of the "Live like no one else" equation. While we were on Baby Step #2 we put at least 75% of any return towards debt (even more toward the end) and used the rest for sinking funds and items we needed around the house.

It's kind of funny that I think giving us each a $50 blow fund as a big splurge! In reality, we don't usually have much we want. Over the past couple years we've truly become content with a more simple life. I'm so glad we don't feel the need to keep up with the Jones's. We don't need the latest and greatest gadgets, don't even want fancy furniture (since we have young kids at home), and think the best form of entertainment is time with the family. It will be nice, though, to enjoy some outside activities.

Financial Check-up: March 2010

2010-04-08T15:29:00.002-04:00

I think I struck out on this month, but at least I'm going to be honest about it...

March Goals:
* Expand price list to include other items commonly purchased and other stores - This is a work in progress.
* Get taxes finalized and in the mail - These are finalized, but not in the mail. We're waiting for the Federal return before we right the check to the State.
* Set up college funds for kids - Decided to wait until tax season is over, but we know what we are doing. I'll try to share more when we actually do it.

April Goals:
* Complete "Love Letter" of Financial and Personal Information to give to Tim
* Explore Excel version of FPU forms. See if they will work for us or can be easily modified.
* Help Dave & Shelly get their budget in a format they are comfortable working with.

Kids & Money: Commissions (Part 1)

2010-04-05T09:16:00.010-04:00

After reviewing the materials from FPU Junior, we recently started a commission system for our 4 year old, Troy. When setting up a system in your house, there are several things to consider.

Age - The age of the child will make a big difference in the quantity and types of jobs you assign. It will probably also greatly affect their willingness to participate. One of the reasons I agree with starting young is the overwhelming willingness of young children to do simple tasks around the house. They like doing some thing that makes them feel more grown up and are still interested in pleasing their parents.

Making sure the jobs you chose are age appropriate will also affect their willingness to participate. If you make it too hard or too easy, you lose out on the teachable moments. There are a lot of non-money life issues you can teach through this process too. Our job is to raise responsible members of society, so take advantage of this opportunity.

Number - How many jobs you chose for your child will depend on their age, the needs of the family, and the amount you are willing to pay your child each week. We're going based on the general idea of 1 job per year of age. Since some jobs are only once a week, though, there is actually much more than that you can include on the list.

Frequency - How often a job needs to be done is an important consideration. While the idea is to have the kids help with chores and learn to equate work with money, you also don't want them repeating a job over and over just to get an extra buck. On the other end of the spectrum, you don't want to give your child a job that needs to be done daily if you don't think they will be responsible with it or have the time to complete it daily.

One thing we're doing to address this issue is reevaluating the job list every week. After "pay day", I take a look at whole is coming in the week ahead, what needs to be done, and how much time my child will have to complete the task. I'll talk about that more in my next post.

Value - Depending on how much you are willing to part with each week, you need to decide a dollar amount for each job. If you child is really young, you will probably want to assign one figure that applies across the board - for us it is $0.25 per job. If your kids are a little older, you can let the wage associated with the job relate to the difficulty of the job. I think we will probably increase the value along with the frequency as my kids get older.

Time - When you are looking at a list of jobs that need to be done, it's important to factor in your family routine and how much time you will have each week. If you kids are in school several days a week, they aren't going to have as much time to do the jobs assigned than if they are younger and home with mom 24-7. Be careful not to set your kids up for failure. Don't give them a time sensitive job like collecting all the trash for the week if your kid has dance class the night before.

Don't forget that you have to have patience with really young children. Some times there best effort to do a job leaves you a little extra work in the end, but it's the lesson that matters not the chore.

In part 2 of Kids & Money: Commissions, I'll share what we are doing with our 4 year old!!!

Kids & Money: Commissions Part 2

2010-04-05T08:45:00.014-04:00

In my previous Kids & Money post, I talked about Dave's suggested commission system for kids. We started it a few weeks ago with our four year old son, Troy. Like when we first started budgeting, it's been a work in progress.

The first week we used the Commissions Chart that came with our FPU Junior. This is clearly designed for older kids. It worked well enough, but I decided to find some thing a little more basic for Troy. I picked up a basic chart with reusable stickers from United Arts and Education. (Just recently I saw a really nice one at Target, but couldn't justify $10 when I had some thing that worked at home.) A couple of the things that I did like about the way we used Dave's chart is how I boxed in the days to do the chores and the section that has fines for bad behavior. I can implement this in our new chart, I just haven't done so yet. I have to say... the reusable stickers are fabulous. How have I not discovered these sooner?

You'll notice that we have photos where you would normally write the jobs. This is part of being age appropriate. Troy can't read yet, so this helps him identify what needs to be done. I left the pictures vague so that I could make the task change depending on the day of the week and the need. For instance, one of the pictures I have is of Windex. Then the task for this could be windows in any room of the house or even the t.v.

When we tried to decide the number, frequency, and valuewe kept it pretty simple. Since we were vague on the jobs, I can have Troy do the tasks as often as I need him to (for a distraction some times) or as often as he asks. Because he's in preschool a couple days a week, most jobs get done about 3 times a week. We decided on $0.25 per task. That way, it's not a situation where he has to do laundry every day of the week in order to earn his commissions. His attention span is not that long. He basically gets a smaller amount each time he does it. This works out to be about $4 a week total for all jobs, which was my goal. This is also nice because I can pay him in quarters, which he likes because he calls it "big money".

During the last week, Troy has gotten really excited about this. I think it finally clicked in when he bought his first toy (Cars puzzle) with his money. He loves putting the stickers on the chart. He actually gets excited about the jobs. I'm tying to get him involved in what jobs to put on his chart, but I don't think he cares as long as he gets paid. I think he also likes feeling like a responsible grown up.

When we pay him, we do so in quarters. He loves this! He counts the smiley faces and then we give him $0.25 for each one. He has been using his divided piggy bank. We work on dividing every thing among the different categories. I think he's finally getting a grasp on the concept of what each represents. Spend = buy now; Save = buy later; Give = some one else buys it; and Invest = spend a LONG time from now. It's funny to watch the wheels turn.

As a parent, I have to admit that I love his new commissions as much as he does. Now when he starts begging for some thing I can tell him that if he really wants it, it has to come out of his own money pouch. He doesn't make enough to buy all the things he wants, so this keeps some of the junk from entering our house which is great. He's also starting to learn a lot of important money lessons - which I'll share in another post - which is pure joy to me.

I have a lot more to share, but I'm out of energy and pictures. In my next post I'll try to share the types of jobs we do and some keys lessons we've learned through the process.

What jobs do your kids do? Do you have your kids divide the commissions among different categories (spend, save, give)? If so, how do you determine how much goes in to each?

Life

2010-03-31T09:43:00.003-04:00

I think moving through LIFE is a difficult journey. I have trouble balancing the needs of my immediate family with those of my extended family. I'm curious how others do it.

Do you just focus on your little family and ignore the backlash around you? Do you try to find a happy balance? Do you cave it to the desires of the larger group and explain to those closest to you why we make the sacrifice?

With young kids in the mix, I want to make sure I set a good example and do what is "right". Any tips from your family would be greatly appreciated!

Beware of Promotional Periods... and the value of sleeping on it!

2010-03-27T19:38:00.005-04:00

A little over a year ago we decided to save a little money by switching to Direct TV. We weren't 100% pleased with Dish Network's Customer Service, so we had no problem leaving them. Less than 2 days later we were regretting that decision. The DVR system didn't function the way they told us will, but they said we missed our 24-hour window to cancel our contract. You can imagine how angry that made us, but we toughed it out because we weren't going to pay some ridiculous cancellation fee.

The real fun came last month when our 12-month promotional period expired and our base price went up. We were anticipating it going up a little, but weren't nearly as prepared for the sticker shock that came when we got our bill. Our monthly charges went up over $30 per month. We used to pride ourselves on the fact that we were able to get out of debt and still keep our TV, but this was even too much for us. Frustrated and unwilling to dish out that amount of cash each month for TV, we started making phone calls.

It took several phone calls before I could even get an answer as to what our cancellation fee would be -- $20 per month left on the contract. For us that would be just over $200. OUCH! B-U-T... If we switch back to Dish Network, we would be saving $30/month so we'd still be ahead of the game... at least for the first 12 months anyway. But then we would probably be right back where we started. We really want AT&T U-verse, but it's not available in our area yet.

Finally, after several attempts, I got on the phone with a customer service representative that was actually very helpful. They had a couple packages that weren't advertised on their website. It took a lot of debate between Tim and I - what channels do we want, do we tough it out and adjust our budget, do we cancel and switch? When it came right down to it, the Family Package would be almost $40 cheaper a month. When I pointed out to Tim that would be $400 over the remainder of the contract, even he couldn't justify keeping sports and news channels that could be seen on the internet. Ultimately, the kids won since the cheapest package still included all their channels.

There are some many lessons here that we needed to learn (or be reminded of) - do your research, know exactly what your rate will be after the promotional period, budget accordingly, read the fine print, and take time to evaluate all your options. Had we gone with our emotions when we first got our bill we would have ended up with a new 2-year contract and been in the same situation a year from now. So, when it's all said and done, we're still paying about the same amount we were 2 months ago with a fraction of the channels. We haven't really run in to an issue yet. Many of the shows we'll "miss" are available on the internet.

Have you been caught off guard by promotional rates?

FPU: Insurance

2010-03-24T18:40:00.006-04:00

I know this is a HOT TOPIC right now and people are going to freak out when they see the title, but it's not what you think. This lesson briefly covers key notes on seven basic kinds of insurance coverage:

1. Homeowners or renters:
-- If you need to save a little money, some times you can do so by increasing your deductibles. So, how do you know when it is worth increasing your deductible? Dave gave the following example: You have a $250 deductible and you increase to $1000 (increased risk by $750) -- if your premiums go down by $75/year, you have to go 10 years without an event in order for it to make sense. Is that practical for your family/home? You really have to think about the logistics
--Always carry good liability insurance.: Always take at least $500,000
--Should be GUARANTEED replacement cost. The guaranteed replacement cost makes sure you get the full coverage cost even if you haven't updated the value on your policy to keep up with appreciation. So, if your policy is EXTENDED replacement cost you have to be sure to update it once a year. Be sure to stay very involved and very plugged in.
--Umbrella policies are a very good idea. It covers any shortage in your auto policy in liability. You can buy an extra $1 million umbrella for a couple hundred dollars a year, so as you build your assets be sure you protect yourself.

2. Auto:
-- Changing your deductible on your car isn't as likely to be beneficial on auto insurance as it is with homeowners insurance.
-- Consider dropping collision if you have a really old car.

3. Health Insurance:
-- You can save costs by changing your deductible or your co-insurance ratio. The more risk you take on, the cheaper your premiums. You can increase your stop-loss (maximum out of pocket), but don't decrease your maximum pay out (keep this at a least $1 million).
-- Unless you have a chronic illness in your family, the best option out there right now is an HSA - Health Savings Account. You can often save enough in your premiums each year to cover the added risk of the deductible. It's tax free health savings and tax deferred investments. There is a maximum you can deduct from your insurance each year, but it's a great added investment or protection to have.

4. Disability:
-- Designed to replace income lost due to short term or long term disability.
-- 1 in 3 chance that you will become disabled during your working years.
-- Try getting Occupational Disability Insurance. This provides disability coverage for your own occupation that you were trained to do. One option is to get this for 2 years and then dropping.
-- Do not buy short term disability (terms under 5 years). Your emergency fund is the only short term coverage you need.
-- Your rate will be based on the type of work you do, not your health
-- Best way to get disability insurance is through your work. If you buy it on your own it can be VERY costly. If your work doesn't offer it, look in to getting it through a trade organization.
-- Your coverage should be around 65% of your current income
-- Buy with after tax dollars. That way if you become disabled, you don't pay taxes on your insurance pay outs.
-- Elimination Period (amount of time you go before payments kick in) is the same as a deductible. The longer your elimination period, the cheaper your premiums will be.

5. Long-term care:
-- Nursing Home coverage. A good policy will cover in-home care too.
-- #1 problem facing this generation is not college
-- Do NOT recommend until you are 60. The probability of a nursing home stay before you are 60 is virtually 0.
-- If you are financially able and your parents are unwilling to purchase, you may want to consider buying it for your parents.
-- Right now spouse is allowed to keep $79,000, a house, and a car. Every thing else has to pay for the nursing home before government aid will kick in.

6. Identity theft protection:
-- Fastest growing white collar
-- Will spend an average of 600 hours in getting the mess cleaned up.
-- Don't buy protection that only provides credit monitoring (you can do that on your own)
-- Make sure it includes restoration services

7. Life insurance:
-- Cash Value: Is normally for life in order to fund a savings plan. This is the more expensive plan. The average returns on the investments are usually lower than you can make by doing your own investments. Basically, if you invest the amount you save each month by using term life instead (can be over $100/month) your return will be DRAMATICALLY higher (Avg.12% vs. 2%-7%). If you have Cash Value (Whole Life), cancel it immediately and get Term Life instead.
-- Term: For a set period of time. It is substantially cheaper and has no savings built into it. Dave recommends 20 year level term insurance. If you follow Dave's plan you become self-insured (by have no debt, a fully funded emergency fund, paid for house, and a retirement fund) by the time the term is over. Then if some thing happens, you don't really need the insurance.
-- Dave recommends your Term Life Policy be equal to 10x your income (e.g. If you make $40,000/year you should get a policy for $400,000). The theory being that you could average 10% return on your investment and live on that if the individual was to pass away and you lost that income.
-- Don't forget to buy for the spouse (even full-time moms). If some thing happens to the stay-at-home mom, you will have to pay some one to do things they do (childcare, cleaning, etc).
-- Stay away from fancy options - accidental death, return of premium feature
-- Children don't need a big life insurance policy. All they need is a $10-$15,000 rider to help cover burial costs.

The following are some BAD IDEAS Dave warns against:
* Credit life and Credit disability
* Credit card protection
* Cancer and hospital indemnity
* Accidental Death insurance
* Any insurance with cash value, investments, or refunds
* Pre-paid burial policies
* Mortgage life insurance (unless you are uninsurable)
* Any kind of duplicate coverage

If you are paying a premium that seems really low it's because it's NOT WORTH IT! Insurance companies are not stupid. If they can sell you an option for next to nothing, it's because their risk is basically nothing. Insurance is all about transferring risk. This should always be kept in mind when making decisions regarding your insurance coverage.

Just this past month I finally made the step to get Term Life insurance. I was surprised how easy and inexpensive it was. They actually came to my house to do the physical, so I didn't even have to make any effort other than fasting. I don't know my final policy price yet, but the original quote was around $12/month for $300,000 worth of coverage.

Do you have life insurance? Do you have the right kind of insurance? Do you know your deductibles?

Kids & Money: FPU Junior

2010-03-22T20:47:00.010-04:00

There are a lot of people who don't think you should pay your kids to do chores around the house. The argument is that they need to do those things simply because they are members of the household. While I agree that every member of the family needs to contribute to the general upkeep of the house, I also believe that having some sort of system in place for the kids is a valuable learning opportunity for them.

That is one of the many things I like about Dave's plan is that he incorporates the whole family. Along with the traditional Total Money Makeover and Financial Peace University (FPU), he has an FPU Junior targeted toward kids ages 3-12. He also has a series of books that help teach kids about important issues and topics related to money.

FPU Junior is a system built around teaching the kid's the value of money, which I discussed briefly in my previous post. The kit includes a short audio cd with 2 versions - a lesson for parents and a lesson for kids. While Tim and I liked the adult lesson and found it very useful, we may not use the kid's lesson for a while. Because Troy (just turned 4) is a very visual kid, I think he'll do better with a book. We might try using the cd in the car some time when we need a distraction for him.

The primary focus of FPU Junior is teaching kids the relationship between work and money. Most of us grew up with the idea (whether or not we got one) that kids often receive an allowance from their parents. Dave doesn't like the word allowance. He uses the term commissions because it equates money with work (as opposed to just a given, like a travel allowance). The system is simple, you work you get paid. If you don't work, you don't get paid. He leaves the type of work and amount each job is worth open to the parent to decide. Obviously this will depend on your child's age and your family's financial position.

Dave talks about a 3 part system for kids - Spend, Save, and Give. For his kids, they were able to earn $5 a week. On pay day, they put $1 in the Give envelope and $2 each in Spend and Save envelopes. Again, as I discussed in my previous post it is important to teach kids to do all three of these things. Most have a tendency to focus on one aspect and overlook the others. The kit does include envelopes you can use with your kids for each category.

I want to highlight some of the key points and ideas he uses with this system:
* Not all chores earn you money. There are some things you are expected to do just for being a member of the family. These might include things like making your bed, cleaning up toys, helping at meal time, clearing the table, etc.
* Young kids are very visual. If you pay them in dollar bills, try wadding them up and putting them in a jar instead of stacking them in an envelope. It will have a much BIGGER impact for them this way.
* It's okay to impose fines. It works just the opposite of the commissions. The example Dave gave was a fine for talking back to adults. If you use time outs, you might assign a fine to that too. For older kids it could include bad grades or not finishing homework.
* Pay on a consistent basis. This means you don't wait weeks to pay them for work they do and you have to make an concerted effort to pay them on a regular basis. Don't let paying commissions be one of those things that slip through the cracks when they get busy.

Some additional thoughts:
* Let go of perfection. Most kids (especially the younger ones) aren't going to do a task as well as an adult will. Make sure they actually do the job before you pay them for it, but realize that it won't be perfect. I also would suggest that you wait until they aren't looking to redo it (if you feel the need to do so). "Fixing it" in front of them will make them might make them feel bad, especially if they take pride in their work.
* Be age appropriate. Many people wonder what is appropriate commissions for different ages. From other advisers I have heard the general rule of thumb - $1 per age, so a 5 year old would make up to $5 a week while a 10 year old (who should have more responsibility) would make more. I'll share what we have chosen in my next post

There are a lot of great tips and tools included in the FPU Junior kit, including a Commissions Worksheet, a Savings Goal visual, envelopes, calculator, and more. My favorite tools are the Savings Goal Sheet which provide a place for kids to see their progress and the zipper pouch with clip. The pouch is clear so kids can see the money and you can slip it on some thing so young kids won't lose it on the way to the store (yes, this has happened at our house).

In my next post I'll share how we use the commissions system at our house.

Did you grow up on an allowance? What kinds of jobs do your kids help with around the house? What tasks are expected (free of pay) as being responsible family members?

It's all worth it!

2010-03-22T18:23:00.001-04:00

I got a phone call this afternoon. After a couple hellos, the voice on the other end of the line said, "Hello. I am with company XYZ. Do you need any help with your debt?"

"No, mam. WE'RE DEBT FREE! Thanks!"

Wow, that felt good!

FPU: Buyer Beware

2010-03-22T15:24:00.000-04:00

This lesson talks about the power of marketing on your buying decisions. It exposes their techniques so you can protect yourself. Right now we live in the most marketed to culture in the history of the world. If we're going to have financial peace, you have to develop resistance to marketing. One of my favorite lines from Dave is that Americans often fall in to the trap of "Buying things we don't need with money we don't have to impress people we don't really like anyway." That is so true. This lesson starts to help you get past that point.

In 1971, the average American had 560 advertisements flashed in front of them every day. Today, research shows that the number has increased to between 3,000 and 4,000. The average American child will see over a million advertisements. Research also shows that for every hour of TV you watch, you spend on average an EXTRA $200 per year. That's not as shocking when you think about the billions spent specifically to marketing to children and their ability to pull at our heart strings. WAKE UP!

There are Four Major Sales Techniques used against us:
1. Personal Selling - People spend thousands of hours in a classroom learning how to talk to you. Salesmanship 101: You never answer a question except with another question. They not only learn the way to talk to you, but they learn your habits and practices in order to find the best way to market to you.
2. Financing - Use money and easy payments as a marketing tool. We used to get sucked in to that financing game. Same as cash does not equal same as cash. Research shows that 88% of these "same as cash deals" convert to payment usually at 24% APR. People fail to think about the fact that this money is built in to the cost of the item.
3. TV, radio, other media - They use repetition to drive home their idea or logo. We'd all like to think we're smarter than this, but if you think about it we fall victim to it too. How many of you can finish this slogan: "Melts in your mouth, ___ __ ____ _____". That's been around since 1954, we all remember it, and all know that is for M&M's. It's not even true any more. Have you ever given those to a child in the back seat of your car? But, it doesn't matter. We remember it and that's all they care about.
4. Product positioning - Uses brand recognition to position it in your mind and associated it with a certain value. They spend billions researching four major areas - brand recognition, shelf position, color, and packaging. There is no shortage of thought or investment that goes in to every product we see. It obviously works because they keep investing more and more in to that research. There are no mistakes in marketing.

Major Purchases
Did you know that when you make a significant purchase, you're body actually goes through physiological changes? You have a chemical reaction that actually "fogs" your brain. It's a very real thing. Have you ever had buyer's remorse? That's where it comes from. It's your reaction after you get past that physiological change.

Dave talks about how we all have that "little kid" inside of us that has those "grocery store fits" when we walk in to a store and see some thing we want. You know what he means - that little voice in your head that says, "I want! I want! I want!" (feet stomping and arms pounding) when you see some thing we think we just HAVE to have. That little voice is called immaturity. Children do what feels good. Adults devise a plan and live by it. Mature adults develop a power over purchase.

So, how do you prevent that from happening? Take a little time with your spouse (or accountability partner) to define what you consider to be a major purchase. It may be a certain dollar amount or based on the frequency with which you buy such items. Then, before making such a purchase go through these 5 steps:
1. Wait over night before making a purchase - so you can get over that high.
2. Carefully consider your buying motive - no amount of stuff is going to equal contentment, joy, or get rid of guilt. Is it a need or want? A "better situation" is NOT a need. It's okay to buy wants, you just need to make sure it's in the budget.
3. Never buy any thing you do not understand - especially insurance and investments!
4. Consider the "opportunity lost" of your money - think about what else could be done with that money, especially long term.
5. Seek the council of your spouse (or accountability partner) - Trust and work with the one you have become one with!

If you follow these 5 steps, you can develop that power over the purchase that reflects real financial maturity. Then you can look back later and say "That was a good purchase!" and still have financial peace. This isn't saying you can't buy things, it's just stressing that you start buying smart.

Have you ever made a purchase that you later regretted? Do you have money fights because you and your spouse don't agree on major purchases? Or worse, has your partner made a major purchase and excluded you from the process?

FPU: Credit Sharks in Suits

2010-03-21T12:20:00.001-04:00

In this lesson Dave tackles the myth about the importance of having a good credit score and the vicious (and illegal) tactics that creditors use to play on your emotions.

We are bombarded every day with messages about establishing good credit, protecting our credit score, rebuilding credit. Dave challenges all of that. He goes so far as saying we don't need a credit score at all. If you think about it, it's true. If you pay with cash, your credit score doesn't matter. Wow! What a crazy concept!

Dave calls the FICO score, the "I love debt" score. After all, it's determined by your debt. According to myfico.com, your credit score is determined by the following:
35% - Payment (Debt) History
30% - Debt levels
15% - Length of Payments
10% - Type of debt
10% - New debt

So, if you have no debt and are making no payments than you will have no credit score. Having a good FICO score is not a sign of winning. It's a reflection of how well you play the game.

While Dave does not believe at worshiping at the alter of the great FICO score, he does stress the importance of making sure it's accurate. Statistics show that 79% contain some error and 25% contain a serious error. It's important to pull your credit on a regular basis and look through it very carefully. Dave offers a wide variety of help with your credit report (including how to read it, form letters, etc) on his website, so I won't go in to it completely here but encourage you to read more on your own.

The second half of the lesson focuses on creditors. If you've ever heard Dave on the radio or TV you know that he is NOT a fan of debt collectors. While he believes that every body should own up to their debts and pay them, he hates the practices of many of the collection agencies. Dave encourages any one dealing with collections to learn the basics of the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. He reviews basic rules that we should all know"
* Collectors are restricted to calling between the hours of 8am -9pm YOUR TIME!!!
* You can demand that creditors cease calling you at work
* You can even insist that creditors stop ALL contact with you (although he does not recommend this any more because data shows you are more likely to get sued if you do this)
* Collectors or creditors cannot confiscate your bank account or garnishee wages without lengthy legal action

Creditors are highly trained to play on your emotions and throw you off guard so they can get you to pay up. Once they figure out your trigger, they'll note it in their database and use it over and over. Be aware of these things and know your rights.

One of the tools I forgot about from when we originally listened to the audio cd's was the Pro Rate Method. He outlines a plan on how to continue making payments even when you don't have enough to cover the minimum payments on your credit cards. Basically you total all your debts and figure out what percentage each makes up of your total debt. You then take that percentage and apply it to your disposable income. That is the amount you pay each creditor. So, if Discover accounts for 60% of your debt and you have $200 in disposable income, you would send them a payment of $120. The rest would be divided accordingly among your other debts. The FPU workbook includes a sample letter you can send to your creditor explaining your situation and the reason they are not receiving a full payment.

While it might seem odd to make several partial payments as opposed to just paying one and forgetting about the rest, Dave says this plan has been proven to work for millions and helps hold off lawsuits. "They won't put a bullet in a horse that's limping."

Tim and I were fortunate to not have to deal with creditors, but we know from family and friends that they can be quite horrible. Hopefully you will never have to deal with them, but if you do there are a lot of tools out there to help you. THAT DOES NOT INCLUDE DEBT SETTLEMENT AGENCIES. Dave NEVER recommends having some one else consolidate or pay your debts. If you are in a position where you need any of these forms, you can most likely find a book by Dave Ramsey at the library. He makes most of his forms available in all his books.

There was a LOT of information in this section that was hard to cover in a blog post. Feel free to contact me if you have any specific questions!

Busy Mom's Bible: Review

2010-03-20T13:55:00.003-04:00

One of the bad things about signing up for freebies is that you can forget what you've signed up for. Today a package was dropped off with a little surprise - a free bible from Busy Mom's Bible. I must have been one of the lucky 5000.

One of the benefits of finding financial peace is that it has helped us get other areas of our lives in order too, including our spiritual life. The arrival of this bible is appropriately timed. I just started a class at our church that teaches the essentials of L.I.F.E. (Living In Faith Every day). In the first class we discussed the different types and versions of bible. I have a Study Bible and a New Living Version translation, so I'm excited to now have a New International Version (the version most commonly used at my church).

There are a lot of features of this bible that I really like. The overall size will be great to take with me to church. The study bible I have is a little too bulky to quickly access at church. The durable cover will be great considering the fact that I have 2 small children and my stuff tends to get tossed around. (Okay, I know some of you cringed when I said my bible get "tossed around", but lets me honest... it will). At first the color was a little shocking, but I think it will be helpful when I'm quickly trying to locate my bible.

The feature I'm most looking forward to are the pages specially designed for the Busy Mom (giving it it's title). There are brightly colored pages throughout the bible that give you the option of "1 Minute Thought Starters", "5 Minute Reflect & Pray", and "10 Minute Study" option. There are 52 additions that cover 13 general topics. These topics include things such as marriage, raising your kids, your identity in Christ.

I love their tag line: "For moms whose hearts are more open than their schedules." That describes almost every mom I know!

I'm really looking forward in to diving in to these highlighted sections. I tend to get overwhelmed with a busy schedule. I love that this breaks it down for me to time frames that I can wrap my mind around. I'm looking forward to using the highlighted sections to help guide me through the year. With 52 Thought Starters, I plan on devoting 1 week a year to each. I know I can find 1 minute, 5 minutes, and 10 minutes each week to help develop my spiritual side. I think I'll start with Easter Sunday and work my way through the bible. I'll be excited to report back more later.

Top 5 Reasons It's Tough Being Dave Ramsey's Kid - Parents and Teachers - daveramsey.com

2010-03-16T13:25:00.000-04:00

This article is appropriately timed with my serious on Kids and Money. We watched this clip a few weeks ago in our FPU class also.

Top 5 Reasons It's Tough Being Dave Ramsey's Kid - Parents and Teachers - daveramsey.com

I hope some day my kids will have their own small list of reasons like this!

Financial Check-up: February 2010

2010-03-15T08:08:00.003-04:00

In all the excitement of my recent posts, I totally forgot about completing my Financial Check-up for February. Late is better than never, right!?!

February Goals:
* Gather all tax information and meet with Accountant. Done, although our taxes aren't finished yet. We ran in to a BIG snag with our investments. I could write a whole post just on that issue (and still might). We've resolved the issue now, but just need to finish the paperwork and get every thing signed.
* Create price list of most commonly purchased items from Sam's. In progress. This will be an on-going thing, but I have at least started.
* Figure out HSA balance and investment options. Turns out we can't invest our HSA balance until it reaches $2000 in the account. Since we've only had it open for a year, we're not there yet.

March Goals:
* Expand price list to include other items commonly purchased and other stores.
* Get taxes finalized and in the mail
* Set up college funds for kids

Kids & Money: Key Lessons

2010-03-12T17:55:00.013-05:00

In my previous post I challenged you to think about how you were raised and what lasting memories you want to leave with your children when it comes to finances. Now it's time to think about how we convey those messages to our children. Below are 10 important lessons that I plan on focusing on with my kids.

Talk to your kids - I think finances are one of those things that fits with religion and politics that people are afraid to talk about. There was a line that grabbed my attention in this articlethis article on Dave's website "...if you don't teach your kids how to handle money, someone else will." It really drove home how important money really is (yes, it is as important as s-e-x talks), so why aren't we having money talks? There is certainly plenty to talk about.

Teach them to save - This sounds like a no-brainer, but how many of us grew up without really understanding the importance of this. Obviously with the amount of consumer debt in our society and America's savings rate quickly shrinking, it was more than just a few of us. I think it's not enough to teach kids to save, but we need to help them understand why and exactly what impact that will have on their future.

Teach them to spend - It may sound silly to say this. Who wouldn't want to spend? Right?! But a lot of kids (people of all ages, really) get so focused on saving that they actually forget to spend. Dave really stresses the need to be well-rounded financially. Kids need to spend so they see the value (literally and figuratively) of money and see the rewards. It's teaching them to spend wisely that is the real key.

Teach them to give - I've heard a lot of examples of parents teaching them the first two parts of this equation, but the third leg of the stool often gets forgotten. Kids need to give, and give responsibly. This helps build important values that will have a significant impact on their future. This is part of the lesson that keeps them from abusing your hard work down the road. When kids give money they earn, they learn the power of that dollar and it means a lot more.

Show them the importance of work - Most of the time when we talk about kids and money the topic is allowances. Dave says this is the wrong word to use. It's not a welfare approach that we should be taking. You don't get money simply because you are breathing. He says we should call it commissions. It makes sense when you think about it. If you work you get paid. If you don't work, you don't get paid. I'll talk about this a lot more in a future post.

Start early - A lot of times we under estimate the ability of our kids to understand concepts. A lot of sources start giving guidelines on money around the age of 3. Before I started really looking in to this, 3 seemed incredibly young. But now that I have a 4 year old in the household, it's clear that they are little magnets at this age and it's the perfect time to start. Obviously how much they understand at this age is different than what a 10 year old will understand, but don't miss out on early teachable lesson. Just make them age appropriate. I'll talk about this is a future post too.

Break down the barriers - Money can be scary. As adults, many of us are still afraid of money. I think the earlier you actually start talking to your kids, the less scary money will be. Every household will be different in how much they share with their kids. Tim and I plan on not just talking about general money concepts with kids, we also plan on talking to our kids about our money. We want to share with them mistakes we made, things we learned along the way, and as they get older help them become active parts of our regular budget committee meetings.

Stay consistent - I remember starting and stopping chores several times as I grew up. We would do well for a while and then things would get busy, we'd get bored, or we'd drive our parents so insane that they would give up. It's important to be disciplined and stick with it. Dave even talks about keeping a calendar so you can make sure you don't miss your weekly pay day. It's easy with our busy lives to forget a week. One week can lead in to two, and before you know it you've missed the teachable lessons with your kids.

Let them make mistakes - We all want to protect out kids, but be very careful not to get overly involved in the management. Dave tells a great story of his daughter going to a carnival and blowing all her spending money on carnival games. Being as they are, she walked away with nothing to show for her time and money. We obviously know it was a mistake, but it's a lot more powerful lesson when they see it for themselves. Some thing else that stuck me about that story is his point on how little of an impact it would have on them if it was money you had just handed over to them. I can't think of how many times I blew threw my parents money on silly things like that. Mistakes are very important teachable moments. We all make them.

Lead by example - I think the best lesson you can teach your kids is being a good example. They need to see you spend, save, give, and invest (again, why I see the value in breaking down the barriers and letting them be involved in the family finances). That old adage is definitely true - more is caught than taught. Keep this phrase fresh in your mind with every decision you make.

Proverbs 22:6 says "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it" (NIV). Dave says it in a way that I think will hit home with all of us, "Train them or they will move back in and live with you when they are 27." You can't argue with that!

What lessons are you teaching your children?

Friday's Frugal Tip

2010-03-12T08:21:00.002-05:00

I don't know if it's the stress of having 2 kids or simply my age, but I've really started to notice I'm getting "old" as the white hairs seem to multiply. I have really dark hair, so they show up really well. I have been dreading the idea of coloring my hair, but got a great tip from my hair dresser last week.

Tip: Use mascara that matches your hair color to instantly get rid of those grays that show up right near the front and in the part of your hair.

She said to make sure your hair is dry before you apply it (and I'd probably use a waterproof version) so it doesn't run. How exciting is that!?! I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner.

Kids & Money: Where it all starts

2010-03-11T13:41:00.010-05:00

Photo Source: http://www.pseudology.org/cad_obzor/Images/tree_roots.jpg

Think about some thing for a minute - Where do you get your ideas about money and money management? How did your parents manage money? Did they talk to you about money as you were growing up?

If your answer to that last question is "yes", then you are one of the lucky one (and probably in the minority). For most of us, I'm guessing we picked up on a lot of cues from our parents but were never really involved in the day to day workings of their finances.

My parents never had credit cards, but that doesn't mean that they were good money managers. Still to this day, my parents keep all their finances separate - Mom pays certain bills, Dad pays other, and never the two shall meet. This practice has spared them huge credit card debt, but has also left them with very little retirement and a whole lot of tension when it comes to money. My Dad liked nice toys, but my Mom was the more sensible one (a clear reflection of the way they were raised).

Of course, as a child I picked up on this and it shaped me greatly. I grew up with a constant conflict of liking nice things and wanting to find a good bargain. And, even though I have had a job and checking account since I was 16, I really had no experience with budgeting. My parents never had one, so how was I to learn.

Oddly enough, my husband comes from the other extreme. His Mom managed the household money very carefully. She had her own little way of balancing the checkbook (budgeting) that I think we'd classify as "sinking funds" now. Tim's Dad had his own business, so they paid for a lot of things in cash too but he definitely comes from a savings background. I'm sure it's the reason he had such a hard time letting go of that "magic number" he thought he needed in our checking account when we first started on Dave Ramsey's plan.

I'm sure you are wondering why I'm talking so much about Tim and I when this post was supposed to be about kids and money. If it isn't obvious by now, I'll clear that up... where we come from has a tremendous impact on where we are going and what we pass down to the next generation. So when it comes to kids and money, the place to start is taking a hard look at how we were raised.

What were the good things? What would we like to change? What do we want our children to remember when they look at our examples?

Stay Tuned: Children and Money

2010-03-10T21:23:00.003-05:00

I will be starting a series soon on Children and Money, so stay tuned!

(FYI - I'm creating this post to keep me accountable and make me write!)

Repair or Replace: That's the question!

2010-03-10T14:50:00.004-05:00

I have a little toilet quiz for you... Do you know what this is?

Almost $300 worth of our budget in the past year. My husband sort of smacked me over the head with that fact earlier this week. I was thrilled that the check we wrote to the plumber on Monday was only $155, then he reminded me that this is the second time in the past year that we've paid over $125 to have it fixed. The first time it was making a funny bubbling sound and the plumber said there wasn't any thing he noticed, but went ahead and replaced the handle anyway because it wasn't working ideally.

This time the toilet was actually leaking. We made an attempt to fix it ourselves this weekend, but as the problem (and water on the floor) grew we finally decided to hand it over to the professionals. The plumber was coming out to look at our sink any way, so we figured it was best to let them handle it. It turns out that this particular toilet takes a special gasket between the tank and the bowl, so the part we used wasn't sufficient.

All this raises a good question: When is it worth repairing an item, and when should it just be replaced? We could have had a very nice toilet for far less than that. I went to the Home Depot website and found this high efficiency toilet for less than what we have paid in the past 12 months in repairs. Ouch! That hurts!

Three questions to ask when trying to decide whether to repair or replace some thing (around the house, or even bigger... like your car)
1. Do we really need the item? Is it possible to do without the item for a period of time or possibly eliminate it all together?
2. Which is greater, the cost of the repair or the cost of the replacement?
3. Is there safety or environmental issues to consider in the replacement - i.e. is an update necessary?

One of the things I consider is the value of keeping unwanted items out of landfills. In this case, however, I have to wonder if the water we would have saved with a high efficiency toilet would have offset the negative landfill impact. Unfortunately, once the plumber comes to the house you are pretty much stuck with that cost so we couldn't have taken that option this time. Next time we think we need a plumber, I have a feeling we'll be going to the home improvement store instead.

A positive note in all of this: Since we're debt free, we have been putting money in to a home improvement sinking fund so this was NOT a budget buster for us. Even without our sinking fund, our emergency fund would have more than covered this. This is why Dave says that an emergency fund helps make you "Murphy proof". Even a leaking toilet is just an inconvenience and not a huge emergency when you have an emergency fund in place!

I'd encourage all of you to think ahead. Think of the things around your house that could need to be repaired or replaced soon - appliances, car, lawn equipment. If you have flexibility to start a sinking fund for these items start now. Even if you don't have a sinking fund, thinking ahead about items - whether you would replace them or repair them - will prevent you from making a rash decision and wasting your money.

Another Life Ago: When I was young and single

2010-03-09T09:11:00.009-05:00

So, I'm sitting at the South Bend Chocolate Company Cafe in downtown South Bend remembering my life as it once was. Before I was married and had kids, I was a young urban professional living and working in the downtown area of our little metropolis. I was a crazy, idealistic, fresh out of college, working professional. I thought there was nothing better than walking to work, eating at a wide variety of cafes for lunch, running along the river after work, and partying at the local hang outs on the weekends.

Not only was I foolish enough to feel confident walking home by myself at 2am along the deserted streets, but I was also foolish enough to buy my first house all on my own. It wasn't just any house either. It was a dilapidated Victorian owned by a slum landlord. My purchase agreement actually stated that one of the conditions of closing was him removing the animal feces from the basement stairs. I was smart enough to get creative financing for the project and knew just enough about construction to be dangerous.

It's only been 8 short years since I bought that house (the "blue beacon" in the middle), but it seems like a whole lifetime ago to me now. If you had met me during that time you would have never guessed that less than a decade later I would be a stay-at-home-mom with two little children. If you had even suggested the idea to me at that point I would have told you that you were absolutely crazy. That was before. Before I met my adoring husband. Before I had 2 amazing children. Before I discovered to be comfortable with myself.

Do I miss it some times? Absolutely. But it's not the independence or the naive ideals that I miss. It's the wide variety of experiences. Being here today I'm reminded of how easy it is to confine ourselves to our comfort zone. It's easy to continue with the simple little routines and limit ourselves to the familiar places that are comfortable. Let's be honest. We do that in so many aspects of our lives. We become content to "see the world" through the screen of our computer.

Tim and I talk about staying motivated on our financial journey by keeping our eye on the "prize". For me, the prize is definitely travel. I can't wait until we're in a position financially (and age-wise with our kids) that we can just pack up and hop on a plane to the great corners of the earth. For now, I'm content with packing up the car and finding little adventures in our back yard. Coming here reminds me, though, that I need to do it more often. I can't wait for this summer!

How much has your life changed in the past decade? Has your world grown or shrunk? What is your prize?

FPU: Free Lesson

2010-03-08T12:12:00.002-05:00

I'm not exactly sure how this is going to work, but I'm sure it will be well worth the time. Dave is doing a program where he will be offering a free lesson. There are no strings attached. You enter in your geographical area and they e-mail you the location of a free lesson. So, take a few minutes and visit this site to sign up! You can't go wrong with FREE!!

FPU: Dumbing Debt

2010-03-05T20:19:00.006-05:00

If you are going to invest in any single Dave Ramsey's lesson, this would be the one. I didn't actually get to a chance to see the whole lesson, but I love Dave's energy. If you don't walk away from this feeling charged and asking a lot of good questions after this lesson, you must have watching it on mute.

Dave covers a whole list of money myths. I'll address some of these more in depth in another series, but for this purpose I'll highlight a couple that stood out for us.
* Car payments are a way of life... This is one that we used to believe. Now that we drive a fully paid for car, I'm so glad this isn't the case any more. I like my car so much more now than I ever have. I think it might actually be hard to get me give it up.
* The Home Equity Loan is good because of the tax deduction and is a substitute for an emergency fund. I really enjoy listening to Dave's rants on this topic. I used to think the deduction was a good thing, but you can get some good deductions through charitable giving. Hmmm... taxes or charity. That's an easy one.

So the real meat of the lesson - Steps to Dumping Debt!
1. Quit borrowing more money!!!!! Sounds simple, but if it was really that easy than none of us would even be thinking about this topic. Now is the time to start making a change.
2. You must save money. $1000 emergency fund should be in place before attacking debt.
3. Prayer really works. I'm still learning this one, but I've watched so many people be touched by prayer that I'm starting to believe it.
4. Sell some thing. Take that back, sell a lot of things! This is a perfect excuse to simplify.
5. Part time job or overtime (temporarily). There is nothing wrong with working a job you don't like doing some thing people don't respect in order to get rid of debt. It's not a lifetime choice. It's a short term sacrifice.
6. Debt snowball. Use the debt snowball to attack debt and get rid of it.

I think that once you make the commitment to change, these steps are pretty easy. It takes a serious effort, though. You have to learn to HATE your debt! Attack it! Do what ever it takes to get it out of your house! It's not good enough to just say you want to be debt free. You have to be willing to do the work (possibly even literally).

Trust me. I didn't like my job while we were paying down debt. I worked long hours doing stuff that I didn't care for, but you do what you have to do. I would have gone out and worked at the grocery store if I needed to. Getting rid of the debt was really that important to us. Now that we're on the other side of the line, I am so glad we were willing to make that sacrifice (yes, Tim sacrificed too) for the short term in order to make the long term progress.

Have you taken steps to dump debt? What are the sacrifices you were willing to make?

I'm still here.

2010-03-05T19:03:00.002-05:00

I wish I had a good excuse for my recent absence, but I don't. I've just been lazy. I have fallen out of the habit of writing a follow up for our FPU classes. I think the week off for Ash Wednesday threw me off. I ended my last FPU post with a promise to talk about Kids, but I'm holding off on that because I want to give it more attention. Stay tuned for the best of the lessons... DUMPING DEBT!

Stupid Tax - Well, sort of...

2010-02-26T08:14:00.003-05:00

In an attempt to cut costs around here, I recently changed our phone services. Since I'm not working full-time any more, we didn't really need the double ring for the fax machine or the unlimited long distance. I dropped those features and made a couple other tweaks, saving us about $5-$10 each month. Not very much, but every little penny counts, right!?!

After a couple weeks we realized that we really miss the unlimited long distance. We can use our cell phones most of the time, but it's nice to be able to use the land line without any thought or concern. Yesterday I called to switch our services back. I guess what we had before must have been cheaper than current rates (I know our internet is) because switching back to the All-Distance is going to add $10-$15 more to our bill each month. UGH!!! It's still worth it, but how annoying! Utility companies drive me crazy!

A new perspective

2010-02-14T19:56:00.002-05:00

So, I was at the nail place yesterday getting my eyebrows waxed - a $10 splurge for Valentine's Day - and I overheard this conversation that made me chuckle. This woman was getting a pedicure and talking about her upcoming vacation to St. Lucia. The guy asked how long she would be gone. She replied that they would only be gone for 5 days "and then I have to come back to work so I can pay for the trip!" And all I could think was... NOT IF YOU WERE PAYING IN CASH IDIOT!!!!

FPU: Relating with Money

2010-02-11T20:18:00.017-05:00

This week Dave dives in to the difficult discussion of money and relationships.It's no secret that men and woman think differently about things (including money), but it goes much deeper than that. Dave highlights two opposing personalities when it comes to money - the nerd and the free spirit. The nerd is the one that tends to do things by the book, while the free spirit kind of takes things as they come. When it comes to managing the money, it's quite possible that neither really have a good grip on getting it right. In fact, starting this process often highlights which role each member of the couple really owns (and, yes, usually there is one of each in each couple). The one that gets all giddy right out of the gate and starts creating spreadsheets... yep, that's the nerd. The person who just wants it done at the end of the day is the free spirit.

My little nerd and free spirit in the making

With such opposing forces, it's no surprise that money fights are the #1 thing that causes strife in a marriage. Dave says it's also the #1 opportunity. If you set a couple ground rules right from the beginning and open the lines of communication, you can turn this in to a great chance to build your relationship. So, here are the ground rules for your first budget committee meeting:

The Nerd:
* Make a draft budget. Bring it to the table. And shut up!
* This is a meeting, not a summit. Keep it brief.
* Insist that the free spirit makes some changes. Let them mess it up! YIKES!

The Free Spirit:
* You must come to the meeting.
* Bring your brain and use it to give input.
* You may never say, "What ever you want to do, honey."

It's very important that both people have a vote in the budget committee decisions. If you follow these simple steps and learn to work together on the budget, you will quickly see the power of this system. When you agree on spending, you agree on a value system. When you work together on your budget, you're working together to define your goals, fears, and dreams. Having a plan creates accountability and provides a basis for self control. Working together to create a budget gives you that plan and can be quite empowering. No wonder Dave sees this as such a great opportunity for marriages.

Being accountable is important, so if you are single be sure you find some one to act ask that accountability partner. Find some one who will call you out when you are being dumb with your money. They don't have to agree with you on every thing, but you need to give them a chance to voice their opinion and listen to what they are saying.

I can personally testify that this process has significantly improved my marriage. We may not always agree on every thing, but our communication has improved tremendously. It's openned us up to important discussions we weren't having. It also helps get past the blame game. It's hard to argue with reality when it's written in a budget in black and white. I'll admit that I may have started as the free spirit (mostly because I wasn't buying in to it) and have quickly become the nerd. Tim describes me as a nerd with free spirit tendencies. You might also classify me as a recovering free spirit. While I once used retail therapy to deal with issues just assuming we'd find the money some where, I now have a multi-paged Excel spreadsheet that tracks our monthly budget, daily transactions, sinking funds, and even our wish list. It's quite amusing actually. So, which category do you fit in?

Next week: Kids and money (we have no class next week because of Ash Wednesday, so I'm breaking this week's lesson in to two parts. Both are important and deserve their own space.)

Reality Check Quote from Dave

2010-02-10T14:44:00.002-05:00

"Drive down your street and count ten houses. Seven of them represent a family living paycheck to paycheck in America." - Dave Ramsey (WSJ)

If you have a plan for your money and know where it's going, you'll find you don't have to worry as much about where it's coming from. It's been 29 months since I learned that lesson.

I'm looking forward to class tonight. I'm glad the weather isn't bad enough to keep us away!

FPU: Super Savings

2010-02-04T21:33:00.004-05:00

In week one Dave gives a lot of great information about Savings in our society... or lack there of. Our country actually has a negative savings rate. As a whole, Americans spend more than we make every year slowly eating away at our savings. He gives a couple great illustrations that show the importance of saving and starting young. He also stresses that you're never too old to start. If you're "sucking wind" you should be saving money.

He doesn't get in to the Baby Steps in the first section other than saying that savings are handled in Baby Step #1 and Baby Step #3. He says Baby Step #1 is both the easiest and the hardest of the Baby Steps. It's the easiest because we can all scrimp together $1000 (it takes some longer than others, but we can all do it). It's the hardest step because it means you're about to make a change. Change is hard and taking that first step can be very difficult.

So, how do you take that first step? For every one it's a little different. It may be a matter of forgoing your weekly Starbucks in order to set aside $5 per week. You may have to part with some of your favorite things and have a big garage sale. Maybe it's already in your bank account under a slightly different guise. For us, it was the latter. For us it was a mental barrier. Tim would panic if our bank account fell below a certain level. He had never lived paycheck to paycheck and had this set number in his head that he thought had to be there. It was hard to convince him that it was okay to let go of that idea and be happy with $1000.

In order to really make it effective we decided to set up a special account just for our Baby Emergency Fund. The other part of the equation is that you have to have a hard discussion with your spouse and come to an agreement about what is an emergency. Christmas is NOT an emergency. Buying a new iPhone because your current cell phone isn't working is NOT an emergency. Once you have your emergency fund in place, it's important you set up sinking funds so that you are more prepared for your expenses and those regular expenses - plates, insurance, Christmas - don't become emergencies.

Some thing else he discusses that really hit home with me is how having an emergency fund can help you become "Murphy" proof. I think this is more true with Baby Step #3, but I think it applies to any amount of savings. If you have a sudden car repair that costs $250, it's a lot less of an emergency when you have $1000 sitting in an account for such a situation. Yes it sucks! Yes you will have to rebuild the fund, but it's not insurmountable. You did it before and you can do it again.

Do you think an emergency fund can make you "Murphy" proof? Will taking that first Baby Step be the easiest step for you or the hardest? If you haven't already done it, DO IT NOW! Do what ever you can to save $1000. Set it aside in its own account. Don't touch it. Move on.

Next week: Relating with Money

Financial Peace University: Our new series!

2010-02-04T15:24:00.007-05:00

When Tim and I decided to start our Total Money Makeover we didn't have a strong church family and were stretched to our max with time commitments. I knew they offered classes at local churches, but we didn't have the time. Instead, we decided to order the CDs and do it on our own. We committed to listening to one CD a week and we did. I'll be honest, it was often while we were both distracted with other things, but it served it's purpose and got us started.

Over 2 years later, we're now active members of our church and feel strongly in actively sharing our story and our experiences with others. When we saw that they were about to start a new 13-week course, we were really excited and offered to come assist in any way possible. Last night was our first class. I have to say, it's so much more fun to watch Dave on video than simply listening to the CD. If you ever have the chance, I HIGHLY recommend making the time to sign up for the full Financial Peace University class. Many churches, including ours, offer financial assistance and scholarships if people need help with purchasing the class kit. It will definitely be money well spent. I've decided that actually going through FPU as a group will also be a great opportunity for me to start a new series on my blog. Every week I'll write a post that coordinates with that week's lesson. This can't substitute for the overwhelming affect of actually taking the course. I simply will be using this time to reflect on our journey. Feel free to ask any questions. I have a feeling I'm going to really like it!! (If you haven't figured it out, I love structure and purpose.) I hope you enjoy it too!

Ready to take that first step and attend the class? Go here to find a class near you!

Financial Check-up: January 2010

2010-02-01T20:56:00.004-05:00

I know February is the shortest month of the year, but I'm still wondering what happened to January. It seemed to come and go in a flash. So, how did you do this month?

January's goals:
* Set irregular income wish list with Tim - DONE! Read about it here.
* Complete Last Will and Testament paperwork by the end of the month - Written, Printed, but still need to sign!
* Set up ESA for kid's college fund - This has been a real challenge. We've been asking our financial advisor to get this stuff together for a couple months now. I'm still not 100% sure how it all works. We have the money set aside and the process started, it's just a matter of figuring out what all the paperwork means and getting it filed. If you have any tips or info on setting up college funds, I'm all ears!

Not too bad overall. Just a few loose ends to tie up. At least this time I'm getting this posted before the middle of the month.

February Goals:
* Gather all tax information and meet with Accountant.
* Create price list of most commonly purchased items from Sam's.
* Figure out HSA balance and investment options.

W-A-N-T is a Four-letter Word

2010-01-30T12:37:00.007-05:00

I have read a lot of posts lately that have really gotten me thinking about the messages we convey to our kids about wants vs needs. This is always a hot topic when it comes to budgeting and 'living like no one else'. Last week I read this article about resisting consumerism. It's really hard NOT to get sucked in to advertisements, the latest fads, and the appeal of having nice things. As adults we have developed logic and analysis skills (although we often ignore them) that should give us a more sensible defense to these forces. Our kids, however, are bombarded with these things all the time with very little in the way of wading out the pure ploy tactics.

Then, a few days later I read another great article about teaching our kids to live simply. Tsh made a great point

"Instead of 'I want that!' or 'I really need one!', ask your preschoolers to simply say, 'I like that.'

A light bulb went off in my head when I read that. Before Christmas we were almost embarrassed by Troy's exclamation "I NEED THAT!" after almost every commercial. And, if it was a doll or girly item, suddenly he thought Addison needed it. Part of me was saddened by how much of an affect marketers were having on him. In reality, though, he really doesn't have much experience (at just under 4) at dealing with wants vs. needs. It's my job to teach him.

So, last night after dinner Tim and I talked about making W-A-N-T a four-letter word in our house. I explained to Troy that when he sees some thing on t.v. that he would like to have, he needs to say, "I like that!" NOT "I want that!" or "I need that!" I explained that people like hearing the former phrase and it really seemed to sink in with him. I'm sure I'll have to remind him often, but I think this small change will make a big difference in our house.

It's not good enough to expect the kid to change, though. Tim and I are going to change our words too. Luckily, being gazelle intense has gotten us out of the habit of wanting things just because we feel entitled to them or they would look good or be fun. If there is some thing we'd like to have, we usually discuss it quite a bit before actually buying it. When we're honest, there are very few things in our lives that we actually NEED. Just because we like some thing doesn't mean we need to have it. This is a lesson I really hope to instill in my kids. There really is no need to even use the word WANT. Could you go a whole day without using the word? Could you go a week? Could you eliminate it all together. Maybe that simple change that I want to instill in my kids will make a difference in our adult lives too. It can't hurt, right?!

Irregular Income: Our method

2010-01-22T13:53:00.003-05:00

One of the things I like about Dave's plan is that he has a system for irregular income. After all, there are probably very few people who have a set income EVERY week of EVERY year. There are always surprises (good and bad) - bonuses, tax returns, over time, tips. Just because it's not in the form of a salary, doesn't mean it's not income. I think a lot of people make big mistakes when it comes to irregular income. They seem to go to one of two extremes. On one extreme, people see things like bonuses as "free" money and blow the whole check on fun things and splurges. At the other extreme, you have people who treat bonuses as part of their regular income and expect and rely on it to pay their bills. The problem with both extremes is the question of what happens when it is no longer there? On both extremes, you get accustomed to a way of life that is unreliable and some times unrealistic.

Tim is in sales, so he's always had a job with bonuses built in. Before we started Dave's Total Money Makeover, we would often blow through an entire bonus without much thought. It wasn't usually on stupid purchases, because we're pretty basic people, but it also didn't have a purpose so it was usually gone before we had a chance to enjoy it. Now that we're debt free and have mastered our monthly budgeting system, we've decided it's time to figure out a method for our irregular income that we were comfortable with and felt was effective.

Before we were debt free, we were some what focused with Tim's bonuses and my income. We put 75% of it toward debt (or emergency fund once we were on step #3) and the rest sort of filled in the blanks and went for what ever we needed at the time (i.e. Blow fund). In 2010, we decided to be even more proactive with our money. We have set up a formula. When ever I generate income or Tim gets a bonus, we simply put in the total and it's divided in to the following categories:

10% - Church or Charity
25% - Invest in Roth IRA
15% - Invest in College Fund
25% - Car Replacement Fund
10% - Home Repair Fund
5% - Extra House Payment
5% - Gift Fund
5% - Blow Fund

Now every penny is spoken for before we even make the money. This structure is some thing that works well for us. It helps avoid the temptation of blowing a big chunk on some thing we want and not necessarily some thing we need. There are a couple categories that will cap out at a certain dollar amount and then we can adjust the percentages again. We also have a priority list for items in the home repair fund and blow fund. As money builds up in those funds we just move down the list (sort of a combination between sinking fund and irregular income budget form). For now,I'm really excited about this and think it will keep us focused and on track.

If you want to check out Dave's Irregular Income Budget Form, you can find it on this page with his other budget forms.

Adjusting to Life as a Stay at Home Mom!

2010-01-17T08:03:00.008-05:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, making the decision to be a stay-at-home mom was not an easy choice for me. Looking back, I can say that I'm so glad I finally decided to listen to my heart. It's taken quite some time for me to actually feel like I've started my "new job". I've been a mom for almost 4 years, but I've always been so distracted by life. With the new year upon us, I finally feel like I'm settling in to a routine and I'M LOVING IT!!!

I think it helps that I was working a job I didn't like for people that were making my life hell. I feel like this will be a good break for me and give me a chance to refocus my life. I think the kids and the house are appreciating my new found attention too. I don't think I even realized what havoc working from home was creating in my life until it was gone. I haven't been having migraines, I'm not snapping at the kids all the time, and I'm no longer dreading the start of my day.

I still have a lot of worries. Will putting my career on hold affect my ability to work when the kids go to school? Will I be able to stay motivated and keep up with things? Will all my hard work be taken for granted? I think that's my biggest fear. I am very afraid that every thing will become expected - I'm afraid people will start expecting me to drop every thing because I am "available". I'm afraid I won't hear the enjoyed "thank yous" when the house was in order. I worry that my kids will be less greatful for our time together. It all sounds so selfish when I write it out like that. My joy still far outweighs my worries, though. So, for now... I will just enjoy what I have!

**Update** Wouldn't you know it. I totally jinxed myself with this post. I had a great morning with the kids, wrote this during Troy's rest time, and as soon as I posted it things went crazy. I guess I need to work on ways to make in through those mommy-mommy-mommy-mommy-mommy kind of days. Good thing I wrote this post early in the day or it may have had a totally different tone!

Just a mom!

2010-01-13T09:37:00.002-05:00

I recently received this as an e-mail forward. It was oddly timed with the post on being a stay-at-home mom that I was working on. I thought I would share...

"A woman, renewing her driver's license at the County Clerk 's office, was asked by the woman recorder to state her occupation. She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself.

"What I mean is, " explained the recorder, "do you have a job or are you just a ....?"

"Of course I have a job," snapped the woman. "I'm a Mom."

"We don't list 'Mom' as an occupation, 'housewife' covers it," said the recorder emphatically.

I forgot all about her story until one day I found myself in the same situation, this time at our own Town Hall. The Clerk was obviously a career woman, poised, efficient, and possessed of a high sounding title like, "Official Interrogator" or "Town Registrar".

"What is your occupation?" she probed.

What made me say it? I do not know. The words simply popped out.
"I'm a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations."

The clerk paused, ball-point pen frozen in midair and looked up as though she had not heard right. I repeated the title, slowly emphasizing the most significant words.
Then I stared with wonder as my pronouncement was written, in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire.

"Might I ask," said the clerk with new interest, "just what you do in your field?"

Coolly, without any trace of fluster in my voice, I heard myself reply, "I have a continuing program of research, (what mother doesn't) in the laboratory and in the field, (normally I would have said indoors and out). I'm working for my Masters, (first the Lord and then the whole family) and already have four credits (all daughters). Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities, (any mother care to disagree?) and I often work 14 hours a day, (24 is more like it). But the job is more challenging than most run-of-the-mill careers and the rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money."

There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk's voice as she completed the form, stood up, and personally ushered me to the door. As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up by my glamorous new career, I was greeted by my lab assistants -- ages 13, 7, and 3. Upstairs I could hear our new experimental model, (a 6 month old baby) in the child development program, testing out a new vocal pattern. I felt I had scored a beat on bureaucracy! And I had gone on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable to mankind than "just another Mom".

Motherhood!

What a glorious career!
Especially when there's a title on the door."

Home is where the heart is... My decision to be a stay at home mom

2010-01-11T17:55:00.004-05:00

A long time ago, Kara asked me how I liked being a stay-at-home mom. While I have been busy, that's not really the reason it has taken me so long to answer that question. First of all, while I "officially" quit working with my client back in November I just now feel like I'm actually a stay at home mom. I was finishing up some stuff for them, then we traveled to see family in Florida, then the holidays... it's all a blur. It wasn't until the new year that I started to feel like my job was taking care of my family and not any thing else.

The other reason it's taken me a while to write is because there is a lot of emotional ambiguity in the decision for me. It was not an easy decision. I was totally burnt out on my work and ready to focus on my family, but was raised in such a way that this decision was not the norm. Unlike many of my current friends, being a stay-at-home mom is not seen as a positive in my family. Both of my parents came from families where their mom's worked outside of the home full time. I'm sure a lot of that was out of necessity, especially considering my maternal grandfather passed away when my mom was only 7. There is also a very strong pro-union base in my families. For a lot of them, they see staying at home as being lazy or unmotivated. Combine that with the fact that we really didn't know any positive examples of stay at home moms when I was growing up, and you can start to see why my emotions were all over the place.

If you had asked me in college, the last thing in the world I would have ever expected was for me to actually want to be a stay-at-home mom. Even while working from home, my mom used to talk about how unhealthy it was for me to be so "disconnected". And while we'd all like to think we no longer care what our parent's think, it certainly was waying on my mind. Never the less, my heart was really screaming that the place for me was to be home with my family. And with these angel faces... who could resist.

We were finally in a financial position where I felt we could make the decision for me to stay home without any concern. For the past few years my work has not been fulfilling in the least. It's not what I wanted to be doing, but the money and work environment (working from home with a fairly flexible schedule) was too good to pass up. Once we were debt free, had a fully funded emergency fund, and had gotten our budget to a point where we consistently lived on just Tim's income... it was time for me to step aside from the insane hours and follow my heart.

So, to answer the question - how do I like being a stay-at-home mom? - you'll have to wait for my next post to find out.

5 Lies we tell ourselves to Help us Continue Spending

2010-01-08T15:41:00.005-05:00

This is a good post on the LIES we tell ourselves. We often justify our spending in our own minds, but if we're really honest with ourselves we know that it's nothing more than an excuse.

5 Lies we tell ourselves to Help us Continue Spending

Posted using ShareThis

What lies have you told?

Financial Check-up: January 2010

2010-01-07T20:08:00.002-05:00

Wow! I'm already off to a bad start. My 2010 Financial Goal was to post three monthly goals by the 5th. Let's face it. I'm a task-oriented person and need that structure. I'm late, but here they are...

January Goals:
* Set irregular income wish list with Tim
* Complete Last Will and Testemant paperwork by the end of the month
* Set up ESA for kid's college fund

What a waste!

2010-01-06T13:15:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I decided to deal with some long lingering pantry issues. While I was cleaning, I found myself dealing with some unexpected issues. Our pantry and back up cabinet were packed with stuff that I'm sure have been around for years - yes years! The idea of throwing it out just seemed wrong. After all, it was perfectly good food... right?! Even though some of it had been expired since 2007, I still felt guilty about the thought of throwing it out. Then Kara reminded me that it doesn't do any good taking up space in my pantry if I'm not going to use it. Obviously if it has been expired for 2 years and not touched, I certainly don't need it.

I also discovered that I was out of touch with what food I had in the house too. One of the challenges I have with keeping my grocery budget in line is fighting the urge to buy some thing just because it was a good deal. Obviously, the other issue is buying some thing I already have. I can't even tell you how many cake mixes I have. Then there was this whole issue of buying multiple bottles of Cumin when what I really needed was Chili Powder. It's all so embarrassing. I'm really hoping that with a little organization and a little planning, I'll get these bad habits under control this year and eliminate the guilt and shame. I just have to keep reminding myself that the starving people out there in the world aren't going to miss my flavored tea that is 3 years expired!

'Til Debt Do Us Part

2010-01-04T08:46:00.003-05:00

(Picture from Show Info Page on Slice)

With the kids busy with their new toys, Tim and I had a chance to watch several episodes from the Christmas Day
'Til Debt Do Us Part marathon. I had never heard of it before, but was intrigued by the title. The host, Gail Vaz-Oxlade, works with couples in Canada to get their finances under control. Most of the families have no clue where their money is going and are typically far outspending their income each month. It seems like such a foreign concept that people would actually live this way, but I'm not sure why I'm so surprised. Before Financial Peace we never tracked our expenses that closely. I don't think we were ever outspending our income since we didn't really use credit cards, but we certainly weren't spending our money wisely.

Her basic premise is similar to Dave. If you don't have it, don't spend it. She always makes debt repayment a priority too. Instead of envelopes she uses jars, which I actually think is a great idea because you can actually see the money. Dave says this is a good practice with kids. And, lets me honest, many of us start with child-like ideas when it comes to money, so it makes sense that couple who are just getting started down a smart financial path should use jars also.

I liked the challenges she gave each family. Even more effective, though, is the calculation of potential debt she gives. "If you continue to live like you are today, in 5 years you will be $XXXX in debt." The numbers are staggering. Since we were living within our monthly income, the more shocking calculation for us would have been how long it would have taken us to pay off the debt if we didn't change our lifestyle. Either way, the shock always seems to work.

I wish the shows would give a follow-up to the family and show how they are doing now. All in all, though, it's a good 30 minute show to keep you thinking and keep us on track. It's from her show that I got the reminder that we need to have a little fun too and need to have an entertainment fund again. The most important message in the show and given by Dave Ramsey is how important it is to write it down and talk it out with your partner. If you do nothing else this year, I challenge you to do those 2 things. Even if you aren't paying a penny toward debt, you will be making great progress if you start to track your expenses and talk about it with your partner.

You'll thank me later!

Cleaning up

2010-01-02T13:44:00.003-05:00

As I mentioned I'm doing a little changing of the blog. I've been going through old posts and removing/changing tags in order to get ready to reinstate the practice. It's been funny to see some of my old posts. I used to spend a considerable amount of time posting about bargains and deals I had found. Since then I have found so many other sites that do this that I no longer feel the need (am guessing no one minds the lack of repeat). You can always find good deals on my side links.

So, what will I fill that space with? I'm hoping to spend more time talking about the emotional side of money. I enjoy reading posts that show some of the trials and tribulations of saving money, getting out of debt, living life, etc. Some of my better posts are about similar topics. I think this is what I would like to get back to doing. Maybe I'll feel more inspired to actually post things if I'm not simply repeating what some one else has already discovered.

Oh... and for any of you who subscribe... I'm sorry for the bombarding repeat posts. I had to republish a lot of the posts in order to clean up the tags. At least now you know why your e-mail box is overflowing! Hopefully soon they will be with things worth reading. We'll see!

2010 Financial Goals and Resolutions

2010-01-01T08:13:00.008-05:00

Be Accountable - I find I do best when I have a focus. Even more importantly, I do best when I am accountable to others.Goal: Create 3 Financial Goals each month that I will focus on and track. Post these goals (along with the update for the previous month) by the 5th of each month.
Goal: Review weekly expenses with Tim every Sunday.
Goal: Reinstate side bar tracker for money saved (through couponing and such) and to track larger savings goals.

Be Gazelle Intense - Dave talks about this a lot. I think we were pretty gazelle intense when we were paying off debt, but we've been too content since then. We've been staying on track and watching our money, but haven't had a gazelle intense focus since we met our goal for the emergency fund.Goal: Set specific dollar amount to save for car replacement, home improvements, and other major savings categories and track it in side bar.
Goal: Save 50% of car replacement fund by the end of 2010.
Goal: Save 75% of deck replacement fund by the end of 2010 (other 25% in 2011).

Plan Ahead - I always "find" money each month to cover our expenses, but some times I think I could have done better and planning ahead and saving for those things.Goal: Set 2010 irregular income wish list with Tim. Complete before the end of January.
Goal:Review circulars and coupons on Sunday to plan meals & grocery shopping for the week. STICK TO IT!

Be REAListic - A lot of things got dumped in to our blow fund category last year. This year I'm going to try to keep better track of more specific expenses. I'm not going to track toiletries and personal care items separately, but will break down entertainment, clothing, etc.Goal: Budget money each month for clothes for the kids, so there are fewer surprises and less temptations.
Goal: Review receipts to make sure expense is in appropriate category.
Goal: Create and maintain a price list for major items, especially those frequently purchased at Sam's.

Resolutions:* Increase the amount we give back to the community.
* Have more fun. We're debt free now, it's time to put an entertainment category back in the budget.
* Get grocery budget (more consistently) under control.
* Find new and creative ways to reduce our monthly costs.

Inspiration!!!

2009-12-31T13:32:00.002-05:00

Could you imagine going through undergraduate PLUS law school without acquiring 1 penny in school loans? Too late for that. Imagine signing closing documents on your first home and having a mortgage payment of $0 each month. Impossible? I certainly would have thought you were insane if you suggested such a thing to me, but check this out!

Crystal and her family have managed to live like no one else for the past 7+ years, and now they will truly be able to live like no one else. Read Part 1 of their story here.I can't wait to hear the rest of the story!

Guidelines for Setting Goals.

2009-12-30T09:09:00.005-05:00

There are a lot of experts that give guidelines for setting goals. Before setting our 2010 Financial Goals, I decided to read this article on Dave's site. He says there are 5 important steps to developing goals that work. Goals should be

* Specific
* Measurable
* Yours
* Time-sensitive
* Written

I'll admit, I'm not always very good at meeting those criteria when setting goals. When I do, though, I find that I'm extremely effective. I'm getting pretty good at writing our goals. I really need that accountability to make it work. I often fall short of the specific aspect. I make general statements like, "I'd like to do better at..." or "I'd like to increase/decrease... " With all this in mind, I've decided to delay my post on my 2010 goals until I can meet all 5 criteria for each goal. I love a good challenge!

2009 Review

2009-12-26T22:24:00.004-05:00

2009 Goals:

Accountability - Track savings, as well as spending: It wasn't long in to the year before I lost sight of this one. I never missed a penny in tracking our expenses, but I gave up on tracking our savings. A lot of that was because I switched to Wal-mart for a lot of my shopping. They don't show savings or original prices and it got overwhelming to try to figure out. Don't be surprised if this resurfaces in 2010.

Check it twice - Expand categories for better tracking: Again, I started off strong with this one and then lost track. I could blame it on my work load or crazy house, but it was just pure laziness.

Putting a price on it - Create a price book: Wow, I'm 0 for 3 so far! I have a lot of the things in my head, but I really need to try harder to get some of that on paper.

Refi and Refocus - Refinance the house: DONE! See more HERE!

Attack Debt - Reduce school loan by 50% by the end of the year: We blew this one out of the water!!! WE'RE DEBT FREE!!!

Cash for Glass - finish replacing windows and pay cash: DONE! I'm not 100% sold that it's saving us the claimed 44% on energy costs, but the job is done. The only thing we have left is to replace the sliding door, which wasn't on the schedule for this year.

Give Back - Save for holiday gratuities and give back to the community: We did pretty well with this one. I didn't save $5 per month, but I did give some sort of gratuity to our mail man and paper man. We've also done a lot of 'giving back' in the past few months and have really enjoyed it. It's an amazing feeling.

Real it in - Stop buying stuff just because it's a good deal: I've done pretty well with this one. We no longer have 10 tubes of toothpaste in our hall closet. Tim is happy about this!!!

Use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without - reuse and repurpose more: I've made the switch to reusable bags and have tried recycling more, but don't feel I've done as well as I could have on this one.

2009 Financial Goals

2009-12-26T22:08:00.002-05:00

As 2009 comes to a close, we will soon be revisiting our progress over the past year. I decided to post the link to our 2009 Financial Goals to help refresh our memory.

Stay tuned for the review and see what we are shooting for in 2010.

Being a Motivated Mom

2009-12-26T09:45:00.003-05:00

As many of you know, I LOVE my lists. And, to my great surprise, I just found out that Tim likes them too. He likes them because he's task oriented. I like them because I feel productive when I see things checked off. It also helps keep me focused. Whether I was overwhelmed with work or searching for order while not working, there is some thing about having a list that makes it easier to get through the day.

A few years ago, I subscribed to Motivated Moms. At the time I didn't have any children or focus. Things have changed a lot since then. Not only am I more in need than ever, the Motivated Moms team has continued to make improvements to the products they offer. One of the things I like is that there is an option that includes a daily bible reading. They also offer several different formats. My new favorite is the half-page one day layout that leaves room for entering your own appointments. I have a daily planner that I will be reusing with these pages. I can't wait!

Like many things, I may not do all the things on the list. It's a start though. I also like that it includes seasonal type things - like changing your furnace filter - and stuff like that. The full year planner is only $8 and you can use paypal, which is a nice feature. Click here to visit Motivated Moms.

Getting back on track...

2009-12-25T17:38:00.004-05:00

No, we haven't fallen off the financial wagon. We're still debt free (except for the house), but the busy month has left me little time to blog. And, truthfully, I haven't felt very inspired much lately either. I know I have a vast list of things I want to write about, but just haven't felt much like doing it. One of my new years resolutions is definitely going to be getting back on track with this site. I always feel a lot better when I write. I enjoy it and it's one of the few things I do just for me.

I started with a new look. I'm still not blog-savvy enough to make this a fancy site, but I figured a new look couldn't hurt. I might actually set some (secret) schedules of regular posts - things I'd like to be sure to include each month - so that I stay focused. I tend to do better with specific goals and deadlines. We'll see how it all works out. The biggest thing that will determine my ability to write more will be what kind of routine I'm able to get in to now that I'm not working. The past couple months have been a bit of an adjustment. It's been a good adjustment, though. I hope it will mean more to come.

This says it all!!!

2009-12-06T18:23:00.003-05:00

I absolutely LOVE this video. Please take a couple minutes to watch it and think about what's important in your life this season.

WATCH THIS!!!

Changing Focus: Giving Back

2009-12-06T11:46:00.003-05:00

In a recent post, I talked about staying motivated. One of the things I have realized about the power of being debt free is the freedom it gives you to change the focus of your life. If you truly follow Dave's teaching and get gazelle intense about paying off debt, you really have to get honest with yourself about what is important and what is not critical. Once you get used to living with less, you realize how pointless a lot of that stuff is. You also realize how well you really have it.

That is one of the things that has stood out the most to me through this whole process. My desire to give back to the community and help the less fortunate has really resurfaced. While we were paying down debt, we didn't really have (or make) money to do things like giving to charities. I know Dave says you should tithe first and not even count that as your income, but we've never done that. I never really grew up in that pure tithing mentality and had a hard time coming to grips with all of that when we had so much we needed/wanted to do in our own household.

I'm proud to say, now that we are debt free, we are revisiting the topic. We've both prayed about it a lot over the past several months and strongly feel the need to give back. We've revised our budget to contribute more to church next year. We also are participating in a lot of other charitable efforts. This means we'll have to continue to watch our pennies, coupon, put off a lot of "wants" and focus on our needs. And I can easily say that it will be worth every effort.

So, where do we give? Here are some of the things we've been doing this year:

* St. Jude Partner in Hope - This is a simple $20 donation every month. I believe strongly in the efforts of St. Jude and hope to continue to increase our support in the years to come.
* School Supplies - Our church partners with a local inner-city school. I put all those great back-to-school specials to good use and donated a lot of supplies to the effort. In the end, they were able to pack several back packs full of supplies for kids who can't normally afford them.
* Thanksgiving Dinner - Our church provided a shopping list that would provide every thing a family would need for Thanksgiving (minus the turkey). At first I was nervous about buying an ENTIRE list, but was surprised to find out it only cost us about $25-$30 to purchase every thing. I could have done it even cheaper if I had planned better and used more coupons. It was humbling to me to realize that the old me would have shied away from such a long list... and a family would have had to go without because I wasn't willing to sacrifice $30 and a little of my time.
* Tree of Love - Again, our church partnered with the local elementary school and families that come to their food pantry to develop a list of needy children. We chose 2 tags from the tree - a 3 year old boy and 4 month old boy. I used some of the recent coupons to get each of them a nice toy and a pair of pajamas. Troy helped me pick them out (hopefully the message will sink in to him). I was amazed this morning to see the HUGE pile of presents under the tree and touched to know that we're helping to make Christmas brighter for children in need.
* Donations - I used to give my stuff to Goodwill when we didn't sell it in a garage sale or I didn't feel like dealing with it. Just recently I've changed my giving efforts to take any clothing or children's items to the local Woman's shelter. There are a lot of struggling mom's out there that can't even afford the inexpensive Goodwill prices. Hopefully our donations can give them a couple more outfits for their little angels so they have one less thing to worry about.
* Salvation Army - I'm proud to say that Troy LOVES to give to the people ringing the bell for Salvation Army. I carry a zip-lock bag full of coins from his "DONATE" portion of his piggy bank. Again, I hope some of it is really sinking in.

This is just a small list of things we try to do to show our appreciation for what God has given us. Next year I plan on focusing on finding new ways to give back - financially and through volunteering.

Share your favorite charity. I'm always eager to find new organizations!

Amazing Deal of the Day: JC Penney

2009-12-06T08:20:00.005-05:00

I was on the JCPenney website this morning looking for some thing else and stumbled across this amazing deal. We are one of those rare families that doesn't actually own a Wii. We decided it wasn't a "need" at all and that we could delay the temptation until next year, but when I saw this deal I couldn't resist. I figured for $8.99, it would be a good way for us to get our fix until we decide to invest in a real system.

I ended up picking up 2 extras for other small gifts. Again, for $8.99 you really can't go wrong. In all, I got one for us and 2 as gifts along with another small item on sale for a total savings of $264.01! Now that I saw this amazing Daily Deal, I am going to have to make an effort to visit the Daily Deal a little more regularly!!!

Note: Limited Quantities Available, so the deal may go quickly.

Secrets Revealed...

2009-11-29T22:16:00.002-05:00

We all know about this all-powerful "judge & jurry" system out there called FICO, but until just recently we had little idea at what the rationale was for the punishments that were distributed. We're not idiots. We know that late payments hurt your credit, but how do they actually come to the number that banks rely on so heavilty when deciding your rates.

This past Thursday, the "damage points" data was revieled. It's a very broad and vague description, but I found it quite interesting so I thought I would share. You can read the full article here. What I find interesting is that you take a bigger hit for late payments if you have good credit than you would if your credit was just average. Every one makes mistakes some times. It seems wrong to hold people who have good credit to a higher standard as if it's just expected from "average" people and some how less offensive.

None of this will matter when we're completely debt free and no longer rely on the all-powerful FICO. After all, your credit score doesn't matter much when you pay in cash. In the mean time, however, it makes for some interesting reading.

Want a good Christmas Gift Idea?

2009-11-20T14:13:00.002-05:00

The Dave Ramsey Website is having a great $10 Thankgsiving Sale. I think I might be changing some of my Christmas gift ideas.

Check out these deals!

You can get some of the best products for up to 60% off. Do you know any one that would benefit from a little positive guidance?! This is a perfect time of year to share.

Staying motivated

2009-11-20T08:13:00.003-05:00

Kara asked me how we stay motivated now that we're debt free. I'll confess. This has been a little bit of a challenge for me. The first month after we were debt free we lightened up a lot and celebrated a little - mostly by going out to a couple nice dinners. Then we got focused again, determined to have our fully funded emergency fund before the end of the year. Once we hit that milestone in September, we sort of lightened up a little again. We didn't stay as gazelle intense as we had in the past, but we didn't just "blow" our money either.

As we were going through the process of becoming debt free and building our emergency fund, Tim and I talked about some of the things we have wanted for a while and put on hold. We decided that we would allow us to buy a couple of our wants as rewards for our hard work. We each moved an item from our wish list to the top of the list we keep for our "extra" income (i.e. my income and Tim's bonuses). We budgeted for a new camera and t.v. Along the way we had 2 other wants come up, but luckily we had some wiggle room in our budget to accommodate them - stove (because ours went out) and home gym (because it was cheaper than us both joining the gym).

So far, we've been able to get 3 of the 4 items. I ended up finding the camera I wanted on e-bay for half the cost of buying it new. Tim found the home gym on Craig's List for a fraction of the cost of buying it new. We also splurged on a new stove and got the type that is a double oven built in to the standard range size. While those can cost up to $1500, we shopped around and found one for about $750. All in all, we've been very pleased and have gotten good deals by shopping around and paying cash. Our last item is the t.v. We're taking our time to figure out what we really want and will be taking advantage of the holiday sales.

So... as you can see, our spending has gone up recently. Even though we've splurged a lot, I wouldn't really say we've lost focus or motivation. We still track every penny. We still shop around for the best deals. We still plan for every thing (including our splurges). Each step along the way, I think we find a new motivation. When we were on Baby Steps #2 it was becoming Debt Free. When we hit that milestone, it was getting our fully funded emergency fund. Now that our rewards are done, we're pushing ourselves in new ways. I'll be writing more in another post about our 2010 goals, but in general it includes investing, planning ahead, and giving back. All the things Dave encourages with Baby Steps #4, #5, and #7.

I think the best way to stay motivated is to continually adjust your goals and redifine your focus. One of the reasons the Baby Steps worked for us is because they were attainable, measurable goals. As we check off each step, it's empowering and really helps you build momentum toward your next goal. It's a fluid plan that changes as your life changes... it grows as you grow.

Oh, and by the way... I think it's okay to reward yourself along the way, too, as long as you plan for it. Maybe that's me justifying things, but as long as it doesn't distract us or keep us from our bigger goals than I'm okay with it.

Financial Check-up: October

2009-11-17T15:08:00.002-05:00

Delayed as always, but here it is.

Goals for October:
* Keep grocery budget to $500! (This seems like it will be an on-going challenge)- I didn't make it under $500, but I'm getting closer. Last month was $519.75. This is the first time I've been below $550 in ages. While this is still an on-going challenge for me, I know it's not realistic with holiday cooking so I'll probably put it on hold until the new year.
* Review insurance records so I can catch up on all medical/dental payments and plan remaining treatments for the year. - DONE!
* Start Baby Step #4 and determine our plan of attack! - Tim has had numerous conversations with our financial advisor. We have our investments in order. He also restarted his 401(k). We're contributing up to the match and plan on investing the rest in a ROTH IRA. I'm not comfortable cutting 11% off our pre-tax income each month, so Tim and I have developed formulas we're comfortable with. Instead of over burdening our monthly budget, what we've decided to do is keep it lean and contribute what we can monthly but to put the majority of the emphasis on Tim's bonuses.

Goals for November:
* Cash in rewards points to start Christmas Shopping
* Create Christmas budget and STICK TO IT!
* Get back to blogging. Writing is my inspiration. I need a lot of that during the holiday season.

Family Fun for only $4.95

2009-11-17T15:02:00.002-05:00

I'm not a big magazine person, but one of the ones that I love is Family Fun Magazine. I always find good ideas in each issue. Last night I was able to subscribe to a full year for a third of the renewel price that just came in the mail for me.

Family Fun magazine is listed for $9.95 on Amazon, but there is an added promotion right now. At check out, it will take off an additional $5. That makes the full year's subscription less than $0.42 per month. Definitely well worth it! I'm not sure how long the promotion is good for, so I snagged the deal while I could.

Lessons Learned: Selling your house

2009-10-28T14:15:00.015-04:00

I'm not a Real Estate expert, but I've successfully sold and purchased 3 homes in the past 5 years. (See this post) That's probably why Kara asked me what tips I have for the whole process. I've decided this is a good post to get me back on track with my writing because I have a lot to say about the topic. I wrote a post a while back about our home buying and selling journey. With the exception of the purchase of the first home, it's been a huge success. Both homes have sold quickly (in less than 6 weeks) and for a decent profit. Our current home has gained a significant amount of equity in the past 3 years, despite the downturn in the market. So, here are some of my favorite tips and tricks to successful playing the real estate game. I'll start with tips for selling:

1. Start Early: I'm not a very patient person, so I've had to learn this the hard way. I'll spare you the headache and warn you upfront... EVERY THING takes twice as long as you are expecting. Prepare yourself for that now. When we sold our first house I thought it would be simple. You find an agent, they list it, you have an open house and the fun begins. Unfortunately it's not that simple. It took several weeks for us to get from the point where we selected the agent to the time of our open house. The delay in time wasn't because we were doing things to get the house ready. It just took that long to get the house in the system, get them to list it on the internet, get the open house advertised and then actually host the open house.

I'd recommend interviewing agents at least a month or so before you think you'd be hosting your first open house. If you have to do a lot of things to your house to get it ready for an open house, you should start even earlier. If you are even considering selling your house in the next year or two... start getting in shape for an open house now. Even if you don't take that step to sell, at least you've improved your home and crossed a few things off your to-do list. Which, brings me to the next tip....

2. Make a List: Whether it's questions you want to ask your agent or things you need to do to get ready, write it down. There will be 1001 things you'll be trying to accomplish during this time and some thing always gets over looked. I often woke up in the middle of the night with a question. Instead of calling your agent 10 times a day, write all your questions down and make the most of your conversations. It'll save you the headache of forgetting things and save time too. Trust me, you'd rather have your agent working on the search or marketing your home than sitting on the phone with you. A good place to keep your list is right on your fridge. That way it's always handy and in sight.

3. Choose Your Agent Carefully: There are a lot of people out there that think they can sell or buy a house on their own without an agent. It's true. You can. One of my neighbors successfully used a company that charged a nominal fee and then they essentially did For Sale By Owner. I, on the other hand, have been very grateful for my agents. If you pick the right agent, they will be worth every penny of the commission.

Having a good agent for the sale of your house is critical. You need some one who will be aggressive, some one who knows the area, and some one you trust to keep your best interest in mind. Your agent works for you. Interview them like you would any other employee. Find out what they plan to do to market your house, how many listings they currently have (you don't want some one over stretched), how they can ensure that you receive the same attention as houses listed in much higher sales brackets, etc. You should be a priority to your agent. I'm not saying they should devote every hour to you, but they should be available and you should FEEL like they are willing to donate every hour to you. Take the time to check references. Look at their current listings - are the descriptions and photos on those sites attractive?

Not sure where to find a "high octane" realtor? Check out Dave's list of Endorsed Local Providers in your area.

4. Take Good Pictures: They say pictures are worth a thousand words. This is especially true in today's society. I don't know the actually statistics, but I would say the vast majority of people shop on-line before they ever go visit a house. If you can't get them to come to your house, you can't sell it so making a good first impression on-line is essential. If the pictures don't capture the strengths of your house, people may look right past it. Encourage your agent to take more than 2-4 photos. Most sites will allow 6-12. I am a firm believer in more is more when it comes to photos... if they are good photos. Take pictures of the areas of the house that people care the most about - kitchen, family room, back yard, etc. Obviously you want to high light the positives in your house. If you don't like your agents photos, don't be afraid to ask them to use some you have. This is especially true if you list your house in the cooler months of the year. Take a picture of your house when every think is in bloom (if possible), even if you don't plan on listing your house for several months and don't have an agent yet. It's better to be prepared.

5. Let Your Agent Work for You: Don't forget that your agent works for you. The more they do for you, the faster the house sells, the faster they get paid. The agent we had when we sold our last house was TOP NOTCH! I would recommend her to any one. Not only did she come in and help me stage my house, but she was even willing to change the cat box when we were out of town before a showing. She was pretty out going and out spoken, so a lot of her help was offered, but she told me that it's not out of line to ask for the help. Not that most agents would be willing to clean out your cat box, but they should be able to give you advice in staging your house. Just be prepared to take their advice once you've asked for it. Her suggestions on furniture arrangement were not what I would choose for daily living, but I figured she knows best. It's a short term sacrifice (hopefully) in order to get your house sold.

6. Depersonalize: This is some thing that you here often. When staging your home for open houses and showings, it's important to depersonalize the space. Limit the number of family photos, pack away knick-knacks, try to make the house as neutral as possible. As important as it is for the buyer to be able to see themselves in your home, it's equally as important for the seller to stop thinking it of it as their home. Home is where the heart is, and this is just a house you are selling. Let go of the personal attachments. An over personalized house can not only make it hard to sell, but it can cloud your judgement in list prices and contract negotiations. People aren't buying your memories.

7. Downsize and Declutter: This is one I'm sure you've heard before. Prior to listing your house, go through with your 3 bags or boxes - toss, donate, pack. Any thing that is non-essential can get packed away. If you have a lot of extra furniture and items that you want to take with you to your next house, see if you can store them with family or friends. Or, if you aren't lucky enough to have that option, consider renting a storage space for a few months. The price of a home is based on the square footage. You want yours to feel as big as possible while people are walking through. Less really is more!

8. Think Outside the Box: This is probably not the best time to be selling a house. Not only are you competing with a much larger pool of homes, but you also have to stay competitive with foreclosures. I'm sure this will change soon, but in the mean time it's important to think outside the box. Just recently Dave answered a question on his show about realtor incentives. Right about the same time, my neighbor mentioned that he added one to his house. He put a note in the confidential section (only visible to agents) of the MLS that he would pay a $2000 bonus to the agent when sold. His house has been on the market for quite some time and had sort of gone stale. He got 3 calls within 24 hours and had 2 showings. They don't have a contract yet, but now the buyer's agent has a little more incentive to try to sell the value of the house to their client.

Also, be sure you listen to your feedback from showings. They repeatedly have heard that they don't have enough storage. I've talked to them a lot and convinced them to pack a lot of stuff away at their parent's house. He's also added a note that the seller is willing to install a pull-down stair to the attack. This will make a whole other section of storage easily accessible and attractive to buyers. The large attic over the garage is now an asset to the property.

9. Be realistic: While our house may be very valuable to us, at the end of the day... it's just a house. Be sure you know the comps in the area. Go look at houses in your area that match your criteria (# of bedrooms, baths, etc) and in your potential price range. Make sure your house is realistically priced to start with. We'd all like to make money on the sale of our homes, but if you price your house too high to start with you'll eliminate potential buyers and just hurt yourself in the long run. If you have to keep reducing your price over time it will just make your house look weak and you seem desperate.

10. Take it for a trial run: If you aren't sure you're making the right choices with staging or pricing, give your house a trial run. Find a friend (or maybe even a coworker) that will be perfectly honest and ask them to walk through as a potential buyer. Search the internet to see how it looks on the internet and how it shapes up against your competition. Then, let them walk through your house and give you feed back. Tell them to be picky. Your buyers will be, so the more honest they can be now the better prepared you will be when you have showings. Remember people will probably look in your closets and drawers, so don't leave any thing out that is valuable or you may not want them to see.

2009-10-27T15:13:00.002-04:00

I've noticed a real lack of motivation when it comes to blogging lately. I'm not sure if it's because I'm distracted by other life issues, or if I just don't have as much to write about now that we're debt free, or if I'm just lazy. I often think of things I could write about, but for some reason or another I just never take that next step.

I'm using this post as a chance to make a couple notes and ask for your help. Here are some questions that have been posed to me or I'm asking myself...

* Now that you're debt free, is it easier?
* How has being debt free changed you/your life?
* How do you best move forward with the next steps?
* What made you decide to be a SAHM?
* What are you going to do now that you are home?
* How do you manage your 'sinking funds'?

I'd love to hear from you. Has there been any thing you've wondered when reading my blog or working on your journey to Financial Peace? Are there topics you would like to hear my thoughts on? Give me some ideas.... maybe it will help me find inspiration.

Financial Check-up: September

2009-10-05T20:02:00.002-04:00

I really need the accountability of this blog to stay on track, so expect to see this on a regular basis now. Here's my check-up on how things went in September:

Goals for September:
* Finish fully-funded emergency fund (about 4 months worth of expenses for us) - DONE! We had picked a nice round number that could easily take us through 3-4 months of expenses in the case of an emergency. Thanks to a quarterly bonus and a payment from my customer this month. We're there. On to Baby Step #4 - Investing.
* Keep grocery budget to $500 - No where close. I actually thought I was doing really well and so I stocked up on a few things - cereal, diapers, etc - and then discovered I had overlooked an entry. That mistake and a few other items put me at about $625. UGH! I pledge to do better next time.
* Figure out our investment so we can start the next baby step - Mostly done. We plan on meeting with our financial advisor this weekend to go over several aspects of investing. What we did do was take a lot of time talking to each other (Tim and I) about what we are comfortable with and where we want to be in 5-10-15 years. We have a basic strategy that I'll share once we get all our questions answered this weekend.

Goals for October:
* Keep grocery budget to $500! (This seems like it will be an on-going challenge)
* Review insurance records so I can catch up on all medical/dental payments and plan remaining treatments for the year.
* Start Baby Step #4 and determine our plan of attack!

Share with me... how do you keep your insurance and medical records straight? Does any one else use an HSA? Do you think it's worth it? We have to re-elect in November and I'm trying to decide if we should continue with the HSA or go back to our previous policy. TIA!!!

Breaking the Silence

2009-10-05T17:42:00.002-04:00

The recent silence is not because there hasn't been much to write about. Quite the contrary. There has been so much going on that I've sort of felt too overwhelmed to even write about it. Those who know me well would tell you that it's a very rare occasion that would leave me speechless, but it's true. I'll try to give you a quick wrap up with the various aspects of my life over the past couple months. Once we catch up, I'll be off and writing again (I'm sure).

The little ones: At Addison's 12 month well-visit, her doctor and I decided it was time to have a developmental evaluation done for Addison. Since she learned her odd little scoot at 10 months... she had stopped putting weight on her legs. She simply would not stand up. We have a great public program that works with children under three. They came out and did an in-home evaluation. Her fine motor skills were off the charts, but she was definitely delayed in her gross motor skills. It took a while before we got things moving, but she's been receiving weekly physical therapy since the first week in July. The first couple months were absolutely exhausting - physically for her, emotionally for me. In August we finally switched to a therapist that was a better fit for us. Since then she has been making amazing progress. It's like some thing switched on in her brain. It's still been exhausting. Each week I've had to rush to pick her up early from day care so she could scarf down some lunch before therapy. I didn't realize how tiresome that routine was until I had a week without therapy. Now I'm anxiously awaiting the end to the physical part, so my mind can rest a little too. I'm so proud of her progress and appreciate the help. Now I think it's time to step back and let her finish growing on her own.

Health: My long work hours and all the other emotional insanity in my life have really taken a toll on my health. I haven't been feeling well for quite some time. It was really the pushing of my loving husband that made me finally admit that. I hate, hate, hate taking pills... and yet I've been popping Excedrin migraine medicine like it's candy lately. I don't know if it's sinus, migraines, stress, what ever but the daily headaches have been more than I can handle. I'm taking the first step to figuring things out by finally going to the doctor tomorrow. I'm really hoping we find some answers quickly. I'm worn out all the time and often can barely open my eyes because of the piercing pain from the light. It'll be nice to be able to enjoy my life again.

Money: This is a definitely bright spot in our house right now. I'm proud to stay we're starting Baby Step #4!!! We have saved enough money to cover 3-4 months worth of expenses. Tim was thrilled to start investing again. I'll post soon on how we're making that work for us, but I'm so glad we've been able to continue moving a head on the Dave Ramsey Plan.

Work: This is probably the biggest reason I haven't written in so long. When we first started the Dave Ramsey plan it was to prove that I could be a stay at home mom and start preparing for that change. After Addison was born I was planning on staying home, but received a persuasive call from my client and decided to extend my work from home business. The plan was to cover a limited market and just work during the couple days Troy was in daycare and in the evenings as needed. For a while, I would have a couple hectic weeks of what seemed like endless hours followed by a break of a couple weeks with no work at all. Lately, though, that hasn't been the case. I've barely had a few days off in between cycles. My planned 4-6 locations a month had grown in to 10-15 with almost non-stop work. When I wasn't working until 11p.m., I was so worn out that I couldn't do much of any thing productive. It's been a mess. On a more positive note, it's helped us reach our financial goals a lot faster and is a big part of the reason we're heading to Disney this December.

A few weeks ago the primary project manager called and asked if I could re-evaluate my rates. Their client had asked them to make cuts and they wanted to know what I could do to help that. Tim and I talked a lot and I offered to cut my rates by 15%. I know they were hoping for more, but that's really all I was comfortable doing at this point. I went a couple weeks without hearing any thing back. During that time, Tim and I talked more and more. Ultimately... I finally decided to call and tell them that I was done. It was time for me to wrap things up and call it quits. I'm still not 100% finished. I have several locations to wrap up, but I'm glad I finally made the decision. I have a whole other post brewing in my head on that topic... so stayed tuned... there will be more writing soon, I promise!

Financial Check-up: August

2009-09-17T12:21:00.002-04:00

It's been a long time since I've posted. There's more going on than I can get my arms around right now, but I'm definitely past due on my Financial Check-up (as inspired by Money Saving Mom!).

At the beginning of the month I set 3 goals. So, how did we do...

Goals for August:
* Pay cash for new windows - Done! We finished the house by having windows on our front facade installed at the beginning of this month. We paid for all 5 windows in cash. With the exception of a decorative window in the stairwell, that finishes the new windows for the house. I'm looking forward to a winter without gaps (and views) to the outdoors.
* Keep grocery budget below $500 (ultimate goal of $400, but trying to keep it realistic) - Close! So close! Grand total - $525.35. In reality, we actually met the goal. Part of that was food I ended up swapping with my mom for a $40 scale.
* Set up plan for on-going savings/spending - Done! Tim and I created a wish list for when we have our fully funded emergency fund in place. We wrote out all the things we want - from a new t.v. to home remodeling projects (and even a trip to Disney). Then we put dollar amounts and dates we hope to reach the goal. This is sort of like the plan Dave uses for variable income. As we get the money we'll start crossing things off our list.

Goals for September:
* Finish fully-funded emergency fund (about 4 months worth of expenses for us).
* Keep grocery budget to $500
* Figure out our investment so we can start the next baby step.

Remembering

2009-09-11T12:37:00.002-04:00

I was working for the City of South Bend. Just after the first plane hit the towers, I was called in to the lounge. We had a tiny little t.v. playing in the break room. My office was right by the lounge so I was in there almost instantly, but it wasn't long before our whole office was crammed in this tiny space. The news casters were trying to figure out what went wrong with the flight and how they could go so far off course. We were all holding out hope that it was a freak accident until the second plane hit. I still remember the room full of horrified gasps as we all watched that second plane hit and suddenly realized this wasn't an accident. The horror continued as we watched the chaos and then the unforgettable moment when the first tower fell. It was like being punched in the gut.

No one knew what to do next. I had a meeting scheduled at a neighborhood center for 10:30. It was a long drive (although only a few miles away) as I listened to the radio. Luckily the center had a t.v. The one person who showed up sat there with me as I watched all the coverage. I remember feeling terrified at the realization that life had changed forever. I couldn't reach any one via cell phone. I tried desperately to call my parents to tell them that I love them. We had no clue what would happen next and I felt so alone.

That afternoon the 12-story County-City Building closed. We were in a small building across the street, so our office didn't close. Instead, the Mayor and department heads from the other building all moved and took up temporary home in our office. A coworker and I decided to get out for a minute to get a snack. We walked a couple blocks down town to our normal coffee hang out. Every thing was closed. The streets were empty. Signs in the windows said, "Closed to spend time with our families." It was like a deserted town. The uneasy feeling just grew and grew.

The years have passed. Some of those memories have faded, but we have not forgotten. I remember thinking how great it was that our country came together. There was red, white, and blue every where. It actually saddens me that the united front of our country faded so quickly. I wish people showed their pride all year long. I guess the best place to start is at my own house. Time to buy a new bracket for the flag and give it its rightful place on the front of our house. I hope every one else would do the same - not just on 9/11 or the 4th of July, but every day the sun shines.

Living like no one else: Salvation Army

2009-09-05T16:22:00.004-04:00

If you didn't take advantage of the sale today, don't miss out on the $1 Sale that continues Monday at your local Salvation Army.Every holiday weekend they sell all their clothes (excluding coats) for $1 each. Over the 4th of July I picked up several tops. This time I wasn't looking for much and ended up finding fabulous stuff. I found the following:

* 3-piece Worthington Suit (skirt, pant, jacket) in black
* 3-piece Casual Corner Suit (pants, vest, jacket) in tan
* 2-piece teddi skirt with matching jacket
* Black silk pants from Talbots
* 3 dress tops (short sleeved and shell style)

The grand total was $7.49!!! The suits are in excellent condition. The Worthington one is a petite, but the other will have to be hemmed. I really needed some nicer outfits for church and other occasions, so I'm really excited about my finds.

The "Dave" moment came about halfway through my hunt. There was a small group of ND students who were hunting for gag outfits and laughing hysterically at what they were finding. It was one of those moments where the old me would have been embarrassed. All I could think was, "Go ahead. Laugh. You (or probably their parents, actually) are probably going in to some serious debt for you to go to an over priced university and I'm debt free. Laugh away!" By the time those kids pay off their education, I'll be retired and sitting on a beach some place. I'll gladly live like no one else (today) so I can live like no one else (tomorrow).

Perspective

2009-08-26T21:05:00.002-04:00

It's been pretty quiet around here. I haven't been doing much bargain shopping and it's just a little too early to report on our end-of-the-month status. I've had a lot of other ideas in my head, but have been too distracted by facebook games to actually put any thing on paper. This week, however, I got a friendly reminder of how blessed we are and finally feel inspired to write.

My Mom called me on Monday afternoon. She's a teacher and they started back to work this week. She had just returned from lunch with a former assistant. I knew this family had been having a lot of trouble. They had recently been evicted because they could no longer afford their rent. They both have a lot of health issues and her husband has been on disability for a little while. Since she's an assistant, she's gone all summer without a paycheck and his was just recently cut in half. They make just enough that they don't qualify for much assistance, but not enough to make it very well on their own. It'll be a couple weeks until she gets her first paycheck for the school year and he doesn't get paid until next week. The problem (other than the obvious)... they don't have any food left in the house to get them through the next week.

Now, they will be the first to admit that they have made a lot of mistakes. I know they have declared bankruptcy at least once. But, they have also had a really hard string of bad luck with horrible battles with insurance companies and unexpected health issues. She's also a very caring and considerate person. It wasn't long ago that she scraped together enough money to buy Troy a bug kit because she knew he was fascinated with them. So, I wanted to do some thing to help.

It was short notice, so I couldn't run to the store and pick up some staples. What I did do, however, was shop in my own pantry. I was getting ready to sort through things for our church food pantry, but this was even better because I knew exactly where it was going and there were less limitations. I pulled a lot of things that don't really "fit" with our new efforts at losing weight, some extras we have in the freezer, and some of the free school supplies I've been stocking up on (they have a son in high school). In all, I found about 2-3 bags full of groceries that we really didn't need.

It's really created a lot of mixed feelings for me. I've been beating myself up because our grocery budget is usually so high and we have so much wasted food, but maybe having extra food (to share with others) isn't a horrible thing. Maybe I need to start using some of the smart shopping tips out there to stock up on some things that we'd normally pass up. We don't eat hamburger helper, but if we can get it cheap we can always make room in the budget and help some one who would probably be thrilled to have it. Another part of me thinks we need to cut back even more because we can obviously eat on a lot less than we are right now. Hmmm. I don't know. I'm just not sure what direction my head is going in at this point. What I do know is that we are blessed and I want to do more to share those blessings.

Driving a Clunker: Our Version

2009-08-19T13:45:00.002-04:00

One of Dave's catch phrases is, "Live like no one else, so later you can live like no one else." In his counseling he often tells people that means getting rid of their nice shiny (read: expensive) car and replacing it with a fully paid for clunker. We've been pretty lucky in that Tim has always shopped smart when it comes to cars. When he bought our current car, he was able to combine a good trade in with a great deal. This allowed us to pay off our car loan well ahead of its term so we own in free and clear now. It's a 2002 Nissan Maxima and I absolutely love it.

No, our car is not the clunker in our family. Our clunker is our couch! Yes, our couch. We actually have a living room set - reclining couch and arm chair - that we bought shortly after we got married. We did every did every thing wrong. We bought with our emotions (I fell in love with the chair and HAD to have it), we financed it (no interest for a year), and now it sits in the other room hardly used by any one other than the cat. The carpet in the family room is blue and I can't bring myself to put our green couch in here. I didn't pick out the color of the carpet, but we're not going to replace it right now. We have 2 young kids with lots of spills. It's not really conducive to new carpet or a nice couch.

When we still lived in Illinois, our neighbor tossed a couch. I saw it in the trash and asked if I could take it. We got it for free, but paid $150 to have it professionally cleaned. Still not a bad deal for a nice over sized couch, chair, and ottoman. After a couple years our toddler took it's toll on the couch - lots of coloring marks, stains, and tears. Last fall I bought slip covers on sale and was content with that for a while. But, after almost a year of sliding cushions and getting poked in the back with the PVC we tried using to keep the slip cover on... Tim and I both flipped.

We decided it was time to trade in our clunker couch for another couch. We didn't go out and buy a new one though. We just upgraded to a little better clunker. We found a LazyBoy sectional on Craig's list. We paid $240, but it was easily a $2500 couch when new. Both ends recline, it'll hide dirt really well, and actually matches our blue carpet. We're still working on getting the pet/smoke smell out, but we already love the upgrade. It's a lot more comfortable and actually makes our room look bigger.

It's actually been a very interesting process too. Tim said he battled a lot of the old feelings of "keeping up with the Jones's" when he went to go buy/pick it up. It's going to sound rude, but the people we bought it from were not exactly well off. Tim said I probably wouldn't have gone through with the purchase if I had seen the house. Kind of scary. For him, though, it brought up a little resentment... we probably we make quite a bit more than they do and they're getting a new couch while we get their junk. Even after two years of Dave beating the jealousy out of us, it still creeps back up every one in a while. Honestly, though, it's the best decision we could make. The kids will still put a lot of wear and tear on the couch over the next couple years so there is no point in buying some thing new. We just need to "drive" this clunker for a couple years to get us by.

Over sized Chair (pre-toddler and pre-slip cover):

Slip-covered couch (original clunker):

"New" Couch (upgraded clunker):

What do you think? Any ideas to banish old smells? Do you have a "clunker" story you want to share? I'd love to hear it!!!

Financial Check-up: July

2009-08-19T06:57:00.003-04:00

I've never participated in one of these before, but I think it's time. Accountability is key and I think this will be a good habit to keep me on track. Money Saving Mom does a monthly Financial Check-up. I'm going to start keeping track and tagging up.

July recap: So, what do you do once you pay off your debt. That's what we were faced with in July. After working so hard and paying off our last loan in June, we got a little lazy and did some "celebrating". The result was a high food and blow fund budget line in July. Not some thing we're too proud of. To our credit, though, we also put away $1,850 toward our emergency fund. That's no small chunk of change so I need to give myself a little break

Goals for August:
* Pay cash for new windows
* Keep grocery budget below $500 (ultimate goal of $400, but trying to keep it realistic)
* Set up plan for on-going savings/spending

Stay tuned for my next post... "Driving a clunker: Our Version"

Back at it!

2009-08-09T21:08:00.002-04:00

There's been a lot going on here (and lots to write). I'm hoping to have my computer back for longer than a day this time so I can actually get some of the ramblings out of my head and in to the virtual world. For now, I have to share my first planned shopping trip in a long time. During the past few days I've unburied my coupon folder from the trunk, tossed the mound of expired coupons, and filed all my random clippings. For the first time in a long time, I sat down and did my planning myself. I've gotten so caught up in finding the summary of the best deals on line, that I stopped doing what worked well for me (and missing or misbuying a lot in the mean time).

Today was a trip to Meijer. Here's the summary:
E-mealz/meal planning for the week: $28.53
Other grocery items: $41.93
TOTAL GROCERY BUDGET: $70.46

I also picked up some deals on clothing items we needed getting a new pair of tennis shoes for me, insoles for Tim and I (we both have feet issues), socks for Troy, socks for me, and t-shirts for Tim for a total of $46.61

Between my coupons ($22.39), promotions, and sales... I saved $100.27!!!!

Here are a few of the deals I took advantage of:
*Purina Cat Chow - $6.16 - $5 meijer coupon - $3.50 printed coupon = Free + $2.34 overage (a while back some one gave me this deal. I REALLY wish I could find the link again. If you know the link, please share)
*Tyson Boneless Chicken - On sale for $2.19/lb, bought 1.5 pounds - $1 coupon = $1.49/lb.
* Frosted Mini-wheats and Raisin Bran - Regularly $2.99 & $3.39, on sale for $1.88ea. - $1.50/2 = $1.13 each
* Meijer Past - Regularly $1.16, on sale for $.67 each.
* Meijer Apple Juice - Regularly $2.07, on sale for $1.67
* Jennie-O Turkey Sausage - Regularly $4.49, on sale for $3.59 - $5 coupon = FREE + $1.41 overage.

My best deals came on making the most of some promos.
* Buy $10 worth of Coke (on sale $2.50/12pk), get $10 off Tennis shoes. I was already planning on buying the shoes, which were on sale for $31.99 (from $49.99)
* Buy $10 worth of Nabisco, get $10 of three packages of Hanes. Again, we were already planning on buying new socks and white t-shirts which were all on sale. I also used a "Buy Ritz and get free Wheat Thins" coupon to sweeten the deal.

All in all, it was a fun trip. It was nice to get back to the way I used to do it. I have a couple things I still want to get at the drug stores this week, but so far my 2 week total from my grocery budget is $176.10 so I'm below my $200 goal. Woohoo!!!

What a tease!

2009-08-03T19:32:00.002-04:00

I got my computer back on Friday just to discover that it still had issues. The computer guru picked it up again this afternoon with hopes of getting it back to me tomorrow. This time, though, it will be wiped completely clean and I'll have to start fresh. This means I have to install all the software again and all that fun stuff. Oh joy. Guess it will be a while before you see me here again. This time I'll try to jot down notes on my post ideas.

Let the challenge begin!

2009-07-31T21:24:00.003-04:00

We all have our weaknesses... that one area that quickly gets out of control if you don't keep a close watch on it. For us, it's our food budget. I've been mostly using E-mealz for the past several months, but I've gotten lazy. It's amazing how a quick trip to Subway, a simple DQ treat, casual lunch out with friends, etc can quickly add up. We have to confess, we've gotten off track on more than just food this month. I think it's a matter of "celebrating" our DEBT FREE scream. After working so hard to pay off all the debt, we needed a little breather. When I look back at the numbers, though (yes! I still tracked every penny), I was utterly disgusted at how much we spent on food this month. It's insane! It's sinful!

So, I'm setting myself straight. I'm setting our family straight. It's time to tap in to my competitive side and give myself a challenge - get my grocery budget under control! I'm actually off to a good start. This past week I absolutely REFUSED to buy a single item from the grocery store. We have been using up things in the pantry, things in the fridge, and all those freezer things collecting ice crystals. We're far from bare, but I'm considering doing a bit of a clean sweep. I think it might be time to make a good donation to the food pantry so that we can start with a fresh plate.

It probably sounds odd to talk about a challenge to cut my bill and the fact that I'm clearing out my extras (before starting the challenge) in the same paragraph. For me, though, I need a fresh slate. I think we waste a lot. I think I get caught up in buying things because they are a good deal and not because I plan on using them. I think we spend too much on convenience and snacks. I find myself losing track of what we have and what it's for. Even with E-mealz, I'm finding things in the pantry that have no purpose. I think what is happening is that I'm planning more meals than we really need - or the ones I'm buying for are too complicated. Either way, there is a lot of waste.

So, here are the goals:
1. Plan our meals and stick to the plan - search for easier/quicker meals if necessary, but get back in the process of putting thought in to it and following through. I might actually go as far as to write the meals on the family calendar so they have a specific night. We'll see.
2. Eliminate (or at least reduce significantly) our morning convenience foods. This will be hard for us, especially Troy. He asks for the same breakfast every day and likes to help put it in the toaster. This is not only inspired by our budget, but by the fact that I just found out boxes from your freezer are NOT recyclable. They spray them with a special coating which prevents them from breaking down properly.
3. Reduce our grocery budget to $100/week. I know this will seem like a lot to some of you, but it's actually a decent reduction for us. I would say we spend closer to $150 on average right now. This does include diapers, soaps, shampoos, cleaners, etc which is why it's so high. Things like batteries and light bulbs usually get lumped in there too. I think I need to make more of an effort to put these in our household category, but for now I just need to be realistic with the number.

In order to reach our goal in #3, we're going to have to change some habits...
- Re-think & re-evaluate our snacks. This month I've really noticed how much snacking we are doing - chips, candy, treats, etc. It's not only bad for our budget, it's bad for our health. I need to spend some time researching and planning healthier, more affordable snacks.
- Just say NO! There is no need to make a quick trip through drive-thru if I have supplies at home for lunch. It's just sheer laziness. I also need to say no to eating out with friends. We tend to socialize around food. I'm not sure the best way to change this, but I'll be keeping this in the back of my mind this month.
- Buy smarter. My mom recently found block cheese in a nearby community bulk store for $1.99 less PER POUND than at our local grocery store. It freezer great, so why waste money on the already shredded bags in the store. I need to do more prep work myself. I might test some things - like shredding and freezing for quick use, but am not sure. Mostly I just need to plan ahead.
- Make our own. I know a lot of you already make your own cleaners. It's time for me to start. I have a lot of the supplies, but really haven't done much of this yet. I'm still using up my stash and then I hope to dive in full force. While I'm using up what I have, I plan on surfing for some ideas and inspirations.
- Freeze our extras. To avoid the left overs going down the disposal, I really need to get better at freezing 1/2 of the 6 serving meals I fix. I always keep them with the intention of having them for left overs, but you can only eat the same thing so many times before you get sick of it.

There's a lot more that we need to do, but it's getting late and my brain has shut off. It might take some time for me to get back in the swing of writing, especially since my computer keeps distracting me.

Please share your favorite budget saver for your grocery bill! Do you buy in bulk? Do you plan your meals first and then look for bargains or do you plan your meals around what's on sale? Do you have some good (healthy and affordable) snack ideas to keep us away from Pringles and Oatmeal Pies?

It's B-A-C-K!!!!

2009-07-31T20:34:00.002-04:00

Woohoo! I never knew how much I would miss my laptop until it was gone. We have another computer, but it's upstairs in our "office". The office I never use because it's no longer child-friendly and is VERY hot in the summer months. Needless to say, I spent very little time on the internet in the past week. (I suddenly am confused by the expression "needless to say..." because it's always followed by what you are saying so it's obviously needed. Hmmmm.)

A lot has been running through my head in the past several days. I'll never really member all that I was hoping to write, but it may still make it's way to paper. For now, let me just say I'm looking forward to catching up on all my favorite blogs and jumping back in to some writing too!

Crashed!

2009-07-27T13:20:00.001-04:00

I'm having technical difficulties. Hopefully the computer repair will be quick (and affordable). Stay tuned!

Simple changes

2009-07-17T08:03:00.004-04:00

There are a few things I plan on adding to our money saving practices. I'm mostly writing this down so that I remember, but figure you don't mind me sharing.

- No more cards: I think greeting cards are not only bad for the budget, but bad for the environment. Tim has been buying his at the dollar store lately, even finding some that are 2/$1. I've decided just to cut out store bought cards all together. They can actually be quite expensive. We have a box full of random cards that I've acquired over the years. Once those are gone we'll either be making our own out of the kid's art or doing without. So, dear friends... don't be offended if you don't get cards from us for a while (or if you get random cards at odd times).

- Wrapping it up: Along with greeting cards, I think wrapping paper is a waste too (again, bad for the budget and environment). I'm going to check in to getting end rolls from the news papers. I'm not sure they still do that, but my Mom used to get it for her class. I figure the kids can paint their own paper. I know, not exactly good for the environment, but it's a sort of recycling project. We'll also use up the large stash we have and then will probably start getting creative.

- Putting it out to dry: I've wanted to start line drying my clothes for a while, but never seem to get motivated. I actually used a gift card to buy a retractable clothes line (I don't know if we can have them in our neighborhood). We don't exactly have the best weather for line drying, but I can do a little. I imagine we'll still fluff the clothes, but 5 minutes is better than 45 in the dryer. Now I just have to figure out where to hang it.

- Clearing out: My mom is having a garage sale next weekend, so it's time once again to sort and pitch. I hold on to a lot of stuff because I don't want to offend the people who gave it to us, but we have a TON of toys that never get played with. About 90% of the things we have were gifts and at least half of that never gets used. I'm not sure yet how to get family to stop buying toys, but I'm going to start be clearing some of them out. What doesn't sell at the garage sale will probably go to charity. I'm looking in to shelters (homeless and women's) for donations instead of Goodwill. We'll see. In addition to toys, we have a lot of other things that we just don't need. I've done really well at clearing them out over the past couple years, but we can always do more. Garage sales are nice because they generate a little income, but they even better at motivating me to simplify. I get a little better each time.

- Borrow instead of buying: We really don't buy much in terms of books or music, but we often want to. With a new library opening up near us in a couple months, I'm looking forward to taking full advantage of all they have to offer.

- Find free fun and food: I'm working on finding cheap or free activities for the kids. This is a lot easier in the summer, but now that they are getting older we can do a little more the whole year round. We make already make weekly trips to the zoo, which they love. I think there are a lot of other cheap options out there too. I just need to find them. We also plan on taking advantage of 'kids eat free' nights at restaurants. Troy doesn't eat much and we don't eat out often, but if we start planning things a little better we will be able to make the most of the time we do eat out.

There are a lot of other great money saving and creative ideas out there. These are just a few I would like to start doing. Share your favorite ideas or links!

Make do or Do without!

2009-07-16T20:43:00.004-04:00

As I promised, it's time for a post on things we've changed or cut back on in order to stay on track with our budget. I should start by saying we lived a fairly basic life to start with. We're not big on entertainment - we didn't go to movies (or even rent them very often), go out drinking, or any thing like that. We are constantly looking at our budget for ways to improve, which is why you'll see a section on things we've shopped around.

Thing we cut back on or eliminated
- Golf: Tim LOVES golf. He doesn't talk about it much, but this has been a huge sacrifice for him... saving $200/year
- Eating out: We used to eat out as a family once a week. I also had a tendency to make a quick run through a fast food restaurant at lunch because it was easier than cooking for the kids (or we were already out running errands.... saving $150/month
- Food: In addition to cutting back our eating out, we've SIGNIFICANTLY cut back our food budget. This is mostly due to meal planning (and has happened even more recently), but also has a little to do with smarter coupon shopping. Our grocery budget includes household items too, so I've cut back quite a bit there. Before budgeting, we were spending about $600-$700/month on groceries and household items. When we first started budgeting, we brought that down to about $550. Now... our goal is to be under $500 each month. That still sounds like a lot to most people and it's probably the area I'll have to cut back on. Recently, however, we've been doing some entertaining (Addison's birthday in May, her baptism in June, 4th of July this month, etc.) I'm hoping that by eliminating that next month and sticking to our meal plan I might even be able to bring that down to $450 (ideally, below $400). Even as it is now, though, we are... saving $150/month.
- Dry Cleaning: Tim wears a suit 5 days a week. When we got serious with Dave, he decided to launder his own shirts instead of taking them in to the Dry Cleaners... saving $25/month.
- Road Trips: This isn't some thing we did much, but one of the sacrifices we've made is cutting back on road trips to see family. We still try to make it when we can, but have probably eliminated 1-2 trips a year. It doesn't sound like much, but when you factor in gas, eating out, etc, it can really add up. We're probably... saving $100/year.
- Hair Cuts: This is going to sound silly, but we've changed how often the guys get their hair cut. Instead of getting it cut 1 a month, Tim goes about once every 6-7 weeks. We're trying to do the same for Troy. This has probably resulted in us... saving $10/month.

Things we "shopped around"
- Refinanced: This is probably the biggest thing we shopped around in the past year (and by "we", I mean Tim). He must have talked to at least 6 different mortgage brokers/banks. All his hard work paid off, because now that we've refinanced we are... saving $300/month.
- Car & Home Insurance: When we first started, we switched just the car insurance and were able to save $250/year right off the bat. Then when we refinanced, we shopped the car and house together and brought the total down another $250/year... saving $500/year (from when we first started). We did this without increasing our deductibles (actually raised them) and despite claims for hail damage on both the car and house.
- Term Life Insurance: Dave is VERY insistent on getting Term Life Insurance. We used Zander when Tim first signed up and again recently to get a better rate... saving $13/month
- Phone: I made a frustrating, but productive call to AT&T and found out I could get the features I needed and unlimited long distance for cheaper than I was currently paying. I know a lot of people say to drop the land line all together, but I need it for the business. Still we're... saving $10/month
- Satellite: We shopped this around and debated between cable and the other carriers in our area. We ended up switching for better channel selection and saved a little in the process. This is one of the lifestyle things that we're not ready to compromise on at this point. It's pretty much our only vice in this household. Still, now we are...saving $10/month
- Cell phones: This was another thing Tim shopped around. Not only was he able to get us free phones (him a blackberry and a nice flip phone with keyboard for me), but we now have more features and better service and are... saving $20/month

Things I can't quantify: There are a lot of things we've done that we can't really put a number on. They can really add up, though, so I wanted to be sure to mention them.
- Reduced gifts for kids: They get TONS of gifts from other people so we try to keep our gift buying very simple.
- Reduced/eliminated gifts for each other: I think I did buy Tim a $16 subscription to Consumer Reports for his birthday and he's gotten me a couple small gifts (anniversary/birthday), but in general we don't buy gifts for each other. Our primary gift to each other is financial peace.
- Better trip planning for errands: I've eliminated running to multiple stores just to get a good deal and try to group other errands together so I spend less time in the car wasting gas.
- Changing our habits: Instead of buying a pop or coffee while he's on the road, Tim will often take some thing from home. If we do splurge, we shop for a deal (like buying 'seconds' candy at a bulk food store).
- Finding new bargains: Tim's discovery of the bread outlet has been a great money saver for us. We've also discovered that we can get some good deals at GFS Marketplace and with our membership to Sam's.
- Leaving the kids behind: I now do 95% of my shopping without Troy (Addison is too young to beg). This not only keeps me from buying things we don't need, I used to buy him a treat every time we went. Saving a couple bucks each trip can really add up.
- Delayed gratification: This is actually a BIG thing, it's just hard to quantify. There are a lot of things that the "old us" would have purchased or maybe even considered a "need" that is now on the back burner. Technology is a big thing here. We'd LOVE to replace our 12 year old console t.v., we'd both love ipods, I'm totally longing for a wii, etc. There are also a lot of little things around the house we probably would have purchased or fixed - a broken bathroom fan, a paint chipped deck, peeling wallpaper in kid's bathroom, etc. These probably add up to HUGE savings. I really wish I could quantify this because it would be ENORMOUS!

If you add it all up, we're saving $9,056 each year! And that's just the things we could quantify. That doesn't include some of the biggest savings just by changing our habits and keeping in mind the difference between wants and needs.

So... now for the next post... things we can still change. We have cut back significantly, and, yet, I know we are still far from a beans & rice budget. Let me hear your ideas! What things have you changed? Challenge me!

I want to be weird!

2009-07-15T08:01:00.003-04:00

This morning I was reading a blog post at Money Saving Mom and was totally inspired. When I first read it, I thought she was saying she averaged 50% savings on their grocery budget this month (obviously reading WAY too fast). I think my mind just couldn't grasp the reality, because that isn't what she was saying at all. Her family has actually hit the halfway point in saving enough money to pay for their first house in 100% cash. Can you even imagine buying a house in cash? Can you imagine delaying your first house purchase long enough to save 100% of the money you need to buy it? Can you imagine never having to worry about interest rates or mortgage payments? How weird! I WANT TO BE WEIRD TOO!!!

No, I'm not planning on selling our house to move in to an apartment until I can pay 100% cash for a new house. We're already past that point. We've already made our mistakes. Dave actually wouldn't tell us to do that either. Our payment is at or below the appropriate percentage of our income and isn't pushing us further in to debt with unrealistic payments, so there isn't a need for us to change our living situation. What I am saying is that I find so many aspect of their story totally inspiring and need to commit myself to the same sort of dedication.

Not only have they saved half the cost of a house, her husband went through law school without acquiring any school loan debt, they've remained debt free their entire marriage, they have saved a 6 month emergency fund, and are investing in their retirement and kid's college funds. It sounds like they've done it through real frugal living - rice and beans budgeting. I'd like to go back and read some of her other posts to see what all she's cut back on over the years (other than grocery). I also need to read a little more carefully to see how they feed a family of 5 on less than $40 a week. That weekly budget includes household items, so that's REALLY frugal. I know she does a lot of couponing and buying/using what's on sale. That doesn't work very well for our house, but I am sure I can find ways to improve.

The main thing is that I don't want to lose momentum just because we're debt free now. There are still a LOT more goals we would like to reach. Taking 15% off the top of our income to invest will keep us frugal in itself, so if I want to do any of the other projects I have in mind... I need to find ways to make cutbacks in other areas. I've considered offering my services to help other people find ways to cut their budgets. Maybe it's time for me to take another hard look at our own budget. I know there are some things we don't really want to compromise, but I'm sure we can find ways to improve. Can't we all.

Stay tuned while I gather my thoughts on what we've cut back on already and brainstorm ideas of how we can do more. Feel free to share any suggestions too!

Any thing worth having is worth working hard to get!

2009-07-13T21:31:00.000-04:00

One of the things that turn a lot of people off to Dave Ramsey is his no-nonsense talking. He's pretty blunt and usually doesn't accept any excuses. This is hard for people because most people don't really want to take a hard honest look at themselves and their situation. We didn't. We thought we were doing okay. We had nice things. We were managing and making all our payments. So what if we have a car loan and school loan payment. It's not like we're racking up a bunch of debt on credit cards. We've already cut those up and canceled those accounts. So, what's the big deal?

I think one of the reasons Dave isn't interested in excuses is because he's heard them all, and they probably aren't any thing he hasn't thought/said/used at one time in his life. I'm not claiming to be any where near the level of Dave, but I understand that a lot more now that we have successfully completed Baby Step #2. When we first started, I was very skeptical. I had more excuses than any person needed.

Reasons NOT to start or follow FPU...
We're fine. We make all our payments on time. Our credit is excellent. We don't need a "plan". - This was us. The truth is doing "okay" with your money isn't good enough. When we were "fine", our plan involved paying off my school loan before the kids got in to college. I'll gladly admit we were wrong here! I love that we now how 15 years to save for the college instead of taking the next 15 to pay off mine and letting them make the same mistake. I could give 101 other examples of how doing "okay" isn't enough, but I might save that for another post.

We pay off our credit card each month. Besides, we've got a really low interest rate. - We hear this one a LOT! Some people claim they keep them for the rewards. Others think it's good to have credit (see below for my comment on that). Dave talks about the statistics that say you're more likely to spend 10-15% more on a credit card than if you use cash. For us, it was a matter of simply buying more than we need. Yes, we could pay it off at the end of the month, but that doesn't address the issue as to whether it was a good purchase to start with. Did you get the best deal? What it really a need? Is it some thing you needed now? Did you need that much? The past year has shown why relying on credit isn't always the best method. If an emergency comes up and you don't actually have all the money to pay it off, or worse yet, you miss a deadline and your a day late on a payment... you're stuck with a high interest rate on food you ate (and expelled) 6 months ago. Is it really worth it. As far as the rewards. We get fabulous rewards from our bank every time we choose 'credit' when we check out. We get back any where from $300-$800 for just our normal every day purchases. I don't need DISCOVER to pay me back.

There is another advantage to throwing away your credit card. I've heard it referred to as a "cooling off" period. When you don't have a credit card you can whip out of your pocket to pay for some thing, you have a tendency to put a little more thought in to your purchase. This is especially true for larger purchases. When you have to save up for an item, it gives you more time to think about your purchase. Is this the really a need, or is it a want? Is this the best value for the money?

I also just heard Dave give a good reason not to leave your paid off cards open - you open yourself up to fraud and identity theft. Don't use a little piece of plastic as your security blanket. Use cash instead.

We need to keep our card to maintain our good credit. - Dave's answer to this is the best. Why do you need good credit if you pay in cash?

It's too hard to track every penny. That's just not realistic. - I'd make a bet that if you don't track every penny, you're probably "wasting" a LOT more money than you realize. It's real easy to spend a dollar here, forget to record your cup of coffee from yesterday, etc. Tracking every penny and assigning every dollar a name is what I think is the most critical aspect of FPU. I used to think I knew where my money went until I actually started writing it down. Then I was horrified and how far off we really were. It's impossible to set a realistic budget if you don't know where your money is going. Dave has a lot of great budget forms or you could easily create your own.

I think we should be paying off the debt with the highest rate interest rate first. It's just logical. - This may be logical, but it's not logic that is the problem. It's our behaviors. I know that the psychological part of all this was huge for me. When I actually started seeing some of the debts being crossed off, I felt like it was actually making a difference. I felt accomplished. This is why Dave says to go smallest to largest. It's a mind game. You'd be surprised how much "angrier" you get at those larger debts once you've crossed some of the smaller ones off. Some of our larger debts had the higher interest rates too. I think we'd still be working on paying off debt if we had taken that approach because I would still be in the mindset that "We'll never pay that off. It's too much." Dave gave a good analogy we can probably all relate to... if you're dieting and don't lose any weight in the first couple weeks, you'll probably give up. We need to see progress to stay motivated. Paying off debt is the same way. We need to see progress and paying your smallest debt first will allow you to do this.

I can't sell this ***. I owe more than it's worth - or - I'd rather have the *** than to take a short sale on it. - Dave takes calls all the time where people owe more than it's worth, especially with cars. If you owe more than it's worth, you probably shouldn't have purchased it in the first place. Sell it! You might have to pay on some thing you know longer own, but consider that your stupid tax. Learn your lesson and don't do it again. It's a lot easier to pay off a smaller personal loan than it is it pay off a large car loan. Any thing you can do to reduce your debt is a good idea.

I'd rather have the emergency fund than payoff debt. - This is the one I probably hear the most often. "I'd feel so much better if I had a larger (than $1000) emergency fund in place." Okay. Think about it in a slightly different way. If you've been paying on your debt snowball and you've eliminated a couple payments, that gives you flexibility in the case that an emergency (greater than $1000) does come up. Here's an example. Your minimum payment on your credit card was $200. You rolled that over with the $250 you used to pay on your card. That's $450 you are paying on your debt snowball. You find out the car needs engine repair that is going to cost $1200. Not only do you have your $1000 emergency fund, but you also have $450 you don't have to pay toward some one else. It's also a lot easier to replace your small emergency fund when you have debt snowball funds you can manipulate. If you still HAVE that credit card payment and car payment due each month, you have a lot less "extra" money to work with.

There are some reasons to have a larger "emergency" fund. If you are in a job at risk of being laid off, if you've already lost your job, if you are anticipating large medical bills, etc. As soon as that event is over, though, you should drop that back down to the $1000 and put the rest on debt. It's about a mindset too. You have to make your money work for you. It's not doing much sitting in a bank account some where collecting dust. Get rid of those debts and change your life.

We don't have any "extra" money to put on debt. - Then you are doing some thing wrong! There is 2 side of the equation - incoming and outgoing. The easiest thing to change is your outgoing side of the equation. Its not always easy to make the cuts we should. Admit it. Our pride gets in the way. No one wants to give up cable (certainly don't want other people to know we've done that). Every one wants nice things. We all want to be able to go out to dinner or join friends when they are going out for drinks. I think what kept us focused was asking - Is that really need, or is it a want? It's hard to be honest with those answers, but you need to ask the hard questions. There isn't much in life we really "need".

Now, there are some people who have cut out every thing they can and still can't find any extra money to pay down debt. Dave would tell them it's time to start working on the incoming side of the equation. I doubt Dave believes in finding the "perfect" job unless you are already debt free. I hear him tell people all the time to get off their butt and get a job - mow lawns, deliver pizza, what ever it takes. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to quit my job... and if I had we wouldn't be where we are now. It all depends on how badly you hate your debt. Tim even considered a second job so we could knock out our debt. In the end, I just kept mine and found ways to make it work a little better for us (like enrolling the kids in daycare 2 days a week). Get creative and get going. Every little bit helps.

Okay. That last one is harsh. Again, any thing worth having is worth working hard to get. The questions is... do you feel financial peace is worth having. I do!

Have an excuse I forgot... give it to me!

We're Debt Free and on Dave!

2009-07-11T12:02:00.001-04:00

OUR DEBT FREE SCREAM!

If you want to fast forward to our part, you'll find it at about 27:50.

Great clip!

2009-07-09T09:59:00.002-04:00

Tim found this video clip last night. I think it does a great job of giving a good overview and explanation.

Let me know what you think!

Guilt

2009-07-09T08:52:00.003-04:00

The past several posts have drummed up a lot of different emotions. One of the emotions that has been the hardest to deal with during this whole process is guilt. I think one of the things that prevented me from listening to Tim when he first started talking about these things is the guilt over my past. It was MY credit card that had the bigger balance. It was MY school loan that was so huge it seemed insurmountable. It was MY bad decisions that had led to huge legal fees. What's funny, is that it was that same guilt that finally motivated me to get started too. I needed to buckle down and prove that I could make a real contribution to the household - whether through frugal savings or consulting income. I just needed to do some thing.

As we got moving along, a new sense of guilt set in. I actually felt guilty that things were working for us. It was especially hard with the economy crumbling around us. I started to feel guilty about the fact that we weren't experiencing the same difficulties that so many Americans were going through. How twisted is that? We actually had people tell us how LUCKY we were that we had good jobs and a good income. Tim and I went round and round about this one. He doesn't exactly believe in luck. He reminded me that we both went through a lot to get to where we are. We weren't just handed good jobs. Tim worked a job he didn't really like for 10 years because he needed the experience (and a pay check). I worked my fair share of crap jobs too. More recently I went through almost 2 years of legal hell just so that I could work from home. Things weren't easy for either of us.

Were we a little lucky in the timing of every thing? Possibly. But I think part of Tim's point is that we also created our own luck. We did what we had to do to get to where we are. Tim's making a good salary now, but he had taken a pay cut just so we could move back to the area. And when we got here, he didn't just sit by and let life happen. He was aggressively pursuing better opportunities. Working hard to move up in the world and improve his life (and the life of his new family). Had he not done that, we'd probably be in the same position as many other people right now. The same applies to me to a lesser extent. If I had continued in my previous job doing what was easy, I'd be out on the street right now too. The choice if I was going to be a stay at home mom would have been made for me.

So, why do I feel so guilty about our success? I think part of it is the way our society works. The other part is just part of my personality (and the way I was raised). I have to remind myself that there are a lot of people out there that make more than we do and STILL can't pay their debt. We're not debt free because we're lucky. We're not even debt free because we made a good income last year. We're debt free because we changed our behavior. We shouldn't feel guilty for taking responsibility for our actions and changing our lives, right?! It sounds right on paper. I just need to figure out how to convince myself of that too.

Good question!

2009-07-08T21:32:00.005-04:00

Trish asked, "What, in your mind, is the difference between fear and a sound cause for modification?"

First of all, don't ever worry about a comment being judgemental or defensive. I like to be challenged. That's a very good question. And, as with most good question, there isn't a simple answer. Life is complicated. I've listened to several calls where Dave has told people they need to put their "Total Money Makeover" on hold. These situations usually include job loss, anticipating a job loss, expecting a child, severe medical problems, etc. In these cases, I've heard him tell people to temporarily stop their debt snowball and stock pile cash. The first stress there is temporarily. He would say to only do this as long as necessary and probably would even challenge that length of time. The other big factor is that he says that when the situation changes (or if you don't end up needing that stash) you put all that money you had been stock piling on to debt. Tim and I did this when we were pregnant with Addison. We knew what our maximum out of pocket was and saved that (plus a little) in case some thing happened with the delivery or if she was sick. Then at the end of the year, when every thing was fine, we put all that money toward our debt snowball. I think Dave would consider this a sound cause for modification. Although, it's not really a modification; it's really just pushing the pause button for a little bit.

I think there are some key things that are sort of set in stone... First of all he is very set on the order of the baby steps. I've heard people call in and say, "I'm doing Financial Peace University but I decided I wanted to have my 3 month emergency fund before paying off my debt." His answer was simple and to the point, "Then you're not doing Financial Peace University. You're doing your own thing." I think that is fear. He's also very firm on the order in which you pay debt. A lot of people argue that they should pay the largest interest rate first. Again, that's a fine choice, but then you aren't really doing FPU. That's not fear, but it is resisting change in my mind.

I firmly believe that every one has to choose what works best for them. But, if you decide to commit yourself to Financial Peace and making a Total Money Makeover than you need to trust in what Dave has proven to work. You have to be willing to commit to living like no one else so later you can live like no one else. You have to hate debt so much that you are willing to attack it with gazelle intensity. If you find yourself making excuses or modifying things a lot (or simply not hating debt enough to make it a real priority for your money), then it might be a fear of change... or it might be that you haven't experienced the "pain" needed to embrace change.

Deciding whether or not to do a Total Money Makeover is a very personal choice. Just keep in mind... If you keep doing what your doing, you'll keep getting what your getting. That's what I keep in mind when I ask myself if some thing I want to modify (like changing the amount to invest) is justified or based in fear. The hard truth is that it's usually not justified, but it's not really fear either... it just us being lazy. I don't want to be lazy any more. I want to keep charging forward with gazelle intensity. I want to be weird.

(For the record... I'm not saying your lazy. I'm saying to ask the hard questions and you'll find the answers. MY answers usually boil down to me being lazy and admitting that forces me back on track. Also... I won't love you any less if you decide FPU isn't right for you.)