I am a big time, get out your spreadsheet and forecast kind of planner. I like to have projections for all of our remaining debts and when I expect them to be paid off.
So when things don't go according to plan it can get frustrating for me. I really have to try hard not to let things like that get me down. For instance, our debt snowball turned out to be less than I had planned for this month and I immediately started to feel discouraged. Then I remembered that this is a marathon not a sprint and we are still on the right track. No amount of worrying is going to change that.
Along those lines, I'm on the lookout for anything I can do to make extra money right now so if you have suggestions please let me know. I have been doing Cash Crate this month (see the big green button to the right) and so far I've made the equivalent of one, maybe two hewlett packard toner cartridges and that's about it, but every little bit helps. I'll add that to my basement fund and we'll keep rolling!
Friday, February 25, 2011
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Financial Peace
We had our first preview last night at the church. I'm really excited to help people shove some financial diet pills down the throats of their budgets. We are doing it again on Sunday night at 6:30pm if you missed it last night. The more the merrier.
I'm so pumped up about this stuff right now, that I can barely stand it. I can't wait to get the rest of our debt paid off and see others get with the program and change their lives.
I only wish that I had done things right from the beginning. I don't even want to think about where I might be right now if I had. Can't change the past though so the best I can do is make the future better than it could be if I did nothing.
I'm really looking forward to the day that we are done with debt payments for good.
I'm so pumped up about this stuff right now, that I can barely stand it. I can't wait to get the rest of our debt paid off and see others get with the program and change their lives.
I only wish that I had done things right from the beginning. I don't even want to think about where I might be right now if I had. Can't change the past though so the best I can do is make the future better than it could be if I did nothing.
I'm really looking forward to the day that we are done with debt payments for good.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Financial Peace University FREE PREVIEW TONIGHT!!
At our local church we are getting ready to start this truly great program. If you are interested in attending and live in the west central Ohio area please feel free to come to our free preview tonight. It's at the Urbana Nazarene Church and starts at 6:30pm
Hope to see you there!
Hope to see you there!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Take Good Advice
There are some things like phenphedrine which I am willing to admit that I know nothing about. That isn't dangerous. What is dangerous is when I "think" I know what I'm doing and I really don't.
Since I have signed up to for Financial Peace University, I now have access to the forums on his website. (you will get this too if you sign up for our class or someone else's). This has allowed me to run my ideas for our debt snowball past others who are thinking along similar lines as me.
It has helped me to avoid mistakes and stay on the right path. It's also encouraging to see so many others doing what we're doing.
Since I have signed up to for Financial Peace University, I now have access to the forums on his website. (you will get this too if you sign up for our class or someone else's). This has allowed me to run my ideas for our debt snowball past others who are thinking along similar lines as me.
It has helped me to avoid mistakes and stay on the right path. It's also encouraging to see so many others doing what we're doing.
Broken Window Principle
It's a good idea to keep things in good standing even if it just seems minor.
There was a study done that showed that if a building has one broken window, it is much more likely to be vandalized than a building which immediately had the broken window replaced.
It's a group think principle. If "everyone else" acts like the building is worthless than you are more likely to follow suit.
The same is true for your budget. If you stay on budget, then when you have a chance to make an extra $20, it doesn't seem like a waste, it seems like an opportunity because it can go straight to your debt and not to your overspending.
Keep on budget, and use your envelopes. Stay accountable, and don't pass up opportunities to make extra money. Whether it's Cash Crate or a blog or reading hydroxycut reviews or whatever. Do whatever you can and watch that debt shrink.
There was a study done that showed that if a building has one broken window, it is much more likely to be vandalized than a building which immediately had the broken window replaced.
It's a group think principle. If "everyone else" acts like the building is worthless than you are more likely to follow suit.
The same is true for your budget. If you stay on budget, then when you have a chance to make an extra $20, it doesn't seem like a waste, it seems like an opportunity because it can go straight to your debt and not to your overspending.
Keep on budget, and use your envelopes. Stay accountable, and don't pass up opportunities to make extra money. Whether it's Cash Crate or a blog or reading hydroxycut reviews or whatever. Do whatever you can and watch that debt shrink.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Strength Gains
Over the last few years I have been very active in the gym with mixed results. I lost a lot of weight and am clearly in better shape but I haven't built a ton of muscle or broken through with a six pack stomach yet.
One thing I noticed was that I tended to try to either do it all with aerobic type workouts or all with weight training. Neither really got me to where I wanted to be. As of now I'm trying to do a better job of combining the two. I do both kinds of workouts on a weekly basis. I'm only about 3 months in so it's too early to say whether or not it is going to be a success but I have gained a lot of strength, and lost weight so the signs are good.
One thing I still need to work on is my diet. I have been limiting my calories but I'm still eating too much in the way of carbs and probably not enough protein. I haven't had a lot of success with protein supplements in the past but I may give them another try. We'll see.
I will keep you posted on how things go over time.
One thing I noticed was that I tended to try to either do it all with aerobic type workouts or all with weight training. Neither really got me to where I wanted to be. As of now I'm trying to do a better job of combining the two. I do both kinds of workouts on a weekly basis. I'm only about 3 months in so it's too early to say whether or not it is going to be a success but I have gained a lot of strength, and lost weight so the signs are good.
One thing I still need to work on is my diet. I have been limiting my calories but I'm still eating too much in the way of carbs and probably not enough protein. I haven't had a lot of success with protein supplements in the past but I may give them another try. We'll see.
I will keep you posted on how things go over time.
Basement Project Underway
This weekend I finally got started on our basement project. I spent a good deal of time on Saturday painting the Drylok onto the walls. It was a very dirty job, and I'm glad I wasn't wearing any rocawear when I did it.
It ended up costing about $60 more than I had expected for this stage but it's now done. Hopefully I'm not that far off on the other steps or things could get expensive.
I'm happy that things are underway, but I'm a little nervous about step 2. I need to get the actual framing done and I haven't done that kind of work before. I plan on having some experienced help so hopefully it will all go well.
It ended up costing about $60 more than I had expected for this stage but it's now done. Hopefully I'm not that far off on the other steps or things could get expensive.
I'm happy that things are underway, but I'm a little nervous about step 2. I need to get the actual framing done and I haven't done that kind of work before. I plan on having some experienced help so hopefully it will all go well.
Consumerism: Not Always
Sometimes I feel like it's easy to forget that debt isn't always the result of overactive consumerism. Sometimes it is, but not always. In our case it was a lot of "Murphy", and some bad decisions that resulted in our flowering trees of credit card debt.
Sure we weren't living smart financially like we are now, but there were things that were out of our control such as my wife being put on bed rest during pregnancy and not being able to work, and paying for our own wedding and honeymoon.
There were also a lot of things we bought that weren't really needed. So sure, things are going to happen, but the idea is to get yourself into the right place financially to keep those things from become mountains and keep them at the mole hill level as much as possible.
Therefore, if you have no debt and a large emergency fund, those things aren't going to be nearly as catastrophic as they might have been, but you have to go through the pain of cleaning up your finances to get there. That's what I'm shooting for.
Sure we weren't living smart financially like we are now, but there were things that were out of our control such as my wife being put on bed rest during pregnancy and not being able to work, and paying for our own wedding and honeymoon.
There were also a lot of things we bought that weren't really needed. So sure, things are going to happen, but the idea is to get yourself into the right place financially to keep those things from become mountains and keep them at the mole hill level as much as possible.
Therefore, if you have no debt and a large emergency fund, those things aren't going to be nearly as catastrophic as they might have been, but you have to go through the pain of cleaning up your finances to get there. That's what I'm shooting for.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Totally Enveloped
I was very against switching to an envelope system for our expenses. It just seemed like a giant hassle and I wasn't sure how we could pick up things we needed if one of us had the envelopes and the other didn't etc.
Boy was I dead wrong. Why didn't we start doing this years ago? Honestly, I haven't found a better way to curb the "here and there" spending that you barely noticed when you were using your debit card.
So now, instead of going over budget in food and other categories, we are sticking with it. When the cash is gone, you're done. Simple as that.
Now when I make a little extra money with cash crate or my blog, it goes straight to my snowball and not to make up for some silly thing I picked up that put us over budget. So if you haven't started using envelopes yet, then GET TO IT!!! Trust me, doing that combined with your budget will save you SO much money.
It really isn't the giant hassle that it seems like it could be.
Boy was I dead wrong. Why didn't we start doing this years ago? Honestly, I haven't found a better way to curb the "here and there" spending that you barely noticed when you were using your debit card.
So now, instead of going over budget in food and other categories, we are sticking with it. When the cash is gone, you're done. Simple as that.
Now when I make a little extra money with cash crate or my blog, it goes straight to my snowball and not to make up for some silly thing I picked up that put us over budget. So if you haven't started using envelopes yet, then GET TO IT!!! Trust me, doing that combined with your budget will save you SO much money.
It really isn't the giant hassle that it seems like it could be.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Quick Cash
I just found this website and it was recommended by a trusted source. You can fill out surveys and make a little extra cash. Every little bit helps. Click on the link below to sign up.
Cash Crate
Cash Crate
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Up To The Basement!
One of the things I am struggling with right now is our basement. Technically, we don't owe any money on our basement, so it's not really a debt, but it might as well be. Let me explain...
See we bought this house with the intention of adding two bedrooms in the basement. So until that is done, we have no guest room and our girls have to share. Is it an essential thing? Yes it is as far as we are concerned. We have a lot of family that has to travel to visit us and it is really important to us that our girls have their own space.
So what do we do? We have debts we want to pay off and in the middle of it, this looming basement project. So we simply treat it like a debt. We decided to figure up the amount of money we need to finish their rooms and are working to save that up before moving on to the next debt in our snowball. I have to fight the urge to feel guilty about spending money on something that could easily be classified as a "want" instead of a "need", but we put ourselves in this bed when we bought the house so now we have to sleep in it.
These are the kind of things that you will find yourself struggling with as you work your way out of debt. Sure you will make some mistakes along the way but you have to remember that 12 steps forward and 11 steps back is still one step in the right direction. I really wish I had handled my money better when I was younger and not had to go through all this but I can't change that. I can't go to an online printing site and print out money. I can only make good decisions from here on out and know that ultimately we will be far better off financially.
See we bought this house with the intention of adding two bedrooms in the basement. So until that is done, we have no guest room and our girls have to share. Is it an essential thing? Yes it is as far as we are concerned. We have a lot of family that has to travel to visit us and it is really important to us that our girls have their own space.
So what do we do? We have debts we want to pay off and in the middle of it, this looming basement project. So we simply treat it like a debt. We decided to figure up the amount of money we need to finish their rooms and are working to save that up before moving on to the next debt in our snowball. I have to fight the urge to feel guilty about spending money on something that could easily be classified as a "want" instead of a "need", but we put ourselves in this bed when we bought the house so now we have to sleep in it.
These are the kind of things that you will find yourself struggling with as you work your way out of debt. Sure you will make some mistakes along the way but you have to remember that 12 steps forward and 11 steps back is still one step in the right direction. I really wish I had handled my money better when I was younger and not had to go through all this but I can't change that. I can't go to an online printing site and print out money. I can only make good decisions from here on out and know that ultimately we will be far better off financially.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Our Situation
So where are we now in our quest for debt freedom? I'm going to lay out our story so that hopefully if you are in a similar boat, you will see that there is hope.
I first read Dave Ramsey's book "The Total Money Makeover", in 2006 and we have been trying to dig ourselves out of the mess we had made ever since. It has been very slow going, but then we had made a lot of mistakes. Where we are now pales in comparison to where we started. Back then I felt as if there was no way we would ever get out of the mess.
When we started, we had a $50 a month payment for a computer, a $475 car payment, another car that cost us $300 a month, two school loans totaling $300 a month, and close to $10,000 in credit card debt. Not to mention our house payment. After we paid all our bills we were VERY lucky if we had $300 to pay over on something. Not a lot of wiggle room when you want to get out of debt. I felt like we were staring up at Mount Everest. Having to buy something as simple as baby gifts could throw our whole budget into a tailspin.
Fast forward to today and things have changed a lot. We are down to just one car payment (which is $100 less than it was) , house (close to $200 less than 2006) and the two school loans. Everything else has been paid off. We have managed to free up enough money in our budget to really put a dent in the things we are working on paying off and my plan is that by the end of this year we will done with the final car payment. It would be sooner but we are taking some of our money to finish part of our basement. I'll talk more about that later.
It has been frustrating at times and not easy at all but God has blessed our endeavor to handle our money more wisely. I'm really please with the progress we have made but we aren't entirely out of the woods yet. I want to get to a point where we have money saved up for our next cars before the ones we have are done for. I really don't want to have another car loan ever again.
In future posts I'll lay out what my plan is for the current year and what we are doing to maximize our efforts as well as the struggles and frustrations we face. Whether you are as bad off or worse than we were at the start or even farther down the road to freedom already, I hope you can learn from our experience and start taking control of your money in a more positive way.
I first read Dave Ramsey's book "The Total Money Makeover", in 2006 and we have been trying to dig ourselves out of the mess we had made ever since. It has been very slow going, but then we had made a lot of mistakes. Where we are now pales in comparison to where we started. Back then I felt as if there was no way we would ever get out of the mess.
When we started, we had a $50 a month payment for a computer, a $475 car payment, another car that cost us $300 a month, two school loans totaling $300 a month, and close to $10,000 in credit card debt. Not to mention our house payment. After we paid all our bills we were VERY lucky if we had $300 to pay over on something. Not a lot of wiggle room when you want to get out of debt. I felt like we were staring up at Mount Everest. Having to buy something as simple as baby gifts could throw our whole budget into a tailspin.
Fast forward to today and things have changed a lot. We are down to just one car payment (which is $100 less than it was) , house (close to $200 less than 2006) and the two school loans. Everything else has been paid off. We have managed to free up enough money in our budget to really put a dent in the things we are working on paying off and my plan is that by the end of this year we will done with the final car payment. It would be sooner but we are taking some of our money to finish part of our basement. I'll talk more about that later.
It has been frustrating at times and not easy at all but God has blessed our endeavor to handle our money more wisely. I'm really please with the progress we have made but we aren't entirely out of the woods yet. I want to get to a point where we have money saved up for our next cars before the ones we have are done for. I really don't want to have another car loan ever again.
In future posts I'll lay out what my plan is for the current year and what we are doing to maximize our efforts as well as the struggles and frustrations we face. Whether you are as bad off or worse than we were at the start or even farther down the road to freedom already, I hope you can learn from our experience and start taking control of your money in a more positive way.
New Direction
I've decided to take this blog in a new direction. For a while now I have done little more than stream of consciousness in this space and I plan to much more focused with my upcoming posts.
I'm about to start a class at my church about managing money, but since I don't have all the answers, it is going to be taught by none other than Dave Ramsey. Before you get too excited he won't be teaching it in person but via DVD. Some of you may know that I am referring to his Financial Peace University class. His perspective on managing money is unmatched in both it's simplicity and its' effectiveness.
So I've decided to chronicle my own journey with money on this blog. I have been following his plan for a while now but it has been going slowly. For those "in the know" we are currently on baby step 2, although we have made great strides in the last couple of years as we continue to get smarter with our budgeting and more diligent about our debts.
At this point we have one car loan left and both of our school loans. The car loan and one of the school loans are relatively small, but the other is more significant. Thrown into the mix is our desire to add a couple of bedrooms to our basement. Unfortunately, this really can't wait as we have family that comes from out of state on a regular basis and they have nowhere to sleep. So we will be spending some money on that before we get back to paying off my car. That's enough background for now. I will get into more detail about our situation in future posts.
My plan is to talk about where we are and what we are going through as we work through this journey. There will be posts on other topics as well, but I hope you will get something out of this.
Feel free to comment and let me know what you think or if you have ideas of your own about how to become debt free!
I'm about to start a class at my church about managing money, but since I don't have all the answers, it is going to be taught by none other than Dave Ramsey. Before you get too excited he won't be teaching it in person but via DVD. Some of you may know that I am referring to his Financial Peace University class. His perspective on managing money is unmatched in both it's simplicity and its' effectiveness.
So I've decided to chronicle my own journey with money on this blog. I have been following his plan for a while now but it has been going slowly. For those "in the know" we are currently on baby step 2, although we have made great strides in the last couple of years as we continue to get smarter with our budgeting and more diligent about our debts.
At this point we have one car loan left and both of our school loans. The car loan and one of the school loans are relatively small, but the other is more significant. Thrown into the mix is our desire to add a couple of bedrooms to our basement. Unfortunately, this really can't wait as we have family that comes from out of state on a regular basis and they have nowhere to sleep. So we will be spending some money on that before we get back to paying off my car. That's enough background for now. I will get into more detail about our situation in future posts.
My plan is to talk about where we are and what we are going through as we work through this journey. There will be posts on other topics as well, but I hope you will get something out of this.
Feel free to comment and let me know what you think or if you have ideas of your own about how to become debt free!
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
Weight For Me
I'm a little frustrated at myself because I got a little fed up last year and took a break from watching what I ate and exercising enough and it caught up with me. I gained about 15 pounds, and I'm not terribly happy about that.
But I'm back in the gym and back on the band wagon so hopefully I'll be conquering the scales again soon. I'm going to endeavor to track what I do better than I have in the past so that I can clearly see that I am making progress. I think that will hope to motivate me over time.
But I'm back in the gym and back on the band wagon so hopefully I'll be conquering the scales again soon. I'm going to endeavor to track what I do better than I have in the past so that I can clearly see that I am making progress. I think that will hope to motivate me over time.
Thursday, February 03, 2011
Shopping Out of Season
My wife and I have found that shopping for stuff out of season is a really great idea. Buy a snow blower in the summer, or halloween costumes in the spring.
Most people are familiar with the idea of buying Christmas stuff right after the holidays because it will be on sale, but there are plenty of other things that you can do that with as well. Buying clothes out of season is also a really good idea. We have saved tons of money by buying our kids clothes a year ahead of time when they are out of season.
So don't be afraid to plan ahead and look for good deals on things you might need down the road.
Most people are familiar with the idea of buying Christmas stuff right after the holidays because it will be on sale, but there are plenty of other things that you can do that with as well. Buying clothes out of season is also a really good idea. We have saved tons of money by buying our kids clothes a year ahead of time when they are out of season.
So don't be afraid to plan ahead and look for good deals on things you might need down the road.
Economic Issues
Not a lot of talk in the media lately about the economic situation. Seems from word of mouth, though, that things are still more down than up. More people have jobs than before but there is still a scarcity out there if you listen to people.
Speaking of which, if anyone knows of any administrative clerical jobs available I know someone that could really use it. One of a couple of people I know who have jobs but really need to move on to something else. Right now that just isn't very easy to do.
Speaking of which, if anyone knows of any administrative clerical jobs available I know someone that could really use it. One of a couple of people I know who have jobs but really need to move on to something else. Right now that just isn't very easy to do.
Knives
I've never been much of a gun guy but I really love to collect knives. I have had survival knives, pocket knives, and utility knives. I think it all started when I was a kid and used to whittle with the pocket knife my Dad gave me. Ever since I have thought them to be a really cool tool to have around, and a fun thing to collect.
My favorite one is probably a survival knife that I have that contains a sparker, and a signaling whistle. Pretty cool although the sparker doesn't have a magnesium block so I have my doubts about how easy it would be to actually get a fire going with it. Still pretty cool though.
My favorite one is probably a survival knife that I have that contains a sparker, and a signaling whistle. Pretty cool although the sparker doesn't have a magnesium block so I have my doubts about how easy it would be to actually get a fire going with it. Still pretty cool though.
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