Matt and I have been "getting fit" in ALL areas of our life. We've been making changes and plan on sticking with them. Financially, physically, and spiritually. My husband and I are both organized people for the most part but how we get organized is very different.
The first area of our life to get organized:
1. Finances
If you have not been through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University it is amazing. He is a New York Times Best Selling Author. You can either do it in your own home with cd's and a workbook or you can go to a conference and hear him speak. Not only is he a brilliant businessman/millionaire, but he's something of a layman marriage councilor and comedian and motivational speaker as well. I get pumped up every time I listen to him. 
Dave's main thought is GETTING DEBT FREE. Can you imagine a life without credit card debt, car payments or a house payment? You could use the money you earn on things you want and not always paying bills!??? The idea is to have more money coming in then going out!
We have totally made over our finances...Matt has spent the last week completely redoing our budget. He's very good at it and makes sure it balances to the penny. I on the other hand am more of a "free-spirit" about it. haha. We are a good match...he's very strict about it and I have never really payed the bills...I make the money...he pays the bills. A budget is a good idea for people like me. I don't really go shopping a lot, not because I don't want to but because I know we have other things we need more....but if their is ever a sale of any kind or if I get in a baking mood....I can definitely get carried away with buying things to make fun foods or getting decorations for the house....those are the things I'm bad about.
Actually our first fight as a married couple was because I went out and bought curtains before I looked to see if their was enough money for food. haha. I saw how big my very first pay check was and figured we'd have plenty of money! I have learned a lot since then!
We decided to make a full menu for the week for each of us. Breakfast lunch and dinner. That way when we go to the store we know exactly what we need and we don't overspend. AND that way Matt can get dinner started before incase I have to work late. Matt being a very "type A/perfectionist" decided to type it up and put it on the fridge.
We also discussed our future and where we want to be financially in 5 years. It's actually pretty amazing what you can accomplish in that amount of time. We plan to be debt free (not including our home) by the time that we are 33 years old. Which is amazing. That free's up so many years without debt!!!!!!! We plan on buying our dream home around age 35 ( with a very large downpayment). We toured our dream home a few years ago when we were looking for our first home. It was a model home with a large kitchen with an island and a medial room for Matt. Around that time I plan on drastically decreasing how much time I work. Until then I of course would love to stay home but in the long run being debt free will pay off so much and I will be in my children's lives more when they are in elementary school when they are really learning and making decisions on their own etc. Right now Addy is still very little and won't even really remember this time in her life which her mommy was at work. At the same time her daddy is positively effecting her life and she will always have a special relationship with him so I think the decision is a good one.
I think the big thing I'm learning now is how to be content and not always need more. Just because I want something doesn't mean I have to have it now or that I deserve it right now! If I can do it right, save up money and purchase it right out without any debt I need to learn to have patience and do it the right way. This is completely contrary to how society does thinks. Now days people put EVERYTHING on credit cards so they can have it NOW and they end up living chained down by their debt all their life.
We are going to live like no one else now, so that later we can live like few people do...debt free! My parents are now debt free and they are in their mid 50's. They always say how much they wished they would have heard about this and worked towards being debt free as young adult. Its such a good feeling to be secure financially. I want to teach that to my children as they grown and learn about money.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Getting Financially Fit
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This is awesome Katie!! The day you are debt free (besides the house of course) will be a great day!! Justin calls me a money hoarder, I have difficulty spending money. He doesn't though. When I first got a job out of nursing school we used all my paychecks to go toward paying off debt and school loans until it was all paid off. So we've been debt free for over 5 years now. When we buy vehicles, we always pay cash for them too so no car loans either. Because of being debt free God has really blessed us financially, so we've been able to help others when they've needed help. Also, if we had had any debt we would not have been able to, financially, move to South Dakota. God allowed us to save a significant amount of money in the years before the move here... He was preparing the way... because we are needing it now. Our income is very minimal, we take in just enough to live off of, and that's ok, it keeps our focus on what's really important. We don't have cable, we use an antenna, we don't have fancy phones, we have a basic cell phone plan, and we make a menu weekly like ya'll, and save pennies here and there! Those pennies do add up!! Any extra money goes into the boy's college funds and our emergency fund. When debt is no longer a burden over your head, you are free to give more freely, and God will bless you for that! So keep on and you will do it! This is a great goal!! :)
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