We're DEBT-FREE!

Just like they yell on the Dave Ramsey show..."WE'RE DEBT FREE!!!!!!!!!!"

We were waiting for one more reimbursement check to come in. When it arrived, Husband emailed me at work and asked, "Do you want to be present when I push the button, or would you rather I just do it now?" I responded: "Do it now and email me the second it's done." Ten minutes later, I had an email with a screenshot and a ton of exclamation points. We were DEBT-FREE!

Truly, this felt like it would never come. My first debt blog post was in October of 2013. The list has changed as we have added some items to our debt (a bedroom renovation, a new air conditioner, and a new vehicle, to name a few).  And it's ALL GONE.

1. Establish an emergency fund of $1000 CHECK
2. Pay off Loan #1 - car. GOAL: Paid off by September 2013. CHECK
3. Pay off Loan #2 - credit card. GOAL: Paid off by Christmas 2013 CHECK
4. Pay off Loan #3 - other car. GOAL: Paid off by end of school year, 2014 by end of summer, 2014 by February 2015 CHECK
5. Pay off renovation - GOAL: Paid off by end of summer, 2015 CHECK
6. Pay off Big Blue - GOAL: February 2016  CHECK
7. Pay off LAST LOAN - Undergrad. GOAL: Paid off by August 2016  October 2016 January 2017  CHECK CHECK CHECK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As exciting as this is (very), this was rung 2 in a long ladder of climbing, if we want to stick with Dave Ramsey's plan. Here are the steps:

1. Establish an emergency fund of $1000
2. Pay off all non-mortgage debt using the debt snowball method
3. Save 3-6 months' expenses
4. Fund retirement
5. Fund children's college funds
6. Pay off your home early
7. Build wealth and give

This means we don't just get to keep all we aren't spending on debt in our checking account for spending. It means we keep spending it...only THIS TIME, we are spending on our own savings account. It's going to be SO AWESOME!

We are doing one very un-Dave Ramsey-ish thing in celebration, however. When our 10th anniversary rolled around 3 years ago, we decided not to take the 10-year-anniversary trip we had been planning to take, and instead, save it for when we were out of debt. Welp, that's now! We are heading to Singapore and Indonesia this summer and we could not be more excited! Husband's aunt and uncle are missionaries in Singapore and they will be retiring this November, so this is really our last chance to go visit. We will spend a week with them, and then we will take a ferry across to Indonesia, where my cousin is a missionary. We will be the first family she's had in her twelve years there! We'll spend a week at Telunas, and then we will head back. Aside from the flights (which we actually got a pretty good deal on), this will be a pretty economical trip. We are staying with family so our lodging costs are covered. We will need to pay for food and some touristy-type things, but it really should be pretty affordable. And, at this point, 2/3rds of the trip is paid for, so just a little more saving, and we will have it. Then we will be gung-ho for baby step 3!

Salad-In-A-Jar...

I recently attended  a Salad-In-A-Jar Party. Did you know that was a thing? It's like a 31 Party or a Norwex Party or a LuLaRoe Party. Except it's way faster, way less expensive, and what you get is actually very practical, as you are going to eat it that week. Here's how it works:

• Every person commits to bringing 5 empty mason jars and 3 toppings. I brought cucs (seeded and sliced), cherry tomatoes, and chicken. (The host provides greens.)
• Set up your table so your hearty veggies are at one end and your leaves are at the other, with the "wetter" veggies in the middle. Here's a great graphic for how to design your table.

• Begin at the end with the hearty veggies and fill until your jar is about half full. Then stuff with greens.
• You are done and so is lunch for the next five days!

A few observations:

• This was fun and super fast. I told Husband I'd be about two hours (because that's how long 31/Norwex/LuLaRoe last) and I was done in 45. I would have been done sooner if I hadn't stayed around to chat.
• I really loved that the host picked DARK GREEN GREENS. I really hate Iceberg, and though I can tolerate Romaine, Spinach is my go-to. So I was happy.
• SOME people put dressing in their jars first. I chose not to for a number of reasons:
1. I was afraid it would make my salad soggy.
2. It meant I had to commit right then to the type of dressing I wanted, which I was not prepared to do.
3. I don't use much dressing and I'm not sure I could get the dressing to come out with the salad very well without a spatula, which I don't keep at school.

• Next time, I will not fill the toppings up to the halfway mark as I did in the first two in the picture above. The second salad from the right looked like this when I dumped it:

It looked like this when I was done and I should have stopped several bites beforehand...because it was too big for one meal.

I've had three so far and my favorite has been what I'm calling an Asian chicken salad. It's the one in the middle of my picture up top and it contained:

• broccoli
• celery
• chicken
• oranges
• grapes
• golden raisins
• sunflower seeds
• slivered almonds

I paired with Annie's Shiitake Dressing (to which I added some honey because it was too salty for me) and it was AMAZING! I mean it. I'm totally making this one again!

And maybe the best part was getting to spend time with new friends. The four women on the left (including me) all met last year when our kids were in the girl in the plaid's kindergarten class together. It was super fun getting build salads together :)

One Left...

I am so excited to announce that WE PAID OFF BIG BLUE! We took the kids with us to the bank and officially paid our second-to-last loan. It was wonderful!

1. Establish an emergency fund of $1000 CHECK
2. Pay off Loan #1 - car. GOAL: Paid off by September 2013. CHECK
3. Pay off Loan #2 - credit card. GOAL: Paid off by Christmas 2013 CHECK
4. Pay off Loan #3 - other car. GOAL: Paid off by end of school year, 2014 by end of summer, 2014 by February 2015 CHECK
5. Pay off renovation - GOAL: Paid off by end of summer, 2015 CHECK
6. Pay off Big Blue - GOAL: February 2016
7. Pay off LAST LOAN - Undergrad. GOAL: Paid off by August 2016 May 2016 October 2016

AND (some more great news), we thought we knew what we owed on the rest of our student loan, but it was actually about $1000 LESS than what we thought! We are still keeping our goal at October 2016 to help build space for things that spring up.

In addition, we have three trips to take between now and the end of summer. The first is a quick spring break trip to Omaha, the second is our family vaycay to Alabama (which I am SO excited about), and the third is a business trip of Husband's that I get to tag along for. We have been saving for all of these, so we are hopeful we won't have to dip into debt-money much for these.

Another Goal Down...

So...it's 2016. It's still early, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say 2016 is going to be the year we FINALLY conquer debt.

In November, my car bit the dust. Obviously, buying a new one was not part of our financial plan. In fact, our financial plan was looking like this:

1. Establish an emergency fund of $1000 CHECK
2. Pay off Loan #1 - car. GOAL: Paid off by September 2013. CHECK
3. Pay off Loan #2 - credit card. GOAL: Paid off by Christmas 2013 CHECK
4. Pay off Loan #3 - other car. GOAL: Paid off by end of school year, 2014 by end of summer, 2014 by February 2015 CHECK
5. Pay off renovation - GOAL: Paid off by end of summer, 2015 CHECK
6. Pay off LAST LOAN - Undergrad. GOAL: Paid off by August 2016 May 2016

Buying Big Blue delayed #6. That sucked. But, what was really cool was that we were able to pay half down and had a plan to pay it off in 6 months. I am happy to report that the 6 month timetable has shrunk to four and we will have Big Blue paid off by the end of this month!

So technically, the list looks like this:

1. Establish an emergency fund of $1000 CHECK
2. Pay off Loan #1 - car. GOAL: Paid off by September 2013. CHECK
3. Pay off Loan #2 - credit card. GOAL: Paid off by Christmas 2013 CHECK
4. Pay off Loan #3 - other car. GOAL: Paid off by end of school year, 2014 by end of summer, 2014 by February 2015 CHECK
5. Pay off renovation - GOAL: Paid off by end of summer, 2015 CHECK
6. Pay off Big Blue - GOAL: February 2016
7. Pay off LAST LOAN - Undergrad. GOAL: Paid off by August 2016 May 2016 October 2016

So even though I thought buying Big Blue was really going to set us back, if I look at our original goal of being debt-free by August 2016, we are only talking about a two-month delay. Not bad at all.

Financial Update

2015 has been a year of financial wins so far. In February, we paid off Husband's car. Last month, we paid off our renovation. It was totally exciting, because it meant we only have

one

loan

left.

That's right. Well...it's right if you don't include mortgage, which Dave Ramsey doesn't because that's step 4 or 5. And since Dave doesn't, we don't.

At various times over the last 8 years, we have had anywhere from two to five loans, with a grand total of six. And now? We only have

one

loan

left.

Our original goal was to have this paid off by the end of the coming summer. HOWEVER! We have been able to put so much down this month that we have bumped our date up to the end of the school year! This means that in seven months' time, we should be DONE with this list!

1. Establish an emergency fund of $1000 CHECK
2. Pay off Loan #1 - car. GOAL: Paid off by September 2013. CHECK
3. Pay off Loan #2 - credit card. GOAL: Paid off by Christmas 2013 CHECK
4. Pay off Loan #3 - other car. GOAL: Paid off by end of school year, 2014 by end of summer, 2014 by February 2015 CHECK
5. Pay off renovation - GOAL: Paid off by end of summer, 2015 CHECK
6. Pay off LAST LOAN - Undergrad. GOAL: Paid off by August 2016 May 2016

Now, we have started to look at Step 3 (Step 1: $1K in the bank, Step 2: pay off non-mortgage debt). Step 3 is establishing an emergency fund that covers 3-6 months worth of EXPENSES. So if it cost $2K/mo to live (HA!), you are looking at $6-12K in the bank. I think this is also where sinking funds come in (which is good because I'm pretty sure that one or both of our cars will be giving out right around this point…). Anyway, it's exciting to see progress!

Financial Goals Update

 I know I've blogged before about the awkwardness of sharing personal financial information on the Internet. It's an awakened thing to do face-to-face, so obviously it's awkward online. However, like so many other things, sharing about it seems to help make it real. It helps keep focus. It makes it feel BINDING.

In February, I shared our latest financial victory when I wrote about paying off our car. This month, we scored AGAIN.

To preface, I need to mention Husband's change in employment. (I can't believe this is the first time I'm writing about this. It will get its own post. It has changed our LIVES.) He got a new job and, while he's making about the same amount, the savings in gas and toll alone equal out to be about a 12% raise! Add in cheaper benefits and less wear and tear on the car, and this is a no-brainer. (As if the proximity and increased time at home weren't enough.)

We weren't really sure how everything was going to shake out as we sat down to go through numbers. We knew we were saving on gas and toll (to the tune of $300-400!). We knew we were saving on childcare since it's summertime (almost $900). We knew Husband's last check from his former employer included pay for unused sick days and some bonus money. We were not prepared, however, to be left with almost TRIPLE the amount of money we usually pay down on our debt at the end of each month. We checked and rechecked. Sure enough.

So, for the month of June, we were able to make our largest single-month contribution to debt since we started this journey.

It. Was. AMAZING!

We discussed long and short-term goals and basically came up with a five-year plan. For now, though, we are taking baby steps. We made a few decisions, like the fact that the big gaping hole in our bedroom, which will someday be a bathroom, will remain a big gaping hole for the foreseeable future. We receive five paychecks in the course of the month and we committed to putting the biggest one on debt each month, straight out of the gate. So, with some extra momentum under our belts, we have updated our goals:

1. Establish an emergency fund of $1000 CHECK
2. Pay off Loan #1 - car.GOAL: Paid off by September 2013. CHECK
3. Pay off Loan #2 - credit card. GOAL: Paid off by Christmas 2013 CHECK
4. Pay off Loan #3 - other car. GOAL: Paid off by end of school year, 2014 by end of summer, 2014 by February 2015 CHECK!
5. Pay off renovation - GOAL: Paid off by end of summer, 2015
6. Pay off LAST LOAN - Undergrad. GOAL: Paid off by August 2016

Last year, we had car problems. And bats. Already this summer, Son has been in TWICE for medical procedures. And yesterday we got to drop another $300 on car repairs. We know from experience that things do not always go according to plan. Because of this, we have built in some cushion. If (when) something goes wrong, we will adjust. But we will do everything we can to keep on track. Because if we can stick with this, it means we will be debt-free in just over one year's time.

That BLOWS my mind. We took out our first loan for my car in 2007. We have carried debt around for eight years! What is it going to be like to be debt-FREE?

Bulk Chicken

I tried a new thing this summer - bulk chicken!

I hate to buy meat at the grocery store. It's full of dilemmas. I know the organic, range-fed is best, but do I want to sacrifice that much of my grocery budget on meat that will only feed us for one meal? Or should I settle for the cheaper meat that I know isn't as good for us? How fresh is this? How were the animals who provided it fed? How fresh is this meat? Etc, etc. Frankly, it's exhausting.

We have now twice bought a quarter of a cow. It was a lot of money up front, but we had roasts, steaks, and ground beef in the freezer. It was nice. However, what we found was that we don't eat much ground beef. Tacos is really the only thing we eat on a semi-regular basis that requires ground beef. What we REALLY needed was a freezer full of chicken. I use whole chickens for almost everything, but sometimes I do have to buy chicken breasts at the store. It would be really nice to have lots of those on hand.

So when a friend posted about Zaycon on Facebook, I was interested. I read that I could get 40 lbs of hormone-free, range fed minimally processed chicken breasts for $60. That sounded like a pretty good deal. So I ordered.

"Pick up" was Thursday, June 4th. I received an email reminder the week before and a text message the morning of, reminding me that my pickup time was scheduled for 12:30-1 PM. I also got a text at about 12:15 saying the driver was early. So I headed over to the pickup location...a bowling alley near my house. Strange, but, okay.

Zaycon IMMEDIATELY scored points because I DID NOT HAVE TO GET OUT OF MY CAR. You can see the truck and the line of cars in the picture above. I waited in line, the guy checked my name on a clipboard, and I got my chicken!

I got home, put the kids down for naps, and immediately got ready to start trimming. I lysoled every surface, washed my hands really well, and set to work. There were 16 of these "butterflies" as they are called. I don't know if you can appreciate the size from this picture, but they were SO BIG!

I had watched several Youtube videos on the best ways to trim and divide chicken, so I decided to divide the breasts into cutlets, tenderloins, and breasts. Most of the time, after I had the cutlet and tenderloin separated, I had to cut the breast in half because they were so big! It took me an hour and a half, but by the time I was done, I had 56 breasts, a gallon bag of tenderloins, 2 gallon bags of cutlets, and a quart bag of cuts perfect for chicken fried chicken (which is one of Rick's favorite meals). Throughout the next few days I made up several freezer meals for friends having babies and some for us to just have in the freezer.

We have grilled several times and really enjoyed this delicious chicken. I think this is something I'll definitely be doing again! If you are interested, click here. If you order, I get $5 off my next order! :)

Get Financially Fit: Jr Edition

A year and a half ago, we took Dave Ramsey's financial peace class at church. One of the many, many, many things we learned from this class is that being financially responsible is not inherent. It must be learned and practiced. One of Dave's tips in teaching your children how to manage money well is to pay them, not an allowance, but a "commission" for extra work done. I wrestled with this initially. I want my son to help around the house because he's a benefiting member of the household. He should be a contributor. But Dave does make a distinction between HOUSEHOLD chores, such as keeping your room clean, putting away your laundry, and helping clear the dinner dishes, and EXTRA chores - those that are not a part of the child's daily routine.

We decided to try this at our house. Our son is five, and he is old enough, big enough, and strong enough to help with many things, actually. I was surprised at the number of things he could do once we got the ball rolling on this. The way we got the ball rolling was:

1. We talk to him about money. Just like every kid, when we go to the store, he asks for things. My response is always the same. "No Charlie, that costs extra money." And because my child asks 5 million questions about everything, he's been told many times that one of the reasons Mommy and Daddy go to work is so that we can earn money to pay for things like our house, our cars, our food, his bed, his blankets, his clothes - everything cost money.

2. He does the transactions. When we go to a store, or a restaurant, Charlie talks to the clerk or waitress and we have him handle the money. We give him the correct amount, but he makes the transaction and receives the change. Often, we will give him the coins for his own "money collection."

So by the time he was ready to start doing chores and making commissions, he had a working understanding of money. Dad and I decided ahead of time that we would invite Charlie to help us with our chores at a rate of $.25 per chore. Charlie loves to stop by the donut store on the way to school, so I explained that in order to buy one doughnut, he would have to do three chores to have enough. We started a few weeks ago, and here are some of the chores he's been doing to make his quarter:

-sorting laundry

-putting laundry in the machine/taking laundry out

-putting laundry that isn't his away

-helping empty the dishwasher

-helping load the dishwasher and starting the dishwasher

-helping get gas at the pump

-helping clean out the car

-helping Dad in the yard

-taking out the trash

So far, every time I've suggested he do an extra chore, he's jumped at it. He's even brought along a little stuffed animal to help him a few times. Last night, we decided to total up all the money in his money collection. I saw a used coin sorter for three dollars online, so Rick picked it up and we went about transferring the coins from his baby piggy bank to his big boy piggy bank.

He had quite a bit to begin with… it had $10 in it when he received it, and we have added change here and there. It took quite a long time to sort it all! When I was said and done, his total was:

Not bad at all. And the boy was excited. And Mom and Dad were a little bit excited too.

Money Update

So I haven't blogged about finances in almost a year because, well, it's been rather depressing. Just to spare you all the terrible details (and myself having to remember and rehash it all), here are the high (low?) points:

• Rick's car was slated for payoff by the end of last school year.
• It didn't happen because of car repairs.
• And then we got bats.
• And then we had to rip out the ceiling to get rid of said bats.
• And then we had to redo the ceiling.
• And then, because of the shoddy job the people before us had done on the room in the first place (think compressed sawdust wood, and no insulation), we ended up redoing the entire room. 
• And then my car needed new tires.
• And then Rick's car needed new breaks and a new flusher or something.

And that, as you might guess, has set us back-tracking, and the whole thing has been a long and very discouraging process.

So why did I decide to blog about finances for the first time in a YEAR? Because there is finally something to celebrate and not just more news to shake my head and feel sad about.
HERE IT IS, PEOPLE:

1. Establish an emergency fund of $1000 CHECK
2. Pay off Loan #1 - car.GOAL: Paid off by September 2013. CHECK
3. Pay off Loan #2 - credit card. GOAL: Paid off by Christmas 2013 CHECK
4. Pay off Loan #3 - other car. GOAL: Paid off by end of school year, 2014 by end of summer, 2014 by February 2015 CHECK!

That's right! The car FINALLY got paid off this weekend! WHOO-HOOO! WE NOW OWN BOTH OUR CARS FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2007!

That said, we still have work to do. We have the rest of the reno to fund and we we have Rick's undergrad loan. But now we can start chipping away at those and bring ourselves closer and closer to becoming debt-free!

Product Review: Norwex Kitchen Cloth + Cleaning Paste

How I Heard:
As part of my Norwex Party, I received a ton of free products. Want to see a picture?

I posted this picture in the previous post, but I'm just so excited about it! My favorite time to clean is Saturday mornings. I usually wake before six and it's the perfect time to get things done before anyone else is up. I was extra excited this Saturday because a) I had a new audiobook to start and b) I had all this great Norwex stuff to start putting to use!

What I Used:
I started in the kitchen and decided to tackle the sink with the kitchen cloth and the cleaning paste.

I took a picture of the kitchen before I started but then decided you didn't need to see my counter tops or my sink. Suffice it to say we were gone quite a bit this week and things were piling up! Once I finished rinsing dishes and got everything out of my sink, this is what it looked like:

Application:
Normally, I would wet the surfaces, sprinkle Comet, and let it sit for a few. This time I got my kitchen cloth and my cleaning paste and went to work!

My sink was DISGUSTING. Ordinarily, I'd have to get the scrubber out and scrub, scrub, scrub. And don't get me wrong - it took a little scrubbing. We had eaten syrup at one point and...well, yuck.

Results:
After, perhaps, five minutes, it looked like this:

SPARKLING!

My Take:
I LOVE this thing. I proceeded to use the kitchen cloth to clean my counter tops, stove top, and dining room table. It's like the envirocloth, but the weave is different. It's a bit thinner and much easier to use in the kitchen. I LOVE it. I also loved the cleaning paste. I can't wait until my stove top gets dirtied up so I can use it there, too!

UPDATE:

Right after I posted this, Lucy decided to draw all over the trim with crayon.

Instead of panicking, I grabbed my Norwex kitchen cloth and scrubbed it down. Gone within minutes!

Norwex Party!

This is the box of stuff that arrived at my house today. How? Let me explain...because folks, this is exciting. I love stuff that is free and practical and this was BOTH.

My friend TeRee has started selling Norwex. I was really surprised when she started doing this, mainly because TeRee is EXTREMELY practical and most of these sorts of things are extremely IMpractical...like bags or make-up. It was also surprising because TeRee is NOT the saleswoman-phushy type, and in my experience, people who are successful in this type of business usually are. I was intrigued. So I offered to host a party for her in June. It wasn't very well-attended BUT I did get a free envirocloth, which is the "everything" cloth for Norwex. I started using it on all my surfaces and my floors. And...I loved it.

I should preface with the fact that I HATE doing parties like this. I hate going to them and I had NEVER hosted one. But this was so cool that I decided to do another one in November - just before the holidays, thinking this truly is the PERFECT Christmas gift for those people for whom you never know what to buy. This time, several people came. They watched TeRee USE PERMANENT MARKER on wood flooring and get it up with only the cloth and a touch of elbow grease. They watched her SMEAR BUTTER ALL OVER MY MIRROR and then wipe it up with only some water on a cloth. She TOOK EVERYONE INTO MY DINING ROOM AND FOUND A STAIN ON MY RUG AND GOT IT OUT using the cloth and water.

People placed orders. And, as it turns out, when people place orders, you get free stuff!

This isn't even everything (because I had taken some of it out and used it before I thought to take a picture), but here is the list:
1 Ultra Power Plus™ Laundry Detergent
3 Enviro Cloths
2 Car Cloths
1 Timeless Natural Hand Cleaner
1 Dusting Mitt, blue
2 Body Packs, vintage
1 Naturally Timeless Anti-Gravity Night Cream
1 Enviro Cloth, blue
1 Kitchen Cloth, orchid
1 Window Cloth
1 Container Cleaning Paste
1 Hair Turban  
1 Baby Body Pack
1 Ergonomic Toilet Brush & Holder
 
She also gave me a set of dryer balls because I was the first person to ever host a second party. So I ended up with almost $400 in free stuff.

So super excited to start trying this stuff out!

Project: Picture Canvas

Rick and I don't buy each other Christmas gifts, but every year at Christmas time, when all the sales are going on, we agree to spend between $30-$40 for a canvas picture of the family to go on the wall. Here are the last two we have done:

They are nice, but as I said, $30-$40 a pop ON SALE. So when I saw a BEAUTIFUL picture canvas at my hairstylist's salon of her three children, I commented and her response was, "Yeah, my sister did that for me for like, $11." I asked for details and it seemed simple enough. However, being well aware that my craftiness factor is in the negative numbers, I went into it understanding that I would probably be wasting $11.

Step 1: Gather Materials
16x20 canvas - $7 (with coupon)
Picture, blown up to 16x20 at Copy Max - $1.95
Foam brush - set of 3, $1.29
Mod Podge - free (my mom had it)

Step 2: Trim the Picture
You can pay the copy place to do it, but it cost more than the picture, so I had Rick do it. He has excellent fine-motor skills and a very steady hand.

Step 3: Apply Mod Podge

Cover the surface with a thin layer of mod podge.

Step 4: Apply Picture

Press the picture onto the glue by pulling it tightly and pressing. It took four hands for this. I was planning to wrap it around and glue it, but Rick said the staple gun would be easier. He was right.

Step 5: Apply Top Coat
Brush the top with a coat of Mod Podge.

Final Product:

:(
I was disappointed. The one in the hair salon did NOT look like this. I specifically asked if this was regular paper and she said yes, but I think if I had photo paper, it would have worked much better. Of course, it would have cost a lot more, too.

We went ahead and hung it up in the living room, and you can't tell from certain angles. I am going to look into blowing up an actual picture on photo paper and repeating the process, but I'm guessing that will be quite expensive. This will do for now.

June Money Challenge

We have bats above the ceiling in our attic.  I don't even want to begin to explain the lengths to which we have gone to try to rid ourselves of these RIDICULOUSLY RESILIENT pests, so I will just tell you that they are slowly but surely sucking every. last. dime.  We have already shelled out $800 to have all their entrance areas sealed, but we have to get additional roof work done, and we have to rip out the ceiling and walls in our attic (until recently Lucy's room) so everything can be removed and sterilized.  And THEN, Rick has to rebuild it all.

Awesome.

Upon realizing the situation, we've had to take some rather drastic measures, because, as you know if you've been reading for very long, we are working our tail-ends off to get out of debt, and as we do with everything, we will be paying cash for this venture.  We have cancelled our family vacation (which nearly killed me), we have brought all non-essential outings to a screeching halt, and in short, we have quit spending money that we don't absolutely have to spend.

So last week, I gave myself $89 (because I had $9 leftover from the previous week).  Our regular grocery budget is $80, so that meant I had $9 to spend...period.  I tried to be as conservative as I could with the grocery, but we had Freezer Cooking Night (another post) on Thursday, so I had to spend just about every dime.  So I put the $9 in a jar in the kitchen and set to work making more.  I started listing things around my house that I didn't need anymore on Facebook and slowly started making some money.  By the end of the week, I had enough to take my son, nephew, and self to the movies and to ice cream afterward (with a coupon).  I also had enough to buy a very small Father's Day present for daddy, and thanks to a gift card we saved and drinking water, we were able to eat Father's Day lunch at Red Robin for $1, including tax :)

Lesson?  I CAN DO THIS.  I used to live like this all the time, and then somewhere along the line I got used to spending money.  Not an exorbitant amount, but some.  Now I pretty much have to bring it back to nothing.  I went through my closet (a chore I needed to do anyway) and listed enough clothes and things to bring in $40 yesterday - AWESOME!  Of course I can't do that every week, but Rick is going to go through his closet and I'm going to repeat the process with his stuff.  And he has nice clothes, so I'm hoping those sell as well.

The bat guy comes on the 1st to tear stuff out...

Get Financially Fit: 2014 Goals

Okay - I have (albeit inadvertently) put off writing my financial goals for 2014.  I was reminded of this yesterday when I was asked what I would do with an extra $1000 per month.  I didn't have to think twice - get out of debt faster.

Here were our financial goals starting in September of 2013:

1. Establish an emergency fund of $1000 CHECK
2. Pay off Loan #1 - car.GOAL: Paid off by September 2013. CHECK
3. Pay off Loan #2 - credit card. GOAL: Paid off by Christmas 2013 CHECK
4. Pay off Loan #3 - other car. GOAL: Paid off by end of school year
5. Pay off Loan #4 - student loan.

Dave says that all non-mortgage debt should be payable in two years or less, so by September of 2015, all of this should go bye-bye.  Obviously, the highlighted one is where we are.  Right now, using the debt snowball method, we are able to throw all of what we were paying on my car and the credit card at this debt every month, in addition to our regular car payment.  We also put whatever extra we have at the end of the month 100% toward this debt.  When it all totals out, it's a good chunk of change each month.  We were on track to get it paid off by May...and then, due to some unforeseen expenses and poor planning in December, we weren't able to put the sort of dent into the debt that our budget was supposed to have allowed.  And then in January, both our cars required repairs that totaled $2000. (OHMYGOODNESS I about died.)  We were unable to make our above and beyond debt payment because of this, and as a result, I'm afraid to say it is now highly unlikely we will have Loan #3 paid off by the end of the school year.

I am devastated.  This will be our first big set back since committing to become debt free as soon as possible.  My husband, always the optimist, pointed out that, had this sort of thing happened to our car a year ago, or even six months ago, we would have been crushed.  There would have been no way to squeeze $2000 extra dollars out of our budget to pay for car repairs.  Now, it's not a matter of not having money, just not being able to spend it where we would have liked, and that is a much better problem to have.  Very, very true.

So, the new plan:

1. Establish an emergency fund of $1000 CHECK
2. Pay off Loan #1 - car.GOAL: Paid off by September 2013. CHECK
3. Pay off Loan #2 - credit card. GOAL: Paid off by Christmas 2013 CHECK
4. Pay off Loan #3 - other car. GOAL: Paid off by end of June
5. Pay off Loan #4 - student loan

 For 2014, we want to pay off Rick's car and start paying off those student loans.  We can do it :)

12 Days of Reflection - #9 FPU

 Decision #9 - Enrolling in the Financial Peace University class at church.

I have talked about this several times, but I cannot get over what a huge impact this one little decision has had on our finances, our marriage, and our lives, really.  It might seem dramatic to say it that way, but it's so true.  We have learned so much in these past few months, and not just about money.  I think we will look back in 20 years and call this a turning point for our family.  Details here.

Get FINANCIALLY Fit: Another Goal Down!

In November, we were able to cross another HUGE goal off our list:

1. Establish an emergency fund of $1000 CHECK
2. Pay off Loan #1 - car.  CHECK
3. Pay off Loan #2 - credit card. GOAL: Paid off by Christmas 2013 CHECK

CHECK CHECK CHECK!!!!

It was so exciting to hit SEND on that last payment.  After we did it, we both just looked at each other and grinned like idiots.  When we started, this loan felt MASSIVE, and we didn't think we'd have it paid off until March.  And now, it's gone!  ALL gone!  And the money we were putting toward that monthly is now going toward our next goal:

1. Establish an emergency fund of $1000 CHECK
2. Pay off Loan #1 - car.GOAL: Paid off by September 2013. CHECK
3. Pay off Loan #2 - credit card. GOAL: Paid off by Christmas 2013 CHECK
4. Pay off Loan #3 - other car. GOAL: Paid off by end of school year
5. Pay off Loan #4 - student loan.

The end of the school year, the end of the school year, the end of the school year.  We can do this!  It really is amazing to look back at this list and realize we've accomplished it all in only four months!  We are so thankful - and appropriately so, in this season of Thanksgiving - for this HUGE blessing!

Get FINANCIALLY Fit: Graduation :)

Today was graduation from our Financial Peace University class. 

When we started at the end of August, we had three credit cards (two were paid off, but we still had them open), two cars, and a student loan.  We also had a plan to save money.

And then we took this class and realized we were doing it ALL wrong.  We didn't need to save money, we needed to PAY BACK money!  And thus began our gazelle-intense journey to pay down our debt.  And the same for six other families.  Twelve weeks later:

This is SIX families.  SIX!  I am happy to say that $6,500 of that debt and two of those credit cards were ours!  It doesn't say how many cars were paid off, but if it did, ours would be up there!

Last night, Rick and I sat down and went over our goals again:

1. Establish an emergency fund of $1000 CHECK
2. Pay off Loan #1 - car.  CHECK
3. Pay off Loan #2 - credit card. GOAL: Paid off by Christmas 2013.
4. Pay off Loan #3 - other car.
5. Pay off Loan #4 - student loan.

We have only placed goals next to the loan we are currently working on in an effort to stay severely focused on the baby-step approach, but just for the heck of it, we mapped out what our debt-spending might look like if we kept this intensity up.  It was pretty exciting, and actually had us out of all non-mortgage debt much sooner than we originally anticipated.

And the REALLY great news is that we are going to have Loan #2 paid off by the end of November instead of December!  That means we jump an entire month ahead!  YAAAAAAAAAAAY!

As we celebrated our successes over breakfast with our class this morning, we all shared what was most significant about this experience.  It was neat to hear what everyone learned - things like how to shop for insurance, how to manage the debt snowball, how understand and communicate with your spouse about money, but my favorite moment was when my husband shared something like this:

We have always talked about money, struggled with money, tried to be responsible with money, but for the first time in our marriage, we have had a single, common financial goal that we are both 100% committed to, and it's working.  We are already seeing the results, and we have a plan.

This is our book, our diploma, and the $10 gift card we won!

In closing, if you have the opportunity to take this class, TAKE IT!  Even if you aren't struggling financially, I promise you you won't regret it.  You will learn something, even if feels more like marriage counseling than a finance class.  It costs to enroll, but we ended up taking the class for free, because the church reimburses all who graduate from the class at 50%, and Rick's work will reimburse all employees who take the class at 50%!  You really can't beat that.

Congrats to all our graduates!

Get FINANCIALLY Fit: Cash Flow

The first part of managing your household budget is analyzing and establishing cash flow.  We have always been pretty responsible spenders, but this...well, this is crazy.

It all starts with income.  And income is tricky.  I have had a full-time job since January of 2007.  My husband has worked various jobs since then - salesman, banker, worship leader, and finally, this summer, engineer.  We always referred to our income prior to this summer as a 1.25 income.  Mine was the 1, and his job at the church was the .25.  Now, I suppose we are a 2.25 income.  It seems like that would mean that we could continue living on the 1.25 income and use the remaining 1 to pay off debt.  But as it turns out, getting a job is a lot like getting older - the more privileges, the more responsibility.

• Child in preschool = $$$
• 120 miles round trip to work in gas = $$$
• 120 miles round trip in toll = $$$

And, I begged for some more grocery money.  My $50/week budget including diapers was killing me.  We upped it.  End result? Extra monthly expenditures.  And when you are maintaining a cash flow plan, you are watching every. single. penny.  It starts with a form that looks something like this:

From Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University

Only this is half of the first page.  Yep...it literally tracks every single dollar you spend.  October was our first month, and I think we redid this form at least three times.  Part of it was because Rick worked lots of overtime this month, and the other part was because unexpected expenses kept popping up.  We had to pay for pest control.  We had to pay more than we budgeted for a cab when we flew to Texas for Rick's cousin's wedding.  We got a bill from Charlie's doctor.  Etc, etc.  The way the formula works is this: you end with $0.  If you do all the math and end with $214, you need to go back and spend that $214 somewhere.  Ideally, you are applying it to debt, or if you're out of debt, to savings, or if you have significant savings, allocated savings.

One of the big keys to making this work is buying with cash.  We are cash people and always have been, so that part wasn't much of an adjustment.  The other big key is balancing your checkbook against the form and making sure all the numbers match up.  That is a HUGE adjustment.  I was once very diligent about my checkbook, but as it turns out, it was one of many things that went bye-bye when I had kids. :/

Anyway, we are excited!  We were able to put a respectable amount on debt this month, which is GREAT, because we have a list of goals:

1. Establish an emergency fund of $1000 CHECK
2. Pay off Loan #1.  CHECK
3. Pay off Loan #5. GOAL: Paid off by Christmas 2013.

It's happening!

Get FINANCIALLY Fit: Getting Started

This summer, my big focus was weight loss.  Check.  Now, our big focus is our finances.

To be honest, I'm a little lot uncomfortable blogging about money.  Even if you know me, (and depending on our level of friendship), it's unlikely I have talked to you about our money situation, other than the off-handed "we don't have any" sort of comment.  I sometimes feel more comfortable writing about something than I do talking about it, but in this case, both are equally uncomfortable.  How much money we have or don't have really isn't anyone else's business, and spouting it off can make the listener feel awkward.  In most cases, I would therefore decide not to discuss it.  However, one of the best things about blogging is accountability.  If I lay out a weight loss plan, say I'm going to stick to it, and then don't, I have just shown my entire readership (yes, all four of you) that I am full of hot air.  However, if I say I'm going to do it, I am constantly mindful of the fact that these four people know I said I was going to do it.

It's an accountability thing. That said, I am going to try to be as specifically vague as possible.

In a nutshell, our financial situation is this: we got married debt-free and lived that way for four years.  In the last three, we have added two cars, a house, a (third and fourth) college degree program, and (thanks to an unforeseen loss of income) a credit card.  Translation?  FIVE loans.

This is so depressing.  I hate thinking about how we went from completely self-sufficient to having FIVE loans in three short years.  Miraculously, our debt total is relatively low, especially considering the national averages.  (Have you looked at those?  They are scary.)  So in July, Rick and I sat down and mapped out a finance plan - a way to pay off our debt and save money.

And then we started Financial Peace University at church, and realized our plan, which we thought was so brilliant, was actually crap.  We scrapped it and went with Dave Ramsey's actual plan.  The bottom line is this:

Tell your money where to go instead of wondering where it went.

Sounds simple enough, right?  Um...wrong.  It's a TON of work.  It's sitting down EVERY WEEK, and some weeks more than once, and going through ALL of it.  It's tracking every single dollar that comes in and designating where it goes before it ever gets to you.  It is a RIDICULOUS amount of maintenance.  And discipline.

But we have a few things in our favor:

1. We aren't starting with that much debt, really.
2. I am the cheapest person alive.  Recently an acquaintance posted online asking for input on which diaper bag she should buy.  The cheapest one was $88 and the most expensive one was a Coach.  She was serious.  I can't imagine spending $88 on a bag.  I wanted to shake her shoulders and say "It's a BAG! Do you realize it's a bag? It's going to hold poopy clothes and bottles are going to spill in it and there will be cheerio-powder in the bottom.  YOU ARE CRAZY?!"  But then I remembered I am the cheapest person alive.  Maybe I'm the crazy one.
3. We don't spend money on stuff we don't need, and for the stuff we do need, we usually get it 2nd hand.  This is a fact that some people might try to keep on the DL, but not me.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE this.  Reduce, reuse, recycle applies to clothes, kitchen appliances, shoes, electronics, and pretty much everything else!
4. We are both committed to getting out of debt ASAP and beginning to build wealth.

We have only been in the class four weeks, but we have already crossed a few things off our list and set some goals:

1. Establish an emergency fund of $1000 We already had this in place, but I like to write things down on my to-do list even if I've already done them because it looks like I accomplished more.
2. Pay off Loan #1.  Yep!  We officially own my car as of this month!
3. Pay off Loan #5. GOAL: Paid off by Christmas 2013.

It's going to happen, people!