After the budget, having a meal plan was key to us keeping on track financially (and helped me finally lose the baby weight).
One "resolution" I made early in our marriage was to make a weekly menu plan. Early on we have very, very limited cash flow as Andrew was a full time student. To be able to eat within our limited budget and avoid going out to eat we HAD to have a plan for meals, most of which were canned soup, mac and cheese, and cheap frozen pizza. My early meal plans were written on the back of old envelopes with corresponding shopping list on the back. It was crude, but it was effective. It kept us within our budget and never left us wondering "what will we have for supper."
With the exception of my severe morning sickness with my pregnancies causing me to be very food averse and not setting a plan, we've always functioned in some way, shape or form with a food plan. I've tried several methods. I won't bore you with them all, a simple google search would give you a lot more good advice by people that have mastered the process. I will tell you that currently we use a 4 column weekly calendar (purchased at Promises, for you local folks). In the 4th column I write our events for that day and from that info I can plan the other 3 meals in the columns (which are always subject to being changed around if needed). Then I can make an accurate shopping list. I keep a printed shopping list on the fridge so I can just put a check mark by an item if I realize we are almost out of toilet paper (minimizing the need to make a late night Walmart run).
All this has huge benefits: 1) I never wonder "what's for dinner", 2) we always have the food we need on hand (and recently that food's been pretty healthy), 3) and we stay in our budget.
Sound like too much work?? For a while I used E-mealz. E-mealz is a service that sends you a weekly menu schedule (you can chose from several different plans) along with a shopping list. The work is done for you. It was fabulous!!! They had supper yummy and easy recipes, and I didn't have to spend time doing the menu planning and shopping list. Since becoming a mostly-at-home mom I actually enjoy the time I spend making menus and trying new recipes. I'll probably use e-mealz again at some point when I get tired of all the planning.
Just call me the woman with a plan.
*****
Exciting news...on Feb 3 at about 3-4 pm CST we'll be standing in the Financial Peace plaza lobby talking to Dave doing our debt free scream. You can listen live to the show on his website daveramsey.com, listen to the podcast later, or find the local station if Dave is carried in your area. We also get to meet him.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Our "Stupid Tax"
I've decided to continue on the financial theme since I've gotten a lot of feedback that people want to know more about our journey...so today I'll tell you how we totally blew a few things along the way (just in case you were considering elevating us to superhero status).
Today I put in a request to be able to do our debt free scream from the Financial Peace lobby (if you aren't familiar with Dave Ramsey, that won't make any sense). I haven't heard back yet, but part of the request process was to add up our total debt that we paid off. I actually hadn't done that yet. We had approached the process in steps (paying off the smallest ones first), and the only number I knew for sure is we had paid off 23K in the past 12-13 months. So I got out my paper where we listed our debts, added it all up and it was...
$85,700 in debt paid off in 8.5 years.
If we had looked at that number from the start it would have seemed insurmountable. If we hadn't had those debts, we could have literally bought our house plus made improvements with cash! That doesn't include the interest that we paid.
But we made some stupid choices, especially pre-2007, that made our debt a little higher.
Any good financial person that helps you get out of debt will tell you to first, "don't take on any more debt." Dave tells you that, but for a few key (and big ticket items) we just didn't listen. That's what Dave calls stupid tax...knowing better, yet taking on more debt and the price you pay is stupid tax. I'll give your our big three.
1. This is absolutely the MOST painful when we look back. It still takes our breath away to think that if we had made a better choice, we would have had more like $59,000 to pay off. When we first got married Andrew was going to school at Eastern Illinois...FOR FREE. Tuition +$1000 a month from his GI Bill and IL veterans grant. But we were young and in love and got this crazy idea to move to Iowa and Andrew transfer to Northwestern, which was not free. So that lovely wrong choice (at least financially) was about $27,000 in debt (plus what we paid out of pocket, I just refuse to add up that total cost). We loved our time and friends we met there but that was a huge cost.
2. Once Andrew was out of school and we were both working full time we bought a brand new Vibe. It was 0% interest (we reasoned), and we would keep it until our kids learned to drive and that would be their first car. Great idea, but it was severely flawed. Mainly because 2 years later when our family had grown and we didn't think that 600 mile trips in the Vibe with 2 kids sounded like fun, we had to trade it in for an older minivan, and took a huge depreciation for that 2 years of newness (which wears off pretty quick). We had actually paid off the car before that time (by then we just wanted to be out of debt), but we still paid the tax of losing about half the value of the car, which is typical with new cars. If we had paid cash for a slightly older Vibe, we wouldn't have lost as much in depreciation and would have paid off our debt sooner.
3. When we moved to IL, we had made a profit on our house. We should have used that to pay down a big chunk on stupid tax #1 and we would have been out of debt about 2 years sooner. Instead we rushed into buying a house. Don't get me wrong, we like our house, but we probably would not have chosen this house if we were taking a bit more time. We also would have been out of debt sooner and probably had an even big down payment on the house.
So those of you starting the journey...learn from our mistakes. From this point on, don't take on any more debt! We would have had about $33,000 (plus interest) less debt to pay on and have gotten out of debt 2 years earlier (okay, maybe several years earlier if we hadn't done #1...)
Today I put in a request to be able to do our debt free scream from the Financial Peace lobby (if you aren't familiar with Dave Ramsey, that won't make any sense). I haven't heard back yet, but part of the request process was to add up our total debt that we paid off. I actually hadn't done that yet. We had approached the process in steps (paying off the smallest ones first), and the only number I knew for sure is we had paid off 23K in the past 12-13 months. So I got out my paper where we listed our debts, added it all up and it was...
$85,700 in debt paid off in 8.5 years.
If we had looked at that number from the start it would have seemed insurmountable. If we hadn't had those debts, we could have literally bought our house plus made improvements with cash! That doesn't include the interest that we paid.
But we made some stupid choices, especially pre-2007, that made our debt a little higher.
Any good financial person that helps you get out of debt will tell you to first, "don't take on any more debt." Dave tells you that, but for a few key (and big ticket items) we just didn't listen. That's what Dave calls stupid tax...knowing better, yet taking on more debt and the price you pay is stupid tax. I'll give your our big three.
1. This is absolutely the MOST painful when we look back. It still takes our breath away to think that if we had made a better choice, we would have had more like $59,000 to pay off. When we first got married Andrew was going to school at Eastern Illinois...FOR FREE. Tuition +$1000 a month from his GI Bill and IL veterans grant. But we were young and in love and got this crazy idea to move to Iowa and Andrew transfer to Northwestern, which was not free. So that lovely wrong choice (at least financially) was about $27,000 in debt (plus what we paid out of pocket, I just refuse to add up that total cost). We loved our time and friends we met there but that was a huge cost.
2. Once Andrew was out of school and we were both working full time we bought a brand new Vibe. It was 0% interest (we reasoned), and we would keep it until our kids learned to drive and that would be their first car. Great idea, but it was severely flawed. Mainly because 2 years later when our family had grown and we didn't think that 600 mile trips in the Vibe with 2 kids sounded like fun, we had to trade it in for an older minivan, and took a huge depreciation for that 2 years of newness (which wears off pretty quick). We had actually paid off the car before that time (by then we just wanted to be out of debt), but we still paid the tax of losing about half the value of the car, which is typical with new cars. If we had paid cash for a slightly older Vibe, we wouldn't have lost as much in depreciation and would have paid off our debt sooner.
3. When we moved to IL, we had made a profit on our house. We should have used that to pay down a big chunk on stupid tax #1 and we would have been out of debt about 2 years sooner. Instead we rushed into buying a house. Don't get me wrong, we like our house, but we probably would not have chosen this house if we were taking a bit more time. We also would have been out of debt sooner and probably had an even big down payment on the house.
So those of you starting the journey...learn from our mistakes. From this point on, don't take on any more debt! We would have had about $33,000 (plus interest) less debt to pay on and have gotten out of debt 2 years earlier (okay, maybe several years earlier if we hadn't done #1...)
Monday, January 2, 2012
Best debt weapon
I promised I'd share the #1 thing that was vital for us to pay off our debt. It's the B word...
BUDGET.
I can't imagine not living on a budget. Most of what we've learned about budgeting we've learned either from Dave Ramsey or Crown Financial Ministries. We've always TRIED to live on a budget since we were first married. And we made lots of mistakes, especially early on.
Our 3 big mistakes:
A general, vague budget: not looking specifically at what income was actually going to come in that month and what expenses were actually there. We would just use general percentages of what our money "should" go to...and then wonder why we'd be way over in one category and way under in another. We weren't adequately gauging what we really needed in different categories. We never fought much about money since we had a shared goal, but the disagreements usually had to do with being off in certain categories which was actually generally due to poor budget planning and not overspending.
Not budgeting enough in key areas, especially GROCERIES. I primarily do the grocery shopping and for a long, long, long time I always thought I could do it on a ridiculously low amount, then be frustrated that we went over. It was almost always our budget buster, and not because I went crazy in the candy aisle, but because we weren't budgeting enough for the things we needed. Clothing is the other area we often underbudgeted (people are going to need new underwear, it's just a fact).
Being surprised by expenses that were no surprise. Guess what? Christmas comes in December every year. We usually want to take a vacation to see the family in the summer. The car will need new tires. Early on we didn't budget for these things. When we got better at budgeting in 2007 we started creating "sinking funds". We'd put money in our savings earmarked for things that came around once a year (or more): car repairs, Christmas, vacation, car license plates. Once we mastered this, very few would have have "surprises" that set us back.
Budgeting is trial and error. If you've never done it before and you are going to start, be prepared that the first few months may be rough. It may cause some "discussion" in your relationship. But when you plan on where you money is going and follow through, it can have some big benefits.
Our big 3 benefits:
It brought us unity. We had a goal we were mutually working on (and recently included the kids). We spent the first of the month sitting down and looking at income and expenses. We were unified in purpose. Now, I'm not saying every "budget meeting" was pleasant. We had disagreements. But in the end we'd compromise, look at the end goal, and agree on what we needed to do. This was the first month EVER since we've been married that our goal wasn't to pay off debt with any extra income. It was strange. Before we sat down it felt like we were going to have a ton of money to just spend. But we set some savings goals that we agreed on. It will help us stay unified and not become consumer driven.
It brought us freedom. Freedom? Finding out you can only spend $x.00 on clothing brings freedom? Absolutely. Okay, at first it feels restrictive, especially if certain budget areas are low. For most of our journey things like clothing and entertainment have been very low. But there was a freedom in knowing how much I had saved up to spend (usually in my cash envelope) when going shopping with a friend. I didn't have to justify it, that was the money for clothing.
It ultimately brought us to our goal. If we hadn't budgeted we never would have known how much extra we had to put on debt. We wouldn't have known where we could cut costs. Some months we may have made too big of a debt payment, not remembering that we had to buy license plates. Our budget was our monthly road map...and kept us from driving off a cliff!
Dave Ramsey and Crown Financial both have great tools to help you in setting up a budget. They both have forms and some online tools. We're both computer type folks so we used (and continue to use) a spreadsheet to track our budget, but pen and paper or computer programs can work as well. Whether single or married, taking the time to do a budget on a consistent basis is the best thing you can do for your financial future.
Happy budgeting.
BUDGET.
I can't imagine not living on a budget. Most of what we've learned about budgeting we've learned either from Dave Ramsey or Crown Financial Ministries. We've always TRIED to live on a budget since we were first married. And we made lots of mistakes, especially early on.
Our 3 big mistakes:
A general, vague budget: not looking specifically at what income was actually going to come in that month and what expenses were actually there. We would just use general percentages of what our money "should" go to...and then wonder why we'd be way over in one category and way under in another. We weren't adequately gauging what we really needed in different categories. We never fought much about money since we had a shared goal, but the disagreements usually had to do with being off in certain categories which was actually generally due to poor budget planning and not overspending.
Not budgeting enough in key areas, especially GROCERIES. I primarily do the grocery shopping and for a long, long, long time I always thought I could do it on a ridiculously low amount, then be frustrated that we went over. It was almost always our budget buster, and not because I went crazy in the candy aisle, but because we weren't budgeting enough for the things we needed. Clothing is the other area we often underbudgeted (people are going to need new underwear, it's just a fact).
Being surprised by expenses that were no surprise. Guess what? Christmas comes in December every year. We usually want to take a vacation to see the family in the summer. The car will need new tires. Early on we didn't budget for these things. When we got better at budgeting in 2007 we started creating "sinking funds". We'd put money in our savings earmarked for things that came around once a year (or more): car repairs, Christmas, vacation, car license plates. Once we mastered this, very few would have have "surprises" that set us back.
Budgeting is trial and error. If you've never done it before and you are going to start, be prepared that the first few months may be rough. It may cause some "discussion" in your relationship. But when you plan on where you money is going and follow through, it can have some big benefits.
Our big 3 benefits:
It brought us unity. We had a goal we were mutually working on (and recently included the kids). We spent the first of the month sitting down and looking at income and expenses. We were unified in purpose. Now, I'm not saying every "budget meeting" was pleasant. We had disagreements. But in the end we'd compromise, look at the end goal, and agree on what we needed to do. This was the first month EVER since we've been married that our goal wasn't to pay off debt with any extra income. It was strange. Before we sat down it felt like we were going to have a ton of money to just spend. But we set some savings goals that we agreed on. It will help us stay unified and not become consumer driven.
It brought us freedom. Freedom? Finding out you can only spend $x.00 on clothing brings freedom? Absolutely. Okay, at first it feels restrictive, especially if certain budget areas are low. For most of our journey things like clothing and entertainment have been very low. But there was a freedom in knowing how much I had saved up to spend (usually in my cash envelope) when going shopping with a friend. I didn't have to justify it, that was the money for clothing.
It ultimately brought us to our goal. If we hadn't budgeted we never would have known how much extra we had to put on debt. We wouldn't have known where we could cut costs. Some months we may have made too big of a debt payment, not remembering that we had to buy license plates. Our budget was our monthly road map...and kept us from driving off a cliff!
Dave Ramsey and Crown Financial both have great tools to help you in setting up a budget. They both have forms and some online tools. We're both computer type folks so we used (and continue to use) a spreadsheet to track our budget, but pen and paper or computer programs can work as well. Whether single or married, taking the time to do a budget on a consistent basis is the best thing you can do for your financial future.
Happy budgeting.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
New Year. New You?
Today is the day...I'm sure most of you have received emails, sale ads, or other reminders that today is the day we reinvent ourselves. "New Year. New You!". Wow, sounds great. If I just buy this thing or that thing or join this plan or that plan...then I too can be all I want to be. Guess what...you will still be you and I will still be me. I'm not against resolutions. I think there are yearly times when its good to reflect on the past year and look at the areas where we'd like to grow. Maybe its New Years. Maybe its a birthday or anniversary. Maybe it's a random day in March.
If you reflect on the past year and realize "hey, I want to improve _____________", then the way to really go about it is to set a goal. A resolution is generally vague "I want to do better financially." A goal is more specific "I want to get out of debt in 2012." I've often read about goals and how to do them, but until last New Year's Day I never really followed through correctly. Last year, I set three goals for the year and ended up meeting them all: 1. Run in the Warrior Dash in June, 2. Pay off all our debt by the end of the year, and 3. Weigh 170 by the end of the year (yikes, I just put my weight out there). Using the following guidelines made a huge difference. None of this information is original, but it really does work.
1. Write it down. Yes, you. If you really want to achieve something, write it down. I always skipped this step. I would think "I know what the goal is, I don't need to write it down", or I would write it tucked away in my journal. In 2011 I wrote my three goals on a piece of paper and posted them above my desk at work. I had a regular reminder of what I was working for. When I wanted to skip a run, I realized that would really make the Warrior Dash much harder. If I wanted to go shopping just because, I'd acknowledge that would only set us further back in paying off debt.
2. Make SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely. Saying "I want to lose weight" is too vague. How do you know when you will get there? "I want to lose 10 lbs." That's better, but by when? 10 years? 10 days? Which brings me to realistic and attainable: it needs to be a realistic and healthy (mentally and physically) goal.
3. Break big goals down into smaller goals. Our goal of paying off our debt was big. Felt nearly unattainable. But we broke it down month by month. We'd look at our budget and how much each of us would be working that month and what expenses we would have. We'd set a goal for how much we wanted to have extra to put on debt at the end of the month.
4. Reassess and give yourself some grace. Life happens. You may set a goal to run a 5K in May, only to break your leg in April. You have to realize that even when giving everything you have toward a goal, life can come up and kick you in the teeth and set you back. We easily could have had a major medical expense or other emergency what would have made our debt payoff impossible this past year. At the same time, don't allow yourself to come up with every excuse in the book why you can't reach your goal. If you want to achieve something, spend more time figuring out how you can achieve it than how you will have obstacles in your way
5. Not every goal has to be "big" or life changing. Last year I did set 3 big goals...and they were life changing. In the Warrior Dash, I overcame my fear of heights and found I could do more physically than I ever thought I could. With the process of paying off debt it changed something in my spirit and in my family with how we view money and debt. This year, I'm scaling it back. I set two goals, both of which I hope will be beneficial to me and my family, but don't require the intensity of the past year (frankly after all that, I need a nap!)
My goals:
1. Read 1 non fiction and 1 fiction book every month.
2. Have one date night a month with my husband (we had very few while we were getting out of debt due to our focus on all our extra money going to debt)
Don't those sound fun? Goals don't need to be unenjoyable. In fact, if you set a goal and it makes you groan, cross it off and start over! I'm serious. Life is too precious to spend time doing things you really don't want to do just because you think it will make you better. It doesn't mean every step of the journey will be enjoyable, but find the most pleasant road to the destination.
To those of you who don't set goals or resolutions...my hat is off to you. You probably show a lot more maturity and self-acceptance than I do!
This month most of my blogs will be directed at those trying to make physical improvements in their life, but with the response to my debt payoff blog, my next blog will be on the #1 thing we found to be most important in our debt payoff.
So I don't really want a "new me", I just want to make sure I'm doing everything I can to enjoy and use the life God has given me.
If you reflect on the past year and realize "hey, I want to improve _____________", then the way to really go about it is to set a goal. A resolution is generally vague "I want to do better financially." A goal is more specific "I want to get out of debt in 2012." I've often read about goals and how to do them, but until last New Year's Day I never really followed through correctly. Last year, I set three goals for the year and ended up meeting them all: 1. Run in the Warrior Dash in June, 2. Pay off all our debt by the end of the year, and 3. Weigh 170 by the end of the year (yikes, I just put my weight out there). Using the following guidelines made a huge difference. None of this information is original, but it really does work.
1. Write it down. Yes, you. If you really want to achieve something, write it down. I always skipped this step. I would think "I know what the goal is, I don't need to write it down", or I would write it tucked away in my journal. In 2011 I wrote my three goals on a piece of paper and posted them above my desk at work. I had a regular reminder of what I was working for. When I wanted to skip a run, I realized that would really make the Warrior Dash much harder. If I wanted to go shopping just because, I'd acknowledge that would only set us further back in paying off debt.
2. Make SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely. Saying "I want to lose weight" is too vague. How do you know when you will get there? "I want to lose 10 lbs." That's better, but by when? 10 years? 10 days? Which brings me to realistic and attainable: it needs to be a realistic and healthy (mentally and physically) goal.
3. Break big goals down into smaller goals. Our goal of paying off our debt was big. Felt nearly unattainable. But we broke it down month by month. We'd look at our budget and how much each of us would be working that month and what expenses we would have. We'd set a goal for how much we wanted to have extra to put on debt at the end of the month.
4. Reassess and give yourself some grace. Life happens. You may set a goal to run a 5K in May, only to break your leg in April. You have to realize that even when giving everything you have toward a goal, life can come up and kick you in the teeth and set you back. We easily could have had a major medical expense or other emergency what would have made our debt payoff impossible this past year. At the same time, don't allow yourself to come up with every excuse in the book why you can't reach your goal. If you want to achieve something, spend more time figuring out how you can achieve it than how you will have obstacles in your way
5. Not every goal has to be "big" or life changing. Last year I did set 3 big goals...and they were life changing. In the Warrior Dash, I overcame my fear of heights and found I could do more physically than I ever thought I could. With the process of paying off debt it changed something in my spirit and in my family with how we view money and debt. This year, I'm scaling it back. I set two goals, both of which I hope will be beneficial to me and my family, but don't require the intensity of the past year (frankly after all that, I need a nap!)
My goals:
1. Read 1 non fiction and 1 fiction book every month.
2. Have one date night a month with my husband (we had very few while we were getting out of debt due to our focus on all our extra money going to debt)
Don't those sound fun? Goals don't need to be unenjoyable. In fact, if you set a goal and it makes you groan, cross it off and start over! I'm serious. Life is too precious to spend time doing things you really don't want to do just because you think it will make you better. It doesn't mean every step of the journey will be enjoyable, but find the most pleasant road to the destination.
To those of you who don't set goals or resolutions...my hat is off to you. You probably show a lot more maturity and self-acceptance than I do!
This month most of my blogs will be directed at those trying to make physical improvements in their life, but with the response to my debt payoff blog, my next blog will be on the #1 thing we found to be most important in our debt payoff.
So I don't really want a "new me", I just want to make sure I'm doing everything I can to enjoy and use the life God has given me.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
FREEEEEEDOM!
There are certain anticipated events in your life that you think will bring instant enlightenment. For example, I always imagined that as soon as I stepped foot into another country that a light would flash and it would be glorious. When I stepped off the plane in Taipei in 2000, no light, no instant enlightenment, just jet lag. But my month there did change me.
Paying off our last debt was something we had anticipated for 8.5 years of marriage. We had a general idea that we wanted to be debt free when we got married, but we had both made choices that found us in the red. So we started off our marriage by only spending what we had in cash on our honeymoon...and by the end we were eating bowl apetites from Target in our hotel room. But we were on the same page, but we didn't have a very good playbook. We were wanting to live debt free, but our teacher had been a culture obsessed with debt and credit.
In 2007 we read Dave Ramsey's My Total Money Makeover and something clicked. We knew of Dave's basic principles, but this was the playbook. This was how to make it happen. We were excited. We were on board. We were both working full time and had a plan to pay our debt off in two years.
A month later Andrew lost his job. That was the moment we cut up the last credit card we had been holding onto "in case of emergency". Luckily we saw quickly that in times of emergency, a credit card is the last way we needed to pay for things. Instead, we slashed our budget to one income and trusted God to provide, and He did. Two months later, Andrew had another job and we were on our way until...
We were expecting #2. Paying off debt was on hold. We moved to IL. I became a stay at home mom with two kids (never my plan). But we were committed and did not dig ourselves any further into debt. That even meant making the decision to trade in a newer paid for vehicle for an older mini van when we decided we needed the space. Once I started working some we did start to make some progress. All that time we had lived on a budget. We had lived within or below our means. And the biggest benefit is that we were so unified in what we were doing with our money that it made our marriage stronger.
Last December we set a goal. To pay off the last loan...Andrew's student loan. There was about 23K left. It felt impossible. But we wrote it down. We lived on as frugal of a budget as we could handle (I'm the spender, so it was toughest on me). Any extra money we got went to Iowa Student Loan. In August we decided I would be a mostly at home mama, so it looked like our debt payoff wouldn't happen in 2011.
But we stuck with it. God provided some extra hours just when we needed it, and on Dec. 28, 2011 we became debt free (except our home...so some of you may not say truly debt free, but Dave lets us call ourselves that). It has meant driving older cars (both of ours will celebrate their 10th birthday in a few days), not letting Annika take dance, very few date nights, and no new computers for Andrew. But it has been worth it.
Unlike stepping into Taiwan, hitting the "submit payment" button brought instant tears of joy. The kids running around singing "we're dead free" (perhaps a fitting misunderstanding) was icing on the cake. They have no idea what it means, but its something we hope to teach them. The moment of the payoff was glorious, but the journey has made our family stronger and more unified.
*******************
In January, I'm going to do a series of posts on fitness...since many of you may have fitness/wellness goals and its an area I have a bit of knowledge in. But thinking ahead, I was thinking of doing Finances in February. I'm no expert, but I'd share some ways that we made budgeting and saving money work in our house.
Paying off our last debt was something we had anticipated for 8.5 years of marriage. We had a general idea that we wanted to be debt free when we got married, but we had both made choices that found us in the red. So we started off our marriage by only spending what we had in cash on our honeymoon...and by the end we were eating bowl apetites from Target in our hotel room. But we were on the same page, but we didn't have a very good playbook. We were wanting to live debt free, but our teacher had been a culture obsessed with debt and credit.
In 2007 we read Dave Ramsey's My Total Money Makeover and something clicked. We knew of Dave's basic principles, but this was the playbook. This was how to make it happen. We were excited. We were on board. We were both working full time and had a plan to pay our debt off in two years.
A month later Andrew lost his job. That was the moment we cut up the last credit card we had been holding onto "in case of emergency". Luckily we saw quickly that in times of emergency, a credit card is the last way we needed to pay for things. Instead, we slashed our budget to one income and trusted God to provide, and He did. Two months later, Andrew had another job and we were on our way until...
We were expecting #2. Paying off debt was on hold. We moved to IL. I became a stay at home mom with two kids (never my plan). But we were committed and did not dig ourselves any further into debt. That even meant making the decision to trade in a newer paid for vehicle for an older mini van when we decided we needed the space. Once I started working some we did start to make some progress. All that time we had lived on a budget. We had lived within or below our means. And the biggest benefit is that we were so unified in what we were doing with our money that it made our marriage stronger.
Last December we set a goal. To pay off the last loan...Andrew's student loan. There was about 23K left. It felt impossible. But we wrote it down. We lived on as frugal of a budget as we could handle (I'm the spender, so it was toughest on me). Any extra money we got went to Iowa Student Loan. In August we decided I would be a mostly at home mama, so it looked like our debt payoff wouldn't happen in 2011.
But we stuck with it. God provided some extra hours just when we needed it, and on Dec. 28, 2011 we became debt free (except our home...so some of you may not say truly debt free, but Dave lets us call ourselves that). It has meant driving older cars (both of ours will celebrate their 10th birthday in a few days), not letting Annika take dance, very few date nights, and no new computers for Andrew. But it has been worth it.
Unlike stepping into Taiwan, hitting the "submit payment" button brought instant tears of joy. The kids running around singing "we're dead free" (perhaps a fitting misunderstanding) was icing on the cake. They have no idea what it means, but its something we hope to teach them. The moment of the payoff was glorious, but the journey has made our family stronger and more unified.
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In January, I'm going to do a series of posts on fitness...since many of you may have fitness/wellness goals and its an area I have a bit of knowledge in. But thinking ahead, I was thinking of doing Finances in February. I'm no expert, but I'd share some ways that we made budgeting and saving money work in our house.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Finding time
Oh busyness, how I have a love/hate relationship with thee! I really do like being busy, I feel more accomplished. But then there comes that point of diminishing return where I am so busy that nothing gets done well. And for most of us, the last month of the year becomes just that month. Food to prepare. Presents to wrap. Programs to attend. Family to visit. Exercise to do. Exercise? EXERCISE?
The number one reason most people give for not exercising is "I don't have the time." Now I'm the first to admit that different stages of life lend themselves to having more time (and energy) to engaging in exercise. The time I had when I was single or even newly married was more abundant than it is now with two small children. But for me, exercise takes a priority. How do I find the time? Well, to me, it's like "how do you find the time to shower?" Hygiene is important, so I always find time to shower. Exercise is important, so I always find time to exercise. It isn't always as much time as I would like, but my emphasis is on keeping it a habit so when more time does creep up, I am ready. The biggest key is to set time aside and keep it for yourself. Exercise time is me time...that's why I don't really like to exercise when the kids are around. Inevitably there is a fight that erupts, a toy that needs fixed, or an accident in the bathroom. So ideally I exercise in the morning (not often this time of year), in the evening, or when Andrew is home. But sometimes I do need to pop in an exercise DVD and hope the kids will either join me or need minimal assistance for 30 minutes.
If something is important to you, find the time and set it aside. Do a time budget. Find that block of 15-30 minutes you can have to yourself. Now caution: you cannot find time to do everything you would like to do. It is important to me to exercise, read, socialize, scrapbook...the list goes on. But I cannot be and do everything everyday. I have to place priority on what is most important. Sometimes exercise takes a back seat, but usually it is right up there.
Here's a quick full-body workout you can complete at home with as much (or little) time as you have. Repeat 3 x for just over a 20 minute workout. Add in 10 minutes of walking at another time during the day and you'll have 30 healthy minutes devoted to you!
March, Jog, or Jump in place (1 minute)
1 minute (wall, knees, or regular)
1 minute punches (keep feet jogging if you want to keep your heart rate up)
1 minute squats
1 minute front kicks (add alternating punches to keep heart rate up)
1 minute crunches
March, Jog, or Jump in place (1 minute)
Start by just getting in the habit of exercise. If it already is a habit but you are crunched for time, do this short (or find a similar) workout to get you through until more time opens up.
The number one reason most people give for not exercising is "I don't have the time." Now I'm the first to admit that different stages of life lend themselves to having more time (and energy) to engaging in exercise. The time I had when I was single or even newly married was more abundant than it is now with two small children. But for me, exercise takes a priority. How do I find the time? Well, to me, it's like "how do you find the time to shower?" Hygiene is important, so I always find time to shower. Exercise is important, so I always find time to exercise. It isn't always as much time as I would like, but my emphasis is on keeping it a habit so when more time does creep up, I am ready. The biggest key is to set time aside and keep it for yourself. Exercise time is me time...that's why I don't really like to exercise when the kids are around. Inevitably there is a fight that erupts, a toy that needs fixed, or an accident in the bathroom. So ideally I exercise in the morning (not often this time of year), in the evening, or when Andrew is home. But sometimes I do need to pop in an exercise DVD and hope the kids will either join me or need minimal assistance for 30 minutes.
If something is important to you, find the time and set it aside. Do a time budget. Find that block of 15-30 minutes you can have to yourself. Now caution: you cannot find time to do everything you would like to do. It is important to me to exercise, read, socialize, scrapbook...the list goes on. But I cannot be and do everything everyday. I have to place priority on what is most important. Sometimes exercise takes a back seat, but usually it is right up there.
Here's a quick full-body workout you can complete at home with as much (or little) time as you have. Repeat 3 x for just over a 20 minute workout. Add in 10 minutes of walking at another time during the day and you'll have 30 healthy minutes devoted to you!
March, Jog, or Jump in place (1 minute)
1 minute (wall, knees, or regular)
1 minute punches (keep feet jogging if you want to keep your heart rate up)
1 minute squats
1 minute front kicks (add alternating punches to keep heart rate up)
1 minute crunches
March, Jog, or Jump in place (1 minute)
Start by just getting in the habit of exercise. If it already is a habit but you are crunched for time, do this short (or find a similar) workout to get you through until more time opens up.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Happy Holidays
Ah! That time of year. The time of year when we debate what we should call this time of year. Merry Christmas? Happy Holiday? Happy Holy Days? Oh-crud, winter-is-here? I know a lot of my friends fall into "it needs to be Merry Christmas" camp...and that's okay. And I don't mind throwing out the occasional Merry Christmas, it's even on our greeting cards this year, but I'm kinda more of a Happy Holidays kind of gal. Now before some of you get all upset with me, hear me out.
1. Let's be honest, from mid November until January 2, we are in a season of holidays. Even if you do just celebrate the "big three" (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's), that's a lot of celebrating. Especially if you throw in every family gathering, every work party, every church celebration, every...well, you get the idea. There's a lot of holiday to go around.
2. There's a lot of behavior associated with "Christmas" that really doesn't do anything to celebrate Christ. Pepper spraying people for an XBox? Kind of discouraged on the sermon on the mount (you know, that whole if a man asks you for your cloak deal). Giving people lavish gifts we can't (or shouldn't) afford...also shows a bit of where our treasure is (more earth than heaven).
3. Even though I try to embrace it, there is a bit of the historical cynic in me that just screams "Jesus wasn't even born on Dec 25! The angels bringing the message looked more like my husband and less like my daughter..." All kinds of inaccuracies that have become part of the Christian side of Christmas time. I do think the nativity story...Christ willingly becoming one of us to save us, is a story I want to teach my children. We even do a nativity scene and talk about it (Annika asked when we got done where the cross was...I was blessed that already she knows the cross is the ultimate reason we celebrate Christ). But I'm not really a "Jesus is the reason for the season" person. The holiday originally began as an alternative to a very secular, very immoral Roman holiday. Christmas isn't something the Bible calls us to observe, we've made it that way. I'm not opposed to the nativity story at Christmas, it's a great time when a lot of ears are open, but the message of Jesus needs to go far beyond one day. God ordained several different feasts and festivals, especially during Old Testament times, but He never instructed us to make sure we read the nativity story under a Christmas tree after digging into a plate of cookies. None of those bad things, we just don't need to make mandatory what wasn't made mandatory.
I do love Jesus. I do think our passion needs to be directed into sharing the message of hope He brings, not in assuming everyone who says Happy Holidays is trying to be Politically Correct or is a heathen. I'm not saying don't celebrate Christmas, not at all. I think it is a perfect time to take time to spend time with family, reflect on what a gift God did give (cliche, I know) even if it did occur historically at a different time of the year, and to use our resources to help the poor, needy, oppressed, orphaned, and widowed.
So embrace your favorite greeting. Relish in your favorite tradition. Spend time with family and friends. Embrace those around you who have lost a loved one and will struggle this time of year. And know that God is not changed by what we do or how we celebrate Him. He does not need us to use "correct terminology" to be glorified, He doesn't need us. We need Him.
1. Let's be honest, from mid November until January 2, we are in a season of holidays. Even if you do just celebrate the "big three" (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's), that's a lot of celebrating. Especially if you throw in every family gathering, every work party, every church celebration, every...well, you get the idea. There's a lot of holiday to go around.
2. There's a lot of behavior associated with "Christmas" that really doesn't do anything to celebrate Christ. Pepper spraying people for an XBox? Kind of discouraged on the sermon on the mount (you know, that whole if a man asks you for your cloak deal). Giving people lavish gifts we can't (or shouldn't) afford...also shows a bit of where our treasure is (more earth than heaven).
3. Even though I try to embrace it, there is a bit of the historical cynic in me that just screams "Jesus wasn't even born on Dec 25! The angels bringing the message looked more like my husband and less like my daughter..." All kinds of inaccuracies that have become part of the Christian side of Christmas time. I do think the nativity story...Christ willingly becoming one of us to save us, is a story I want to teach my children. We even do a nativity scene and talk about it (Annika asked when we got done where the cross was...I was blessed that already she knows the cross is the ultimate reason we celebrate Christ). But I'm not really a "Jesus is the reason for the season" person. The holiday originally began as an alternative to a very secular, very immoral Roman holiday. Christmas isn't something the Bible calls us to observe, we've made it that way. I'm not opposed to the nativity story at Christmas, it's a great time when a lot of ears are open, but the message of Jesus needs to go far beyond one day. God ordained several different feasts and festivals, especially during Old Testament times, but He never instructed us to make sure we read the nativity story under a Christmas tree after digging into a plate of cookies. None of those bad things, we just don't need to make mandatory what wasn't made mandatory.
I do love Jesus. I do think our passion needs to be directed into sharing the message of hope He brings, not in assuming everyone who says Happy Holidays is trying to be Politically Correct or is a heathen. I'm not saying don't celebrate Christmas, not at all. I think it is a perfect time to take time to spend time with family, reflect on what a gift God did give (cliche, I know) even if it did occur historically at a different time of the year, and to use our resources to help the poor, needy, oppressed, orphaned, and widowed.
So embrace your favorite greeting. Relish in your favorite tradition. Spend time with family and friends. Embrace those around you who have lost a loved one and will struggle this time of year. And know that God is not changed by what we do or how we celebrate Him. He does not need us to use "correct terminology" to be glorified, He doesn't need us. We need Him.
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