Two years ago, I sat down and wrote out goals, not resolutions, for myself and our family. One super long post was about our financial goals for our family and future. In that post, I told about many opportunities we had to learn how to live debt free, how to be better stewards of our money, etc. Since then, we have continued learning. By no means are we experts and we make a ton of mistakes, but it is great to reflect back and keep learning, so we can press forward. For 2012, I wanted to write a list of updated goals and update what has been accomplished/changed since 2010. Below is a quick look back:
Highlights from "Financial Goals of 2010" Post
Our Debt List January 2009:
1. Brent's truck (Used 2008 Tax Return to pay off 1 year early.)
2. My Jeep
3. 2nd Mortgage
4. Small student loan
5. New AC Unit *added in June 2009 (Used utility bill savings and 2009 Tax Return to pay off 4 months early.)
If you would like to read the full post, then go here.
We had big plans of knocking those debts out, BUT the LORD had something else in mind, which I didn't mind one bit...A BABY! One month after writing that post, we found out we were pregnant with our second child. What a blessing! Maybe for some families and their budgets, a pregnancy would not rock their boat, but it certainly did ours. With Cole, I was terribly sick and it was two to three times as worse with Claire. There was a couple weeks I couldn't even get out of bed or shower. Gross, right. We were eating out like crazy and Brent was doing his best with the grocery shopping. But by no means was I going to get him to start couponing. I didn't even have it down yet. So that to say savings/paying off debt in 2010, came to a screeching halt.
January 2010 Debt List:
1. My Jeep
2. 2nd Mortgage
3. Small student loan
December 2010 Debt List:
1. My Jeep
2. 2nd Mortgage
3. Small student loan
4. Credit Card
5. Baby Medical Bills
2010 was not a good year for us, financially speaking. I was totally stressed. The credit card kept growing and it was out of control. At this point, Brent made the money, but I paid everything. He had no involvement. That needed to change and thankfully it has! Two brains are better then one for sure and checks and balances are definitely needed. We need to be on the same page of where we are and where we want to go. In September 2011, we finally split up the duties and now both know where we are with everything. Of course, the person that I am and loving numbers, I do make intense spreadsheets, so that is my main role. :)
In October 2011, I bought Dave Ramsey's book Total Money Makeover with some of my birthday money. I like those type of books. But I also don't read fast or alot. I read the whole book, cover to cover, in THREE days! I couldn't put it down! I wanted to get started right away. I posted about being debt free two years ago, and we were derailed (with a GREAT thing), but it was time to get back on track.
Let me just say, the last few months of 2011, have been a whirlwind and The LORD has done great things for us!
In September 2011, just after Labor Day, we put our house on the market. The market IS slow, good for buyers, not so much for sellers. We didn't know what to expect. Houses in our neighborhood, if in good condition, were selling pretty well. We listed it fast, just before we were going to be out of town for two weeks, knowing that most showings happen in the first two weeks. Well, we didn't have ONE. After 7 weeks, of NOT ONE showing, we had two on back to back days. The second was our buyer! WOW! My realtor kept telling us that it only takes one buyer, not a bunch of showing!
I am telling you that because it is part of our debt free journey. Like I said, not one showing for 7 weeks. Well, the weekend before the showings is when I read Total Money Makeover and we decided to start his methods of the baby steps and paying off our debts. We began to pray over what we should do about our house. Should we stay put? Keep it on the market? Buy another house right away? OR live in an apartment and save money up for a down payment? So many questions. The LORD answered some of those questions very quickly. We SHOULD sell our house. We had a contract by the very next Friday.
The next question to buy or not to buy took a little longer. We had a target neighborhood and there was not much available in our price range or needed a TON of work. It was looking like an apartment was the answer because we did not want to settle. We started looking at apartments and came to find out that it was almost impossible to find one in our price range (less then our current mortgage to allow for savings), so our search for a home continued. Still waiting on some clear confirmation from the LORD.
Long story short, some funds were offered to us to help with a down payment and it was the PERFECT amount (to the penny) needed for earnest money and the percentage down required. And a house became available with the space we needed, investor property (under market value $$), and move-in ready. New carpet, new roof and new siding. Big and expensive projects already completed for us. A huge relief to Brent. All things that our old house needed desperately. It was not in the target neighborhood but super close to some of our greatest friends here in town.
Selling our house was a huge springboard to getting back on track financially. Dave Ramsey tells you NOT to include your primary mortgage in your debt list, BUT any second mortgages, which we had on our old house. And both mortgages had horrible interest rates of 6.5% and 8%. The amount of money we were throwing away in interest was insane. And it was the vast majority of our total debt. If we could get rid of that, then we would cut YEARS off our debt list and be living debt free WAY sooner then ever hoped.
October 2011 Debt List:
1. Baby Medical Bills
2. Credit Card (Used some savings to pay off, as part of Baby Step One, in October 2011.)
3. Jeep (paid off January 4, 2011, 18 months early, with escrow refund.)
4. Student Loan
5. Second Mortgage (Paid off by selling house, December 12, 2011.)
Added in December 2011:
6. New Credit Card for Moving Expenses (Used bonus and profits from the sell of our house to pay off, December 27, 2011.)
7. Lowe's Credit for new appliances (No Interest)
January 2012 Debt List:
1. Baby Medical Bills (must call, bill not received in a few months)
2. Student Loan
3. Lowe's Credit for new appliances (No Interest)
So in the last couple of months, three of our biggest debts have been PAID! God is SO good! We are still expecting more reimbursements from the sell of our old home, which will also be put to paying off the rest of our debts.
Also, in November, I started a part-time job at our church to help pay for some of the moving costs that would occur and also speed up the process of paying off our debt. I know that Lord's hand has been all over this process of selling our home, purchasing a new one, opening the door to a job that my kids get to go with me to and love, and getting our debt snowball rolling FAST!
Thank you LORD! You amaze me EVERY day in a new way.
Showing posts with label goals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label goals. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
Monday, February 08, 2010
Physical Goals for 2010
So, my last post was to just simply be "Goals for 2010" but it ended up being all about financial goals I had for our family. BUT I do have other goals to, so this may take a post or two more.
Here are some Physical Goals I have for myself in 2010:
-Eat breakfast EVERY day. That may be a no brainer for some of you, but it isn't for me. I give Cole his breakfast and usually don't make anything for myself. I know my body would be better off and I would feel better throughout the day if I started my morning off with a healthy breakfast too.
-Get at LEAST 3 days of exercise in per week. Right now, I don't have one day marked to get a small workout in.
-To WALK to the pool this summer. We pretty much go every weekday to the pool in the summer and I have walked there before so I know I can do it, plus I won't get my car all wet afterwards.
-To learn more about how our bodies process foods, which foods are good for what reasons, and to eat more of them.
What are some yummy things you eat for breakfast? What types of exercises are great to do in your home during nap time?
Here are some Physical Goals I have for myself in 2010:
-Eat breakfast EVERY day. That may be a no brainer for some of you, but it isn't for me. I give Cole his breakfast and usually don't make anything for myself. I know my body would be better off and I would feel better throughout the day if I started my morning off with a healthy breakfast too.
-Get at LEAST 3 days of exercise in per week. Right now, I don't have one day marked to get a small workout in.
-To WALK to the pool this summer. We pretty much go every weekday to the pool in the summer and I have walked there before so I know I can do it, plus I won't get my car all wet afterwards.
-To learn more about how our bodies process foods, which foods are good for what reasons, and to eat more of them.
What are some yummy things you eat for breakfast? What types of exercises are great to do in your home during nap time?
Saturday, February 06, 2010
Financial Goals for 2010
I know, it's mid-February. Most people make their goals/resolutions at the first of January. But my friend, Teresa, shared with me that it really helped her accomplish her goals by actually writing them down, so then at the end of the year she could see her progress. I decided to take her advice and write down my goals. I am a number cruncher, so I do have a TON of financial goals for our family.
In September 2008, Brent's company offered a one day seminar about living debt free. Most of the material was from Dave Ramsey. I had never read any of his books before that and still haven't read his popular ones, but at Christmas that year, I picked up a small $5 quick question and answer book. If you have ever taken the Financial Peace University class, then you will know what was taught in the seminar we attended. Of course, it was not the entire class, that would have taken weeks, but it gave us a great place to start and a new way to think about our finances.
Let me just say that Dave Ramsey has a lot of great info and can teach you many things about money, BUT it is NOT the end all be all. The Lord has so much more to teach us about the money He has blessed us with then Dave Ramsey, but I also believe that the Lord provides us teaching tools to use. All I am saying is we aren't Ramsey fan-attics.
Ever since we were married, I kept a written budget in Excel, but we did NOT live buy it. It was just good to know it was there. I wish we had known what we know now and really understood how to live by a budget. Oh we could definitely pay all our bills, but where did the rest of our money go?? To tell you the truth, I don't know. We both worked and lived in an apartment. We definitely had less expenses then we do now. Isn't that crazy! I remember feeling like we were scraping by sometimes and now I think how silly and uneducated I was about keeping budgets and finances.
The Lord had several things in place for me to learn how to be a better steward of His money. In the summer of 2006, we bought our first home. I wasn't working at the time. I was a little nervous, but at the same time we bought our home with the hope of only living on one income once we had children. It was still unknown if that would happen but it was a possibility.
I ended up getting a job at a printing company through a temp service as a administrative assistant/operator. Not my ideal job. BUT it opened the door for me into their accounting department, which I would never have found if it weren't for the admin position. The accounting position was great! I was in charge of two cities the company I worked for had stores in and it taught me a great deal about keeping up with spreadsheets for which bills have been paid, not paying a bill twice in one month, accruing for things coming up in the future, but don't want your account to by hit all in one month, etc. I was able to then come home and make similar spreadsheets for our personal finances. Yes, I love spreadsheets!
Another thing the Lord gave me an opportunity for was the seminar I mentioned earlier. It was filled with great knowledge and a ton of COMMON SENSE. I kept thinking, "hello! why didn't I think of that??" Things like, saving for Christmas all year because you know it is coming on December 25th EVERY year. It is not a surprise people, but I was living like it was and I am sure I am not alone in that. The Snowball Method was also introduced to me. At the time, it was still all a bit confusing, since it was only a short class, but finally I got it after reading this from Simple Mom. I set up our plan and it is working great. It is great motivation to have it all written down with a potential finish line!
The last thing that I learned was about Mvelopes. Have you heard of it? Neither had I until again my friend Teresa told me about it. It is great. I used Quicken before and it was okay, but it was missing something for me. I was able to make budgets and categorize my spending, but I had to input all my own data from my bank. I did it every Friday so I would not get behind but there were always duplicate transactions making me out of balance. It took much longer then I wanted it too. Also, every month started fresh. I didn't like that because if I was over in my "eating out" fund, then I needed that to carry over and be seen so I would hopefully not eat out as much next month. I wanted to budget in for Christmas and home owner's dues but how? We started using real envelopes after the seminar for gas and groceries and any leftover went into an envelope for Christmas. But there weren't many times we have any leftover, so that meant we weren't saving for Christmas. I liked that cash envelopes for awhile. It really helped me have the physical cash with me and stick to that amount of money in our spending. I saw a difference in a our bank account. But after about a year, we were both tired of having to go up to the cashier at the gas station to pay for our cash or for Brent not to have any of the grocery money when he needed to stop by the store on the way to work.
That's when I was introduced to Mvelopes, mid-2009. It gave me a way to do all those things. It does have a fee, but it is only a few dollars a month and totally worth it to us because we are finally saving money the way we hoped, my transactions are uploaded automatically, and my months do not start fresh and show me if I have over spent in specific areas.
Here is where we were at the beginning of 2009:
1. Brent's truck
2. My Jeep
3. 2nd Mortgage
4. Small student loan
5. New AC Unit (added in June)
The AC was expected but not at the same time. It was old, no doubt, but we were definitely hoping to get a few more years out of it since we had not saved up for a new one. Overall, it was a good thing to get a new one. Our house was not cooling and our bills were doubling. Since the replacement, our bills have gone down and we have been able to put the extra money toward paying for the AC.
With our 2008 tax refund, we were able to pay off Brent's truck a year early! One down, 4 to go.
Debt Goals for 2010
In August 2009, we started our Snowball Method. First on our list was the AC unit. We had one year of "No payments, No interest" that started in June. So we had a deadline. I was not paying that interest. All the "extra" money we had went to paying off the AC and I am happy to say that once we get our 2009 tax refund, we will pay it off 4 months early.
Following some of the rules of the Snowball Method, the next one my list is my Jeep. I will take what I am currently paying each month and add it to what I was paying for the AC.
-My goal is to pay it off by the end on 2010, which will be 3 years early.
Next on my list is our 2nd Mortgage. We didn't have a down payment when we bought our home, so at the time they were doing 80/20 loans for people like us. Basically, two mortgages. The catch with the 20% loan is that it is a "Balloon Loan," which means that it is financed over 30 years BUT you owe the balance of the loan at year 15. It also has a higher interest rate then our other loan. After paying off the Jeep, I will take my normal monthly payment, plus the amount I was paying for the Jeep.
-My goal is to pay it off in 3.5 years from today, which would be 8 years before the "Balloon Loan" deadline.
Last on the list is the small student loan. Currently, we are not making payments since Brent and his mom took out the loans together and she is still paying her portion. Of course, if she finishes paying her part off, then we will have to back off a little on the second mortgage payments.
-It is hard to make a goal for this so early, but my hope is to pay off the student loan in about 6 months.
Savings Goals for 2010:
As you can see, most of our "extra" money is going to pay off our debt. I would love to live debt free. We would still have our regular mortgage but hopefully one day we would not even have that. Think of the freedom we would have to be debt free. Think of the different ways we could use the money we have to do more of God's work. I want that freedom.
-My goal is to save any extras we have leftover in categories like eating out, etc. to go into our "Emergency Fund." I would like it to be fully funded with at least 6 months of expenses. As of now, we are only 10% there.
-I would like to be 15-20% complete by the end of 2010.
Other Goals:
-To stay more in budget with eating out. It is something we both love to do with friends and family and just because, but it is one of the places we overspend consistently. I think one solution or way to help us is to go back to a physical cash envelope for our eating out money. If we don't have any cash in it, then we don't eat out. It is so EASY to swipe a debit card and not think twice about.
-To eat more at home but cook less often. Recently, I had my first "Baking/Freezing Days" and I would like to have more of them. I think it would definitely help us eat more at home knowing that we have pre-made, healthy food in our freezer. I would love to see the potential savings it could bring to our budget.
Okay, I think I am about done. This could potentially be my longest post ever.
Do you make goals for your finances? Do you use any of the links I shared? What programs do you use?
In September 2008, Brent's company offered a one day seminar about living debt free. Most of the material was from Dave Ramsey. I had never read any of his books before that and still haven't read his popular ones, but at Christmas that year, I picked up a small $5 quick question and answer book. If you have ever taken the Financial Peace University class, then you will know what was taught in the seminar we attended. Of course, it was not the entire class, that would have taken weeks, but it gave us a great place to start and a new way to think about our finances.
Let me just say that Dave Ramsey has a lot of great info and can teach you many things about money, BUT it is NOT the end all be all. The Lord has so much more to teach us about the money He has blessed us with then Dave Ramsey, but I also believe that the Lord provides us teaching tools to use. All I am saying is we aren't Ramsey fan-attics.
Ever since we were married, I kept a written budget in Excel, but we did NOT live buy it. It was just good to know it was there. I wish we had known what we know now and really understood how to live by a budget. Oh we could definitely pay all our bills, but where did the rest of our money go?? To tell you the truth, I don't know. We both worked and lived in an apartment. We definitely had less expenses then we do now. Isn't that crazy! I remember feeling like we were scraping by sometimes and now I think how silly and uneducated I was about keeping budgets and finances.
The Lord had several things in place for me to learn how to be a better steward of His money. In the summer of 2006, we bought our first home. I wasn't working at the time. I was a little nervous, but at the same time we bought our home with the hope of only living on one income once we had children. It was still unknown if that would happen but it was a possibility.
I ended up getting a job at a printing company through a temp service as a administrative assistant/operator. Not my ideal job. BUT it opened the door for me into their accounting department, which I would never have found if it weren't for the admin position. The accounting position was great! I was in charge of two cities the company I worked for had stores in and it taught me a great deal about keeping up with spreadsheets for which bills have been paid, not paying a bill twice in one month, accruing for things coming up in the future, but don't want your account to by hit all in one month, etc. I was able to then come home and make similar spreadsheets for our personal finances. Yes, I love spreadsheets!
Another thing the Lord gave me an opportunity for was the seminar I mentioned earlier. It was filled with great knowledge and a ton of COMMON SENSE. I kept thinking, "hello! why didn't I think of that??" Things like, saving for Christmas all year because you know it is coming on December 25th EVERY year. It is not a surprise people, but I was living like it was and I am sure I am not alone in that. The Snowball Method was also introduced to me. At the time, it was still all a bit confusing, since it was only a short class, but finally I got it after reading this from Simple Mom. I set up our plan and it is working great. It is great motivation to have it all written down with a potential finish line!
The last thing that I learned was about Mvelopes. Have you heard of it? Neither had I until again my friend Teresa told me about it. It is great. I used Quicken before and it was okay, but it was missing something for me. I was able to make budgets and categorize my spending, but I had to input all my own data from my bank. I did it every Friday so I would not get behind but there were always duplicate transactions making me out of balance. It took much longer then I wanted it too. Also, every month started fresh. I didn't like that because if I was over in my "eating out" fund, then I needed that to carry over and be seen so I would hopefully not eat out as much next month. I wanted to budget in for Christmas and home owner's dues but how? We started using real envelopes after the seminar for gas and groceries and any leftover went into an envelope for Christmas. But there weren't many times we have any leftover, so that meant we weren't saving for Christmas. I liked that cash envelopes for awhile. It really helped me have the physical cash with me and stick to that amount of money in our spending. I saw a difference in a our bank account. But after about a year, we were both tired of having to go up to the cashier at the gas station to pay for our cash or for Brent not to have any of the grocery money when he needed to stop by the store on the way to work.
That's when I was introduced to Mvelopes, mid-2009. It gave me a way to do all those things. It does have a fee, but it is only a few dollars a month and totally worth it to us because we are finally saving money the way we hoped, my transactions are uploaded automatically, and my months do not start fresh and show me if I have over spent in specific areas.
Here is where we were at the beginning of 2009:
1. Brent's truck
2. My Jeep
3. 2nd Mortgage
4. Small student loan
5. New AC Unit (added in June)
The AC was expected but not at the same time. It was old, no doubt, but we were definitely hoping to get a few more years out of it since we had not saved up for a new one. Overall, it was a good thing to get a new one. Our house was not cooling and our bills were doubling. Since the replacement, our bills have gone down and we have been able to put the extra money toward paying for the AC.
With our 2008 tax refund, we were able to pay off Brent's truck a year early! One down, 4 to go.
Debt Goals for 2010
In August 2009, we started our Snowball Method. First on our list was the AC unit. We had one year of "No payments, No interest" that started in June. So we had a deadline. I was not paying that interest. All the "extra" money we had went to paying off the AC and I am happy to say that once we get our 2009 tax refund, we will pay it off 4 months early.
Following some of the rules of the Snowball Method, the next one my list is my Jeep. I will take what I am currently paying each month and add it to what I was paying for the AC.
-My goal is to pay it off by the end on 2010, which will be 3 years early.
Next on my list is our 2nd Mortgage. We didn't have a down payment when we bought our home, so at the time they were doing 80/20 loans for people like us. Basically, two mortgages. The catch with the 20% loan is that it is a "Balloon Loan," which means that it is financed over 30 years BUT you owe the balance of the loan at year 15. It also has a higher interest rate then our other loan. After paying off the Jeep, I will take my normal monthly payment, plus the amount I was paying for the Jeep.
-My goal is to pay it off in 3.5 years from today, which would be 8 years before the "Balloon Loan" deadline.
Last on the list is the small student loan. Currently, we are not making payments since Brent and his mom took out the loans together and she is still paying her portion. Of course, if she finishes paying her part off, then we will have to back off a little on the second mortgage payments.
-It is hard to make a goal for this so early, but my hope is to pay off the student loan in about 6 months.
Savings Goals for 2010:
As you can see, most of our "extra" money is going to pay off our debt. I would love to live debt free. We would still have our regular mortgage but hopefully one day we would not even have that. Think of the freedom we would have to be debt free. Think of the different ways we could use the money we have to do more of God's work. I want that freedom.
-My goal is to save any extras we have leftover in categories like eating out, etc. to go into our "Emergency Fund." I would like it to be fully funded with at least 6 months of expenses. As of now, we are only 10% there.
-I would like to be 15-20% complete by the end of 2010.
Other Goals:
-To stay more in budget with eating out. It is something we both love to do with friends and family and just because, but it is one of the places we overspend consistently. I think one solution or way to help us is to go back to a physical cash envelope for our eating out money. If we don't have any cash in it, then we don't eat out. It is so EASY to swipe a debit card and not think twice about.
-To eat more at home but cook less often. Recently, I had my first "Baking/Freezing Days" and I would like to have more of them. I think it would definitely help us eat more at home knowing that we have pre-made, healthy food in our freezer. I would love to see the potential savings it could bring to our budget.
Okay, I think I am about done. This could potentially be my longest post ever.
Do you make goals for your finances? Do you use any of the links I shared? What programs do you use?
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