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.
One Year
It was so fun to celebrate Claire's first birthday! Hard to believe how fast the year went by. There was lots of family and friends that came over to celebrate her big day. We love you Claire-bear!
Ball Pit
Silly Cousins
First Taste of Cake
Love celebrating your life, sweet Cole!
Birth {6 days old}
One Year {13 months)
Two Years
Three Years {taken at 3 years and 4 months}
The Games {Longest Drive & Closest to the Pin}
Our Friends
The Birthday Boy
Stage Two: {Grass}
We mowed down our Bermuda grass and replaced it with St. Augustine {our fave}.
Before
Mowed Down and Ready for New
After
Mostly finished flower bed in backyard. Needs a few more bags of rocks in back to prevent mulch splashing on house during a rain.
Stage Three: {Extending our patios}
There is another one just under the other window right as you come out the door so Brent's grill no longer has to sit in the dirt. He did a great job using pavers found in our yard!
Stage Four {Free Tree}
On Saturday, Brent was trying to finish up the backyard because Cole's party is in a couple weeks. He was looking for a couple things and went to Houston Garden Center. They were having one of their 70% sales and he saw trees for $30! Well, he came home telling me all about it and saying how nice it would be to plant a tree to block out seeing the house directly behind us. We are close and it is an eye sore. Later that night, he drove me by to look at a couple but didn't have our truck to actually purchase one, so we went onto Lowe's for something else. Pulling out of the parking lot, we see a TREE in the middle of the feeder road! It's getting dark and raining a bit. This is going to be a hazard. Brent said, "Oh I wish we had my truck I would go get that tree!" I wanted to put it my jeep but he said no way. Anyway, we decided to pull it out of the road for safety reasons and then called our friend Keith to help us take it home. Yes, we pulled a tree out of a BUSY road to take home. It was FREE, why not? We were looking for a tree and one was provided. We saved that tree. haha.
And now, our backyard is useable and complete. For now. We like our projects.
But usually, for the kids, I just buy the store brand of wherever I am shopping. Because it's a store brand, like HEB or Great Value, I am having trouble finding the nutritional information online. In comparison to the Greek, they have 4 times the amount of sugar. I guess it makes sense now why they are so cheap.
This is the Greek yogurt I tried:
There is more sugar in Yoplait Light (1 gram more)then the Danon Greek, but not a drastic amount like the store brand comparison (15 grams more). This morning was the first time I served the Greek to my kids. I tasted it, but a little scared to take a big spoonful. Kids were not in the room to see my face. :/ I mixed theirs with fresh blueberries and raspberries and 1 TBS of sugar. I wanted honey but we were out. And some granola. Cole ate about half then wanted to go back to his morning how and Claire ate her entire bowl and the rest of Cole's. Not surprised. It definitely didn't phase them that it was new.
Has anyone ever tried this yogurt before? Have any good ways to naturally sweeten it to take the edge off? It tastes like sour cream to me. But they like it so that's the main thing. I may try my favorite brand Yoplait's Greek to see if it is better. Never been an Danon fan. It was just the first one I saw that wasn't outrageously priced.
Why am I typing this? I have been trying to learn about what I am eating. It can effect me in more ways then weight control. Our moods can be affected, energy levels, and so much more. I want to eat more healthy but I also want to provide super healthy and yummy options for my family. It is so hard in a fast food world, so I think I am going to start small and just try to find good alternatives at home to fill our pantry and refrigerator.
Heard of this book?
I don't have it but I did pick up this at the Kohl's register last week:
I have looked/read through most of it in two days. It takes you through big chain restaurants, fast food chains, and grocery stores explaining the foods NOT to eat and the better alternative. I was shocked at some of the items that they said were better for you and then not so much at others. I found it very helpful.
The book definitely knows the world we live in, the fast-paced, I need to just grab something kind of world. It is a helpful tool to help me make better choices for my family.
