I thought I'd share a little bit about Dave Ramsey and his baby steps today. For more information, you can check his website out at www.daveramsey.com.
Baby Step #1: Get $1000 in a Baby Emergency Fund
Baby Step #2: Pay off all debt (besides your home) using the snowball method
Baby Step #3: Get 3-6 months of expenses into savings
Baby Step #4: Invest 15% of income for retirement
Baby Step #5: College funding for your children (um yeah, I think that ship has pretty much sailed for me, LOL)
Baby Step #6: Pay off your home early
Baby Step #7: Build wealth and give.
So Tom and I are at Baby Step #1. Is it just me or is this a lot of money to anyone else? Dave acts like this is no big deal, he wants people to do it in 30 days. Living paycheck to paycheck to paycheck like we do, this is going to be very hard. Dave suggests having a garage sale or working an extra job to help. I want to try to sell some stuff either on E-bay or on an online mailing list that I subscribe to. I'm not sure what we have that will add up to $1000, but every little bit helps. Tom & I each got $100 from my parents for Christmas, so I put my $100 aside as a start to the EF. So only $900 more to go for the baby EF!
Now, true confession time. Those who know me know how much I like to find ways to save money. Ahem, some might even call me cheap. LOL. But the truth is, we have been unbelievably stupid with money. We've used credit cards when we shouldn't have. We've paid off most of our debt only to build it back up again. Most of the time, we've not had any kind of safety net for our finances, so any kind of unexpected expense (such as hitting an owl with my van and needing a $100 headlight assembly) is a crisis. I am tired of living this way and I want things to get better. In the past when we've tried, it seems as soon as we'd start that some kind of crisis would happen and we'd be left feeling discouraged and down and give up. This time, I intend to keep trying regardless of what happens. Pray for us!
5 comments:
Tracy, I think it is awesome that you are trying to get debt free, and I wish you all the luck in the world. I know Danny and I spend a lot of money , but we also use credit cards, and have no savings at all. Everything we have "saved" is invested in the store. I remember the days of living paycheck to paycheck all too well. We kept a log of what money we had left after the bills were paid, and that was our "spending" money for the month. When we got married, we had nothing! We lived in an 8 x 48 trailer house that we bought from Danny's Aunt and Uncle, and when we finally got a second vehicle, I thought we were rich...LOL Anyway, good luck with your journey!!
I love reading this and I think you are doing a wonderful thing! After Ryan left, I filed bankruptcy because of the enormous amount of bills we had. Then I married John, who lives by if u dont have it dont spend it. See how long it took me to get him to buy a new car? lol I am the tye who would put it on credit cards and not think twice, but he makes me be a different person. If we have a 200 dr bill come in, we dont drive to Pond Creek or eat out to pay that bill instead of putting it on a card. Thank God for him because he made me be this way, cause we all know I couldnt have done it alone! Working together towards the goal will help you reach it!
Mandy, my ex & I filed for bankruptcy as we were divorcing. I wish that Tom or I one would have had some more self-control once we got married. Oh well, can't change what's past, can only look forward.
Di, thanks for sharing. You know, I remember when Tom and I were first married and things were so much simpler. We didn't make near as much money, but we didn't spend near as much, either.
Yep looking forward is great and you are making a great start!
After watching Oprah's debt diet series, I was amazed at the things you can do to cut spending. And how much can be saved by little things. That emergency fund is really important. It's served us well in the past for unexpected car or house messes. This is exciting, and yes, I will keep praying for you!
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