You have no idea how truly excited I am to share my love of budgeting with you. "Is it really possible to love budgeting?" you ask. YES!
Cue music~
About 6 years ago William and I were living in Indiana. Our church family had many people who struggled financially...some to the point of having phones, electricity and water turned off. We were constantly having lessons in Sunday School or 5th Sunday Combined meetings about Getting Out of Debt, Needs verses Wants and Living Below Our Means. About this time we found Dave Ramsey on talk radio. (I highly recommend his book "The Total Money Makeover".) It seemed we were destined to GET OUT OF DEBT!!! We didn't have any loans or credit cards...just the house, but we wanted to be completely FREE! We made a plan, stuck to it and within five years we were living completely debt free! I KNOW you can do it too! There are way too many exclamation marks filling this post. I'll try to tone it down a bit, but it's hard to contain my excitement.
Disclaimer: I am not a professional counselor, CPA or consultant. All I know is what has worked well for my husband and I. You don't have to listen to me or even read this post. If you are sick of hearing about debt free...blah, blah, blah then please skip all posts with words in the title such as budgeting, debt, freedom, slave to your money, feeling crushed by the weight of this load I carry and so on. Go back to your Google Reader, mark all as read and move on. Nothing to see here folks. BUT, if you are interested, I'm so excited!!! Did I already say that?
So here goes nothin'
First and foremost...this must be your NEW MANTRA.....are you ready? It's big...
Is this a Need or a Want? Say it again...Is this a Need or a Want? Say it out loud, Is this a Need or a Want? Every time you are about to whip out the ole charge card I want you to ask yourself...Is this a Need or a Want?
Food=NEED
Pork Chops, Cap'n Crunch and Propel=WANT
Shampoo and Conditioner=NEED
New color of Nail Polish=WANT
Time alone with your Husband after a long day with the kids=NEED
Fillet Minion and cheesecake followed by front row tickets for Wicked=WANT
You get the picture.
Maybe it's the frivolous spending that gets you.
For example, "Do I NEED new hot pink sandals or do I WANT new hot pink sandals?" Chances are you have a pair of sandals sitting in your closet begging to be worn that will do for now...until you are OUT OF DEBT and on your way to making millions. :)
Maybe late night infomercials are dragging you into the depths of debt. You might find yourself wondering aloud....
"Do I NEED The Hawaii Chair or do I WANT The Hawaii Chair?"
Or even....
"Do I NEED a ShamWow or do I WANT a Shamwow?
Or how about...
"Do I NEED a Snuggie or do I WANT a Snuggie?"
Is it stuck in your head yet? Well, enough of that. On to a more serious note...
Did any of you see Elder Robert D. Hales talk in conference a couple weeks ago? I LOVED his message. My favorite part was when he said, "I have learned that the three most loving words are “I love you,” and the four most caring words for those we love are “We can’t afford it.” It's so true!!! To read, watch or listen to his entire talk GO HERE.
So just think about it in your everyday life. I know there are times I have to remind myself I don't NEED something, I just WANT it, and sometimes I WANT it really bad! But I don't deserve it. I'm not entitled to it and I always feel much more satisfaction knowing I had the self control to pass it up. No buyers remorse when I'm walking away empty handed. AND, if I decide later I really do want it, I just save up for it and go back later. Don't let them fool you that it's a "once in a lifetime opportunity". There is always another chance.
According to Dave Ramsey the very first thing you do when you want to get out of debt is.......
Get $1000.00 set aside for your EMERGENCY FUND.
He explains that if it's there you probably won't need it, but if you don't have it you will definitely need it. I think he says Mr. Murphy comes knockin'. The reason this step is so important is because when you are trying to pay off other debt and an emergency arises you will most likely incur more debt to pay for the emergency. Then you feel like you've taken two steps back when you were marching forward so well.
So how do you get $1000.00 fast and keep it safe?
Just look around you. What do you currently own but do not use that you could sell? You're not above that. Look in your closets, in the attic, around the living room, under the beds....who knows where you hide all your good stuff? Try selling them on eBay or at a garage sale or on craigslist. You might find it kind of liberating to exchange useless items taking up space for some moo-lah. Start putting that cold hard cash into an envelope and watch as it grows fatter and fatter. Do NOT be tempted to take a few bills out as you walk out the door just in case you might find something you NEED at the store. You don't need it, you just WANT it.
Skip your daily stop at the QuikTrip for a big drink and start buying generic brands when you grocery shop. Put all that extra cash into the envelope and you will be amazed at how quickly you can get $1000.00 saved up.
Now that you have it...put it away!!! You can do two things here.... A) Put the envelope under the mattress and NEVER touch it, or open a savings account which will earn you interest and then NEVER touch it....unless it's an EMERGENCY! What's an emergency? Something you NEED, and I mean really NEED that you don't have the cash for otherwise. Then if you use any of your emergency money, you quickly save up again until it's back up to $1000.00 for your next emergency. Later, when you are out of debt you will start saving more and can add to this nice chunk of change. Personally, we put the money in a savings account and have enjoyed watching the interest build up over time.
So there you go. That's the first step. I know what your thinking....that's it? That's all you have for me? Yep. That's all folks. We'll talk later about paying off the debt, setting up a budget and all that fun stuff.
The challenge is on. Spend as little as possible and save as fast as you can. How long do you think it will take to get your $1000.00 tucked safely away? Are you on board?
Cue music~
About 6 years ago William and I were living in Indiana. Our church family had many people who struggled financially...some to the point of having phones, electricity and water turned off. We were constantly having lessons in Sunday School or 5th Sunday Combined meetings about Getting Out of Debt, Needs verses Wants and Living Below Our Means. About this time we found Dave Ramsey on talk radio. (I highly recommend his book "The Total Money Makeover".) It seemed we were destined to GET OUT OF DEBT!!! We didn't have any loans or credit cards...just the house, but we wanted to be completely FREE! We made a plan, stuck to it and within five years we were living completely debt free! I KNOW you can do it too! There are way too many exclamation marks filling this post. I'll try to tone it down a bit, but it's hard to contain my excitement.
Disclaimer: I am not a professional counselor, CPA or consultant. All I know is what has worked well for my husband and I. You don't have to listen to me or even read this post. If you are sick of hearing about debt free...blah, blah, blah then please skip all posts with words in the title such as budgeting, debt, freedom, slave to your money, feeling crushed by the weight of this load I carry and so on. Go back to your Google Reader, mark all as read and move on. Nothing to see here folks. BUT, if you are interested, I'm so excited!!! Did I already say that?
So here goes nothin'
First and foremost...this must be your NEW MANTRA.....are you ready? It's big...
Is this a Need or a Want? Say it again...Is this a Need or a Want? Say it out loud, Is this a Need or a Want? Every time you are about to whip out the ole charge card I want you to ask yourself...Is this a Need or a Want?
Food=NEED
Pork Chops, Cap'n Crunch and Propel=WANT
Shampoo and Conditioner=NEED
New color of Nail Polish=WANT
Time alone with your Husband after a long day with the kids=NEED
Fillet Minion and cheesecake followed by front row tickets for Wicked=WANT
You get the picture.
Maybe it's the frivolous spending that gets you.
For example, "Do I NEED new hot pink sandals or do I WANT new hot pink sandals?" Chances are you have a pair of sandals sitting in your closet begging to be worn that will do for now...until you are OUT OF DEBT and on your way to making millions. :)
Maybe late night infomercials are dragging you into the depths of debt. You might find yourself wondering aloud....
"Do I NEED The Hawaii Chair or do I WANT The Hawaii Chair?"
Or even....
"Do I NEED a ShamWow or do I WANT a Shamwow?
Or how about...
"Do I NEED a Snuggie or do I WANT a Snuggie?"
Is it stuck in your head yet? Well, enough of that. On to a more serious note...
Did any of you see Elder Robert D. Hales talk in conference a couple weeks ago? I LOVED his message. My favorite part was when he said, "I have learned that the three most loving words are “I love you,” and the four most caring words for those we love are “We can’t afford it.” It's so true!!! To read, watch or listen to his entire talk GO HERE.
So just think about it in your everyday life. I know there are times I have to remind myself I don't NEED something, I just WANT it, and sometimes I WANT it really bad! But I don't deserve it. I'm not entitled to it and I always feel much more satisfaction knowing I had the self control to pass it up. No buyers remorse when I'm walking away empty handed. AND, if I decide later I really do want it, I just save up for it and go back later. Don't let them fool you that it's a "once in a lifetime opportunity". There is always another chance.
According to Dave Ramsey the very first thing you do when you want to get out of debt is.......
Get $1000.00 set aside for your EMERGENCY FUND.
He explains that if it's there you probably won't need it, but if you don't have it you will definitely need it. I think he says Mr. Murphy comes knockin'. The reason this step is so important is because when you are trying to pay off other debt and an emergency arises you will most likely incur more debt to pay for the emergency. Then you feel like you've taken two steps back when you were marching forward so well.
So how do you get $1000.00 fast and keep it safe?
Just look around you. What do you currently own but do not use that you could sell? You're not above that. Look in your closets, in the attic, around the living room, under the beds....who knows where you hide all your good stuff? Try selling them on eBay or at a garage sale or on craigslist. You might find it kind of liberating to exchange useless items taking up space for some moo-lah. Start putting that cold hard cash into an envelope and watch as it grows fatter and fatter. Do NOT be tempted to take a few bills out as you walk out the door just in case you might find something you NEED at the store. You don't need it, you just WANT it.
Skip your daily stop at the QuikTrip for a big drink and start buying generic brands when you grocery shop. Put all that extra cash into the envelope and you will be amazed at how quickly you can get $1000.00 saved up.
Now that you have it...put it away!!! You can do two things here.... A) Put the envelope under the mattress and NEVER touch it, or open a savings account which will earn you interest and then NEVER touch it....unless it's an EMERGENCY! What's an emergency? Something you NEED, and I mean really NEED that you don't have the cash for otherwise. Then if you use any of your emergency money, you quickly save up again until it's back up to $1000.00 for your next emergency. Later, when you are out of debt you will start saving more and can add to this nice chunk of change. Personally, we put the money in a savings account and have enjoyed watching the interest build up over time.
So there you go. That's the first step. I know what your thinking....that's it? That's all you have for me? Yep. That's all folks. We'll talk later about paying off the debt, setting up a budget and all that fun stuff.
The challenge is on. Spend as little as possible and save as fast as you can. How long do you think it will take to get your $1000.00 tucked safely away? Are you on board?
6 comments:
Oh, how I love listening to Mr. Ramsey. And good for you and your family: I've never actually known anyone who was truly debt free. You are my hero.
We are Dave Ramsey people, too.
We ended up refinancing to pay off credit cards and such (not a Dave Ramsey thing to do) and we locked in at 5%. We don't owe much on the house, so it didn't take our mortgage too high.
We are on an all cash basis! We have our little envelopes and do everything with cash only. We are saving up for a trip to Disneyland (not a need, a want) but will not go into debt for it! I am also doing the whole couponing thing that all the crazy Mormons do here in UT :) and that is already saving us tons on our grocery bills. We have enough to live on and such, so it's all good. We also have our $1,000 emergency fund plus savings.
Now, can I just add.. Life gets a WHOLE lot more difficult with kiddies turn into teeners. Just registering them for school is almost $150. So, things are just hard every way you look at it... so just be prepared for that!
I hope at least some of that made sense... I'm in the middle of getting girls ready for school and can't think straight!
:)
oh...i'm loving it already. Dave Ramsey is awesome. My aunt is a huge proponent too!
I can't wait for your next installments!
ps...i'm not returning my snuggie!
Thanks for the tips! It has been hard for us to save anything lately since my husband has been out of work and everything that came in had to go to bills. But now that he has a job we are hoping to be able to get on track and forge ahead! I like the emergency fund idea! We are definitely trying to save and not just get by!
I have to laugh because I was just getting on the computer to do a post about this very thing!!! We just made a committment to live debt free and according to our plan - we can do it in five years!! We started two weeks ago on a budget and cash only and wow - what a difference it has made already. Just wait until my business takes off - I'm sure that our emergency fund will benefit.Love love love this.
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