Journey to Financial Freedom

John and I have been working toward getting debt free for a while...

...pretty much since we got married!

We've made a lot of progress but feel like we needed more direction and definite plans on how to get from where we are now to being Debt Free! So, we thought about it for a while (it was honest to goodness laziness that we put it off for so long... that and the lovely denial stage) and we have started the Journey to being Debt Free with Dave Ramsey!

I wanted to share a few thoughts with you on what I've learned so far and things that stand out to me!

If you're on the fence - maybe this will be the push you need!

"It is human nature to want it and to want it now; it also a sign of immaturity"
Can I just be honest and tell you that we really struggle in this area!  It is so hard to make yourself understand and commit to the program when you want or "need" something but the money just isn't there and won't be for a few months!
We're working on growing up.

One area where we are a tad bit stronger is something we didn't even know we were doing "right" in the Total Money Makeover plan!  I drive an old clunker of a truck.  It was a nice truck in its hay day...17 years ago! It runs fine (most of the time) and gets me from point A to B just fine.

Dave Ramsey says that your friends and maybe even your family won't understand this concept - the things you do to save money and become financially free.  He wasn't kidding! My friends don't get  WHY we do it - explain as we might, debt is so normal to them that they don't understand why we won't just take out another loan.

I now have an answer that I didn't before!

The Rich rules over the poor and the borrower is slave to the lender.

Proverbs 22:7 

  

Are you on the journey to Financial Freedom?
Anything you're surprised by?
Any lessons you've learned recently?

Time Management: My System {Part 1} Blog

I enjoy having a very full and active lifestyle.

{I sound like I am a retired grandmother right now}

Part of that "full and active" lifestyle includes times that are crazy busy and I don't have time to go eat much less stay on top of other less demanding tasks.  

I want to share how I keep up with my blog.

Blogging seems like less of an overwhelming task when I schedule it and break it down into smaller chunks.  I enjoy it so much that I want to write and not let it become a chore - or worse, let it take over my life. Remember, I should not let the things that matter the LEAST influence things that matter MOST.

To keep myself sane, but to still write and post often I...

• I schedule my posts.  Very rarely do I hit "Publish" and post "fresh off the press" content.
  It is usually something that I wrote two or three days ago (and in some cases even longer ago)
  How far ahead I write posts usually depends on what my personal & family calendar looks like.

• I break writing (most) posts up into 2 or 3 sessions. For example, writing this post, I will do a rough draft - get my ideas out into a general breakdown of what I plan to say, then I will come in and flush out the ideas into complete thoughts. Only after that do I put in the final touches on the post like pictures etc.

•  Task orientation vs. time allotment. I'm not very good at working in a certain time frame. I can't sit down and say "I have 30 minutes to complete this task". Plus, usually if I am online, I am multitasking between work, or other commitments and blogging. So I complete one task and then move to what else I need to do then. I'll have a goal for the day finish post xyz then I break it down into "finish this paragraph or thought, then move on abc".

• I keep a file for {L&&L}.  This is the best thing I have done for myself and blogging!  I knew that somewhere out in the Pinterest world was a template for a printable calendar and other great blog resources.  (Sure I could make my own, but why reinvent the wheel?)
  
  I had been making lists - and putting notes about blogging on top of notes about Children's Choir, my volunteer activities and Thirty-One! - things were getting so jumbled. Now I have a home specifically for my Blogging notes and ideas!

• I don't read everyones blog, every day.  I really struggled with this at first. I love reading my favorite blogs and keeping up with what is going on in everyone's lives - but it's just not realistic! When I was at Mamas Write, Mandy from {Biblical Homemaking} was discussing time management and this exact issue came up.
  
  She put it into perfect terms that make so much sense! Would my husband be okay with me catching up with my girl friends every day on the phone? No, of course not - he would be so aggravated if I spent 3+ hours talking to the girls daily.  He however doesn't mind when I catch up with them once a month or so. So why is blogging any different? Reading everyone's posts would take me more than 3 hours and I just can't sacrifice that time that belongs to my husband on a daily basis.    

I hope that my simple things can help you manage your time in blogging better!

If you liked the post - please consider clicking that "follow" button!
This is post one of a series of time management posts to come, so stay tuned!

Keeping Conversation in Marriage.

One day last week, I had a very nice day - work wasn't too stressful and things were rocking along like normal.

John and I agreed to divide the responsibilities we had that afternoon: that he would go home and let the dogs out and I would run a couple of errands on my way home.

Everything went as planned. Until I pulled into the drive way.

John was in the front yard along with our mischievous fur babies. I could tell immediately by his body language something was wrong.

He had let the dogs out and gone back inside. He swears it was just for a few minutes to take down child gates etc. No matter the time - they had the opportunity to leave our yard and visit our neighbors. 

{I have a love/hate relationship with our neighbors...mostly hate.

Not these neighbors in particular although I'm not particularly fond of them either - 

it's neighbors in general. They're close, and they're nosy and they don't know how to mind their own business!}

Apparently John was yelled at by our darling neighbors, not for the dogs coming over...

but because they have fleas.  That if she sees them (from across her yard) with fleas again she'll call the Sheriff for animal abuse.

(one of our fur babies also has a skin allergy that is flared up right now so he has no fur there - pretty sure she saw that and assumed that fleas were causing that, I promise those are separate issues)

Okay, I get it - fleas are unplesant. However, we live in the country fleas are a part of life.

We wash our dogs a minimum of once a week, they're also hosed off at least once a day.

They get flea treatments and wear flea collars.

Well instead of talking to her and explaining what is an obvious misunderstanding and smoothing things over - he stomps off mad that she had the nerve to talk to him like that.

So now I'm mad at him for not fixing the problem, now it's a bigger issue and I'm going to have to deal with it. And of course in my mind I'm thinking "if he'd just stayed out there and watched them none of this would have been an issue". 

I sat there and fumed, and steamed in my anger for an hour!

I decided that wouldn't work (I couldn't get my blood pressure down!) so I talked to him about it.

It wasn't a fun conversation, but we worked it out.

I felt so much better!

And it was a much more positive outlet than just sitting there stewing and being angry when he had no clue why I was so ticked off. 

I thought by keeping my mouth shut I was avoiding a fight

but who really wins when you're upset with each other and can't vocalize it?

 

*for the record - we washed them that night... we found like two fleas.

Redeemed

Sometimes we just need a reminder!

I had quite the Ah-Hah Moment this morning. Am I the only one who replays mistakes or past idiot moments and feels all the guilt and remorse again?

I was going through one of these "guilt trip" moments this morning as I drove in to work.

I was listening to the radio, a song that I've heard a hundred times playing --

Redeemed: You Set me Free by Big Daddy Weave

-- God must have known that I needed to actually hear the lyrics and understand the words this time.

"Seems like all I can see was the struggle

Haunted by ghosts that lived in my past

Bound up in shackles of all my failures

Wondering how long this is gonna last

Then you look at this prisoner and say to me

'son stop fighting a fight that's already been won'"

Vacation Recap!

This past Tuesday John and I got back from a short vacation!

It was so amazing to get away with just the two of us and spend some great quality time together!

Our first two (and a half) days were spent in Corpus Christi & Padre Island primarily being beach bums!

The second two days were spent in San Antonio visiting Sea World!

We both feel so rejuvenated now that we're back home.

The Vacation came at the perfect time for us!

(especially since life is about to get so crazy with all our fall activities and the crazy season at work for me!)

Desire to Inspire: Taking control & Letting go of your Finances.

Kind of an oxymoron when you phrase it that way...

It wasn't right after college, or right after J and I were married, but at some point during our married life we began to feel like life was on fast forward.  It happened to be October the first time I noticed it happening... then the next thing I knew it was March.

I was sitting at my desk absolutely baffled as to where the last 5 months had gone.

I first thought it was because we weren't marking time by deadlines passing or semesters ending, but I've realized it's because we're always looking to the future wishing away the time we have now.

It isn't that we don't love our lives and enjoy the days as time passes - but we were consistently thinking that Pay Day is only a week, or two weeks away. 

We were marking time by money and gauging our happiness based on the balance of our checking account.

My encouragement for you if you find yourself in a similar situation:

- Turn your situation over to God. You should be aware of your financial realities but they shouldn't dictate how you enjoy time with your family and the quality of time you have with them (don't let it affect your mood)

- Figure out where your money is going.  Breaking down bank statements from the last 6 months into detailed spreadsheets will give you an idea of your frivolous spending and help you to cut those costs or eliminate them all together.

- After you know where your money is going, talk with your spouse. Create a budget that you both agree upon and are both willing to stick to (it's important that you both are committed to sticking to the budget).

Freecycle - Review

       If you aren't familiar with Freecycle, I recommend you check it out!  It is a Yahoo Group that is run by volunteers. 
Much like Craigslist, it works by location. We have been able to clean out a lot of our messy cluttered junk this way. Many of these things would either bring no money on Craigslist, Ebay etc or were just too much trouble for me to spend much time messing with them.

      I've gotten rid of these things quickly and effectively using Freecycle: trash can holder, aquarium, a box of random junk (plastic spoons, mismatched mugs, ribbon, yarn etc), countless articles of clothing (grouped by general sizes or themes), scrap wood, a broken dryer, a broken refrigerator, buckets, cheap plant pots, filing cabinet, a dresser that needed some serious restorations... the list goes on & on.

     I am most proud of my find on Freecycle! We got this couch for free! 

Not a great picture of the couch - but Clyde likes it!

Best part?!? It's a hide-a-bed!  It is in great shape! The only issue was with the cushions. : (
(Suggestions on essentially replacing the fabric of the cushions to something else entirely?
the structure of the cushions is still fine, it is just the outside of them that's the issue)

When it's just John and I around the house we keep sheets on the couches anyway (to protect them from our dogs that like to get on the couch when they *think* we're not looking).  

Washing them on a gentle cycle helped some... but for a free couch that solved a lot of our "where to put guests" issue I'm not complaining!

Do you use freecycle? What do you think about it?