"If you have food, friends, and a comfortable place to live, you are all set to live an incredible life."

"If you have food, friends, and a comfortable place to live, you are all set to live an incredible life. Everything you buy, and every experience and commitment you add to the plate beyond this point is a trade off: a guaranteed reduction in cash and free time, in exchange for a possible increase in thrills delivered by fun or novelty."-Mr.Money Mustache

I read this quote last week after reading an article I found on msn.com about a man and his wife who retired at 30 years old. I was immediately intrigued. How does someone retire at this age? Why are most people struggling to pay their bills and working into their late 60's and 70's and this guy managed to work for a taxing 9 whole years?

As I read more about this Mr. Money Mustache, I realized he didn't do anything fancy to retire at this young age. He cut out all extra expenses, biked to work, and saved every dime he could towards retirement. By 30 years old, he was a self-made millionaire. 

His quote (and many of his blogs) spoke to me in many ways. As Barry and I have been working hard on our budget, reading financial books, and discussing money on a nearly daily basis, we have realized many things. 

Three things we have learned:

1. Debt is normal... and we don't want to be normal. 

2. Most people, including us, overspend each month (and then justify it, of course!)

3. Most of us don't realize how truly blessed we are with what we already have. 

The idea of cutting expenses is rarely discussed. Most people are so worried about how much money they make a year, what type of raise they will receive, and/or when the latest iPhone is coming out that they rarely think about how much money they are spending. 

Here's a couple tips that have helped us to cut costs:

1. Grocery shopping: We try and buy most of our bulk items at Costco such as toiletries, chicken, eggs, Greek yogurt, almond milk, etc. Food items that go bad (mostly fresh fruit and vegetables), we purchase at Aldi. (Gotta support my cousin, Erika!) This saves us quite a bit of money and saves us from spending lots of time clipping coupons.

 

2. Negotiate phone/Internet/cable: We contemplated cancelling our cable altogether, but realized we would spend more money in the long run by going to restaurants to watch all the sporting events we enjoy such as the Colts, Pacers, and Dodgers. Instead, Barry called AT&T and discussed different plans and ended up cutting our bill by over $50! 

(and increased our Internet speed...Double win!)

3. Complete home improvements: We started a kitchen remodel this past weekend consisting of refinishing/painting cabinets, replacing the oven range and sink facet, along with a new kitchen counter top. Many of these items aren't anything we are skilled to do on our own, but I knew we could do the painting of the cabinets. We are still working on this daily, but the final project should be finished this weekend. Barry also completed a fire pit project this weekend that looks amazing! (And for less than $100!) 

Here's a sneak peak of the renovation.. and the inside of our cabinets LOL :)

Six months into our Total Money Makeover, I feel like our thoughts, actions, and focus has completely shifted. Before, we rarely thought about how much money we spent eating out with friends on the weekend, during our monthly trip to Costco (filling two carts on one memorable occasion), and on miscellaneous items throughout the month. We rarely said "No" to any event or invitation. 

Our goal of our Total Money Makeover is to pay off all our debt as soon as possible

 (updated goal is mid February 2015) to enable me to be a stay at home Mom when the time comes. I also want to build a simple lifestyle for our family that doesn't focus on the things we have, but the experiences and the time we spend together. Having a solid plan for the future has strengthened our marriage and I'm forever grateful we have taken this step together. 

Do you or your family have a budget? What sacrifices have you made to help reach your financial goals? Where do you see yourself or family in 1, 3, and 5 years from today?

"Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try"- March 2014 Recap and Goals

The beginning of 2014 began with three long, freezing cold and snowy months. After the grueling winter we had, it felt like Spring would never arrive! I'm so excited to see the flowers starting to come up through the ground, the grass starting to turn green, and some 50-60 degree days!  

Here's a rundown of March 2014 for the Gardner's 

March started off with my 90 day review at NIFS. My manager had nothing but great things to say about my performance my first three months with this company! I was very excited to hear this. I LOVE my position as a Health Fitness Specialist as I'm gaining new experience in the field of Health and Fitness!



The second week of March was our first appointment at Midwest Fertility. To say I was nervous was an understatement. Luckily, we now have an amazing Doctor that Barry and I both really like and are working on a plan to hopefully conceive in the coming months!
 
The weekend of March 15th-16th was extremely busy! We headed out to Brownsburg High School around 9am on Saturday morning to help set up for the Riley Dance Marathon. We then traveled to cheer on the Brownsburg Bulldog basketball team at Regionals. After a disappointing loss, we headed back out to Brownsburg for a fun afternoon/evening at the Riley Dance Marathon. We ended the night by celebrating my Mom's birthday over at my parent's house :)
               

I Faced My Fear on March 19th and found out a possible cause for our infertility. Barry was off work for two weeks starting on Friday, March 21st-April 4th. We allowed ourselves some extra room in the budget (since we didn't go to Fort Myers with our friends) and had some fun shopping, going out to dinners, and staying the night at the Embassy Suites in downtown Indy.


Now a recap of the 2014 goals I set back in January. If you haven't read that yet, click here ---> 2014 Goals<----

1. Debt: We started our debt talk back in November 2013 when I ordered the free copy of Advocare's Debt Buster System. We never really worried about debt since we could pay our monthly payments and even had extra money over for vacations, trips, etc. What we didn't realize was how much money we were wasting each month on useless purchases that were keeping us from truly getting ahead in life and building wealth. 



After reading Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover, our entire thought process shifted. We now do a written budget each money where we spend every dollar before the month begins. (We aren't perfect, but getting better each month!) This helps us to stay on track and hit our debt payment goal each month.

 

Our debt snowball has been put on hold during February and March in order to save for our kitchen remodel project and a new driveway/front porch! After seeing so much progress on my student loans the first couple months and cutting my student loans in half, it has been hard to not see the amount decrease these past couple months. We were hoping to delay the driveway project, but Old Man Winter had different plans! I know that paying cash for both these projects will feel amazing, but I can't wait to get back on our Debt Snowball this month!  



2. Advocare: Building an Advocare business is simple, but not easy! We have an amazing team of over 90 champions and are currently earning a residual $1,000 a month! This has been a huge blessing! We are throwing every penny we bring in through Advocare at our debt. We love the products and take them daily. I love helping others reach their health, fitness, and/or financial goals with this company and look forward to many more amazing experiences in the coming months and years! 


3. Dogs: My baby/puppy fever may be at an all-time high. I had a dream the other night that Smokey gave birth to 10 puppies (LOL) First, Smokey is a male. Two, he is fixed. Three, I may be starting to lose it. Even though probably four times a week I ask Barry, "Can we get a puppy?" I know it's not the best time. As soon as we got another Weim, I would probably get pregnant and we would then have a new puppy and a newborn...
uh, no thanks! 
So for now, we are spoiling Smokey and enjoying our peaceful house. 

                      

4. Baby Making Plans: Last month we met with Dr. Will at Midwest Fertility in Carmel. Barry and I both really liked him and had a great conversation about all we have been through the past year and a half. He had some routine tests ordered and we found out that my thyroid levels were slightly elevated (2.89). He said he would like them between 1-2 to conceive and maintain a healthy pregnancy. I started a thyroid medication the next day and will have that rechecked this month. We should have a game plan for May after a couple more tests this month :) 



Are you still working towards the goals you set for 2014? What process have you made? What set backs have you encountered?
- Sarah