"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?

January Goals in Review. (Part 2)

If you read Part 1, first thank you. I am blogging mostly to keep myself accountable to my goals for the year, but if I inspire one person during this process, that's a double win in my book! Thanks for reading! I have lots of fun topics I'm excited to blog about in February- switching over to the health and fitness side- and less ME ME ME :)

In Part 1, I discussed my progress in my career, wifey, and fitness goals. Part 2 is going to focus on my spiritual, personal growth, and budget goals. Let's dive right in!

Spiritual Goals

1. Attend church weekly

We hit 50% of our goal this month, which is MUCH better than we have done in months past. We had been in a very bad habit of skipping church... and we had every excuse in the book. The weekend would start with "Let's go to 5:30pm mass on Saturday." Yet, Saturday would come and something "more important" would be going on and we would skip it. We would then say, "Let's go to noon mass tomorrow." Sure enough, we would both just be "busy" and would say "Well, we will go next week." RIGHT..

Finally, we said enough is enough. My goal in February is to be their every Saturday evening or Sunday morning.. No more excuses!  :) 

2. Nightly devotional with hubby: (5 nights a week)

We did this one night this month. Whoops!  The book has since sat right next to my side of the bed, left unopened. This literally takes 2 minutes to read and then we can discuss the topic for another couple minutes. This just takes commitment and discipline..(and putting down those iPhones!) I love the idea of doing a nightly devotional just to keep us talking; talking about new ideas, information, etc. We WILL do better in February.



Personal Growth
1. Read 2 new Leadership books a month (24 in 2014)

I read two amazing books this month... (OK, I read one and listened to the other on CD while driving to and from work.) Rich Dad, Poor Dad was a great break from all the Dave Ramsey I have been listening to/reading. It brought up a couple of great ideas, such as creating our own LLC and reiterated why we are working so hard this year (and years to come) to create a legacy for our family. More Than Enough was a very easy read. Each chapter built on the previous one and laid down layers of conviction to why we are doing exactly what we are doing in 2014. My favorite part of each chapter was when Dave Ramsey's wife, Sharon, would put in her two cents about the topic being discussed. This helped me to relate, being a wife and woman, to a successful and driven husband. Out of each of these books, I would recommend Rich Dad, Poor Dad. The topics he discusses are very different and creates a great discussion between friends, spouses, or parents.


                                 

2. Volunteer once a month

I have to admit that volunteering wasn't my idea. One of Dave Ramsey's main phrases is "Live like no one else, so that you can live and GIVE like no one else." This constant phrase has been in my mind these past three months and I couldn't ignore the fact that we haven't been giving. We are now giving back to our church and I started volunteering at Gleaners Food Bank. While we are working our way out of debt, I want to give as much of my time as possible to help those less fortunate, until we can give more financially.

My first experience at Gleaners was very humbling. I spent a very cold, Thursday afternoon in the food pantry. I had no idea what to expect.  I was asked to be in charge of the front door. I had to let in people when there was room in the pantry and I opened the door for them as they left. Anyone in the Midwest knows how cold and snowy our January has been, and this day was one of our worst. The pantry opened at 2pm, with a line of at least 50 people standing in the freezing cold, waiting to get in to receive their groceries for the week. It broke my heart to see people of all different ages, races, babies, grandparents, teenagers, single Moms and Dads, etc all just trying to put food on the table for their families. It was exactly the reminder I needed. My "problems" are not problems, but simply inconveniences. We never have had to worry about having food on the table, a roof over our head, or a warm bed to sleep in. It's easy to forget about the rest of the world when we live in such a self-involved world. I'm 100% guilty of this, but I'm working to focus my efforts on helping others and providing my time or talents to better someones life.

3. Make someones day, everyday.

This goal is tough. Think about it. If you woke up everyday and said to yourself "How can I make someones day?" I will tell you this... It's one of the most rewarding things we can do. Some of the great memories from this past month were watching my niece, Lauren, play basketball on a Sunday afternoon, taking my niece,Vaida,out to ice cream and shopping for her 7th birthday, and helping a couple on our Advocare team win a $500 Rookie Bonus. Some days it is more simple like smiling at someone who is having a bad day,  giving someone a genuine compliment, or going above and beyond for a co-worker, friend, spouse, or elderly neighbor.

Lauren and I after her basketball game! She scored 2 points! :)

 Budget Goals:

1. Hit our budget/debt payment goal every month.

We read the Total Money Makeover back in November 2013, but this month was our first month we stepped into "gazelle intensity" as Dave Ramsey refers to it. We start out each month with our written budget. Every dollar is given a name. (Mortgage, groceries, debt, etc) This has helped our marriage, bank accounts, and sanity. Money and budgeting are now exciting topics in our house. I look forward to our chats every Sunday. There is no better feeling than seeing my student loan debt decreasing month after month. Even with a couple unforeseen expenses, (what do you mean I can't use unlimited data on my phone? oops!) we hit our debt payment goal! When you have a plan and know what you are working towards and why, the drive comes from deep within. We know exactly when we will be out of debt, therefore every month is one month closer to being able to scream, "WE'RE DEBT FREEEE!!!" (Anyone else obsessed with watching these videos from the Podcast?)
 Month 3 is a definite win in my book!

2. Use envelope system to stay on track for all purchases (expect gas and Costco.)

Every month of using the envelope system gets better. The first we weren't use to using cash and would frequently forget to bring them with us to the store or out to dinner. The second month we over-budgeted, and the third month seemed just right. We have an envelope for groceries, eating out, house items, miscellaneous, and a swear one more that I can't think of at the moment! We use our debit card for gas and Costco, but have an allotment for each of these categories. It's exciting to me to see how far I can stretch each envelope and come up with creative recipes, date ideas, etc! :) 

I would love to hear from you all! What are you 2014 goals? Do you follow a written budget? What are you reading? How do you give back to your community? :) Have a great weekend! Bring on February!