Skip to main content

Take that First Step

Lately, I have been trying to read different blogs and articles about personal finance. Looking at different programs, so far I like the Dave Ramsey approach. Some people write about how simplistic it is and if it is the right approach for these tough economic times. I am not a personal finance expert but I like the program. I like how you are able to accomplish little goals and that encourages you to keep going. When we finished Step 1, we were so excited and we even cheered out loud as we saw $1000.00 in our savings account.

I have been wondering about others I know and if the program will work for them and some of them were interested but have not taken the first step. My mom, two sisters, and cousin and his girlfriend bought the book, but they haven't yet finished step one. I know my cousin and his girlfriend are now working towards it, they have sat down together and figured out what they want to accomplish. One of my sisters is tying to get it together now after she was faced with not having any money for gas to get to work a whole week before her next paycheck. I tried to counsel and share our experiences with them, but I don't want to come off as lecturing or judging them. When they finish step one, I am going to ask them how they feel and post it here for them, so they can track their progress too.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

It's the Budget, Stupid!

A budget is not something you put off. When we do our budget, it helps us stay on track. In the past, I have written about getting off track but even during those times a budget kept us from going overboard. This time around we kept putting it off and putting it off and just kept spending without a plan. This laziness has hurt us and it pushes us further away from our goals. When we got paid on the15th, we did pretty good and had some extra cash in our envelopes at the end of the two weeks. This paycheck, I know we have spent more than we brought in and had to go tap into savings for non-emergencies. When this happens, it feels like I have let my family down. I am the one who is going to set the example for my children and their money. I could always just spin it and tell them that this is an example of what not to do. I know the habits that we are supposed to have that will make this work. It starts with making the budget. Duh! It needs to be done in order to make the money behave. W...

OOPS!!!

Felicia looked at the bank account today and discovered we have not been sticking to the agreed budget. I know it was both of us. We both have been buying lunch, which is not in the budget. I think that was the big killer. We both feel really bad about it. We have been taking so many steps forward that I hate that we jumped back a little. These next two weeks we are going to try to keep a close eye on it. Knowing the problem now, we have to find a solution. For my part, I am going to ask around for ideas for easy brown bag lunches to take to work. We can't do a lot of lunch meat, because Felicia is pregnant and she can't have too much of it. I need to email mom, my aunt, and my cousin the chef to get ideas.

FPU Week 3---Dreaded B-Word

Last Sunday was our 3rd class in Financial Peace University, and we talked about the the dreaded B-word, Budget. Since I read Total Money Makeover months ago, we have been doing the budget and have posted several times about it. Therefore, I am not going to go over every detail of this past Sunday's class, but will discuss some of the issues I have with budgeting so far. I believe if I keep honestly critiquing us and our money management, it will help us in the long run to win with money. Having a lot of money is not the desired result of this process, the results we are looking for are Financial Peace, retire with dignity, and pursue some of our dreams later in life. Below are just some of the things and habits that gets in our way of achieving our goals. One of the things that I do that absolutely does not work is create the budget and never look at it again. I work hard to make a zero based budget and making sure every dollar has a name, but never pull out the game plan to m...