I mentioned a couple of posts back that we have made paying down our debt a priority. Are you curious how we have done it? Well it is no secret sacrifice. the debt did not appear overnight and certainly it will not disappear overnight. Since the arrival of Anna my needs are far less than they were before. Let me explain. What I need it to spend time with Anna. That has by far out weighted anything else that I have ever loved to do in the past.
She is so neat. Just listening to her play with her horses is such a pleasure. I know people think I am crazy when I say that but it is by far my favorite thing to do. She has whole conversations with her little horses or other "guys" as she calls them. Watching her put together a puzzle is amazing. I guess or at least hope that every mother loves to just watch their children play.
In order to realize my goal of being home more the debt had to go and I mean fast. What I did not understand is how the heck did I get in this situation. Prior to Anna many moons ago I had debt, I worked like crazy to pay it off. When Anna got home it reappeared like a blur. I know some of it was the final travel expenses to Russia so I am completely okay with that but I often wonder how the heck did I manage all of this?
Today we are on a good track to being completely debt free. Shortly I will completely own my car so that makes me VERY happy. My hope is that I can keep it forever but that may not be the case but at least another 3 years. I really dislike buying a car.
The real truth is I read a book by Dave Ramsey entitled Financial Peace. For us the first couple of steps were easy. We are in the home stretch of being completely free of credit card debt. My goal is to pay for Christmas the old fashion way...with cash! Sounds easy and hard all at the same time. Since September I have been on a budget. I withdraw a set amount of cash from my paycheck and place it into 7 different envelopes. One of those envelopes is for Christmas and the other for my vacation in July. At first it seems silly to put a twenty dollar bill in an envelope and stash it away. Can I tell you that I have nearly 400 dollars saved for Christmas?
My friends are laughing at me because of the ridiculously small amount of money I am giving myself to fun stuff but according to Dave I must be on the right track then. I highly recommend this book to...well everyone. This system works. At first I think Gerard was a little like "She is crazy so I will just nod my head in agreement." Now I have him on board as well.
School Days - November 2023
5 months ago
7 comments:
Sounds easy...but yet so hard. I keep thinking about putting money aside but then I just put it in the checking account. Thankfully not much debt for us, except the house. Guess that's a biggy though!
Melissa
His principles work and we have followed them before. It is very hard to stay out of debt once paid off....kinda like a diet....harder to maintain that even to lose! Way to go...with the goal to stay home more with Anna you will accomplish your task.
Good for you! The Ramsey method does work! Janet
A friend also recommended Dave Ramsey. I've checked out his website and he does have lots of good free resources. The part that I have obviously had the hardest time with is the budget, so good for you for sticking with it!!
Appreciate this post, thanks. We keep dropping the budget and getting off track. Needed this reminder that it really can be done.
We've done cash for Christmas for years but never saving bit by bit like you are doing, I need to make this a priority. Thanks again!
Good for you! We are working on a modified Dave Ramsey plan. We are starting down the path of paying our mortgage off early.
It is worth it! Keep at it! I do the same thing for our vacation money and for Aidan's hockey expenses. His hockey has gotten so crazy expensive but I refuse to use my credit card for it. This way, when something comes up, I am able to take the money out of the hockey envelope and pay cash! It feels awesome. We also have a Christmas Club account where money goes automatically each pay check. At the end of October or beginning of November, the money is then sent to us. . .voila! We have Christmas already paid for!!! Including tree and greenery, I might add! Keep going girl! You can do it!! : )
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