The makeover begins!

Sick and tired of living paycheck to paycheck and wondering "where did all our money go?"  It is really nobody's business how our money makeover goes, but I'm betting(cause I hear it at work ALL the time!) that many of you are in the same boat.  So, I thought I'd post occasional updates on our endeavor to make you laugh, smirk, cry, cheer, or get irritated and move on ;) 

I finished reading Total Money Makeover last night.  Great practical help and goals.  I do wish to make a clarification though.  Mike and I do NOT have the end goal of wealth building, which is what the book seems to point to as the end all.  We couldn't care less about being wealthy.  In fact, not only do I think it is selfish to save and hoard tons and tons of cash for when we are older, but it is totally against what Jesus teaches in Scripture.  I know, I just really offended some people.  Hey, if you aren't living your life according to the Word of God--then you think I'm some religious nut who doesn't know what she's talking about.  If you are living your life according to God's Word and you don't agree with me--then read the Bible for yourself.  25,000 children die everyday due to lack of clean water and the effects of severe poverty.  Little girls are sold as sex slaves. Do you think Jesus gives a rip if I'm able to retire "comfortably" and spend it on my pleasures while there are 147million orphans in the world.  Uh---hello???? 
 I want us to be debt free and have emergency savings and work on retirement funds, and then, if the Holy Spirit prompts us---have the freedom to outlandishly give to hurting people, go on mission trips withou being hindered by lack of funds, and whatever else we are prompted to do.  So, now that the disclaimer is out there--that is the one thing I didn't agree with Dave about.  Really, The Blessed Life, by Robert Morris, is  better regarding the Scriptures and giving.  But, as my younger sister Katy(don't ya hate it when your younger sis is smarter than you ???) pointed out--use the great tools for money management  and debt elimination in Dave Ramsey and follow the giving principals in the Blessed Life. 

Quotes I just loved and wanted to share:
   Christmas is NOT an emergency!  It comes every December.  Personally, I'm super guilty of this.  Every October, I get that panicky feeling in my gut about Christmas.  Not only did I not budget and save a little every month for it, but sometimes(in an "emergency") I use the plastic!  Not only do I use plastic, but I end up paying interest for junk the kids don't give a rip about by February!
   If you keep a 378 dollar car payment throughout your life, which is "normal", you miss the opportunity to save that money.  If you invested $378 per month from age 25 to 65, a normal working lifetime, in the average mutual fund averaging 12 percent, you would have $4,447,084!!!!!  Wow, that totally blew my mind.  We are trying, oh it is HARD, to put a typical car payment in a savings account to save up and buy Mike a nice used truck with cash in 1yr.  At the rate we are going, it may be a 10yr old clunker
It is going to rain.  You need a rainy day fund.
You know, it wasn't our fault that Dillon had an ER visit in April(darned inflammed omentum!), then Carter and Hudson had an ER visit in June(clutz!), then I had outpatient surgery in August. We never could have predicted those medical bills. But, if we'd been good stewards, faithfully saving for those types of emergencies, we'd not have been blown out of the water with the bills.



So, where do we start?  With Dave's Baby Step One:
           Save 1000 cash for an emergency fund and do it fast!  I'm looking forward to doing what one of the women in the book did.  I'm going to take 10 one hundred dollar bils, place them in a glass picture frame, write "In case of real emergency, break glass" on it and hang the framed bills in our closet.  I love that idea!
            Never use credit for anything else but a home mortgage.  Ever!  No debt.    
That's the basics.