Sunday, May 26, 2013

Financial Peace

A little over 2 years ago, I went through the Dave Ramsey course, Financial Peace University, at my church. A month after the class ended, I became a single mom. This class saved me financially. I have no idea how I would have made it financially those 2 years on my own without having finished FPU. When I started dating again, one thing on my "list" of MUST HAVES for the guy I married was that he had to take FPU, and we had to be on the same page financially. In my DivorceCare class that I took shortly after my separation, I learned that finances was the #1 reason for divorce. So, if you are on the same page financially, you are off to a pretty great start!

I met Bryan, and as things started going well with us while we were dating, I told him before getting married, he had to take FPU or read Dave's books or something. The church he was attending at the time amazingly decided to offer the class shortly after that. He was on board with the Dave way after that, so I agreed to marry him ;).

Well, we are ready to really focus and work through the baby steps that Dave sets. These 7 baby steps are:

1. $1000 in an emergency fund
2. Pay off all debt using the debt snowball
3. 3-6 months expenses in savings
4. Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement
5. College funding for children
6. Pay off home early
7. Build wealth and give!

We had accomplished baby step #1, but then had to dip into our emergency fund when our car had some problems. So, our first focus is to build back what we had to spend. After that, we are ready to tackle debt!

I'm going to be transparent here, because I want us to be held accountable for paying off our debt and to accomplish our goal. We added up our debt that we have and the total is about $31,000.00. A lot of this comes from previous marriages...seriously guys, don't get credit cards and don't get divorced. Both are just financial killers! We were listening to Dave on the radio as we were coming home from a trip this weekend. A couple called in and they had paid off $25,000 in debt in 19 months, making less money than we make right now. That just set off a light bulb in me. Why do I think we can't accomplish that?? We are just as capable as anyone else. All it takes is focus and some self-control with money. I know we can do it and I'm looking forward to seeing that amount go down every month. If that couple paid off $25,000 in 19 months, I don't see why we can't accomplish our goal in 2 years! Yes, it takes sacrifice, it takes saying no. No more eating out, no more random trips that we decide to take at the last minute, every extra money we have we will put towards our debt payments. I know that doesn't sound like a very fun way to live, but as Dave says "Live like no one else, so that later you can LIVE like no one else." I know we will get there and I know that with us working with the same goal in mind, together, we will reach our goal! I'm excited to see how this goes!

Now, I'm working on ways to save us money. Obviously, the no eating out and spending less on gas. My biggest struggle has been getting our grocery bill lowered. I used to use coupons, but I have a hard time with that now. I like to eat healthy, and unfortunately, most coupons are for processed foods, which I don't buy. So, any tips on how to lower the grocery budget would be appreciated :) And, any other money saving tips in general would be great!

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Just say NO!

Lately, I've been trying to do better with spending time reading my Bible every day. I have been doing better than I was, but I have found that I would get distracted with other things and end up not doing it. Today was one of those days. I sat down 3 times to read my Bible and just spend some time with God, and each time, I was distracted by the kids needing or wanting something from me. I ended up not getting to do it until 9:30 after they were in bed...but even then it wasn't uninterrupted. I had to get up a few times to deal with them and their usual bedtime difficulties. I've been doing the Parenting By Design devotional on UVersion, because I feel like I need help in that area. Today's was about how sometimes we have to say no to our kids in order to spend time with God each day. That is the only real way too get rest and be rejuvenated...which is something I really need some days (today was one of those days). This devotion showed how even Jesus had to say no and get alone to pray. Luke 5:15-16 says "The news about Him spread all the more , so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sickness. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." Even Jesus had to get away from his followers (I don't have as many as He did, but they do like to follow me everywhere I go!). I have to learn it's OK to say no. They don't have to have my constant attention. If I'm going to be the mom God has called me to be, I MUST take time for myself to spend alone, in a quiet place with God, and the Bible gives me permission to do that without feeling mommy guilt!

Thursday, May 16, 2013

School Planning

I am SO excited that summer is almost here!! Cade has 5 days of school left and then he is DONE. I'm even more excited that it is almost time to start homeschooling! I've been working hard on getting all the lesson plans done and organized. I'm so excited to use the curriculum I have chosen to use with him. I have a daily schedule for us that will allow him to be done with school be 12 or 1 each day, which is so great. That includes him getting about an hour and a half break total during his school lessons each day. I'm excited to have more time in the afternoons just to play or find fun activities and field trips to do with my boys. I don't think I have posted here, so I will post what curriculum I have chosen to use with him.

Hooked on Phonics 1st Grade - Reading
Handwriting Without Tears - Writing
Math-U-See - Math
Apologia Astronomy - Science
US Geography/History from Confessions of a Homeschooler
Art from Confessions of a Homeschooler
Music from Confessions of a Homeschooler (I love her curriculums!)

I was considering starting Kindergarten with Liam. He wouldn't start K in public school until August of next year if he were going to public school. But, we are still working on learning letters and he struggles a little with that, so I think we will just keep reviewing that and move on when he is ready.

I'm considering doing a year around schedule. I've been researching it a little and it seems like it would work well for us. I read where some people will do 3 months on, 1 month off. I love the idea of having several breaks instead of just one long 3 month break. Plus, it would allow us to take extended time off when Beckham is born, which I really want so we can have some time to bond with him and get on some type of schedule with him (yeah, right ha!). If we do that, we will be starting school after our trip to California in June.

I'm very much looking forward to this year! I know it won't be completely smooth and it will be a learning process, but I am SO excited to start homeschooling and helping my kids LOVE learning!

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Thank Heaven for little boys!

I've wanted to write this post for a while, but wasn't really sure how to say it without people getting offended, so I'm just going to try :)

When Bryan and I found out we were having a baby, I'll admit, we wanted a girl. But, when we went to our ultrasound and saw that it was definitely NOT a girl, I wasn't surprised at all :) I feel like God has just called me to be a mom to a bunch of boys. It really makes me sad as I look at men in the world today. On t.v., men are degraded and made to look stupid while the women of the family seem to control everything in the family. This world has gotten away from allowing men to be who they are supposed to be.

According to the Bible (which my family believes in and tries our hardest to follow..), men are called to be the leader of the family. Men are to love their wives and wives are to respect their husbands. Very sadly, I don't see that happen a lot these days. I think if we followed the Bible's plan for the family and marriage, there wouldn't be so many divorces. I can speak boldly about this, because I have been through a divorce. I am now married to an AMAZING man who is a Godly leader. Because I know that my husband is following God's leadership and doing his best to live his life to please God, I know that I can trust where my husband leads our family.

Anyway, back to having boys. I feel that God is giving me the opportunity to raise these boys to be MEN. Men who love their families, men who strive to please God with their lives. These days, it's okay for men to be withdrawn from families. I see it SO many times and it breaks my heart. Men will come home from work and go to their "man cave" so they can do their own thing instead of being bothered by their children and wife. It's heartbreaking. I want more for my family than that, and I want my boys to grow to want more for their families as they grow and become husbands and fathers (if that's God's plan for their lives).

Thank you, Lord, for trusting Bryan and me with these boys. I pray daily that we raise them the way He wants us to and they become the men that He has created them to be. We have an opportunity to make a difference in the next generation of men and I'm thankful God is going to equip us for the task!