Debt Free by Forty

Time Management Results

2010-10-11T06:00:00.011-05:00

Months ago I read an article from Matt at Becoming Last. The article suggested that readers take a time inventory of their lives to determine how much time they spent on work, sleep, preparing and eating book, etc. The purpose of the exercise was to evaluate if the way we spend our time matches what we claim to value.

For an entire week I wrote down everything I spent my time on. I discovered that I spent much of my free time with friends and doing bible studies. This matched two of the four priorities of my life (read about those here). I spent much more time on those two things than I did the top two things on my list (loving and serving my family, and loving and serving others). I realized my free time was being spent on the four areas of my life that were important, just not in the order I desired! I came to two conclusions from this exercise.

Schedule Change
We had a few conversations about our desire to love and serve other people. We were able to do this on the rare occasion a girl from church needed someone to go to an appointment with her because her mother lived out of town, or helping a family move who didn’t own a car. But we realized we needed to be much more intentional in this area.

We also realized we needed to drop a few commitments to spend time working on our marriage. We started limiting our time on church related activities to twice a week instead of three or four. We started picking up and doing housework for 5-10 minutes at breakfast and lunch so we had time in the evening together. I stopped spending as much time online, and as you have probably noticed, on this blog.

Continued Evaluation
In a short time, this exercise opened my eyes. I realized that I don’t always spend my time in a way that matches what I say I value. I get so busy with life and the things that I have scheduled that I neglect the things that are the most important to me! This was very helpful to Mr. DFx40 and I, and we plan on doing this again.

Conclusion
It was a looong 6 months away from this blog, but it was well worth it. Mr. DFx40 is graduated and finally starting to settle in at his new job. My job has had a major schedule change. And we have added another member to our household. But we can catch up about life a little later!

What about you…what are the priorities in your life? Do you consistently spend your time in a way that reflects that?

Money Proverbs - A Prudent Son

2010-10-10T12:00:00.003-05:00

Each Sunday I am going to take a verse or passage from the book of Proverbs and share it with you. Some weeks it will be one verse, some weeks it will be a passage to help put the highlighted verse in context, but every week it will be relevant.

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Many proverbs have negative and positive statements. Today’s is not different.

4 A slack hand causes poverty,
but the hand of the diligent makes rich.
5 He who gathers in summer is a prudent son,
but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.

Proverbs 10:4-5

Negative. We’ve all heard the story of the grasshopper and the ant. We’ve also all heard stories of grasshoppers that came into money without earning it themselves. Unfortunately, the proverb below holds true even in those situations. Many people who inherit money or win the lottery end up in worse shape that they started out in because they didn’t change their ways.

Positive. This verse brought to my mind a worker with variable income. These people know that they must save during months of plenty (gather in summer) to survive the months of want. They will be rewarded with peace of mind, a cared for family, and a wise reputation.

What about you…how would you apply this to our world today? How have you applied this to you life already?

Money Proverbs - Riches and Honor

2010-04-18T12:00:00.001-05:00

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I don’t have much to say about today’s verses except, boy was it timely. Sometimes its hard to not get caught up in the love of money. This reminds me that His blessings are better than anything I can imagine!

18 Riches and honor are with me,
enduring wealth and righteousness.
19 My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold,
and my yield than choice silver.
20 I walk in the way of righteousness,
in the paths of justice,
21 granting an inheritance to those who love me,
and filling their treasuries.

Proverbs 8:18-21

What about you…how would you apply this to our world today? How have you applied this to you life already?

Money Proverbs - Practical Warnings

2010-04-11T12:00:00.013-05:00

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I titled today’s verses after the section title from my bible. If the following passage seems like common sense, that’s because it is! And honestly, the bluntness of it really makes me chuckle.

6 Go to the ant, O sluggard;
consider her ways, and be wise.
7 Without having any chief,
officer or ruler,
8 she prepares her bread in summer
and gathers he food in harvest.
9 How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
11 and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want like an armed man.

Proverbs 6:9, 10

What about you…how would you apply this to our world today? How have you applied this to you life already?

March Firm Determinations Update

2010-04-08T20:55:00.001-05:00

At the beginning of 2010 I made a few Firm Determinations. I am very excited about my progress in some areas, and just a little disappointed about my lack of progress in others. Here is how I’ve done with my Financial, Health, Faith, and Blog FD’s.

Finances
Save $5000 towards student loan repayment by May – We have saved $4096.00 towards this goal. That’s 82% towards our goal!
Increase Emergency Fund by one month’s living expenses by May – We have saved $2726.70 towards this goal, which is more than one month’s living expenses for us. Consider this officially checked off the list.
Open a Roth IRA with retirement money in Money Market Account – We are still looking into this. I have the option of opening one up with the same people who do our company’s 401K so I’m going to set up a meeting within the next few months.
Reevaluate goals in May 2010 – this is one FD we are looking forward too!

Health
Run/log 600 miles – I logged 2 miles this month. Yikes. I guess it is an improvement over last month, which didn’t see any miles. It looks like I need to reevaluate this FD.
Ride my new bike to work 24 times – I rode my bike one time in March, which is short of the 2 times a month I need for this FD. Maybe April will be the first successful month.
Do back exercises/stretches 3 times a week – I’m still only doing this about once a week. Sigh.
Try one new meatless meal a month –Here is a picture of the surprisingly yummy black bean taco I had for dinner last week. Mr. DFx40 wasn’t excited about meatless tacos so I had to take my portion of the beans out before I added his beef.

Faith
Volunteer to lead college small group once a month – I volunteered to lead 7 of the 8 times we met.
Spend time with children from bus ministry once a month –This has been more difficult to fulfill lately. We had to make the very sad decision to stop volunteering on Wednesday nights. Maybe I’ll talk more about this later, but I’m still pretty upset, so I’m not going to go into it now.
Spend 3 hours a week reading and studying my bible – I count 30 minutes each for our Sunday and Tuesday college bible study and Sunday small group bible study in this. It is actually more like an hour for each, but I can’t make it that easy! I ended up averaging only 2 hours each week this month.

Blog
Post a new article once a week – I barely met this goal this month. I think I need to work on a schedule instead of whenever I get around to it.
Track all of my input/output and share it once a month – I successfully tracked everything in a spreadsheet, but I think there is way too much information to share, and I don’t see the benefit. I’m rethinking the last half of this FD.

Once again I fell short in some areas and excelled in others. It may take me all year to have a completely successful month. Maybe it’s the warm sunny days we’ve been having, but I am very optimistic for April.

What about you…how have you progressed towards fulfilling your Firm Determinations? Have you reevaluated or modified your goals?

Time Management

2010-03-25T20:22:00.000-05:00

Last week Matt at Becoming Last posted an interesting article about time management. First he suggested we take a time inventory of our lives. Write down how much time you spend on different areas of your life for a week: work, sleep, preparing and eating food, driving, leisure (tv, games, hobbies), working out, church activities/volunteering, internet, etc. Then he posed this question,

“Does the way we use our time match what we claim to value?”

I thought for a while and came up with a list of things I value in my life; things I want to be a priority. It was hard for me to put into words the things that I value. As I’ve said in previous posts, the main goal for my life is to live missionally. But that is a little broad for this list, so I broke it down a little. I managed to come up with 4 things that I want to be priorities in my life.

Loving and serving my family
This includes any quality time that I spend with my family; going for a walk, watching a movie with them, sitting and talking with them. It also includes any time I spend serving them: making their dinner, folding their clothes, giving them a massage.

Loving and serving others
This includes any time I spend serving other people; giving someone a ride, verbally affirming my friends, or serving at a soup kitchen.

Increasing my knowledge of God
This includes any time spent in prayer, reading my bible, attending church, or leading bible studies.

Taking care of my mind and body
This includes any time I spend doing things like exercising or gardening.

Starting this Sunday I am going to keep a rough estimate each day of how I spend my time. At the end of next week I will share my results, and see if how I spend my time matches what I value. If it doesn’t, I’ll try to determine what I can do to change that.

What about you…how do you think you spend your time? What do you want your life to reflect about your priorities?

Money Proverbs - Weath and Plenty

2010-03-21T08:05:00.003-05:00

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Today’s verses are a subject that causes a lot of division within and outside of the church. But regardless of the arguments of either side, it is a passage that I have seen prove faithful in my own life. When Mr. DFx40 and I started honoring God with our money (and that means giving faithfully and willingly, not begrudgingly) our finances were blessed. We were able to sell a house we bought with my parents for a 55% profit, pay off my student loans, pay our car off 2 years early, and take our net worth from a negative $56,500 to a positive $18,000. And even though we were using most of our income to pay down debt and increase our savings, our giving has actually increased also.

9 Honor the LORD with your wealth
and with the firstfruits of all your produce;
10 then your barns will be filled with plenty,
and your vats will be bursting with wine.

Proverbs 3:9, 10

What about you…how would you apply this to our world today? How have you applied this to you life already?

The Happiness Project for March

2010-03-20T11:07:00.001-05:00

Do you ever struggle with being happy with your job? Most people do at one time or another. For the past few months it has been very difficult for me to go to work. I have felt bored and haven’t enjoyed the time I spend there. Considering I spend anywhere from 40 and 50 hours a week at my job, that is a lot of dissatisfaction.

If you haven’t guessed by now, Gretchen Rubin, who wrote a book and manages the Happiness project blog, suggests focusing on work this month. To be able to increase your happiness at work, you first have to figure out what is making you unhappy. There are a two big reasons I have been unhappy at work. First, sometimes I get bored. So I sit and do nothing, and the time d r a g s. Second, I tend to dwell on the unhappy things. For example, when I get bored, I sit and think about how bored I am, or how I would rather be somewhere else, instead of doing something to fix it. That doesn’t make much sense! But what can I do to change it?

Stay busy. This might seem obvious, but it isn’t something I’ve been practicing. There are definitely things I can do during the boring times that would increase my productivity. What I am going to do this month is make a list of things to do during the boring times and label it Stay Busy. Every time I have 30 minutes or an hour of “free” time, I will open up this list and get busy! A few things on that list: purge and organize files, file project information, update project lists, return drawings to file room, make my office more beautiful.

Don’t Dwell. I have to focus on not dwelling on all the things I don’t like about my job. I need to dwell on the things about my job that are a blessing. I’m big on lists, so every time I start thinking about a negative thing in my job I am going to do two things: figure out how to turn the negative into a positive, and make a list of the blessings from my job. A few examples on my list: I have a stable job in an uncertain economy, I have room for improvement in my job, I receive free insurance and substantial profit sharing, I have the ability to telecommute in the future (which was a large factor when I moved), I have a boss with good morals.

What about you…how can you increase your happiness by focusing on Work this month?

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For future topics and past entries on my Happiness Project, see the list below.

January – Energy

February – Love
March – Work
April – Money
May – Mindfulness
June – Order
July – Spirit
August – Fun
September – Family
October – Friends
November – Attitude
December – Boot Camp Perfect

Money Proverbs

2010-03-07T13:51:00.000-06:00

I know that the majority of people are not Christian, and do not consider the bible as the authoritative Word of God. However, regardless of whether you believe as I do or not, the bible has some very practical advice for many areas of your life. Money is one of the most discussed topics in the bible. Because of this, I am starting a new series called Money Proverbs. I am going to read through Proverbs and each Sunday I am going to take a verse or passage from the book and share it with you. Some weeks it will be one verse, some weeks it will be a passage to help put the highlighted verse in context, but every week it will be relevant.

11 If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood;
let us ambush the innocent without reason;
12 like Sheol let us swallow them alive,
and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
13 we shall find all precious goods,
we shall fill our houses with plunder;
14 thrown in your lot among us;
we will all have one purse” –
15 my son, do not walk in the way with them;
hold back your foot from their paths,
16 for their feet run to evil,
and they make haste to shed blood.
17 For in vain is a net spread
in the sight of any bird,
18 but these men lie in wait for their own blood;
they set an ambush for their own lives.
19 Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain;
it takes away the life of its possessors.
Proverbs 1:11-19

What about you…how would you apply this to our world today? How have you applied this to you life already?

February Firm Determination Update

2010-03-05T19:10:00.000-06:00

At the beginning of 2010 I made a few Firm Determinations. I am very excited about my progress in some areas, and just a little disappointed about my lack of progress in others. Here is how I’ve done with my Financial, Health, Faith, and Blog FD’s.

Finances
Save $5000 towards student loan repayment by May – We have saved $3715.98.00 towards this goal. That’s 74% towards our goal and a 29% increase from last month.
Increase Emergency Fund by one month’s living expenses by May – We have saved $2665.22 towards this goal, which is more than one month’s living expenses for us. Consider this officially checked off the list.
Open a Roth IRA with retirement money in Money Market Account – We are still looking into this. I have the option of opening one up with the same people who do our company’s 401K so I’m going to set up a meeting within the next few months.
Reevaluate goals in May 2010 – Mr. DFx40 is on his second round of interviews at the hospital he wants to work for after graduating so I'm getting excited about this!

Health
The weather continues to foil my plans in a few of these areas. But enough excuses, on to the updates!
Run/log 600 miles – I logged 0 miles this month. Zero. That doesn’t even come close to the 50 miles a month it will take to fulfill this FD.
Ride my new bike to work 24 times – I rode my bikeone time in February, which is short of the 2 times a month I need for this FD. I’m expecting this to pick up once it starts staying above freezing at night.
Do back exercises/stretches 3 times a week – I’ve only been doing this about once a week, but it helps so much when I do! Hopefully this will be the month I fulfill this FD.

Try one new meatless meal a month – I’m looking forward to this FD, even though I forgot about it last month. Here is a picture of the delicious smoothie I had for breakfast last Saturday. It was made of strawberries, bananas, a handful of blackberries, and 6 oz of yogurt. Yum!

Faith

Volunteer to lead college small group once a month – I volunteered to lead 7 of the 8 times we met.
Spend time with children from bus ministry once a month – We took 6 of the kids to the local golden arches after church Wednesday night. You have never seen a group of kids so excited to get something off the dollar menu. And when they got three items each, I thought they might explode. If we could all be so thankful for such a small thing!
Spend 3 hours a week reading and studying my bible – I count 30 minutes each for our Sunday and Tuesday college bible study and Sunday small group bible study in this. It is actually more like an hour for each, but I can’t make it that easy! I ended up averaging just under 3 hours each week.

Blog
Post a new article once a week – I met this goal this month, without technicalities. If I continue to meet this FD I will expand this to include an actual schedule instead of whenever I get around to it.
Track all of my input/output and share it once a month – I successfully tracked everything in a spreadsheet, but I think there is way too much information to share, and I don’t see the benefit. I’m rethinking the last half of this FD.

Once again I fell short in some areas and excelled in others. It may take me all year to have a completely successful month, but I am still optimistic.

What about you…how have you progressed towards fulfilling your Firm Determinations? Have you reevaluated or modified your goals?

Financial Fast

2010-02-23T17:00:00.001-06:00

I have participated in a few fasts from food. It was not easy. I love to prepare and to eat food. I did learn that if I can go without a necessity like food for a day or two, I can go without a non-necessity for a week, month, or even a year.

When I apply this idea to my personal finances, I call it a financial fast. It can include not purchasing soft drinks, not eating meat, not buying any new clothes, not eating out, etc. Everyone can benefit from a regular financial fast. It helps develop skills, and best of all, it helps you save money.

Self-control. Self control is essential to being successful with your finances (and in life!). But it isn’t something that can be developed overnight. It takes time. The key is to take small steps. Start out with a day or two. Then work up to a week. Eventually you’ll be fasting for a month without much effort.

Confidence. Sometimes we are fearful of doing anything because the risk of failure is overwhelming. So we stay in the same job, never try a new hobby, and don’t ever get out of our comfort zone. When I was successful in a small financial fast, it boosted my confidence and I slowly added the length of my fast. When I was successful in longer fasts, it built up my confidence until I gained control of my finances.

Money. At first I gave up something for short time, like a week. I didn’t see huge results from these short fasts. But as I developed more self-control and confidence, the results grew. Ten dollars I saved turned into twenty, which turned into fifty dollars. I discovered that when I completed a financial fast, sometime I never started purchasing that item again!

Just like with a fast from food, you have to be cautious when your fast is over. If you go out and eat a huge meal after a fast, it will be painful. I do recommend rewarding yourself when you meet a goal, but I don’t recommend splurging all the money you saved on your financial fast. If you give up buying soft drinks for a week, reward yourself with one soft drink at the end of the week. If you give up eating out for a month, reward yourself with one night out at the end of the month. If you decide you still want to!

What about you…what could you give up for a week, a month, or even a year as part of a financial fast?

The Happiness Project for February

2010-02-18T12:54:00.000-06:00

The month of February is a time many people focus on love, whether they want to or not. Some people have a positive experience and others don’t. But whatever their experience, they are inundated with commercials, promotions, and discussions about love. I guess that’s why Gretchen Rubin, who thought up the Happiness Project, suggests focusing on love this month.

I like the focus on love because it is one of the driving forces behind my desire to be debt free by forty. One of the bible verses that sums up what a Christian’s life should look like is John 13:34, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another”. This doesn’t just apply to the person you are married to, engaged to, or are dating. This applies to every person in your life, whether it is family, friends, or strangers.

Gretchen’s tips for this month are giving proofs of love, fighting right, and not expecting praise or appreciation. Gretchen’s tips to fight right and not to expect praise or appreciation are a form of giving proofs of love. It is ok to disagree with a spouse or friend…it is hard to grow if there isn’t something pushing you to assess your views and beliefs. What is not ok is tearing someone down verbally because they don’t agree with you. What better way to give a proof of love than to do something for another person without expecting anything in return? That is the type of love that echoes the ultimate gift of love we received from Christ when he chose to give His life for ours.

Here are a few of the ways I am going to show proofs of love this month:

Give my husband a back massage. Mr. DFx40 is very physically active. He tries to run 30-40 miles every week. He is in nursing school so he is regularly on his feet for 12 hours or more each day. This is something I can do for him without expecting him to do anything in return.

Send a card to my mother. Mother DFx40 is stressed out this month because Little Brother DFx40 is getting married. His future wife is great, and this is something the entire family has been looking forward to. However, she has taken on a lot of activities by herself and I know she would greatly appreciate a handwritten note over a quick text or phone call.

Make a favorite meal for Cousin DFx40. He has been making great progress, but still feels very guilty about the circumstances that have him living with us. He also worries about the burden he thinks he puts on us. I know that he could use an extra portion of love this month. I plan on making his favorite dinner and telling him I’m proud of him for the growth he’s shown.

What about you…how can you increase your happiness by focusing on Love this month?

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For future topics and past entries on my Happiness Project, see the list below.
January – Energy
February – Love
March – Work
April – Money
May – Mindfulness
June – Order
July – Spirit
August – Fun
September – Family
October – Friends
November – Attitude
December – Boot Camp Perfect

Home Downsizing

2010-02-11T18:15:00.000-06:00

I’ve got a little secret to share. I am ~~in love~~ ~~obsessed~~ intrigued by the small house movement. I visit small house websites, I read about not so big houses, shoot, I even draw my own small house plans. What is it that has me so enamored?

Family - My grandmother grew up in a small house with no indoor plumbing and a shared bedroom for the kids. Mr. DFx40 and Cousin DFx40 both shared bedrooms with their older brothers. In a small home if it is going to work you have to learn to communicate with your family, which is definitely a good thing. You can’t have good relationships without good communication.

Sustainable - It doesn’t take much common sense to realize that a smaller house uses less material and causes less waste when being built. They also use less energy to heat and cool. And if you do happen to live in a small home and you want to update to be more energy efficient, it takes a lot less material to do that also!

Money - Smaller House = Smaller Mortgage. If that isn’t enough to convince you, take a look at this…Smaller House = Smaller Bills. Enough said.

Time - It takes me long enough to clean and maintain a 1300 square foot home. When I think about adding bathrooms and other rooms to clean, I start to hyperventilate. And if you haven’t figured this one out yet, a smaller home (and a smaller mortgage) equals less time at work to pay for it. That aligns perfectly with my motivation to be debt free by forty.

These reasons were enough to motivate a few conversations about downsizing from our huge (ha) 1300 square feet house. We realized there were plenty of advantages to doing so. What made us decide to stay put? Two of the same things that has me so ~~in love~~ ~~obsessed~~ intruged with small houses!

Money - Our current mortgage is far from unbearable. We bought a house for around 70% of what the bank offered to loan us three years ago, which was based on my income alone. We could still comfortably afford it on half of our current income. That is with me working full time and Mr. DFx40 working about 12 hours a week while he finishes school. We decided the extra $200-$300 a month we could save by downsizing wasn’t worth the three years of equity we would lose or the stress of moving.

Family - As some of you know, Cousin DFx40 moved in with us in September. What none of you know is that another Cousin DFx40 will be staying with us for a few weeks in March. She and her husband will be moving from Mexico (he is a citizen of Mexico) to the town we live in, and she needs a place to stay while she looks for a car and an apartment. If we downsized we would miss out on a lot of opportunities to help out the people we love.

What about you…what size house/apartment do you live in? How many people share that space with you? Would you ever consider going smaller?

January Firm Determinations Update

2010-02-03T17:57:00.001-06:00

At the beginning of 2010 I made a few Firm Determinations. I am very excited about my progress in some areas, and just a little disappointed about my lack of progress in others. Here is how I’ve done with my Financial, Health, Faith, and Blog FD’s.

Finances
Save $5000 towards student loan repayment by May – We have saved $2.250.00 towards this goal. That’s 45%, so we are way ahead.
Increase Emergency Fund by one month’s living expenses by May – We have saved $110.00 towards this goal, which is just over 5% (you can do the math). We are a little behind on this, but I’m not worried because we’ll receive $1500 rebate in our taxes for energy efficient upgrades (our air conditioner died).
Open a Roth IRA with retirement money in Money Market Account – We are still looking into this. I have the option of opening one up with the same people who do our company’s 401K so I’m going to set up a meeting within the next few months.
Reevaluate goals in May 2010 – this is one FD we are looking forward too!

Health
Hmm. I really thought that this would be one of the easier categories for me. But it ended up being the worse one.

Run/log 600 miles – I only logged 4 miles this month. That doesn’t even come close to the 50 miles a month it will take to fulfill this FD. I don’t have an excuse except that it has been freakishly cold in Texas.
Ride my new bike to work 24 times – I did not ride my bike one time in January, which is obviously short of the 2 times a week I need for this FD. I’m expecting this to pick up once it starts staying above freezing at night.
Do back exercises/stretches 3 times a week – I’ve done my back exercises and stretches an average of 1 time a week. I saw results from the few times I did this. This will increase when my running increases.
Try one new meatless meal a month – I honestly forgot all about this FD until I sat down to write this update. But here’s a picture of the yummy chicken fajitas the three of us ate last night.

Faith
Volunteer to lead college small group once a month – I completely blew this one away this month. I volunteered to lead 3 of the 4 times we met. And it wasn’t that bad.
Spend time with children from bus ministry once a month – This is one of the FD’s I’m most disappointed with not fulfilling. I will have to schedule in a Saturday to do a home visit for February.
Spend 3 hours a week reading and studying my bible – I struggled with whether or not to include our Sunday and Tuesday college bible study and Sunday small group bible study in this. In the end, I decided to count 30 minutes for each. I ended up averaging a little under 3 hours each week.

Blog
Post a new article once a week – I didn’t technically meet this goal. I posted a total of 4 times in January, but I went an entire week without posting anything.
Track all of my input/output and share it once a month – I successfully tracked everything in a spreadsheet. My next post will give you the tally for each of the following items tracked for January:

Income/Expenses
Food/Exercise
Spiritual Growth/Live Missionally

Like I said, I fell short in some areas and excelled in others. It may take me all year to have a completely successful month, but I am still optimistic.

What about you…how have you progressed towards fulfilling your Firm Determinations? Have you reevaluated or modified your goals?

Free Stuff

2010-01-30T08:58:00.000-06:00

Has anyone else come across the Money Crashers Site lately?

Wow.

They are currently hosting one of the largest giveaways I have ever seen on a blog. A few of the prizes listed on their website include $9,200 worth of cash, gift cards, and prizes like an Amazon Kindle, an 8GB Ipod Touch, a consultation with a CFP, and a virtual truckload of personal finance books and magazines.

There are almost as many ways to enter as there are prizes. A few of the easier ways to enter are signing up for their mailing list (1 entry) or their RSS feed (15 entries) and writing a blog post about the contest (30 entries, 2 blog post limit). For the more creative entrant, write a personal finance haiku on Twitter (10 entries, with the top 5 haikus earning 15 additional entries).

Money Crashers will perform a random drawing on February 3, 2010 so if you want a fighting chance, head on over quickly and enter as many ways as you can. Good luck if you decide to enter, and hopefully I'll have an exciting reason to post on Wednesday. ;-)

Financial Lesson from Glee...

2010-01-15T14:00:00.000-06:00

...or at least from talking about Glee.

Cousin DFx40 and I watch Glee together every week. I told him that I would love to have the soundrackthat was out. He informed me that the show had a second volume out too. He went on to tell me that soundtracks of any kind are his weakness. He knows as soon as almost any soundtrack comes out, and he has to give himself a limit of 2 weeks to buy them. By the time the 2 weeks are over, the newness has worn off and he rarely ends up buying it. How awesome that he has discovered something that will help him with his finances for the rest of his life! To be successful financially (and in life) we have to realize two things.

What works for me doesn't work for everyone.
Mr. DFx40 prefers get up at 5am every morning and run 8 miles before the day even starts. If he waits until 5pm he is not going to run. F.I.L. DFx40 prefers to eat breakfast and be awake for an hour or two first. If he gets up at 5am it is only because his dogs woke him up. Some of us can hang out at the mall for 4 hours on a Saturday and end up buying one $10 shirt that we have been looking at for a month. Some of us can't drive past the mall without going in and spending $100 on something we don't even want.

I have to work on what doesn't come naturally.
Brother DFx40 was born with a very active metabolism, and has to work very hard to gain weight. Aunt DFx40 was born with a very inactive metabolism has to work very hard to not gain weight. Brother DFx40 can't lift weights once a week and expect to gain a lot of muscle any more than Aunt DFx40 can eat a salad once a week and expect to lose weight. Some of us find it easy to cook meals at home, but can't bear the thought of giving up cable. Some of us haven't had cable in years, but can't imagine making a grilled cheese sandwich.

These two things are not reasons for us to make excuses. We just need to realize that we all have strengths and weakness, and we have to work with what we've been given. I don't have a problem with tracking my spending (I love Excel), giving freely to others, or saving money. I do have to be careful in stores that sell yarn, in any store if I'm upset, or driving by a restaurant on my way home from work.

What about you...what have you discovered that works for you? What things do you have to work on?

My Happiness Project

2010-01-04T20:48:00.000-06:00

A few things have me thinking about happiness lately.

The first is the weather we’ve been having. We’ve had quite a few days of snow (at least for Texas), and many more days of overcast dreary weather. It always gets me in a little bit of a funk.

The second is a post from J.D. at Get Rich Slowly; It’s More Important to Be Happy than to Be Rich. J.D. makes the case that money doesn’t make our lives better, happiness does. And he makes a very compelling case.

The third is a site I stumbled on; The Happiness Project. Gretchen Rubin spent an entire year applying bits of happiness advice to her life and blogging about it. She also wrote a book about what she learned from that year.

On her blog, Gretchen encourages everyone to start their own Happiness Project. She outlines areas to focus on each month, and even posts weekly goals for each area.

January – Energy
February – Love
March – Work
April – Money
May – Mindfulness
June – Order
July – Spirit
August – Fun
September – Family
October – Friends
November – Attitude
December – Boot Camp Perfect

I know there are plenty of things I can focus on in each of her proposed areas. Since it looks like the sun isn’t going to be breaking through the clouds anytime soon, I should probably be a little proactive in increasing my happiness.

The first month, January, focuses on Energy. That happens to align with a few of my Firm Determinations for 2010, namely the ones related to my health. Running, riding my bike, stretching and exercising my back, and eating better are all likely to boost my energy. If I am going to keep up with all of that exercising, I’m going to need to make sure I get a solid 8 hours of sleep every night. And since I get up at 5am to run with Mr. DFx40, it looks like I need to get off the computer and head to bed!

What about you…how can you increase your happines by focusing on Energy?

Firm Determinations

2010-01-03T19:58:00.000-06:00

I use to make New Year’s Resolutions every year. I’ll run every day, read my bible more, get more sleep, lose weight, etc. Let me be honest. I never made it past January. I think the reason why I failed year after year is that resolutions were either impossible, or too vague.

One of the areas that I have experienced crazy results in the last two years is my finances. Looking back, I am confident that the reason for this success was setting goals. Mr. DFx40 and I sat down when he decided to go back to school. We made some very specific goals for the short term and long term (the ultimate goal of course is to be debt free by 40). I don’t like to be like everyone else so instead of making New Year’s Resolutions I’m going to make Firm Determinations. Here are my 2010 Firm Determinations broken into 4 categories:

Finances
Since this blog is largely to hold me accountable, I should probably start with my financial goals. These goals are really just for half the year because Mr. DFx40 will graduate in May. Yay!

Save $5000 towards student loan repayment by May
Increase Emergency Fund by one month’s living expenses by May
Open a Roth IRA with retirement money in Money Market Account
Reevaluate goals in May 2010

Health
When I take care of myself my expenses are actually lower. Some of my friends argue that when they exercise they eat more. This may be true for them, but not for me. When I exercise regularly I pay closer attention to the food I eat, I plan out my meals, and actually spend less money on groceries. I also feel better and have more energy, which means I’m not sitting on the couch watching TV and snacking.

Run/log 600 miles
Ride my new bike to work 24 times
Do back exercises/stretches 3 times a week
Try one new meatless meal a month

Faith
I talked previously about why I want to be debt free by forty. I believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior, and I desire to live as he taught. However, I still get distracted with work and other things of this world. After being inspired by Matt at Becoming Last, I am determined to live missionally today instead of waiting until my financial goals are met.

Volunteer to lead college small group once a month
Spend time with children from bus ministry once a month
Spend 3 hours a week reading and studying my bible

Blog
I am still new to the blogging world, and I know there are many ways I need to improve. I have a few things I would like to accomplish with and through this blog.

Post a new article once a week

Track all of my input/output and share it once a month

Income/Expenses
Food/Exercise
Spiritual Growth/Live Missionally

I am very optimistic about my Firm Determinations because they are all SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timed). I am starting a few days behind on my resolutions, but I still hope to have a favorable report by the end of this month.

What about you…what Firm Determinations have you made for the new year?

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T13:35:00.000-06:00

I hope you all spend some time with those you love today to celebrate Christ's birth. I pray you will all be touched by this season and find some time to think of those less fortunate as well.

We are dealing with 8 inches of snow right now. In Texas. It has caused some problems for some trying to traveling, but it is beautiful. It makes me thankful I have a warm home, ample food and clean water, and my family and friends.

We were able to deliver presents to the family we adopted this morning despite the snow and ice. It was so awesome to see their faces and how thankful they were for a few pieces of clothing and a toys.

Christmas Spending

2009-12-11T17:44:00.000-06:00

Well guys, its two weeks before Christmas, and I’m going to be finishing up my shopping this weekend. After our first two years of marriage, Mr. DFx40 and I realized that we needed to prepare a little better for Christmas. So our third year of marriage we started saving $25 a month for Christmas related expenses. We also accumulate $100-$150 in cashback on our credit card every year. That makes our Christmas budget $400-450, but we rarely spend that much. This year we will be buying presents for 32 people this year, and here are a few tips on how we keep our costs down:

Couples Gifts
My brother and his fiancé love movies. More specifically, they love Disney movies. For them we will purchase one or two movies that we know they want. Then we will add popcorn, hot chocolate, or some other edible gift to round it out. This will cost between $20-$30.
Last year we stumbled across some deeply discounted wine in June. We paired these with books, movies, and other edible gifts for the couples we knew would appreciate the wine. Because we had the ability to purchase the wine early, we were able to spend $20-$25 on each couple.

Picture Exchange
My aunt suggested a great idea a few years ago. Every three years when we get together we exchange pictures as our gift. These pictures mean more than a gift because we only get to see them 2 times a year. This year we took our pictures at our local Botanic Gardens, which were free to visit. They also allow amateur photos if you don’t use a tripod. We have a printer that prints good quality photos (most printers do these days) so the only substantial cost here is buying a frame for each family. Because we all knew the arrangement, we were able to look for discounted frames throughout the year.

Draw Names
This is what the adults did on Mr. DFx40’s side of the family when there were 15 people to buy presents for instead of 5. It worked great because everyone bought gifts for the three children, but only one adult gift. This meant we could spend $30-$40 on a good gift (or less, we changed the limit over time) and still save money over buying 15 cheap $5 gifts.

Christmas Gift Exchange Game
We play the Christmas gift exchange game at our office’s Christmas party every year. The limit is $10 so most of the time we purchase edible items and just work it into the food budget. When I was younger we got together with my father’s first cousins (16 people) and played this game. Because of that experience, I can offer some advice. This game might not work with young children who don’t understand why their gift is being “stolen.”

Just Visit
I believe that the reason Thanksgiving is so awesome is because you get together with family, eat, play games, have fun, and don’t have to worry about presents. Sometimes I actually enjoy Thanksgiving more than Christmas because of this. There is nothing wrong with getting together and not giving presents. However, if you’re like my mother and can’t (or won’t?) bear the thought of Christmas with no gifts, consider the next tip.

Adopt a family
We were very blessed this year and we were able to adopt a local family with our bible study group. The family is made up of 9 children ranging from 2 months to 15 years old. The two youngest children live with their mother and the other 7 children live with their grandparents. We were able to purchase each child a pair of jeans, three shirts, pajamas, and stocking stuffers. We also bought each child a bible with his or her name engraved on it, a few family games, and a restaurant gift card and free night of babysitting for the grandparents. There were ten of us to split the costs, so we were able to come up with the money pretty painlessly. This will be the most rewarding and appreciated gift I have ever given.

What about you…how does your family handle gift exchanges? Have you ever gone the non-traditional route and not given presents?

Entitlement

2009-12-08T18:06:00.000-06:00

One night a couple of weeks ago I came home from work late and found my husband in his pajamas watching a tv show on the computer. The first thing I noticed about the house was that that it was messier than I left it when I went to work this morning. Then I looked a little closer and noticed that he hadn’t even laid out the load of laundry like I had asked him. So I changed out of my work clothes and walked to the laundry room. As I walked through the kitchen I realized the dishwasher needed to be unloaded and there were dirty dishes from breakfast and lunch in the sink and on the counter. Sigh.

I went into the laundry room, folded the load of laundry and walked through the living room to put it away. He didn’t even look up from the computer. So what did I do in response? I huffed back into the kitchen to clean and start dinner, banging pots and pans around in the process. Halfway through making dinner he had the audacity to walk in and ask me what was wrong.

Oh yeah. I might have forgotten to mention that it was the only day off he had that week. And being the patient man that he is, he responded with a gentle explanation to my tantrum. After a week filled with two 12-hour clinicals, 18 hours of class time, and two 12-hour shifts at work, he was enjoying his only evening off. Oops.

Our sense of entitlement gets us into trouble sometimes. When we feel entitled to have things our way all the time we end up hurting other people and our relationships suffer. A sense of entitlement is what gets many people into debt also. We feel entitled to spend more than we make because we work hard, we don’t get paid enough, or we don’t get recognized for our work. The list goes on and on.

There are very few things that I think humans really need: basic shelter, clothing, food and water. Anything else other than that is a luxury. But think about all the people around the world, including children, who don’t even have all of the things on that short list. It wouldn’t take much for us to scale back on our “necessities” to ensure that others basics needs were met.

What about you…in what ways do you find yourself feeling entitled? Is there anything you previously felt entitled to that you have gone without to help someone else?

Budgeting for Home Repairs

2009-11-18T13:03:00.000-06:00

We bought our house two years ago when we moved to be closer to family. Because we co-owned a house with my parents before we moved, we knew that owning a house on our own would mean more expenses. And I'm not talking about utilities, insurance, or taxes. I'm talking about all those little (and not so little) repairs and updates that go with owning a house. Our "new" house was built in 1980.  The previous owners had completed some updating, but there were still a few things we noticed (some before we moved in, and some after) that would need to be updated or repaired within a few years of moving in.

What we knew to budget for when we moved in.
New Fence: The fence at our house was in pretty bad shape, and just needed to be torn down. But to keep our dogs in for a while, we made a few quick repairs with left over fence planks.
HVAC Unit:  The sticker on our HVAC unit showed that it was 18 years old so we knew we would need to replace it in a few years. We had the unit serviced and they didn’t find any huge problems with it, it was just old and inefficient.
Paint and small repairs:  Two of the three bedrooms had never been painted and were the original dingy, white. Their little girl’s bedroom was a Barbie purple that didn’t match any of our décor. We knew we would want to paint, but it wasn’t urgent. Our new house also only had ceiling fans in the living room and office, and living in Texas we new we would want to install new fans in each bedroom. Our house also didn't come with a storm door. Not a huge deal, but there are 2-3 months of the year we can turn off the AC and open up the doors.

How we decided how much to save.
New Fence:  We had money left over from selling our first house (and paying off my student loans) that immediately went to fund most the new fence. This was our priority because it was in the worst shape, and my dogs are smart. The repairs we made wouldn't keep them in the yard for long. We measured the length of our fence and headed to Lowe's. I'm a spreadsheet junky so I was able to estimate the number of metal posts, 2x4s, and fence planks we would need and get a pretty good estimate. We only had to save for two months before we had the rest of the money to replace the fence.
HVAC Unit:  Luckily we had friends who replaced their unit and ductwork shortly after we moved into our house. Their house was 200 square feet smaller than ours, and they moved the location of their unit because of remodeling. Because we are good friends they didn’t mind telling us how much their unit cost. We used that number as our goal of cash on hand to have before we replaced our unit. We decided we would plan on replacing the unit 2-3 years after moving in. So we took the estimate, divided it by 36 months, and started putting that money in savings.
Paint and small repairs:  Painting the bedrooms was something I had mentioned to my parents and a few family members. Because I had shared this with them, for my birthday they pitched in and gave me $100 to paint. The ceiling fans ended up being Christmas presents from my parents and grandparents, and the front door was a birthday present from Mr. DFx40.

Why I’m glad we prepared.
Just over a year after moving in we had a little trouble with our HVAC unit leaking water, so we took a closer look. That’s when we discovered the sticker showing that the unit was 18 years old was not correct. The actual installation date of the unit was when the house was built. In 1980. After that discovery we ramped up our savings because we weren’t sure the unit would last through the year. And unfortunately, we were right. Our air conditioner stopped blowing cool or hot air this October. When the technician came by to service it he said it had quite a few leaks, and the coils were aluminum and couldn’t be repaired. They gave us an estimate on 5 different units, two of which qualified for a $1500 tax rebate. After some discussion and prayer we decided to go with the less expensive of the energy efficient units. After the $1500 tax rebate, the energy efficient unit will actually be cheaper than the regular units! It does make us a little nervous for our savings account to take such a large hit, but it does feel good to have the cash ready and not have to use credit.

Since we prepared early on for this, we will reap many benefits. First, we don't have to take out a loan to replace the unit. We have the cash on hand. Secondly, things were timed almost perfectly for us to get a $1500 rebate on our taxes that can go directly back into the emergency fund, which equals almost 1 month of expenses for us. Thirdly, we will actually be putting the cost of the unit on our credit card, getting 5% cash back, and paying it off at the end of the month. I'm pretty excited!

What about you...what home expenses have you budgeted for? Which ones have taken you by surprise?

How Would You Teach Others about Money?

2009-10-28T08:36:00.001-05:00

When my cousin moved in a few weeks ago, Mr. DFx40 and I sat down and talked with him about his situation and what happened. After this talk, we realized that there were quite a few things his parents had never taught him. So we shared the vast amount of knowledge (please note sarcasm) we have gained from our 25 +/- years on this earth.

Routines
Cousin DFx40 tends to be a little forgetful. Sometimes he forgets to pay his bills even when he has the money. This seems to be a pretty common problem. Setting up a few simple daily, weekly, and monthly routines are the best way I can think of to solve this problem. I suggest putting these in writing, whether it’s on a piece of paper on your desk, on a calendar, or tattooed on your arm.

Set a regular wake up time. Even while he was searching for a new job (which took 5-6 weeks), we had him set his alarm and get up at 7am every morning. When he did find a job he was already used to getting up every day and it isn’t a big adjustment when his hours vary each week.
Eat three solid meals a day. Eating breakfast every morning is just going to make you feel better, and better equip you for the rest of the day. And since he was already waking up in time for breakfast every morning, this was easy to add to his routine.
Have a desk day once a week. I find it easier to keep up with junk mail and bills if I designate one day a week to deal with it. Set up a station (in an area you will use) to sort your mail and bills as soon as you bring them inside. For Cousin DFx40, this is just a corner of the desk in his room.
Review your situation regularly. At first we sat down with him every week to go over where he had applied, where he was still going to apply, and if he had any offers. Now that he has a job and is working regularly, we meet with him every other week (which happens to coincide with payday) to review his bills, savings, and goals.

Goals
After our talk, we realized that Cousin DFx40 was so overwhelmed with his situation that he had no goals. He was completely lost on what he wanted to do and what he was doing. This can be crippling, especially if you are in a situation your unhappy with. If you don’t have a goal (written down or not) you are not likely to change where you are.

Write them down. I think writing something down makes it real. We have our goal, DFx40, printed out and placed on our refrigerator. Since the kitchen is a place we visit frequently, we see our goal at the very least three times a day, but usually more.
Keep track of your goals. This goes back to reviewing your situation regularly. Find a frequency that works with your goals, sit down and look at where you are. If you find that you’re not quite on track, either readjust your methods, or your goal.
Celebrate the victories. This doesn’t mean go on a $500 shopping spree when you pay off your credit cards. It means if you’ve given up going out to eat to pay the cards off, celebrate by eating out.

Budget
I realize I am in the minority of people who love to budget. It makes me feel in control and I like to have a tool to measure how I’m progressing towards my goals. Also, it keeps me honest. This doesn’t happen to be something Cousin DFx40 loves as much as me. Thankfully, since he doesn’t own anything, and doesn’t have many bills, we were able to keep this relatively simple.

Write everything down. This means all forms of income and every reoccurring expense. Then total both of these up and figure out if you even have enough income to cover your expenses. If you don’t, you have no choice but to increase your income or decrease your expenses until you can cover everything.
Figure out how much is left. When your income does cover your expenses, figure out the exact amount you need. Don’t forget to take into consideration any fluctuating expenses you might have (food, utilities, etc).
Start automating savings. Once you figure out how much money you have left after paying all your bills, you can figure out a savings amount that you can afford, and that will allow you to reach your goals. Once you settle on an amount, set this up to automatically transfer at the beginning of the month. This may be scary but you already know your income will cover your expenses without this money. If it never stays in your checking account, you won’t even notice it is gone.
Budget entertainment from what’s left. I don’t’ think that anyone benefits from not having some type of entertainment fund built in to their budget. If you don’t have this allowance, you are much more likely to throw the budget away and give up. However, I do think that this should be determined by what is left after paying bills and saving.

Cousin DFx40 wrote down his routines, goals, and budget on a single piece of notebook paper and put it on a bulletin board in his room. We also have a copy of the paper so we can help keep him accountable. If you have someone you are comfortable with I recommend sharing some of your goals with them.

What about you…what advice would you give a friend or family member who is struggling financially?

Would You Take a Roomate?

2009-10-19T19:25:00.003-05:00

There is a reason things have been vacant around here for the last three weeks. Mr. DFx40 and I became roommates with my 20 year old cousin last month. Before you make too many assumptions, let me give you a little more information about the situation.

His Situation
Cousin DFx40 always impressed me when we were growing up. He had a job throughout high school to pay for a used car he was bought from his parents and to pay for his insurance. He had this job while being heavily involved in more than one extracurricular activity. The reason this impressed me is because I didn’t have my first job (outside of babysitting) until my freshman year in college. My parents also supplied me with a used car they were through with and paid for my insurance. Cousin DFx40’s parents were divorced when he was pretty young, and he didn’t get much direction before or after he graduated from high school. After his first year of college he dropped out because he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do, and he didn’t want to take out more student loans until he figured it out. He found a job that offered more hours and moved in with another family member. Then he got himself into a little trouble when he lost his job and didn’t tell anyone for 3 months. When his parents and his roommates parents found out, they confronted him about it and gave him a few choices. Move home, move in with aunt and uncle, or move in with us.

Our Situation
You might think we’re a little off to offer a spare room to Cousin DFx40 based on his previous record. But when we sat down and really thought about the decision we realized there were many more reasons in favor of letting him stay with us than against.

We understand his frustration. Even though both of our parents helped with out with out insurance while we were in school, we did marry young and we both paid (and are still paying) our way through college. We knew how overwhelming it could feel, and we still feel overwhelmed at times when we look at how far we still have to go.

We are in control of our finances. If our electric bill or food bill goes up drastically before he is able to pitch in we will still be able to fit it into our budget. And because we have been able to pay off so much of our debt, build our savings, and pay cash for Mr. DFx40’s current tuition, we will be able to give him some tips and teach him how to manage his finances.

We have plenty of spare room. We live in a 3 bedroom house (not counting a large game room with walk-in-closet) and we have an extra bathroom. That is more than enough space for all of us to have privacy whenever we want (or need). There will be times when it might get a little cramped, but I think we were created as social creatures and we need daily human interaction.

He is family, and I love him. Enough said.

Your Situation
I will be the first to tell you that although our situation is going smoothly (so far), having a roommate is not for everyone. You may have small children in your house, you may not have an extra room, or you may not know anyone to share an apartment or house with. In this case I suggest you look for other ways to save or make money. But if you are in a position similar to ours, you have the extra room, and you know someone well who needs a place to stay I say go for it. But I do have a few suggestions.

Agree on things before they move in. Decide on things like how much you are going to charge for rent and if that number will cover any increase in utilities. Also think about food. In our situation we are buying and preparing food for him, so we will include this in our rent. He is welcome to eat out whenever he wants, but he has yet to choose that option.

Put something in writing. This is just as important for you as it is for the landlord of an apartment complex. If something goes wrong between you and your roommate, this will be a very important document to have. If things don’t go wrong, it is still good to look at every once in a while to remember what everyone agreed to. I suggest reviewing it regularly to make sure everyone’s needs are still being met.

Learn to be forgiving and always get a second opinion. Sometimes with roommates (especially family) feelings get hurt. Learn to forgive and learn to talk to someone you trust about the situation before any confrontation. I have already discussed a few situations with my parents to determine if I was overreacting or justified in my feelings. It is nice to have some input from a neutral party.

What about you…have you (or would you) ever had to take a roommate? What steps would you take to make sure everything went smoothly?

What Will Your Retirement Look Like?

2009-09-28T10:17:00.004-05:00

Over the last year or so, many people have changed the way they view and define retirement. Some people close to retirement realize that they may not be able to retire at all, or that they will need to work at least part-time through retirement. My ideal retirement would not necessarily be job-free. I mentioned earlier that my goal is not to retire at 40 when I become debt free, but to partially retire. Becoming debt free and partially retiring will allow me to spend more of my time and money on others than I am able to now. A few of the ways I hope to be able to do this are listed below.

How to use time to impact others:

Take walks with my husband or play with my children (if and when they come) instead of watching TV
Call my parents and friends just to see how they are and send more hand-written notes
Watch a friend' house or take care of their animals when they are out of town
Volunteer at a food pantry, soup kitchen or children's home on a regular basis
Build an orphanage or dig a water well in another country

How to use money to impact others:

Help a child with part of their school expenses, or pay off a loan for a grown child
Send my husband, family member, or friend a gift for no reason
Treat a friend to dinner or simply give them cash if they are struggling
Pay for someone's toll behind me when I travel
Give gift cards to the homeless or donate to a charity

If I have excessive bills and debt I will end up spending most of my time working to pay them. In the same way, if all of my money is tied up in bills and debt repayment, I will not feel I am able to spend money on anyone or anything else. I want to be debt free so I don't have to spend 40+ hours a week sitting behind a desk or spend all of my income on bills and debt. Hopefully, I will be able to spend the time and money that was previously tied-up on other people.

Until the time I no longer work full time and send all my money to pay off debt, it will be a struggle to think of ways to live missionally. However, if I review the things listed above, I realize that many of these things are within my reach now. I came across the 10 Day Give on Christian Personal Finance last week and decided to sign up. If you are interested, go to http://www.christianpf.com/10daygive/ and sign up too! According to the website, the 10 Day Give is, "a challenge that is designed to help us get our minds off of ourselves and start thinking about how we can help others." This should be a perfect opportunity to live missionally and to pick other peoples' brains about new ways I can use my time and money to impact others on a daily basis. Hopefully when I do retire, it will look a lot like the 10 Day Give!

What about you...what do you want your retirement to look like? What are some ways you would spend your time and money in the 10 Day Give?