FPU Financial Peace University: Week 2

 

Last night was week two of our Financial Peace University, "Relating with Money". This lesson Dave stresses the importance of working together as a team and getting on the same page about the money. It can make or break your marriage.

 

The meat of the message is to work together on your budget by respecting each other's money personalities and styles. That is where discovering if you are a "Nerd" or "Free Spirit" financially comes into play. You are both to take a quiz and the answers will determine if you are a Nerd and like to crunch the numbers or if you are a Free Spirit and you feel smothered by the constraints of the budget. I was surprised to find out that I am equally categorized by both. I am always on time. Always. But I don't care if my sock drawer is not neatly organized.

 

Dave also introduced " Budget Committee Meetings". This is where you and your spouse plan to get together and discuss the budget. The Nerd will come up with the budget and present it to the Free Spirit. The Nerd must be quiet while the Free Spirit looks over the budget and makes a suggestion or two.

 

Dave's grown daughter presented a section on children and money. She discussed the importance of paying the child for a chore or chores instead of having a general allowance that the child just expects. She suggests for younger children make saving money more visual by using a clear jar or piggy bank. For older children she suggested using three envelopes to manage their money. One envelope for giving, one for saving and one for spending.

 

We will have our Budget Committee Meeting and discuss or quick budget again. We will also talk about how we both think of money and how to better work with each other financially. I am just loving this program so far. It is inspiring my husband to work with me and become more of a team player when it comes to our money. I would like to focus on how to accrue our 6 month emergency fund.

Next Week: Cash Flow Planning

 

 

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Rain, Rain Go Away

Our area is experiencing a 3-4 day rain-a-thon.  Steady showers day and night.  Tomorrow  there will be more rain but with storms.  I don't mind the rain, its just that I am not that motivated when it is overcast and wet outside. Today I baked a cake and worked on some eBay listings.  Oh, I did get laundry done too. 


Tonight is our second night of FPU with Dave Ramsey.  Over the weekend, my husband and I reviewed and discussed the "Quick Budget" that is part of week one.  We spent two hours looking at what our monthly bills are ( auto insurance, cable, phone, gas, tolls, groceries, etc.).  That has NEVER happened before! Usually it was me juggling and deciding what and who gets paid.  Just to have hubs in the mix as an active participant is such a treat for me.  Woo Hoo!! 


We surmised that our budget will be in a state of "flux" until possibly the end of the year.  We are hoping that mom's estate will finally be done with probate.  Until that is done, I hesitate to move any of our savings to our 6 months emergency fund.  I am hoping not to put any more money into probate but we will see. 


We calculated that we will need $18,000.00 for our 6 month emergency fund.  That's a lot of moolah!  In order to accomplish this we will be diverting our retirement contributions to the emergency fund. That will be a drop in the bucket, but we are BOTH motivated to get it done.  After our trip to Las Vegas (booked before we started FPU) we will find more ways to build that emergency fund.  We will not be giving up cable.  Or the internet.  Hubs loves is DIY shows!
And I tend to watch too much reality TV.  But, I like it. :)


It is looking like we will again spend at our around $600.00 for groceries again this month.  Maybe that is our magic number...... But, will try again to get it down next month.   Our eating out is only at about $150.00 this month.  That is low for us.  We have definitely spent more!  I guess we feel a sense of entitlement to eat out.  Or maybe it is just me!  But, we have definitely done well in that category.

FPU:Financial Peace University: Week 1

 

 

 

My husband and I attended our first class of "Financial Peace University". I count this as a huge milestone! The first class is titled " Super Savings" and it was an overview of the whole series of classes. My husband was interested and much to my surprise is on board with completing the "Baby Steps".

• Step 1 is putting $1000.00 away for an emergency. We have that covered.

• Step 2 is pay off consumer debt. Done.

• Step 3 build a 3-6 months Emergency Fund. This is where we are at.

We have both( actually he voiced it first) decided to stop funding our retirement accounts and working extra hrs is possible until we have put away 6 months of living expenses. Wow.

I am so grateful that as of now we can finally work as a "team" to manage our finances.

Next Week: Relating To Money

 

Summer Bucket List 2013: Recap

This is how it started..........

Summer officially starts June 21st and after being inspired by The Frugal Girl, I came up with my first official Summer Bucket List.




  
And here is how it ended.....
 
 NO.     Pick up my golf clubs, and go to the driving range and hit some balls.  Maybe I will start out slow, like in my backyard first.  Just so I don't embarrass myself.

  NO.  Take a belly dance class.  Still want to do this!



NO.  Paint spare bedroom ( it was my mom's bedroom while she stayed with us). Still deciding on paint colors.


YES!!!Plant flowers with my grandson.  We planted a watermelon and tomato plant too.  But... my husband weed whacked them.  Boo!!

YES!!!Bowling with the family.  Had a blast!  
  

YES!!!Clean the carpet in my 13 year old car.


YES AND NO. Start a gratitude journal.  This only lasted about a week. 


NOT YET.  Work on preparing my parent's house to sell. We are renting it to our son for now.  I still don't know what to do with it.

 
 THERE IS PROGRESS.  Move both blogs to Wordpress. This is making definite progress!

SIGH..... NOT YET.  Take an airboat ride.  Maybe before Christmas :)

NOPE! Go to an IMAX movie.  



YES!!!Take a Yoga Class.



THIS IS STILL UP IN THE AIR.  FOR MANY REASONS. Plan trip to Wisconsin. My now deceased parents wanted their ashes taken back to Wisconsin as their final destination on this earth. In order to make this happen, I will need to coordinate the travel of my family members so that all can be there to say a final good-bye. Thinking about September to make this happen.


 Who knows when this will happen. 

My mom's family farm

  NO.  Take grandson to zoo.


Summer 2013 did get away from me.  I had good intentions, but a great majority of the goals were not met.  That is okay.  It has been a crazy summer for our family!

I Am Not A Beneficiary: Credit Union Update

Went to mom's credit union today and finally figured out who is NOT a beneficiary to her savings and CD's. Me. I will be getting nothing. On the other hand, my grown children will be splitting almost 260,000.00 dollars. And this does not include what is in the safety deposit box which mom did tell me does go to my kids.

Honestly, I am done. Just done. Goes to show ya, never count your chickens before the eggs hatch.
I am over my parents. Selfish? Oh yeah, probably. But remember, there are two sides to every story.
Will I be shipping their cremains up to Wisconsin and having them interred by the funeral director and be done with it all? Yes, I might just do that. Then I can let go for good and be happy.