2018 is off to a BIG start at our house. The hubbs got back safely from Florida after a few delays. He got his name up in lights on the jumbotron for being ranked number three in the country in sales. This is huge since he was laid off in May of 2016 and then re hired in December of 2016. You just do not realize the satisfaction I find in this whole ordeal. It was not his direct manger that laid him off it was the pointy heads at corporate that have no clue what goes on at the sales level.
Enough of that, because we have been too blessed to be ugly about the pointy heads. I do believe God moves in mysterious ways. We have made huge strides in paying our house off and saving for retirement. I recently read the book by one of Dave Ramseys group called "Retire Inspired" by Chris Hogan. This was an awesome addition to the Dave Ramsey collection of Financial Peace. I highly recommend it to anyone that has done the Financial Peace class or who has read the book "Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey. Full disclosure: I am not being paid to write this, I write what I feel, love and believe in and I do love and believe in each of these programs. We are saving and giving like crazy and it feels good!! Could not have done it without Dave and his program. I would not have gotten serious about it without knowing the facts behind his plan/program and that is what the class gives. I dabbled at this plan until I took the class. If you have the opportunity to take the class I highly recommend it.
Stay tuned, work is really busy this time of year and I feel very overwhelmed most days. I use my blog as a means to vent some days and as a means to chronicle what is going on in our family. You never know what you might read about hear at the Pampered Mom???
Showing posts with label retirement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label retirement. Show all posts
Sunday, January 21, 2018
Friday, June 23, 2017
Financial Friday and Eyes Wide Open. . .
Long week of work and lacrosse, not upset this week has come to it's end. After our hiccup with the hubbs and his lay off last year we have been working very hard on our finances. If you have followed anything on my blog you know that I read a lot, especially when it comes to finance. I have almost finished Chris Hogan's "Retire Inspired, It's Not an Age It's a Financial Number" (Chris works with Dave Ramsey). It is really enlightening. I highly recommend this book, and it does not matter what age you are. In fact I would recommend reading it in your 20's so that you can retire inspired. I really wish I had started sooner with thinking about things like this and thinking about saving rather than the immature notion of immediate gratification. That may be another one of those all too important life lessons you have to learn for your self.
Our life changed, our thought process changed, and our eyes were opened wide when my hubby was laid off two weeks shy of his 25 year anniversary with his company. Update on that in case you did not know. The hubbs is back with his same company, at his previous managers request, after 6 months of looking for another job. He did get a raise and with their new product launch has been making a great bonus and we are taking full advantage of this extra income to pay off our house. An irresponsible response to this extra income would be to buy new cars that we do not need or take lavish vacations etc. . Because we have been debt free, except the house, for a couple of years now that was not our response to this extra income. It would be so great to be free of house payments so that we could really save for our "Inspired Retirement." We are not only paying down the house but, we are adding to our retirement savings.
Yes, I have two boys getting ready for college in one year and in four more years. We have been saving for college since the boys were born, it is never too early to start a child's saving fund for college. College is important but do not skip saving for your retirement to save for your kids college. This is not a Dave Ramsey thought and I do not remember exactly where I heard it but it makes a whole lot of sense. Banks will let you borrow money for college, they will not let you borrow money for your retirement. This one is a Dave Ramsey, kids can get jobs and help pay for their college. You do not want to have to depend on your kids to support you in your retirement. It is not their responsibility.
Recommendations for today: If you have kids start a college saving fund, no mater what age you are start a retirement fund (IRA, ROTH IRA etc. . .), read a book on finance (Dave Ramsey, Suze Orman, or Thomas J Stanley), and last but not least enjoy this beautiful day.
Stay tuned because college planning is coming. . .
Our life changed, our thought process changed, and our eyes were opened wide when my hubby was laid off two weeks shy of his 25 year anniversary with his company. Update on that in case you did not know. The hubbs is back with his same company, at his previous managers request, after 6 months of looking for another job. He did get a raise and with their new product launch has been making a great bonus and we are taking full advantage of this extra income to pay off our house. An irresponsible response to this extra income would be to buy new cars that we do not need or take lavish vacations etc. . Because we have been debt free, except the house, for a couple of years now that was not our response to this extra income. It would be so great to be free of house payments so that we could really save for our "Inspired Retirement." We are not only paying down the house but, we are adding to our retirement savings.
Yes, I have two boys getting ready for college in one year and in four more years. We have been saving for college since the boys were born, it is never too early to start a child's saving fund for college. College is important but do not skip saving for your retirement to save for your kids college. This is not a Dave Ramsey thought and I do not remember exactly where I heard it but it makes a whole lot of sense. Banks will let you borrow money for college, they will not let you borrow money for your retirement. This one is a Dave Ramsey, kids can get jobs and help pay for their college. You do not want to have to depend on your kids to support you in your retirement. It is not their responsibility.
Recommendations for today: If you have kids start a college saving fund, no mater what age you are start a retirement fund (IRA, ROTH IRA etc. . .), read a book on finance (Dave Ramsey, Suze Orman, or Thomas J Stanley), and last but not least enjoy this beautiful day.
Stay tuned because college planning is coming. . .
Monday, July 4, 2016
Be Prepared for the Storm. . .Life Lessons. . .
I have debated and debated on whether to write about something going on in our lives. You may or may not know that we are a single income family, I have written numerous times about how much I love Dave Ramsey and how his plan helped us get out of debt. I have also written about my faith in God and how he works in our lives. We are by no means a perfect family but, I know that God loves us and that he is constantly at work in our lives. I am writing this today to inspire and encourage others that may be facing similar circumstances.
My husband was a pharmaceutical sales representative with the same company for 23 years, I say was because he was just recently downsized. Now we are a no income family of four. We have not shared this with anyone but our family thus far. We are a prime example of why you should use Dave Ramsey's plan to get out of debt. To use Dave Ramsey's words, you never know when it is going to rain so, you better be prepared. I always talk about how God works through our lives and this is a huge example. I was able to take the Dave Ramsey class in 2012 and we had just bought a new car. Before taking his class I had dabbled in the envelope system but only got serious after taking the class. Dave's class showed me that we had to get out of debt and how debt is bad. In 2012 we started following a budget and using the envelope system to curb our spending and save for special things that we wanted to do. I know that it was God that pointed us in that direction because he knew his plan for us. I was able to pay our car off and get out of debt, except for the house, in two years. Since our only debt is the house we have been working like crazy to get it paid off too.
I said earlier I do not want anyone to pity us because I know this is God's plan and because he got us on the Dave Ramsey road to financial peace, we are at peace financially. If you have not checked Dave Ramsey out I encourage you to do so. Dave Ramsey has a plan that anyone can work if they want, you have to want to get out of debt though and you have to be serious about it. I am not being compensated in any way for this post. This is just something that I am very passionate about and a plan that I believe in and that is working for my family.
This is a shining example of why everyone, even those professionals that think it could never happen to me, need to be preparing for the rain. I am so thankful that God pointed us in the direction of Dave Ramsey because otherwise we would not have been prepared for this storm. Not that anyone can be prepared for something like this but I feel we are better prepared than we were five years ago. We had our six months worth of expenses emergency fund in place and no debt other than the house and our house payment is manageable. As our storm rages there are so many emotions; there is anger, frustration, sadness, shame, and yes guilt.
This is why you have been seeing so many garden and recipe posts from me. I have not really known how to talk about this but I feel like I need to talk about it because it is happening all over the country these days. I have put my classes on hold for the time being, the hubbs did get a severance package and that is a huge blessing and we used my tuition money to buy him a new laptop. His laptop was company property so it went back to the company.
I know this is God's plan and I do feel blessed that he is working in our lives. He has blessed us with a bountiful garden this year and I am truly thankful. The hubbs and I could live out of our garden and have been these last few months but the kiddos want meat and well, I cannot bring myself to raise anything to butcher just yet.
Stay tuned this and the garden will by my focus these next few months.
"There is hope in your future." Jeremiah 31:17
My husband was a pharmaceutical sales representative with the same company for 23 years, I say was because he was just recently downsized. Now we are a no income family of four. We have not shared this with anyone but our family thus far. We are a prime example of why you should use Dave Ramsey's plan to get out of debt. To use Dave Ramsey's words, you never know when it is going to rain so, you better be prepared. I always talk about how God works through our lives and this is a huge example. I was able to take the Dave Ramsey class in 2012 and we had just bought a new car. Before taking his class I had dabbled in the envelope system but only got serious after taking the class. Dave's class showed me that we had to get out of debt and how debt is bad. In 2012 we started following a budget and using the envelope system to curb our spending and save for special things that we wanted to do. I know that it was God that pointed us in that direction because he knew his plan for us. I was able to pay our car off and get out of debt, except for the house, in two years. Since our only debt is the house we have been working like crazy to get it paid off too.
I said earlier I do not want anyone to pity us because I know this is God's plan and because he got us on the Dave Ramsey road to financial peace, we are at peace financially. If you have not checked Dave Ramsey out I encourage you to do so. Dave Ramsey has a plan that anyone can work if they want, you have to want to get out of debt though and you have to be serious about it. I am not being compensated in any way for this post. This is just something that I am very passionate about and a plan that I believe in and that is working for my family.
This is a shining example of why everyone, even those professionals that think it could never happen to me, need to be preparing for the rain. I am so thankful that God pointed us in the direction of Dave Ramsey because otherwise we would not have been prepared for this storm. Not that anyone can be prepared for something like this but I feel we are better prepared than we were five years ago. We had our six months worth of expenses emergency fund in place and no debt other than the house and our house payment is manageable. As our storm rages there are so many emotions; there is anger, frustration, sadness, shame, and yes guilt.
This is why you have been seeing so many garden and recipe posts from me. I have not really known how to talk about this but I feel like I need to talk about it because it is happening all over the country these days. I have put my classes on hold for the time being, the hubbs did get a severance package and that is a huge blessing and we used my tuition money to buy him a new laptop. His laptop was company property so it went back to the company.
I know this is God's plan and I do feel blessed that he is working in our lives. He has blessed us with a bountiful garden this year and I am truly thankful. The hubbs and I could live out of our garden and have been these last few months but the kiddos want meat and well, I cannot bring myself to raise anything to butcher just yet.
Stay tuned this and the garden will by my focus these next few months.
"There is hope in your future." Jeremiah 31:17
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)