Wow! I did not realize how long it had been since I had posted a blog. There has been a lot that has happened since then, but one significant thing I wanted to share.
In October we finally achieved our 6 month emergency fund savings. It seemed like we were never going to reach it, probably because we were already focusing on our next step/goal. The "sense of security" after we completed Baby Step 3 of Financial Peace is amazing! There really is a true sense of living in financial freedom when you do not have debt hanging over your shoulders and you have enough money saved that if something happened everything would be taken care of. It is a terrific feeling! This entire program has changed our lives and we are forever grateful. We continue to give and it feels great to know that the money was never ours to begin with, but that we are being good stewards. I look forward to the day where we can give so much more. "Live like no one else, so later you can LIVE/GIVE like no one else." That saying is becoming much more real to us!
Our next step is a house! We have now begun saving for our very own home. Don't get me wrong... we LOVE the place we live now. Our landlords are amazing and it has been a perfect "starter" place for us, but having something that you worked so hard for and that you can call your own will be pretty wonderful! Wow - to think that all our debt is paid, we have two emergency savings, and that we are saving for our very own home! It all seems unreal what we have accomplished in such a short amount of time.
Again, I give the credit to God and for a husband that was willing to live a different lifestyle. There have been so many days where I have struggled with doing all of this and feelings of anger and resentment begin to brew, and then I begin to realize that this is really the ideal way that God intended for his people to live. He is LORD of EVERYTHING, included FINANCES! This experience has definitely been life changing and opened up my eyes in ways I never thought possible. I got a bumper sticker from a friend the other day, "Debt is normal, be weird!" AMEN! I am pretty sure that God calls us to be weird too. What a coincidence?
This Financial Peace stuff is for real... you ought to try it - it will CHANGE your life!
Baby Step 2 COMPLETED!
Posted in on 1:58 PM by Jesse
Wow! God is continuously blessing Seth and I, and we are extremely thankful!
The end of last August we started the "Financial Peace University" classes at our church. It is a 13 weeks series that teaches about managing your finances. "If you live like no one else... late you can LIVE like no one else." I was super excited about taking the class because I had talked with a couple people about their financial testimonies. Seth was not as excited about it, but agreed to go with me. It was shortly after the first couple classes that he became just as excited as I was and we were both on the same track. We began applying the principles and making changes in our life. We got all our envelopes organized, got our emergency fund in place, got our budget created, and began the process of the "debt snowball." Don't let me fool you... It was a bit overwhelming at first. There were times that I was working on our budget and wanted to just throw it away and forget about it. It's been difficult and a learning process, but it is definitely paying off!
Funny stories...
1. I had the money in my "grocery" envelope and was super excited about going and spending cash to get our monthly groceries. We went to the grocery store at the beginning of the month (knowing there were still a lot of days left in the month) and to get out of the store it took every bit of our cash in the envelope! I got in the truck and cried because I thought there was no way I was going to be able to figure the right amount every month. I wanted to give up - but it quickly hit me that I need to stop trying to be perfect the first time at something I have never practiced. Needless to say... there have not been any more trips to the grocery store like that first one and it has gotten better every month. We use coupons and have actually saved a lot of money!
2. I do good for about 3 months and then I have what I like to call a "Dave Ramsey relapse." Seth and I have pretty much stopped eating out all together unless someone gives us gift cards. I cook, he cooks, and it saves a lot of money! Well there have been several instances where we were doing really, really good and then it just hits me... I want to eat out OR Dillards is having a huge shoe sale OR Seth wants to go to Academy... It all works out in the end and again we are reminded that it is a learning process!
3. About 4 months after we got married I decided to back out of the garage and hit the neighbor behind us. There was not a whole lot of damage, but there was enough that I wanted to get the car fixed. I was beside my self and bawling my eyes out. I call Seth at work and explained to him what happened. He comes home and goes to the neighbors house (he is probably about 80 years old) and explains to him that we will fix his Jeep and get everything taken care of. The neighbor is only concerned with me being upset and crying and tells us not to worry about it, because he is just going to get some touch up paint to fix his bumper. Well... we were still going to get our car fixed and our deductible was $500. I was still very upset and knew it was all my fault that we were going to be out this money. Seth sat me down and reminded me that everything works out the way it is suppose to and that we would get it taken care of. He asked me, "Why do you think we have the emergency fund?" That was when it hit me... I thought that emergency fund was there and that it was NOT to be touched, emergency or not. Anyways, we got the car fixed, never missed the $500, and even gave our neighbor $10 for the cost of the touch up paint. It all worked out! :)
Now that 9 months have passed and we have been "living like no one else" we can officially say, "WE ARE DEBT FREE." We have paid off $13,300.00 in debt in 8 months. The feeling of knowing that there are no more monthly payments and that that money can be put into savings is ammmmaaaaazzzziiinnnnggg! We are now working on saving our 3-6 month emergency fun (which is half way complete) and then we will begin saving for our very own new home!
God is so good and he teaches us that when we are good stewards of his money and give to him he will bless us. We are definitely seeing those fruits and are extremely thankful for everything he is doing in our lives!
It's hard to believe...
Posted in on 3:08 PM by Jesse
It is hard to believe that it has been seven years since my mother passed away. Some days it seems like its been an eternity whereas other days it seems like it was just yesterday. Looking back over the past seven years, I definitely can see where God is using me.
When I first came to Hardin-Simmons University in the fall of 2006 I thought I needed to major in Business. It only took me three classes to realize that I needed to do something else or I was going to be miserable for the rest of my life. I did not know what I wanted to major in and felt a pressure to make a decision. My advisor recommended me taking random introduction courses to get a feel for what I wanted to do. The following semester I took an Intro. to Sociology, Intro. to Criminal Justice, and Intro. to Psychology. I was praying that God would put me where he wanted me and that my career would please him. Little did I know that God was working on me in a mighty way. It was only a few class periods of Introductory Psychology when I felt that it was not only what I wanted to do, but what I had to do. Being a psychology major and studying counseling and human development for my master's degree has answered a lot of questions from my childhood. I believe wholeheartedly that God put me in this profession to help those who are suffering, whether it be depression or substance abuse, and I cannot wait until I am fully licensed to do just that.
We have been studying a lot at church and in our life groups about how God turns pain and suffering into good and I truly believe that he has done just that in my life. Thank you Lord!
When I first came to Hardin-Simmons University in the fall of 2006 I thought I needed to major in Business. It only took me three classes to realize that I needed to do something else or I was going to be miserable for the rest of my life. I did not know what I wanted to major in and felt a pressure to make a decision. My advisor recommended me taking random introduction courses to get a feel for what I wanted to do. The following semester I took an Intro. to Sociology, Intro. to Criminal Justice, and Intro. to Psychology. I was praying that God would put me where he wanted me and that my career would please him. Little did I know that God was working on me in a mighty way. It was only a few class periods of Introductory Psychology when I felt that it was not only what I wanted to do, but what I had to do. Being a psychology major and studying counseling and human development for my master's degree has answered a lot of questions from my childhood. I believe wholeheartedly that God put me in this profession to help those who are suffering, whether it be depression or substance abuse, and I cannot wait until I am fully licensed to do just that.
We have been studying a lot at church and in our life groups about how God turns pain and suffering into good and I truly believe that he has done just that in my life. Thank you Lord!
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