2013 Goals

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I know goals are supposed to be done at the new year and written out, but come on, who actually sticks to those resolutions? Drew and I have been sticking with our goal for a while now (over 2 years) and we are finally seeing the light!

It is so funny that Drew started listening to Dave Ramsey and at the same time my mother in law ordered us the book. Oddly enough, we have been doing his plan for the money makeover and we didn't even know it! We just got back our tax money. Instead of doing what most 24 year old's would do and spend it in a matter of days on frivolous items, we are doing the mature thing. I just wrote a check paying off my last hospital bill! This will save us $50 a month. Sure $50 isn't a lot, but that $50 we are putting towards paying off our truck sooner. We are putting the rest of our tax money into paying off our truck and towards the homeowner association dues. Our goal is to have our truck paid off or sold by summer. Once the truck is sold that will be over $400 a month that we are saving! What will we do with that extra $$$ you might ask? Well, we are going to put that towards our mortgage. Our goal is to have our house paid off within 10 years. By our math, we can have it paid off in 7 years if we stick to what we have been doing. Why is our goal 3 years longer? Well, hiccups. You never know when something may happen. I definitely would like more kids. So we are going to start putting aside a baby fund. That way when it is time for me to have the baby we can pay the bill in full. Most places give discounts if you pay it that day. Discounts of up to 1/2 price! So instead of my $3,500 hospital bill I had with Selah, we will be cutting that in half. I also plan to have the next baby at the birthing center in Savannah, which is also less and we just found out our insurance now works with the birth center!!

We are also putting away an emergency fund. Dave Ramsay says for our size household to have a minimum of $1,000. I would like to have $1,000 per person put aside. We also are going to put some money into our house. We are going to build a built-in bookcase, re-do the mudroom, paint, add hardwood to the living room and other things.

I think it will be neat to have our house paid off in our early 30's. When we get our house paid off we will then put all that money aside and start saving for a larger house. We will either be building or buying, depending on the market. We are considering keeping this house and renting it out. Houses in our neighborhood already rent out for double our house payment. So whatever we rent it out for will be profit. Renting this house out will pay for our next house payment. So then we will do what we do now and make two house payments. If you make a larger house payment, make sure you make two checks. One with the regular payment and the second with whatever is extra, but write on it at the bottom "apply to principal." That way all that extra money isn't going to interest.

I want to add, that yes Drew is the "bread winner" in our family, but it takes both of us to be able to do this. We both are disciplined with our spending. I help out by budgeting and keeping our grocery bill around $60 a week. I do all the bill paying and finances. Drew barely even looks at the bank account. He trusts me with it and he trusts me to be responsible and do the right thing. To me, that is huge! I'm only 24 and he is trusting me with this?! Wow!

It's kind of crazy how many people look at us like we are crazy when we tell them our goals. They even look down on us because we choose not to go out and spend money. We've been laughed at and told "I give it a year." It's sad that people are so negative. This doesn't affect them, so why not be happy and encouraging?

I'm pretty excited about our goals and journey. We've gone from having three large credit card payments, three hospital bills, a car payment, and living in a tiny apartment to now no credit card debt, no hospital bills, our car payment has almost been cut in half, and we own our own home and and are paying about the same for it as we were on renting an apartment.

Also, it looks as if I will be watching a little girl starting in April. My plan is to use that money and put it as a second mortgage payment. If I still have this job when our truck is paid off, then we will be paying our mortgage payment plus two extra payments a month. Talk about amazing!

This is our journey and I'm proud to say we are one step closer!

Tricia

PS. Munchkin is 17 months and can count to three on her own and she can count to five with a little help. She knows her nose, ears, tummy, toes, head, and arm and can point to them and say their names. She knows a, b, and c, cat, dog, cow, and duck and their sounds and her vocabulary grows daily.