Okay, okay, I'm being silly. But I am so excited that The Husband and I are finally on the same page. At least when it comes to working out the money. We sat down last night and went through the Cash Flow Budget. Needless to say, it was a bit of an eye-opener to The Husband. He wasn't really prepared for the credit card debt I still have from being in University in 2002. Then again I wasn't aware of the full amount of his Student Loan until after we married.
But ...
The past is the past and we have a starting point. All our debt out on the table, so to speak. We have signed up for The Total Money Makeover, have a budget to get us started. The system works on achieving Baby Steps. The baby steps are:
Step One: $1,000.00 to start Emergency Fund
Step Two: Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball (Except the house)
Step Three: 3-6 months expenses in savings
Step Four: Invest 15% of household income in Roth IRA's and pre-tax retirement
Step Five: College Funding
Step Six: Pay off home early
Step Seven: Build Wealth & Give (Mutual Funds / Real Estate)
We are also trying to think of ways to bring in an additional $750 a month, to throw on our debts in Baby Step Two. I'm opening up my last available slot for daycare, which would bring in an extra $400 (before taxes). Plus I have not even accounted for the extra $500 The Husband brings in each month from December to March. Or the $60 a month from tutoring.
Wish me luck ...
4 comments:
Congrats on having "the talk" with your husband and arriving at the decision to follow Dave Ramsey's steps to financial freedom. I can speak from experience and tell you that his plan really does work! We're working on steps five and six right now. Best of luck and I look forward to reading your updates. :)
Sara
good luck! my husband and i took dave's financial peace university class just before we got married, about eighteen months ago, and i found it truly helpful for us to be on the same page financially. we were already at least in the same chapter of the same book, though. anyway, i don't have any advice on the emergency fund for you, since we already had that, but i do want to encourage you, because the baby steps are doable!
ps - i'm in houston, so if you ever have a barter need or want, feel free to email me.
amy
We are also on the Dave Ramsey plan on Step 2. I have to confess that we don't have gazelle intensity and only cut back to pay off our debts but not doing the "beans and rice". I wanted to save money, put any extra income towards paying off my debts but don't want to go the extreme and get burnt out doing so. You may want to try a more laid back concept of Dave Ramsey if the gazelle intensity doesn't work for you :)
Awesome!! I'm all about the debt free stuff but don't be like me! we still use credit cards!! mainly becuase I need something to blog about :)
HS
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