Lately Life hasn't been a whirlwind of events that are getting us closer to
"Living like no one else so later we CAN live like no one else."
Since paying off our debt all we've been doing with our money is saving it and deciding where it should be spent. In other words putting a name on every dollar so that we never question "where did we spend all our money?" Shane has been really excited to see how much our savings has grown. The other day he looked at his retirement fund that he started back in Septmeber (I believe but not exactly sure) and it has reached the $1,000.00 mark. We have our Baby Step 1, $1,000.00 emergency fund in place and we are blessed that it hasn't been touched in a while (Thank you Heavenly Father for blessing us with no emergencies). Aside from our Baby Step 1, and our 3-6 month savings, we have an extra $1,500.00 as a cushion to back up our checkings, thanks to the "pesky old lady" Sallie May. Here's why:
Shane tried to pay his student loan in November and the stinkin loan company withdrew the money TWICE! Causing us overdraft fees and a headache of trying to sort through the problem with our bank and them. Because of them we keep that money in the savings account that checkings will withdraw from without fees if this ever were to happen again.
Anyway, so I have given you the picture of how much money we have accrued since paying off our debt. Our current focus is to get Baby Step 3 done which is our 3-6 month cash savings.
When we got our tax money we split it 3 ways (I believe). I know that we fulfilled 1 of the 6 month savings. In order to accomplish this goal and not feel like it's going to take forever to reach, we split the 6 months in 2 so our mindset right now is that we knocked 1 month down and have 2 more months to go.
Then a portion of our taxes went to the "Condo Improvement fund" and the last of it went to "Baby Prep Fund". It felt really good to be able to designate this money to our hearts desire and not because we needed to pay someone. I'm looking forward to replacing the kitchen countertop.
Another thing that has been blurring my focus is my friend's new car. My co-worker has just bought a new car and there's been all this talk about new cars, new cars, and searching on craigslist for cars we can potentially afford, but I have to STOP and not get sucked into the mindset of wanting a newer car. Some people would say our car is old and that we need a newer car for the new baby but there is no way we are going to pull from other funds to buy a newer car.
Latest update: We are in the process of opening mutual funds with American Funds. One for a new car and another Mutual fund for a house. According to http://www.associatedcontent.com/ the average household car payment a month is $400.00 which is how much we will be paying ourselves (NOT the car dealer) beginning in May. Who knows, our income tax next year might get us faster to a newer car.
Once you get back to San Diego you will be glad you didn't get sucked into the mindset of buying a new car.
ReplyDeleteBut if you're still in the market, I have a 2002 gas guzzling MF Toyota Sequoia that I would be willing to part with...cheap!
Stumbled across your blog. I started the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover 7 Baby Steps, as well! :)
ReplyDeleteI had worked through it several years (and was at the building my retirement account) and it worked but got hit with HUGE medical expenses without insurance and am starting all over again! But I know it worked before so I am doing it again.
I am currently selling everything I possibly can, and am moving closer to work (currently have to drive 1 hr to work!) to save even more money.
Excited to see there is someone else out there who is working through this and has hiccups along the way just like me! :)