The Quote That Changed My Financial Outlook

This has to be my absolutely favorite Dave Ramsey quote due to the fact that it’s what changed our family tree and took us from a negative net worth to a positive one and grows it for us every month as we go forward. Actually, there is a little more to the quote then this as well. Dave goes on to say, “Nothing happens without focus, so when you try to do six things at once, nothing seems to happen. You can’t get out of debt and fund retirement adequately and fund the emergency fund. When you attack one thing and […]

Emergency Fund 101: Why You Need One

We all know that we should have some savings on hand in order to give ourselves margin and put a gap between us and our problems. The bigger our emergency fund, the better prepared we are if something is to happen that is not budgeted for and can’t wait to be put into the budget. Emergencies include, but are not limited to: Furnace going out in the dead of winter Having to fix your car because something went wrong like the transmission went out The roof starts leaking Emergency visit to the hospital These are things that happen, but we […]

6 Things to Think About When Getting a Pay Raise

So, you’ve been working hard to earn more income, you have been putting in the overtime and making yourself as productive and useful as possible. The boss finally realizes that you are worth more at your job and decides to give you a raise. Yay! What do you do with the extra money you are making? I think this question has a lot to do with where you are at in your path to financial freedom. If you still have debt and are still working to pay it off, then your choice is easy, just apply the extra to your […]

May 2015 – $65,904 – Net Worth Update (-$510.00)

Alright, here goes! My first real Budget Report/Net Worth Update!What HappenedThis month was a pretty good month overall, but I think with how the paychecks fell at the end of the month, our stats were showing a little skewed. We will see next month anyways. We got a good chunk of money put away into savings this month getting us all that much closer to our Fully Funded Emergency Fund of 6 months of expenses! Can’t wait to get that done so that we can start investing, saving for kid’s college and paying off the mortgage!Net Worth – May 2015AssetsHome […]

How To Use The Envelope System With Direct Deposit

Today, I wanted to tackle a question that I found on Facebook:  I have direct deposit with my paycheck. How do you recommend doing the envelope system after my paycheck has already been deposited? By having direct deposit, you are already making your life easier. You are having your money deposited into your account, many times sooner than expected in my experience, and don’t usually have any wait time to access your funds. That is very nice news! As far as doing the envelope system after it’s already been deposited, all you have to do is make a nice little […]

49 days in: Time to celebrate!

So, 49 days in and I am still going strong! I have had a setback or two, but am still doing well.  This was supposed to go out yesterday, but time got away from me, so I’m finishing the post this morning. Here’s my success story so far! I was very happy to step on the scale this morning and be pleasantly surprised that I was now down below 215 lbs! Today’s weigh in puts me over 15 lbs lost overall, so I am now about 1/3 of my way to my goal weight of 185!    Workouts My workouts were […]

So, I went for my first run (jog) in a while…

Last night I got up the courage to go out and try my legs at running/jogging again. It was right after dinner and after looking at my watch, it looked like the weather would hold off for a little while, but I wasn’t sure how long. But, I wasn’t letting anything deter me. I got out there and fired up my watch for my first “outdoor run” workout. Of course with the Apple Watch, you have to carry the phone with you for the first 20 minutes of exercise so that the watch can calibrate your stride and pace better. […]

My Results: first 30 days of working out and watching what I eat

So, today is 3 days past my 30 day mark that I got my Fitbit Aria Smart Scale. I have incorporated quite a few new routines into my lifestyle and am seeing some great progress! If you haven’t seen my series about my Weight Loss Journey, please check it out here. Here is my graph of how my weight has moved daily over the last 30 days:    As you can see from the image, I am down 7.9 lbs from my start and if I were to go from the day I got my scale, I would actually be down […]

My Weight Loss Journey: 15 days in and down!

 So here we are, 15 days after I have started tracking my weight with my new Fitbit Aria Smart Scale. I have really had some ups and downs over this time. I have been having fun seeing the numbers come in easier and faster then ever. I have to say that I am impressed by this scale and how well it measures. My Last 2 Weeks First, my review of my weight journey so far. When I started back on my first day with this scale, I was at 229.8 lbs and that was a big shocker to me as […]