I started reading Total Money Makeover last night. Wish us luck. I am sure I will be blogging about it much more in the future. Thanks, Amanda for the book. Your dad dropped it off the other day.
I don’t think Dale is quite on the same page. He wants to be debt free some day, but doesn’t seem like he wants to put his life on hold now to get there. I know that might offend some of the doers, but it is just ignorance at this point I think. It might take us a little longer to get there, but I am determined to make it happen. We have always been pretty responsible, in my opinion, with money and our financial decisions. We don’t have credit card debt, but we do have student loans, a car payment, a very small bobcat loan, and the house payment. We have 3 cars and only 1 car payment. I think that is pretty good. And, honestly, the ability to have 3 cars has come in handy so many times!
One of our struggles will be selling Dale’s current truck and getting him a different truck and a trailer to haul his bobcat around on. We are hoping to get that all worked out by the summer.
I have paid extra on our house since we started paying. I have since moved that money to try to pay off some of the smaller debt 1st. We paid Dale’s old truck off, then sold it for his newer truck, which we didn’t have to take a loan on. Thank goodness. We are now trying to pay Dale’s student loan off. I have made pretty good progress on that one so far and should have it paid off in a few short months if everything stays the same and I don’t add extra money to it at this point. Before reading the book I figured we will have everything paid off in about 4 years. I am hoping I will gain some knowledge and do it much, much faster!
The other struggle we will have is working on a monthly budget for groceries and such. That is really where we go beyond what we should. We could make better choices in that area. One thing that would really help is planning out our meals ahead of time. That would help in so many ways if I could just get off blogger and create a meal plan!!!! Thankful for having good friends who offer and share ideas! So, like I said, wish us luck and if you ever have anything to add on these posts, feel free. I will even let you help me stay accountable.
I definitely need to get this book! While I always want to be thrifty and spend money wisely...I don't! Our biggest waste comes from the grocery store too! Step 1: Don't take the 4 year old! :o) I started buying some off brands to try them out on our last visit. I can't believe 4 year olds have such brand recognition! Step 2: Buy some plastic containers and throw away the cereal boxes. It's hard. I hope to read more on what you are doing so I can take some ideas from you!
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