Today I accomplished a major financial milestone... The mortgage is history!
Category Everything Else
Three or four years ago, we attended Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University series at a local church. While we weren't financial basket cases, we knew we could be doing so much better with what we had. Bills were paid, food was on the table, cars were paid off, but I can't say we felt financially "secure"...
Within a short period of time, my wife and I got on a budget that we've kept up consistently. That in itself was a major stress reliever, as Susan knew what money she had to spend, and I wasn't worried about "cash flow". We put together the start of our emergency fund (the $1000 goal for those who know the DR method), and we reviewed what we had in the way of debt. No car payments helped (one of the few good things financially that came from Enron), and the credit cards were pretty minor. Within six months, we were working on our 3 to 6 month emergency fund.
Fast forward to now... Ian's tuition at Portland State is part of our monthly budget, so no loans there. We use cash for the categories that Susan manages (groceries, household, etc.) and one credit card for bill payments (the stuff I take care of, like utilities, tuition, etc.), but we record it in the checkbook as a debit expenditure. The bill then gets paid off with no interest charge, and we get our air miles. The 401K is at the max for company match. I could be doing MUCH better there, but I got a late start. I *can* retire some day... when I'm 87. :)
The only real debt that we still had was the mortgage. We refinanced back in the late 90's for a 15 year loan, so it was always the plan to have it paid off around 2011 or so. But still... to be *sooo* close to having it over with. Some of my side gigs with writing have paid off well, and I've been making some chunk payments to bring the remaining balance down even more. With a writing check I got at the end of 2008, I decided to use most of that to give myself a late Christmas present... no debt and a paid-off mortgage.
Where do we go from here? Now we start to build up the emergency fund to a true six month level. Of course, not having a mortgage as part of your budget makes that a lot easier (more money to put towards it, and less monthly expenditures to save for). We really need to be putting more away for retirement, too. But getting the buffer fund fully built up will be a nice feeling, especially in this economy.
We've been truly blessed to be in this position. I would strongly recommend Dave Ramsey's program to anyone who is struggling to get on top of their financial life. It's not smoke-and-mirrors, and it requires some hard decisions if you've overused credit in the past. But even taking the first step towards financial freedom is a great feeling, and the momentum builds quickly...
Three or four years ago, we attended Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University series at a local church. While we weren't financial basket cases, we knew we could be doing so much better with what we had. Bills were paid, food was on the table, cars were paid off, but I can't say we felt financially "secure"...
Within a short period of time, my wife and I got on a budget that we've kept up consistently. That in itself was a major stress reliever, as Susan knew what money she had to spend, and I wasn't worried about "cash flow". We put together the start of our emergency fund (the $1000 goal for those who know the DR method), and we reviewed what we had in the way of debt. No car payments helped (one of the few good things financially that came from Enron), and the credit cards were pretty minor. Within six months, we were working on our 3 to 6 month emergency fund.
Fast forward to now... Ian's tuition at Portland State is part of our monthly budget, so no loans there. We use cash for the categories that Susan manages (groceries, household, etc.) and one credit card for bill payments (the stuff I take care of, like utilities, tuition, etc.), but we record it in the checkbook as a debit expenditure. The bill then gets paid off with no interest charge, and we get our air miles. The 401K is at the max for company match. I could be doing MUCH better there, but I got a late start. I *can* retire some day... when I'm 87. :)
The only real debt that we still had was the mortgage. We refinanced back in the late 90's for a 15 year loan, so it was always the plan to have it paid off around 2011 or so. But still... to be *sooo* close to having it over with. Some of my side gigs with writing have paid off well, and I've been making some chunk payments to bring the remaining balance down even more. With a writing check I got at the end of 2008, I decided to use most of that to give myself a late Christmas present... no debt and a paid-off mortgage.
Where do we go from here? Now we start to build up the emergency fund to a true six month level. Of course, not having a mortgage as part of your budget makes that a lot easier (more money to put towards it, and less monthly expenditures to save for). We really need to be putting more away for retirement, too. But getting the buffer fund fully built up will be a nice feeling, especially in this economy.
We've been truly blessed to be in this position. I would strongly recommend Dave Ramsey's program to anyone who is struggling to get on top of their financial life. It's not smoke-and-mirrors, and it requires some hard decisions if you've overused credit in the past. But even taking the first step towards financial freedom is a great feeling, and the momentum builds quickly...
Comments
Posted by Carl Tyler At 13:34:06 On 11/01/2009 | - Website - |
That is awesomely cool. Congratulations! I am, of course, very jealous (although I have this new product going into beta at Lotusphere, and if all goes well...),
Ben
Posted by Ben Langhinrichs At 13:35:00 On 11/01/2009 | - Website - |
Posted by Curt Stone At 14:36:16 On 11/01/2009 | - Website - |
Rob
Posted by Rob Novak At 15:13:31 On 11/01/2009 | - Website - |
I think I have 9 years and 16 weeks left. Or something like that. My wife knows for sure.
John...
Posted by John J At 18:31:11 On 11/01/2009 | - Website - |
We have just begun the Dave Ramsey series at church today.
We're doing our homework now
Blessings !
Dan
Posted by Dan Soares At 18:43:07 On 11/01/2009 | - Website - |
Posted by Coatsie At 00:22:35 On 12/01/2009 | - Website - |
Posted by Curt Stone At 02:46:37 On 12/01/2009 | - Website - |
Curt, if you have access to the program somewhere, I'd strongly advise signing up. The DVD lessons of Dave Ramsey on stage explaining principles are great, as Ramsey is very dynamic (and funny) on stage. Our first exposure to Dave was through the book, and that was enough to get my wife looking for where the program might be held. Can you get started on the book alone? Yes. But the sessions are great reinforcements of the material.
Posted by Duffbert At 04:26:24 On 12/01/2009 | - Website - |
Keep tryin'...
Posted by Ray Bilyk At 09:23:38 On 12/01/2009 | - Website - |
One of the main reasons I'd recommend signing up for the program as opposed to just doing the book is the accountability factor. The sessions end with breaking up into small groups where you establish rapport with others who are learning with you and will hold you accountable each week as you attempt to follow through and put into practice what you learned the previous weeks.
The other advantage of doing this via a small group is the sharing of ideas that trigger off ideas in your mind about the application of the lesson in your life.
And of course, you've got people praying for each other...
Hope to catch up with you at LS, brother!
Dan
Posted by Dan Soares At 10:16:25 On 12/01/2009 | - Website - |
Great advice as usual.
@Ray,
My wife just recently came around on this. I think Oprah motivated her.
@Dan,
Please catch me at LS! BALD, ESPN, sessions. Whack me on the head, I'll see ya. Thanks.
Posted by Curt Stone At 14:38:00 On 12/01/2009 | - Website - |
I also have to second Dan's advice. Accountability is key. It may sound strange to open up about finances to a bunch of strangers, but it actually does help, and you get encouragement from others.
And just a side note... Yes, Dave Ramsey is a Christian, and many of these FPU courses are held in churches. But don't let that scare you away. The content in the course is solid financial advice regardless of your religious persuasion. There's nothing in the program that is overtly preachy, nor will you be asked to start handing over money to support his program.
I've attended the program twice, both at my church (second) and at another church (first time). While I was more comfortable with the people I knew from my own church, I didn't feel out of place at the other location. And had I come off the street strictly looking for program content without interaction with others, I probably could have gotten away with it. It's very low-key, and no one is going to tell you to leave if you don't choose to stay for the group portion after seeing the video presentation for the week.
Posted by Duffbert At 16:19:00 On 12/01/2009 | - Website - |
Posted by Toni Seger At 14:54:50 On 13/01/2009 | - Website - |
Posted by James D. At 21:13:41 On 13/01/2009 | - Website - |