I'm Not Overwhelmed...I'm Not Overwhelmed...I'm Not Overwhelmed...I'm Not Overwhelmed...
...No, really. I'm not. Week 2 of Financial Peace University was just as cool as Week 1. This week he talked about teaming up with your spouse or partner and uniting to move forward financially. he also gave single people some practical tips on budgeting (one being having an accountability partner...I asked Brett to be mine, and he graciously accepted!)
My favorite part was taking a quiz to see if you're a "nerd" or a "free-spirit"...I went into this full on believing I was a free-spirit, because I hate everything to do with my bank account, budgeting, saving, blah blah blah, it makes me sick.
However, after taking the quiz, I am EXACTLY half "nerd" and half "free spirit"...I am a "nerd" in all aspects of life except for finances (I'm on time, organized, always making lists, etc.) But I am a free-spirit in my finances for sure (i THINK i have enough for a couple of gas station hot dogs, if i only put $15 in my tank...)
This is cool, because I realize that I already have the tools it takes to be a healthy "nerd" when it comes to finances. And I also realized, that maybe...MAYBE...the reason I hate doing anything with money is because I never really have any :) I might enjoy it more when I can do a budget and say "what-oh-what shall I do with all of this extra money??"
He also made a good point when it came to single people and budgets. He said time poverty can lead to poor money management. Which is so extremely very true. With married couples, there are 2 people to share responsibilities...but with single people (read: me) there's no one to share that with. I do my laundry, prepare my food and run my errands all by my onesy (it's a phrase i got from one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies...it makes me feel pirate-y. Don't ask why I want to feel pirate-y. I don't know.) Ok, anyway...I DO EVERYTHING ALL BY MYSELF, so often times it's a "I'm tired so I'll just drive through Burger King" or "I don't want to be by myself tonight so I'm going to go do something and probably end up spending money."
The point is, I learned a few of good tips (including teaching your kids how to manage money..but thats a ways away!) and I'm excited (kind of) on implementing them!
Hey guess what?
I just wrote out my budget for September....and i didn't die! No!! Actually, I felt much better about where I stand financially. I figured out, I can pay off my non-student loan debts in a year and a half! That is so very totally achievable!
As far as student loans...that won't take as much time as I thought either! Right now, including student loans, my plan is to be out of debt in 7 years! I know life situations change- marriage, children, etc, but in 7 years, i'll be 33...and how many 33 year olds do you know that are debt free?? I. am. excited.
I'll write more on the lesson and what I got out of it a little later, but I just wanted to share my excitement!!!
Note: I don't know if my boyfriend ever thought I'd post anything like this...at least this soon! And honestly, I didn't either. :)
I just completed Week 1's homework assignment: Completing a "quick-start budget" and adding up all non-mortgage debts.
I want to crawl in a big. dark. hole.
Before the financial peace class began on Monday, the young adult minister at the church where the class is held got up to speak for a minute. He said "As soon as you start trying to start saving, something is going to happen to try and prevent you from getting here. From succeeding."
Well friends, that thing happened to me the very next day. It happened to me hard.
Here I am, driving down I-40 in my super fly 1999 white Ford Taurus I bought 2 months ago. See, I sold my super cute 2010 Corolla (sport edition!!) in an effort to...(drum roll)...SAVE MONEY! And with the leftover money, I bought said Taurus.
So I'm driving, rocking out to some crappy pop song, when I decide I need to pass the grandma in front of me. I signal, move over, and I press on that gas. I keep pressing the gas. I'm pressing the gas. HELLO? GAS PEDAL? WHY AREN'T YOU WORKING? I glance down. The little RPM thingy (I know SO MUCH about cars!!) is like on 4, even though I'm not going faster. The little dial is all the way to "H" instead of a comfortable "slightly above C".
So I'm all "ok, this can't be good." I'm just a couple of miles from my exit so my plan is to just make it and pull into a gas station.
I start smelling something funny (literally, it stinks.) My NEW plan is to get off at the exit before mine and make it to a gas station. So I pull off the exit and my power steering goes out, 2 lights on my dash come on and smoke starts coming out from under my hood. So my NEW NEW plan is to pull over on the side of the ramp, turn off the car....and cry.
Yes my friends, (or enemies, i might have an enemy or two reading) this happened the day after I get pretty enthused about saving money and getting on the road to financial freedom!!
So, anyway, the conclusion is this: My engine shut down and it would cost as much as I paid for the car to fix it. So, it has been sold for parts, and tomorrow I will bid farewell to my piece of crap hunk of metal car.
Needless to say, the past few days I've been pissed off and frustrated. And less than enthused about this whole process of saving money. But, I know I can't let it run me over like a Mack truck. I know it will all work out, and I know I have a wonderful support system around me.
I have a plan to raise/save money for a down payment on a less crappy car, and I think it's fairly achievable.
With that said, Who wants to buy a Canon EOS Rebel XSi? It's a beautiful piece of photography machinery :-)
A few weeks ago, my incredibly handsome, funny and financially savvy boyfriend, Brett, asked if I'd like to take Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University.
Now, I knew that eventually we'd be going through this class together because we had talked about it before. But my BFFOMG and his BFFOMG (who happened to have just gotten hitched) decided to go ahead and register for an upcoming session, and the dudes thought it would be "fun" to take it together.
Brett, the great love of my life, is very smart and disciplined when it comes to finances. I, on the other hand, am not. Am absolutely not. So "fun" isn't really a word that came to mind when I agreed to take it. More like "intimidating", "frightening", and "hell".
NONETHELESS. I agreed. Because I know I need to manage my debts and income better (i just need to manage them period). And I really care about a future with this Brett guy, so I said "Sure, Honey!"
So since I'm coming face to face with finances, I thought, why not get everyone in the blogosphere involved? So I will be keeping up with this blog and posting about our sessions, my goals and my progress. If you want to read on my progress, cool. I'll welcome any encouragement! But keep your criticism to yourself! Just kidding............but seriously.
Tonight was our first of nine sessions. We have a fancy workbook, pencil, eraser and EVERYTHING! So already, he is appealing to my dorky, i-love-school-and-taking-notes side. And the session wasn't bad at all. He talked about saving up an emergency fund and doing it quickly so you can have a cushion (and a peace of mind) while you're paying off debt.
So my first goal is to save $500.
I feel this is very achievable, and I'm excited to cross off "Baby Step 1." Actually, this whole process does not seem as intimidating as I had originally thought. (We'll see how I feel after I add up my total debts. yeesh.) But, aside from a slight freak out moment about adding up said debts, I walked out of the session feeling like I'm taking solid steps to financial freedom. My head was not spinning, my ears were not bleeding, and I didn't stab anyone with my freshly sharpened pencil, like I pictured myself doing, so, I think I'm doing significantly better than I thought I would.
I am lucky to have the support and encouragement of my boyfriend, and our dear, sweet married couple friends.
We have a couple of homework assignments to complete before Monday. I am nervous about them, but excited. Each step is one step closer to getting to financial peace!
