Climbing Out One Family’s Adventure in Becoming Debt-free

Do you have one of those months each year? A month that simply outsmarts you? I do.

For some reason our lives gravitated to October as though it were the only month of the year. Financially October is my speed bump and I am growing to accept it.

There was a time in my youth when October was just the month that had Halloween. It was the month that began the holiday season. The month when the air got crisp and chilly. The best time of the year. …continue reading

This Summer we got more serious about our backyard garden than ever before. Most everything we planted actually grew too.

Peppers, tomatoes, pumpkins, cantaloupe, basil, rosemary, chives, blackberries and holy-crap-it’s-trying-to-take-over-the-world mint. That stuff sends out runners and pops up everywhere!

The best part was watching the kids experience the joy of planting, watering, watching. Seeing those first little leaves poke out of the ground. Finally eating the harvest.

For their fifth birthday we planted a few new seeds of our own. Like it or not, our kids are along for the debt-free ride. …continue reading

I need to remember to talk to my husband. He knows stuff. He is super focused on getting us out of debt and listens to Dave Ramsey almost every day. Yet old habits die hard. I try so hard to be strong and independent and handle things on my own. I need to remember that part of this process of getting debt-free is the new communication that it has brought to our marriage. I need to remember that even the little things are worth sharing because Husband may have some insight that I don’t have that could save us a couple bucks. And right now, that means something.

Here’s the story. …continue reading

There is an FPU class on negotiating. I should take it again.

I’m not very good at negotiating, getting the deal or walking away. That last one you would think would be easier for me. If you don’t have the money then walk away. The problem is I don’t use the power of walking away when the monetary difference seems manageable.

Today I signed the kids up for gymnastics class. I told the Dad that the classes would be $70 a month. When I went to sign the papers, I was surprised by the $35 per child registration fee! That was double what I expected to pay. That was double what we had budgeted for. Eek!

I should not have written the check, but I did. …continue reading

Money never seemed to be much of an issue growing up even though we didn’t have much of it. My mother was a single parent and we were on welfare for a while, but I never knew about it. I have no memories of going without or being poor.

What I do remember are the empowering things she taught me. One of her favorite sayings is “Do you know how to eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”

The youngest memory I have that proved to be most life-changing is from the day I wanted a chocolate chip cookie …continue reading

Halloween may still be a month away, but there’s a whole lot of death going around in our home.

Not so much death-death as death-talk; as in, how big a party does The Wife get to have when I croak? Turns out, if I get walloped by a bus it’s going to be a huge one!

In my last post I talked about finally getting our wills done. Sticking with our theme, today I sent off my first life insurance premium. Now if, in the next 15 years, I wake up on the wrong side of the dirt The Wife gets at least $900,000 …continue reading