Sorry it has been so long....

Hi Friends and Family,

Hope all is well with all of you. I feel like it has been forever!!! I have missed writing and updating my blog. The good news about my absence to my blog is that I have been busy working for my side business, The Crafty Housewife.

But I do have awesome news about how our Dave Ramsey plan is going. We paid off Grant's car in October. It was such an amazing feeling. We had a total of 7 debts and we are down to two. The bad news is that the two left are the HUGE ones. Here is where we will probably run into some problems. We won't have any more small victories. The last two we have are Grant's student loans. One is for around 22K and the other is for around 55K. The majority of our debt lies right where we currently stand. But, I think we have our new lifestyle down.

I can't say this enough but I am so grateful to have friends that love to come over or have us over and just hang out with us. We always have such a good time and we all save money. It has truly become my favorite thing to do!

I know the next two months are going to be really hard with the Holidays. But, we did plan for them. I feel so crazy because this year, I am making all the gifts and I am already starting them, but I can't believe how fast time is going and that it is already November 5th. Time is flying. So at the same time, I feel a little behind. But, I am really excited to be making the gifts for everyone! Saving money this year!

If you have been following my blog, you probably remember reading how much I was dreading (sorry babe) joining fiances with Grant. I knew the amount of our debt and it really freaked me out. To be honest this whole plan freaked me out at first. But I have to admit, I am so happy that we are on it. It is a huge challenge, but I have learned more about money and finances in 3 months than I ever knew in my life. This new lifestyle has already become habit. We are so much quicker at the store, our month budget meetings have gotten quicker, everything about Dave Ramsey's plan has become part of our marriage. And I am so grateful for that. It will be so nice to get to that stage in our life when we are debt free and we can teach our children our financial ways, so hopefully, they do not have to go through a paying off debt plan later on in their lives. It has all become about the future to us. Our future in our marriage, our children and their children. We'll be changing the family tree, as Dave says!

It's funny how life works like that. Everything really does happen for a reason. I am such a firm believer in that. We had to be in this debt and go on this plan for us to understand money and our fiances better. I know this will sound so lame, but I feel like our relationship gets stronger every day because of this. I am sure most marriages are like this, but we run everything by each other. It has given us a great foundation for our marriage so far and I couldn't ask for more than that!

Hopefully I will be able to write again soon, but if not, I am working on Christmas gifts and hopefully other things for the Crafty Housewife.

Take care all!

XOXO,
Renee

Getting To Know Yourself

Wow! It has been awhile since I have been able to write on here. I am so glad that I have some time to write now. I have missed writing so much. I have been so busy with my job and trying to start out my new side business.

Our Dave Ramsey plan is going so well. We started the beginning of August at $96,529.48 in debt and we ended with $83,574.49. I know you’re doing the math and that seems unbelievable that we could pay that off in one month. Well, I want to take some time to explain and thank everyone. Due to the generosity of both sets of our parents, as I have probably mentioned, we were given two budgets for our wedding, one from each set of parents. One thing I really envisioned for our wedding was a DIY wedding. If you didn’t know, I absolutely love doing crafts and I love the one of a kind look. So, for our wedding, I wanted to do that exactly. We were able to save a lot of money by having me make a lot of the things for our wedding. Fortunately, that meant we had some money left to put towards our debt. So, I want to thank our parents so much for their help with our wedding, which in turn ended up helping us with our future.

I also want to thank everyone so, so much for their generous wedding gifts to Grant and I. We seriously cannot thank you enough for that! You all helped us get our future started and we REALLY appreciate it. So, thank you! It truly was a blessing that we were able to get such a great head start. Each gift helped dramatically with our future success. We seriously cannot thank you enough. We love each of you so much.

We did really well with our budget for the month of August too. Our expenses ended up being under budget for the month of August. We told each other that if in August we had extra grocery money, that we would have a date night. Luckily we did really well. We ordered in dinner and rented a movie one night and we still had money left over from our grocery money, so we were able to go to this restaurant I have wanted him to try for lunch the next day. It was so nice to have that. That makes me want to save as much money as possible while grocery shopping, so we can have a dinner at the end of every month. But, of course because we had leftover money, we had to change our budget for September, so our grocery money is less, but I’ll still strive for it!

I have to thank this Dave Ramsey plan because it has opened my eyes tremendously. Honestly, if we had not been in this situation, I would have never been looking for a second job. When I started looking for a second job, I decided I wanted to work on my own schedule and to try and start my own side business doing something I love. I have been so blessed. As you all saw in my last post, I made crafts for weddings. Since I wrote last, my sister-in-law was nice enough to give me an opportunity to help with crafts for my nieces 2^nd birthday. I had so much fun doing this for them. I was able to make cupcake wraps, labels and a banner for her. It was so much fun and it helped with my product line. It is so much fun coming home and working every night after my first job. That's how I know this is what I want to do with my time.  

As time has gone by, I realized this is exactly what I should be doing and its something I really want! So, thanks to the help of a great girlfriend for showing me how, yesterday, I bought my fictitious name. And my company will be official in the next couple weeks. Until then, I will keep you all on your toes of what my company name is. :) But, I could not be happier with where my life is right now. I will be starting my business Facebook page and blog, so, stay tuned. My biggest focus right now is broadening my product line. So, if you know anyone having a wedding, a party of any kind, any special occasions, looking for holiday décor, household décor, anything really, I would love the opportunity.

On Sunday, we officially started the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University through our church. We both are so excited to be going through this course. We started doing it on our own, but it is so nice to be in a class with others that have the same goal we do.

This whole Dave Ramsey experience has really helped me. I have learned so much about myself and its only been a month and a half. It also is amazing how much this experience has helped us learn new things about each other. It is rough but its is amazing what you find out.

I'll be back sooner than later next time!

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO, Renee

Give It All You've Got!

Hi friends and family,

Hope all is well. Sorry I have been MIA for some time now. I have been so busy. I am so excited to finally say why I have been so busy.

An amazing, old, great friend (since 3rd grade) read my blog a little over a month ago, when I started doing this. She immediately called me after she read it and we got to talking. She read on my blog that I was crafty and she asked me if she could be my first customer, for her wedding day. That meant so much to me that she put so much trust in me to do something for such a big day. That conversation with her that day changed my life. She originally gave me one thing to make for her and then it turned into three. As we talked about the crafts I was going to be making for her, I got so excited. It was an indescribable feeling. I knew this is what I am supposed to be doing right now for a second job, to help with our Dave Ramsey plan.But i have to admit, as cheesy as this sounds, that at the end of all the projects for her, the thing that made me the happiest was how happy my beautiful bride was with the final products. Knowing how much she loved and appreciated everything I did for her was an incredible, unforgettable feeling. She gave me the push I needed to start doing what I have always wanted to be doing. And for that I can never thank her enough! (Thank you my Melis!)

And so I begin my quest at starting my own side business and I am so so so so excited for this!! I am looking into getting my company name bought, but until then, I will use my tag line for my company, "My Crafts, Your Way." Basically, what I am offering are crafts for any occasion: birthdays, weddings, showers, holidays, etc. and you tell me what you want and I create it, your way. Everything that I will do for you will be completely customizable to fit exactly what you are looking for. Colors, embellishments, materials, everything is up to you. I would like to share some pieces that I have done so far with you. Let me know your thoughts! :)

The Card Box

This is a card box. This is the simple more basic version. This could be the base for any event. With the correct embellishments it could be used for things like a graduation party or a sweet 16 for example. In this case it was used for a wedding. It can be in any color and as many tiers as you would like. This could also be used as a decoration rather than a card box. Simple or decorated, there are many options for this.

For this card box in particular, I added rhinestones to each pin tuck on the second tier.

I can add flowers to the top to add just a little more.

I can do the flowers on the top with just an additional accent on the side.

Or I can continue the flowers all the way down the side and cross over the front. In this case we went with the ombre effect, but there are many options for this.

These are pictures of the card box on display at the wedding.

The Centerpiece

This is an option for centerpieces. This could be a centerpiece for any occasion with the correct embellishments. In this case, it was for a country, rustic themed wedding. This could be done on any jar/vase/container that you would like.

These are pictures of the centerpieces from the front view on display at the wedding.

The Favor

This is an example of a wedding favor. In this case it was a CD with all the couples country songs for each other. A note was added in the window of each CD and an insert of all the songs was included as well.

This is a close up of the wording of the note in the window as well as the insert of the CD.

The Invitation

This is an example of a more formal invitation, in this case it is a wedding invitation. Of course, I can make it less formal for a birthday or shower for example.

This is an example of what the invitation could look like on the inside.

Labels

These are labels that were created for a milk and cookie bar at a wedding. Tags like this could be used for any occasion though. Like a candy bar at a birthday. The labels could be in any color and the ribbon could be in the color of your choice as well. You could also have just the tag without ribbon or have standing tags to use at any dessert, salad, brunch, mimosa, any other type of fun bar.

This is a close up of the cookie labels.

Table Name Cards

These are examples of very simple, basic guest seating name cards. There could be any embellishment you would like. In this case, these were for a wedding and the two different color flowers in the corners showed the two different entree options of the guests.

The Program

 This is an example of a wedding program. This of course could be customized to any way you would like. As a traditional program, as a fan program, whatever you would like. 

Rose Petal Cones

This is the final product of the rose petal cones. These were used for a wedding. The florist filled the cones with rose petals and they were hung on the guests chairs and the petals inside were to be tossed once the couple was announced. These cones can also be used as favors for a party. The note could be substituted for a picture or number for the birthday and filled with all sorts of different things, based on the theme or event.

This is an example of the cone without the ribbon to hang. In this case, you could put the cones in a basket/box and have them for the guests to grab as they go to take a seat.

An example with the note and ribbon.

 You could also have these as the hanging option without the note.

Hanging cone with note.

These are pictures of the cones on display at the wedding.

Seating Tags

This is an example of a tag that was made for a wedding. This tag told the guests which table they were sitting at. This of course is a simple, more basic version and could be embellished any way you would like and in any color.

The seating tags on display at the wedding.

Table Name/Number Cards

This is an example of a table name/number card. In this case, this was the table name. It was a country themed wedding and the bride and groom selected country singers last names and put Ranch after it. They additionally put their favorite song by that artist below the name. This of course could be changed to any theme or any idea you may have. These cards do not have to be framed, they could go on easels for example or just be standing cards on the tables.

Wishing Tree Tags

This is a simple tag. This could be used for multiple things and in any color or embellishments of your choice. In this case, these were used for wishing tree tags. You could leave the tag blank.

 Or you could add the bride and grooms names.

 This is the front of the final product. A light pink ribbon was tied to the tags to hang from the wishing tree. Each tag was also embellished with rhinestones in the corners.

 This is the final product of the back of the tags.



A direction note was also created to direct guests of what to do with the tags. 

 This is a close up of the wishing tree tag directions.

This is the final product on display at the wedding.

These are the tags hanging from their wishing tree.

So, what do you think? Thank you so much for taking the time to look over the things I have done so far. I know it is not a huge selection, so if you have something that you really want made and you do not see it on here, just leave a comment on the blog with your email and I will contact you and we can work together to make your dreams come true.

No matter what the event may be, the things you are looking for, together we can make it happen!

Today I found an amazing quote:

You only get three choices in life: give up, give in, or give it all you've got.

I am so ready to give this business and you all everything I've got!

 

Stay tuned...

 

Our first official month of the Dave Ramsey plan is coming to an end. We are so looking forward to putting all our money towards our debt and being able to get an even better estimate of when we will be debt free!

 

Take Care all!

 

XOXO

Renee 

Your True Friends Will Stick Around

Hi!

I have really missed writing this past week and miss you all! But it is crazy how busy life gets huh? 

Friday, Grant was given his official raise and with the raise was a small promotion. I am so proud of my hubby! It was much deserved and it will definitely help us on our debt free adventure! So, of course, we wanted to celebrate.

Grant had received a rebate from a purchase awhile back that we completely forgot was coming. It came to him in a visa card. What we should have done is used that to pay for groceries or a target trip or something like that, but together, we decided to celebrate his success. So, we took that visa card and made a trip to our local Total Wine and More. Such an amazing place. I love wine and margaritas and my husband loves beer! He is in fact quite a beer snob! He loves those $10 or more bottles of beer. So we are browsing through the store trying to figure out what to get. We realize that even though we have this gift card we still are on a budget, as we cannot put any of the money we have into this trip. He stops in the bulk beer section. He debates for awhile. Then decides that he can get more beer if he buys less expensive beer. He chooses a big pack of Budweiser. Keep in mind that this beer would fall pretty low on the list of his favorites. So he got a 36 pack of this and then had a coupon for $2 off any 6 pack of $6.99 or less. So he also got 2 six packs of “somewhat decent” beer according to him. We had already put in my margarita stuff and now we had a budget for the wine. Luckily at Total Wine and More there are a lot of good cabernets(my favorite) for pretty inexpensive. So, we walked away with a lot, and still shopped thrifty and didn’t splurge too much, in fact we had $5 left to use towards our groceries that night. Obviously this wasn’t exactly what we should have done. But I am so glad we celebrated his success the way we did. Plus now we are stalked up!

After that experience, it was off to the grocery store. We had to shop for Friday to Friday. We did what has now become habit. We weighed, we compared brands, we worked hard to keep under our $100 budget. By the time we had made the rounds and were at our last stop, we kept remembering things we forgot. That is where it got tricky. We were really pushing $100 by now. We did what we did last time and had a few items at the back of the belt in case we went over. And luckily, we were just a little under $100. Sprouts, our local farmers market store, confuses me with their taxing. I always account for tax on the store run, but sometimes there will only be a couple dollars of total tax. I don’t see item by item tax as it scans. Does anyone know what their policy is? Is almost everything pre-taxed?

Late that night we had some old friends in from out of town. We were so excited to have them stay with us. To be honest though, I was nervous because we didnt have any spending money for anything to do with them. But we told them all about the plan we were on and it was so nice to share the details of what we are doing with other people! We loved it! And luckily, they are awesome people and did not care about going out and doing anything expensive.

The next day, from staying under budget with our groceries, Grant was able to go and get lunch with them, on a budget of course. But later, we ended up having an amazing night. When Grant and I went shopping the day before, we planned for a BBQ Saturday night. We were able to get enough meat, buns and toppings, plus corn and potatoes for our BBQ plus all our other groceries for the week, staying under budget. We had a group of great friends come over (7 people total). We all had drinks from our rebate visa trip at Total Wine and everyone brought their own drinks and it was a blast! It was nice to know that we can still have great times like that weekend, without having to break the bank. :)

 

So, yesterday, I was thinking about everything and I realized, I haven't swiped my debit card since the 1st of August. With the envelope system every dollar is accounted for, so I never need it. It is so crazy how different a lifestyle this is already. In my college years, I used a similar, but less accounted for system. I would cash my paychecks and whatever money was in that envelope is what i had to spend until i got paid again. A good friend used to call it my Granny wallet. :) Now of course there are multiple envelops going to multiple things and literally every dollar is accounted for. But it really works!!

A good friend told me after I talked to her about what we were doing and going through and it gave me a sense of relief and happiness. She said, "Your true friends will stick around". I guess that has been a weight on my mind since it started. I didnt even say much about losing friends and she just knew it was on my mind and it made me happy and she is right. Because of this plan, we can't go on trips or go to happy hours, or even go out to dinner with friends. Like I said every dollar is accounted for and extra things like that are not in our budget. But this weekend made me realize our true friends will be the ones that are okay with not doing anything fancy, just hanging out and having good times and conversations. Ones that will appreciate the homemade gifts from me instead of expensive purchases. Ones that I can call when I am struggling through the rough times of this process. And the more I think about it, the more I want that. I am at a different stage in my life than I have ever been, or ever imagined. This chapter of our life is not temporary. The way we think and act with money will forever be changed. The Dave Ramsey habits will live on in the years to come and be passed down to our children. As Dave says, "You will change your family tree". And now more than ever, I really do believe that our true friends will walk beside us through this lifestyle change.

So far on our journey, I feel love and support from our friends and family. I have gotten amazing text messages and phone calls with such great words of encouragement and ideas. And we appreciate every single one of you that have done that for us. Thank you for being there for us with open arms. It is the family and friends like that, that make me realize we can do this. 

This coming weekend, we are going to go over all our finances and see how much money we have so far for August to put toward our debt! I can't wait until the end of the month rolls along so I can evaluate our first month's success. I actually am excited!!!

 

Thanks for stopping by!! Have a great rest of the week! Ill write soon! :)

XOXO

 

Double Check Your Work

Hi!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

So, our adventure continues...

We had a huge bummer come out over the weekend about our progress. We have a running calendar up at our place that shows our starting debt for the month and our ending debt for the month. Basically, just to keep us motivated and remind us to keep on trucking. My dad saw our calendar one day, the torn off page from July, and was so surprised at the number that we had paid off. So, we decided to review our our remaining debt again. According to our calendar, and excel worksheet we created, we had paid off $3,085.72 at the end of July! That did not add up. We only paid off my David's Bridal Credit Card ($300), his parents ($417) and his Best Buy credit card ($801), without even having to do the math, obviously that does not add up to $3,085.72. It adds up to only $1,518.00. Ugh! It is such a bummer! We had credited an excel spreadsheet and were subtracting each debt from the total as it got paid off. Turns out, there was an error in our formula that we inputted into excel.

So, if I learned one thing from that let down, although technology is so AWESOME and I would personally be lost without things like excel, we always need to double check our work on this! If we had used a simple calculator or even looked at the numbers, instead of just assuming that the number that auto populated due to our (incorrect) formula was the correct answer, we would have never hit this bump. I reflected on this a little and released how much I do that. I type in what I need to do and always trust that the right number will apprear. In my personal as well as work life, I am definitely more aware that mistakes can happen, even in this world with the best technology! For this error we made, luckily it was in our first month of the experience and we are still learning our own system and assigning each dollar to something, but nonetheless, bummed us out.

One great thing about us doing this together is having each other to lean on. When that happened we were both a upset, so we just talked it over, fixed the excel spreadsheet and jumped back on track. Things like that would have been so much harder if I did not have him in my life. I feel so blessed that we are able to have support from one an another. Its moments like that, that make me realize that together we can do anything! So, currently we are back on track. We were able to discuss our financial temptations that came up over the weekend and in the end, we both had being debt free on our minds! It has only really been 5 days and it has already been a challenge to us both. But, it makes it so clear to us both that this is only making us stronger as newly husband and wife.

In church on Saturday night, the message was so amazing and so relevant. We must trust in Jesus and not fear what lies ahead. We heard about this whole debt free thing and we both trusted that this was the path we needed and were supposed to be on and we realized we cannot fear the challenges that may be coming, for at the end of the day, we know if we face a challenge and fail, He will be there to pick us up. "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." -Matthew 14:27.

Have a great night all! Thanks for stopping by! Talk to you soon!

XOXO

Renee Farrell

As Of Today, Its The Dave Ramsey Way

Hi Family and Friends,

Thank you all who came to visit my blog for my first entry. Don't worry, it wasn't a one entry, one time, kind of blog. I am looking forward to continuing this blog throughout our two years and our experiences along the way.

Since I was not able to write yesterday, I will recap yesterday and then talk about our first official day on the Dave Ramsey plan!

Yesterday was such an amazing afternoon. We are seriously so blessed. Grant had texted me as he was finishing up work that he had some good news, I text him back that I had good news too. When we finally talked he told me that his work mentioned that he would most likely be getting a raise in his year review this month! How amazing will this be if/when it actually gets implemented. And what perfect timing. So then he asked what my good news was. I got my first customer to do craft work for! It is seriously beyond exciting and such a motivating feeling. I am definitely ready and so pumped for this. And then later last night I saw this quote "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity"How suiting is that to my day! Times are going to be difficult, but I hear a big opportunity knocking! I can't help but think that God wanted us to be on this road and making this journey. It's times like yesterday that I get reassured that everything happens for a reason.

Now on to today. Day one of Dave Ramsey. We had an amazing start so far. One of his tips/rules is to use the envelope system. Basically you take cash instead of a card and you can only use that amount. So today for example, we went grocery shopping. We budgeted for $100 a week. So today we took only the $100 and off we went. Grant had the calculator open on my phone adding up every item we placed in the cart. I can honestly say, I have never done that. I had another first time experience. I can honestly also say that I have never weighed produce items to see how much things would be. So we calculated and we weighed and we checked off every item on our list. Which by the way, making a list was a huge help. With a list it is easier to go in, get what you need and leave so you aren't roaming looking for extra things that you "need". So we calculated, without tax, $93.23. We were a little nervous to be honest. Grant placed a few items that could be put back, in the very back, just in case. I don't think I have ever watched the number as each item was added so closely. As we got closer to the end, we were feeling good. Guess how much our total was? $87.58! We did it! It was such a small victory, but it felt so amazing. But it got better. We get in the car and we are getting a little organized before we leave the store and Grant is reviewing the receipt and at the bottom of the receipt, was a coupon for 10% off our next grocery trip. Seems silly, but I was so excited! It got me to wonder. Before this, every recipt I got would get shoved in my wallet or in my purse and I would not ever look at it before it finally got thrown away. I wonder how many times I have had a coupon attached to my receipt and it went unnoticed.

I think that small victories like this will be able to keep us on track. So far, we are doing well. It may the first day, but it was a real great place to start.

Thanks for coming by!

XOXO
Mrs. Renee Farrell

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all thing right if I surrender to His Will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him Forever in the next. Amen. (My favorite prayer and currently so relevant)

Beginning Our Married Life Attempting To Live The Dave Ramsey Way

I am so excited to start this blog. I think I will start by giving you all a little background information. My name is Renee and my husbands name is Grant. My husband and I got engaged right before Christmas of 2011 and just got married on June 30^th, 2012. Quick engagement but we did it! We are both now 26 years old and so in love. I can honestly say that I am lucky to have found my soulmate and other half.  

Throughout our engagement we attended a pre-marital class and counseling through our church, which we both consider to be one of the best things we have done. For many reasons, but one in particular. Finances. We learned that for many married adults that finances are a cause to most marital problems. Before our class though, Grant, my husband, had heard from a co-worker about Dave Ramsey, a financial advisor. He started to do a little research and then a month or so later, in our class at our church, they mentioned Dave Ramsey multiple times. We knew then that we had to dig a little deeper and get the details of exactly what Dave Ramsey is all about. So we did. Okay, he mainly did! But he relayed the information he collected to me. We had to miss a session of our premarital class, so one of the couples took a night out of their busy lives to have a 1:1 session with us to catch up. Just so happened that topic we missed was finances. So, we did our homework, a mini budget and had to talk about whether or not we were going to combine finances. I do believe that getting married, everything becomes ours instead of mine. So, that included our finances. To be honest, I was scared of what lied ahead. I have to admit that I have always been pretty good with my money. Not perfect, but pretty good.  I had one credit card in college and only got approved for $300, a huge blessing. I got that paid off over the time of our engagement. Then last minute I needed alterations on my wedding dress and didn’t have the whole amount available, so David’s Bridal approved me for a credit card. I am not going to lie. I know credit cards are a huge no, no, but I was so happy that I was going to be able to get the alterations I needed because with those, my dress fit me absolutely perfect! So, I walked into our marriage with $300 in debt. Then there was my husband. Don’t get me wrong, I love him with all of my heart, but I was not looking forward to the number we were going to determine once we got back from our honeymoon of the debt we were in. I was beyond blessed that my parents were able to put me through college. And I seriously thank them all the time for that! Unfortunately for him, student loans had to put him through college. So starting out life together as a new married couple, we had the debt of David’s Bridal credit card, some debt to his parents, a best buy credit card, a visa credit card, a car payment and 3 student loans. With our debts combined, we found ourselves at the super, super scary number of $98,031.34. Once we found that number, we knew we could not start a family with that hanging over our heads. And that my friend is where Dave Ramsey became a huge part of our new married life.

 So who is Dave Ramsey you might be wondering and how is he playing a role in our life and relationship. He is a financial advisor that came up with The Total Money Makeover. We purchased his book as an audiobook and learned what it was all about. It is a plan to get debt free. Basically, there are 7 baby steps. Baby step 1 is to save $1000 as an emergency fund. Luckily, this step was taken care of for us. We were given a wedding budget and we stayed under it. So, our $1000 is in our savings for an emergency. Next step, baby step 2, is where we currently stand. PAY OFF ALL DEBT! I won’t go into too much detail but basically you list your debts (not including a mortgage, if you have one, luckily we do not yet) in order of smallest to largest. No matter what. Even if the largest debt has the most interest. So, how do you pay off your debt? That was the first question I thought. A budget. We started a strict budget in an excel spreadsheet. And that worked, but we wanted access to Dave Ramsey’s tools online. So even though we were already starting to pinch pennies this month, we decided to pay roughly $90 to get his total money makeover kit. And I am so glad we did. His online budget is very simple and easy to understand. There are percentages given that let you know if you are over or under what you should be.  So then you get into the details. We literally budget for EVERYTHING. You make all your normal minimum payments. Then every single dollar you have left over goes towards your smallest debt. We haven’t gone through our first month yet. Our budget has been made and starting in two days, it is going to be implemented. It is a little nerve wrecking knowing that no matter what, if you want to do this, you can’t steer away from your budget.

Call me crazy, but I feel like this is something that we need to do. We both really want to start our family before we get too old. And someday I would like to be able to just work part time so I can be a housewife but still contribute. So, it clicked. If I want these things, this is the only way. I want our family to be able to live in a house and have a good life. I want to be able to pay for them to go to college. That is a huge goal for us. We do not want our children to have to go through this crazy student loan business. So, in a way this is easy for us. I have my eye on the prize. Our future.

The hardest part of this all for me is going to be not going out with my girlfriends or out in general. I often would go out to eat with my girlfriends and currently, our budget doesn’t allow for that. We decided if we are going to do this, we have to go all out. So, hopefully, dinners at our place with what we set aside for our grocery budget will suffice for awhile. Another difficult thing for me is going to be gifts, especially at Christmas. Honestly, Christmas is my all time favorite thing in the world. I absolutely love it. And I love giving gifts that people really enjoy. This year, it is going to be a little harder. Yes, I made my husband already talk to me about what we would do for Christmas. So, I am going to work on making homemade gifts. I love doing crafts so in a way I am looking forward to it, but at the same time, I wish I could buy nice things for those I love. But then I remember, if we can finish this, we’ll be able to buy the family nice gifts down the road. Basically, my theme is going to be eye on the prize.

This month, July, we tried to save as much money as possible to prepare for this. So, that meant we already got a taste of how hard this is going to be. I got invited to go out with co-workers to go line dancing. I absolutely love country music and line dancing. It was so hard to say I couldn’t go because of our budget. The cover was only $10. But that is $10 for our future. We also got invited to go to a cabin trip with a couple that has become very close to us. There were about 5 couples going. And although it would probably only be roughly $50 for food, that is half of our grocery budget for the week. Plus that weekend is the wine festival out in Arrowhead. And my husband and I would not be able to resist that temptation. We love our wine. So, we had to pass. We knew that we couldn’t fit everything into our budget, so we had to decline a super fun weekend. It is so hard.

The goal and plan of attack to reach that goal. Our set goal is to be debt free by August 2014. It is going to be so hard. But I know we can do it! I am going to start looking for any side work possible. I love event planning. It is something I truly enjoy doing. So, I am going to try and plan as many events as I can. I also have an obsession for health and nutrition. So, I am going to try and get as many clients as I can. I am also crafty in the sense that I could make invitations or greeting cards, so I am going to pursue that if the opportunity knocks. I am also looking for a second job for nights and/or weekends. On top of that, my husband and I are recycling everything we possibly can for a little extra money. A coin jar has also become a huge part of our life. We have had a coin jar together since we started dating, but now the money we save in that jar will go towards our debt. My husband is also being a superstar and over the next 8 months or so, will be working to get his CPA(Certified Public Accountant License). So, I see light at the end of the tunnel. It is going to be such a challenge, but we accept the challenge and are excited to start our married life strong!

As mentioned before, we were able to stay under budget for our wedding. So, we were able to knock out a few debts in July already. So far we have paid off my David’s Bridal credit card, the money we owed his parents and the best buy credit card. We already feel so accomplished and we haven’t technically even started! It is seriously the best feeling when you make a final payment on a debt. A huge weight lifts off your shoulders! Every little victory counts and makes such a huge impact on our motivation level. We are determined! Our remaining debt starting in the month of August is $94,945.62.

So follow along and watch us as we succeed and struggle throughout this new journey in our marriage. I hope that if nothing else, we inspire someone to get out of debt and live their life the Dave Ramsey Way.(mytotalmoneymakeover.com)