Live Like No One Else!  (so later, you can Live Like No One Else!!), or The Seven Baby Steps

Stolen by Gall (Dave Ramsey kinda makes a living talking about this stuff)

In the spirit, promise and hope that the official, astronomical start of summer (you do know that the summer solstice is June 20^th this year, don’t you?) gives us, I’d like to take just a little bit of your time to share some advice that we’ve received, and all of us around this place take pretty seriously … and no, we’re not perfect and didn’t follow all of this advice exactly the way that it is presented (and still don’t!!) … however, we do, TRULY BELIEVE, that it is valuable advice to think on pretty danged hard (and be sure and visit with your buppies about it too.  (You can even include your spouse if you’re so inclined     ; )    ). 

How To Take Control of Your Money (i.e. – Life) One Step at a Time

Building a future with money is a lot like building a home.  You don't add the roof until you've finished framing, and you don't frame until the foundation is secure.  Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps[i] are designed to help you get out of debt (and the stress that accompanies that debt) and get you into a life of saving and giving.  Everyone is in a different place with their finances, start wandering down this list – find out where you are – and start right where you are and you will get to where you want to be.  We all understand that knowing how to do something is just 20% of what’s needed – and in order to be successful with these steps will require the other 80% in behavior change and self-discipline!  It CAN be accomplished – just follow the steps!

Here's The Seven Steps (note:  I didn’t necessarily say that they were easy!):

1. Get $1,000 Stashed Away For Your Emergency Fund:  Stop incurring debt (this includes credit cards!) – get your emergency fund in place.  This fund is only for those unexpected events that come along in life, you know … EMERGENCIES!  The emergency fund goes into a separate account than your regular checking account and should be a little more difficult to get to – since, after all, it’s for emergencies.  Learn More From Dave

2.  Create a Budget and Snowball All Those Debts (don’t include the house yet):  You NEED to have a household budget and allocate every dollar to a particular purpose (electric, water, food, clothes, etc.) – remember, we’re getting out of debt so we want to cut as much as we can of the “extra” (like: we can probably downgrade the cable – we don’t necessarily NEED that many channels, do we?).  Then, we’ll list ALL of our debts (except the house) in order from smallest to largest.  Make minimum payments on everything and throw all the remaining money against the smallest.  Don’t pay any attention to interest rates or anything else.  Pay off that smallest one!  As soon as you’ve killed it, throw all the remaining (plus the extra that you have since the smallest one is gone) at the next (now) smallest one, and so on, and so on … it’ll be like a snowball – the money that you have to throw will get bigger and the list will shrink faster as you head downhill!  Learn More From Dave

3. Save Up 3-6 Months of Expenses:  After you’ve paid off all those debts (again, except the house) – build up a FULL emergency fund.  By now, you’re a budgeting star and you know how much your monthly expenses are, so stash away 3-6 months’ worth for protection against life's bigger surprises (like the loss of a job).  Now, there’s no need to ever be in debt again—no matter what comes your way.  Learn More From Dave

NOTE:  Can’t stop that snowball now (it’s too big and moving too fast!) … steps 4, 5 and 6 can all be done at the same time!!!  Making TERRIFIC progress now!!

4. Put 15% of Your Income Into Retirement:  Now you’re ready to get really serious about retirement.  With no payments (except the house) and your full emergency fund, you can now grow that retirement account!  You have a lot of options between your 401(k), Roth IRA, Traditional IRA, and mutual funds.  The money that you were once using to kill your debt can now help build your future.  Learn More From Dave

5. College Funding For The Kiddos:  If you have kids – and if you plan on paying for some (or all) of their college expenses – now is the time to save for that!  Two smart ways to save for your kids' college are a 529 college savings fund or an ESA (education savings account).  These are both tax-advantaged savings vehicles that let you save money for your kids' education expenses.  (Dad and mom-D will probably skip this step since us BC’s are already MORE than smart enough!  Except Bubba, bless his heart, but we’ll continue to “learn” on him!)  Learn More From Dave

6. Go Ahead and Pay The House Off Early:  Since you’re not paying credit card, student loan and car payments; have your fully funded retirement fund; and are saving for retirement and college for the kiddos – you’ve got plenty of money left to attack that mortgage and kill it!!  Just imagine life with no mortgage.  Apply all the extra money that you have now toward paying off your home.  Learn More From Dave

7. Here’s The Best Part - Build Wealth and Be Generous:  This is the easy part and will take you the rest of your life (as long as you remember the journey)!  You are DEBT FREE – that’s FREEDOM!!!  Now’s the time to Live Like No One Else, because you Lived Like No One Else (especially that step 2 – it’s bound to be a tough one … but the budget is the key!)  Yep, it's time to live and give like no one else!  Go ahead and build wealth, become insanely generous, and leave an inheritance for future generations.  You know what people with no debt and no payments can do?  Anything they want!  Learn More From Dave

Hey!  I (we) want everybody to be rich (if not famous!)  This is great advice – and we’re doing it here!!!  I don’t take ANY credit for any of this – it can be found right there on Dave’s site … I “stoled it” straight from there (but like Dave says – he gives the same advice that your Grandma did, except “he keeps his teeth in!”)!  But I wanted to share this with all of you!  If anyone has any questions or concerns on these ideas and practices … feel free to holler at dad – he thinks that he can answer ALMOST as good as Dave can (and he has UMPTEEN BAZILLION hours of podcasts that he listens to – often to mom-D’s chagrin while they’re travelling!)

 Peace Out (and Happy Summer!)!

 Love,

 Gall