Like that picture? It's us. Throwing our money away like we've been doing for 4.5 years of marriage. Money talk. It's uncomfortable, but here we go...
The Dear Husband and I have decided, once and for all, we're going to follow Dave Ramsey by the letter of the law. We've been trying to adapt it to our own thing for years and it just hasn't worked for us, bottom line. We're about to embark on Dave Ramsey's 7 Steps very closely:
1. $1000 Emergency Fund
Woo, not gonna lie. This is a tough start already. Looking at our initial budget, we have $42 extra a month after the most basic needs and already trimming back. I'm not sure what the plan is to make this happen more quickly, but I'm sure we'll discover it tonight over our budget meeting (with tater tots.)
2. Pay off debt with the debt snowball.
We somewhere in the neighborhood of $80,000. That means, not including interest, we need to clear up $10k a year for the next 8 years in order to conquer all our debt. Here is the hardest, longest part for us.
3. 3 to 6 months of expenses in savings.
4. Invest 15% of all income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement.
5. College funding for kids.
6. Pay off home early.
Yeah, we need to buy a house first...
7. Build wealth and give!
Wish us the best of luck. I can't wait to share how the journey is going!
