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Budgeting Works!

To gain financial freedom you must take control of your money, plan for the future and Stop Borrowing Money! This blog is about one family's journey toward financial freedom.
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Mona Weathers

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I have to decided to put off trying to create a community for Time To Budget but I did find a great social network for those interested in personal finance issues. Time To Budget now has it's own group so please check it out and join! It's Time To Budget Wesabe Group

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Gas Prices Are Killing Us! Time to Reevaluate!

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The raising gas prices is really making my husband and I think and reevaluate. Since my husband commutes more than an hour to work five days a week, the gas prices have really been effecting us. My husband drives to work in a economical commuter car but it’s still really tough. Within a few months our monthly gas costs increased about $200.
We are trying very hard to find ways to save in other areas of our finances. It’s not an easy task but it seems we have no choice.

Here are some solutions we have come up with to help reduce the spending on gas.

My husband can stay the night at a relatives house a few days a week.
I can make sure I go into “town” with him to get all my shopping done.
We have looked into bus routes. This is not our favorite option because it takes so much longer having to transfer and wait for buses.
Commute with a co-worker. This doesn’t always work and I would explain but it’s too much to get into right now.

Other people taking about the gas prices.

Aaron - Looking Forward!!! Dave Ramsey “Gazelle” Intensity Is Back & High Gas Prices Are Choking It!!!
Forum Discussion - Dave Ramsey on gas prices.

Dave Ramsey on gas prices.

July 2, 2008 | Filed Under Budgeting, Dave Ramsey Financial Freedom, Financial Planning | Leave a Comment

Financial Peace University Coordinator Update

We just completed the Dumping Debt lesson in our Financial Peace Universityкомпютри втора употреба class. Things are going very well. I am excited that everyone is excited about these lessons. I absolutely love the new material that the new kits include. Same great information but just better.

Every time I watch the Dumping Debt lesson I get motivated and inspired. This being the second time taking the FPU coarse I wish I could say we are farther along than we truly are. But I have to keep reminding myself that we are still taking steps forward. They may be very small steps but a least they are steps forward. If we keep moving forward we are bound to reach our destination.

This doesn’t mean I want it to take 100 years to reach our destination. I don’t expect it to take more than a couple of years but I wish we could have been able to shout, “We’re Debt FREE!”, at the start of the FPU classes we are coordinating now. But oh well! Sometimes the perseverance lesson is the best one of all.

What I love about Dave Ramsey and his team is that they keep up with technology. This time around we are able to use some great tools they have available in their online Members Resource Center. This resource center is available to all current FPU members including Online FPU members.

There is a Gazelle Budget online software that you can use now. With the Gazelle Budget you can enter all of your income and outgo information and print out your budget. It’s easy and very useful. They also have a Debt Snowball online that allows you to enter your debt information and determine how long it will take you to complete the debt snowball. There are also some other cool tools available like the millionaire calculator, buy vs. rent calculator and the investment calculator.

If you are struggling financial, think you have it all figured out or have no clue as to how to handle your money, Financial Peace University can and will help you if you are willing to really take action and change your future.

May 5, 2008 | Filed Under Financial Freedom Journey Pep Talk, Financial Peace Baby Steps, Financial Peace University | 2 Comments

Free Debt Reduction Snowball Calculator for Excel

I found this Debt Reduction Snowball Calculator while search for a work schedule form. This Excel template is completely free and worth downloading. Here is the description and a screenshot.

Use our free Debt Reduction Calculator to help you eliminate your credit card, auto, student loan, and other debts. Easily create a debt reduction schedule based on the popular debt snowball strategy using this free Excel spreadsheet.

The first worksheet is a simple calculator where you enter your information, choose your total monthly payment, and see a summary of the results based on the strategy you choose.

The second worksheet is a payment schedule designed for you to print so you can keep track of your progress. You can also see how the snowball increases as you pay off your debts.

A big thanks to Donald Wempe for the motivation to create this spreadsheet, and for his great ideas!

You can download this Debt Reduction Calculator by visiting Vertex42.com

April 25, 2008 | Filed Under Financial Goals, Financial Planning, Free Budget Forms | 1 Comment

Financial Peace University - Coordinator News - Class 1 -Super Savers

photo credit: PPDIGITAL

We had our first Financial Peace University class this past Sunday. It was a small group but I think it will be a great class. So far I am very please with the new FPU material. The videos are all updated from the last series of classes we coordinated. The Super Savers lesson was absolutely hilarious. I think everyone in the class was pleasantly surprised that the video sessions were entertaining as well as informative.

Discussion after the video went very well. We had one family drive 45 minutes to be apart of this class. The FPU class is already very different than the last one my we coordinated. Last time we asked the leadership of our church to join the class so that we would all be on the same page. This time people joined the class out of need.
The Super Savers lesson was very motivating. It’s been a rough couple of months for our family and we have not had our emergency fund because we had to … spend it on an emergency. Actually we have had to do this a few times. The fact is we are still spending more than we make. We are going to have to really make some tough decisions the next few weeks. We need to lower our expenses which seems to rise very quickly every time the gasoline prices go up (currently over $3.67/gal). Because my husband commutes the rise in gas prices increase our monthly bill by about $100 - $200.
This FPU class couldn’t have come at a better time for our family. My husband and I had lost our motivation and began to have feeling of hopelessness again. Though our overall situation has improved over the last 2 years, it had become very difficult to continue when you have lost your motivation.
The knowledge gained from FPU is truly life changing but all the knowledge in the world won’t make change. It’s the decision to change and motivation to continue on this journey that really makes a difference.

The main lesson I took away from our first class was that we need to remember as small as our baby steps may be they are still steps forward. As long as we keep going in this direction we will complete the journey.