Tax Time

What happens when you owe the Government money at tax time? Depending on how much it is, hopefully you have it in savings.

Unfortunately, my wife and I are in that situation. We owe a little less than $1,000 to Uncle Sam. Good news, kind of, is we will probably get a state refund to help subsidize the Federal payment. Bad news is we have to give Uncle Sam some money. Great news is, we have that money in savings and will be able to pay it on time. I hate to use some of my Emergency money to pay taxes, but it is a BLESSING we have it!

What this means for Mrs. Financial Health moment and I is we have to start saving for our Emergency fund again. It will not completely wipe us out, but we will probably go under our $1,000 goal. We have our finances in order for the most part. We will probably have to pull in the reigns a little bit on the spending train. It will just require us to pull the "tent stakes" in. We will be cutting back on our entertainment fund, restaurant fund, and probably some other envelopes just to be safe we can get back to the $1,000 quickly.

So, if you have a tax story you want to share, please leave a comment. If you are going to get a refund and it will give you your EM Fund or will pay off some debt also leave me a comment!

Feeling better than I deserve,

Your Financial Health Moment!

Too Long

Sorry all for making you wait so long for a new post. It has been too long since the last one. I hope I still have some followers out there. The hustle and bustle of this season did keep me fairly busy and it does not help that I have limited Internet access. (One of those sacrifices for becoming free of debt)

With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, I would like to know how people did with how they spent their money. Did you use Credit Cards? Did you pay cash? Were you able to tell family, sorry, it is just not in the cards this year to exchange gifts? Let me know how it went. I have heard from some people already and some say they fell off the wagon and flipped it off on its way by. If you are one of those people, let me encourage you...you are not alone. The main thing to focus on now is to get back up, dust yourself off and keep CHUGGING along. If you were able to stay on the wagon during this holiday season, let me say KUDOS! Way to go! I'm proud of you! I know my wife and I were able to stay on the wagon. Although, it was tempting to step outside our budget to grab a few misc. items for people who were not originally on our list. We were still under budget and did end up grabbing just a couple of cheaper items for different people. It was nice to know, this is how much we have and when it's gone, it's gone! With Credit cards, you never have that feeling. You can spend until your credit limit is maxed out! (Not so good come January when you get the bill!)

To conclude! If you fell off, get back on! The biggest thing you need to do is get back on board! If you were able to stay on, Keep CHUGGING along! Way to GO!

Feeling Better than I deserve,

Your Financial Health Moment!

The End of the Beginning

Today will conclude my First FPU class that I have coordinated. It was a lot of fun. I look forward to coordinating another one. If you have ever taken one of these classes, you feel like you have walked away with more family. Sometimes closer knit than your own family. This course allows you to be vulnerable to others in the group. More than likely, someone else in the class is in the same seat as you. Talking about finances has been a faux pas for a very long time. We can talk about anything with people but finances. For some reason that seems to be too sacred even to talk with your spouse about sometimes. This class helps break that mold that everyone has painted in your mind. It allows you to be open and honest and hear what has worked for other people. This course is not just simply watching a DVD that has Dave Ramsey speaking, but the fellowship and friendships you are able to make in this class. It also gives you a support group. To cheer when it is time to cheer and to cry if necessary if it requires tears. These people want to see you succeed as much as you want you to succeed.

The beginning of class obviously everyone is very motivated to get going and beat debt. However, some find out it is a longer road out than they thought. That is when the group can help support you emotionally and give you those ideas that might help you get over the hump.

Throughout our class, we shared many stories with one another, shared ideas, shared recipes and shared our time together. It was awesome to see a lot of my class cut up their credit cards. My wife and I cut those up shortly after we were married. Since our honeymoon, my wife and I have not used a credit card to make a single purchase! Do you know how liberating it is to know that I do not have to pay for something I may have bought 6 months ago? It is AWESOME!!!!

So today marks the end of the beginning for many of my fellow co-workers. They will be out there fighting the fight of Freedom from debt! May the Lord help keep them focused on paying off their debts. It will be awesome to see them be able to GIVE like no one else when they achieve this goal! GO TEAM FPU!!!! I am proud of you and look forward to hearing many of your success stories!!!

Feeling Grateful and Humble,

Your Financial Health Moment!

The Big Picture is out of Focus

With the Holiday season approaching us, often times we can get out of focus. I want to encourage you today to stay focused. Too often, we tend to stretch things around the holidays. If you are unable to afford gifts for the family, make them something. If your family normally exchanges gifts with one another, ask them if it is ok for you to bow out this year. TELL them you are trying to straighten out your finances and are unable to afford gifts for everyone this year. Do not be too PRIDEFUL to tell your family this.

Last year my wife and I were just married and did not have a whole lot of money. Instead of using credit cards and going into debt to buy gifts, we told our families that we were not going to be able to afford gifts this year. Our families were very understanding and did not want us to buy them anything if we could not afford it. We bought our parents and grandparents gifts, but did not buy our siblings gifts. We have 10 siblings between the two of us. We were focused. We cut up our credit cards long before Christmas came along, but if you have not cut them up already, DO SO NOW! Do not be tempted to use the plastic this holiday season.
With this holiday season, give yourself a gift! Give yourself the gift of Financial Freedom! Do not jeopardize your future for a few gifts that will probably get returned or not used. Enjoy your family and friends. Do a white elephant gift exchange over a carry-in dinner with your friends or family. Enjoy this Thanksgiving and be thankful for the simple things in life! Happy Thanksgiving all!

The trickery of debt

Debt is a very tricky thing. It some times is elusive. You often wonder how the number became so large and how you are going to pay it off. I did some research for myself this past weekend on how much debt my wife and I had. My findings, a little more than what I thought we had. It was not a large number difference between what I had found and what I had thought, but it reminded me that I always have to stay on top of it.

If I am going to have goals on beating debt, I have to remember to follow my game plan. Some times I want to stray from that game plan because I want some instant gratification. (I know, a nerd wanting instant gratification?) It is true. Sometimes I just want to go out and buy things. I am not talking about clothing. I want to go out and purchase tools. I want to purchase tools that are going to help me build cool things. I want to one day build furniture and other neat little trinkets for my house. I have always been interested in working with wood and woodworking tools. I get a thrill out of building something with my hands. I have not been able to build anything recently, so I have had the itch to build. I have to keep myself out of Lowe's and Home Depot so I am not tempted to buy these tools. I do need to go to one of these stores because my toilet is running continually and I need to get a piece that will help stop the running.

I do have enough self-discipline to get in and out of one of those stores to purchase this piece. However, I may just want to look at the tools and dream. I believe it is ok to dream; just as long as you know you cannot have it right now. Delaying that instant gratification so that one day you can be debt free and working or doing those few things you love to do. One of my hobbies will be woodworking. I envision having my own little shop set up inside my garage and having one of my son's out there helping me. (That is if the good Lord blesses me with a son in the future.)

Yet, I still find debt to be deceitful. You think you have paid off a good chunk of it, only to find out that a large part of that went to paying the interest on the debt and not very much on principal. This is why debt can be so tricky. You may have paid $12,000 towards your debt, but only be down $7,000. What happened to the other $5,000? Well, that was all applied to the interest you owed on the debt(s). Getting out of debt is a MARATHON. If you try to sprint the first mile, you will tire and not have enough energy to finish the last 25.2 miles. Remember to pace yourself. Getting into debt was easy, getting out of it is the hard part.

Have you ever read the story of the tortoise and the hare? The tortoise wins EVERY time! So be the tortoise today. Slow and steady will win you this race. Stop letting debt trick you. Make your game plan and follow it! Have a path. Make it a path to success! Only YOU control your destiny! Only YOU stand in your way of becoming debt free!

Attitude, Goals, and Perception

Only you can control your attitude. In order to beat debt, you need to have a positive attitude about it. Think of anything you have ever wanted to accomplish before in the past. You had a positive attitude and outlook on it. It is the same way when handling your money. If you do not have a goal to reach for and things set in place to reach those goals, then you will most likely not see the end result of being debt free.

I was listening to Tom Stanley's "The Millionaire Next Door" and he said that 80% of millionaires today are first generation wealthy. 80%...that's A LOT! These people knew where they wanted to go and had goals. All of these people were frugal with their money. They were not wearing the newest and most expensive clothing. The way Tom Stanley described them as dull normal. They were not driving the newest model of luxury car. In fact, most of them were driving American made cars that were a few model years old. They owned the cars outright.

In America, the media has done a great job of showing off people who are not wealthy, but are wearing Armani Suits, driving around $100,000 cars and have multi-million dollar homes. These are normally your celebrities and athletes. Want to hear something scary? Most of these people go bankrupt or run out of money shortly after they retire from movies or their sport. YIKES! You wonder how someone can run through a "modest" 110 Million Dollars??? They do what I just said, consuming all the "good stuff" They were able to sustain that lifestyle while they were earning a paycheck, but they did not SAVE any of their money to be able to sustain it after they were retired.

Am I saying you can't have nice things? NO. Absolutely not. What I am saying though is most millionaires live in modest neighborhoods where their neighbors are mechanics, salesmen and the likes. Their neighbors aren't Michael Jordan or the CEO of JP Morgan. They drive around nice cars, but not luxury cars. They wear clothing more than once and do not really care what people think about what they look like or even care if they know they are millionaire's. They do not feel the need to flaunt money and "rub it in" to anyone. They are normally very good givers and do not have a problem giving money away.

Last thought. If you were to win a million dollars tomorrow, how would you spend it? I know I would pay off my student loans, my car and probably purchase a modest little house for my wife and I, give some of it away and then invest the rest. The reason I know what I would do with it is because I have goals. I know exactly what I am doing with each and every paycheck and dollar that comes into my household. I have sat down and INVESTED time into my financial well being. My wife and I have goals set for our household. What about you? Do YOU have Goals set for your household?

Feeling greater than I deserve,

Your Financial Health Moment

Building a strong team

Building a strong team? What does this have to do with money and becoming debt free? A lot actually. Look at all the great people you know in your life. Did they not have a strong team surrounding them? Did they not have mentors helping guide them? If you ask them, I can guarantee they have surrounded themselves with other great people.
I watched Warren Buffett and Bill Gates last night on CNBC (I am a nerd). These two are probably the two richest people in the world. Both of them built a great team.(Both of them also give away a lot of money) Warren Buffett went to Columbia University to study under Ben Graham. Ben Graham was Warren's mentor. Every time you hear Warren Buffett speak, he almost always mentions something about Ben Graham. He saw the person who was the greatest at what he wanted to do and LISTENED to him, studied him and his habits and then went out and did it better!
I was at a Young Professional Network luncheon the other day. Mike Bray, Head Notre Dame Basketball coach was talking. He talked about networking and surrounding yourself with people who do what you want to do. His goal was to be a coach obviously. He went and worked under a HS coach in Maryland, who is now in the hall of fame. He put himself in situations and around people who could get him to where he wanted to go.

Ok, so what does this have to do with money. Here it is. If you want to be wealthy, you have to do what wealthy people do. Surround yourself with people who can teach you what you need to know. For example, I want to be another Dave Ramsey. I do not want to be him exactly because he already has Dave Ramsey. I want to be me, but I want to LEARN from Dave. I want to soak up as much knowledge as I can from him. You ALWAYS have to keep LEARNING. If you stop learning, you fall behind.

Another team that you need to be surrounded by is your family. You and your whole family need to be on the same page! You are a dynamic team with dynamic parts. Let each part do what it is best at. If one is great at keeping the books, let that person keep the books. If one is great at bargain hunting, let them bargain hunt. I think you see what I am saying. Your whole team does different things great. Let them work at their strengths.

One last thought. After building your team and surrounding yourself with mentors, LEARN and apply what you have learned. Do not be afraid to go after your dreams. You have been blessed with specific talents handed to you by the the Almighty God. Work in your strengths. Be the best you can be at that particular thing. Sometimes going after something means taking a risk.

Are you willing to take that risk today? Are you willing to discipline yourself to take the step of becoming debt free? Use your God given talents wisely. We only have one life to live here on earth. What will be your LEGACY?