January 2013 Update:

I haven’t done an FPU update since September! Whoops!!

To recap the past couple of months we refinanced our house, got our emergency fund back up and completed at 20K & started on our ‘baby fund'(for the midwife, doula & birth photographer)! Yay!

I have a secret. We don’t care about money. Okay, we care about it in the sense that you need it for things but other than that it is not our first priority. It has taken me some growing to get to this point and I like where my brain/heart is going with it. For January so far Jared has made about $500. (Not the $4000 our budget ‘requires’) We had a guy drop out on a project last month and the effects of that trickled into this month. I know he has been working hard and getting into things he is more passionate about & those things don’t pay off right away. I’m so grateful we are at a place where he can be his passionate self and we don’t have to worry if those things made any money or not. I know there should be a healthy balance and I really feel like there is. I’m so grateful he is not money hungry & money driven. I’ve been transitioning into this ‘simple living’ mind set and he really helped set the tone for that this month. 🙂 ((It really has been a great month & I’m going to start posting about ‘simple living/living naturally’))

Are you ready for a change?

If you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you will keep getting what you’ve been getting!

Classes are starting back up with the all NEW FPU! They shortened it to 9 classes (the others you can watch online at home) so it’s not as long as it used to be! I’m excited to help more families get started on the road to Financial Freedom!

Find an FPU class in your area!

DON’T WAIT!! Start your journey to Financial Freedom NOW!! Go. Hurry!! Let Dave save your money!!

Baby Step 1-

$1000 emergency fund in the bank. Completed September 2010.

Baby Step 2-

Pay off all debt (except the house) using the debt snowball. Completed September 2011.

Baby Step 3-

Fully funded emergency fund of 3-6 months of expenses. (Because of our circumstances we went for 12!) Almost Completed September 2012 but we refinanced & used some and then full completed it again December 2012.

What’s in our savings account:

Baby Step 3b-

After you have a fully funded emergency fund you can start saving for things that you want/need. This is where you would save up for a house or something! This is when you will do it because your risk is decreased significantly with your fully funded emergency fund in place!
We are Here & saving for the birth/delivery of Baby Latigo #2! Our goal is $6000. This is for the midwife ($4000), doula ($600), birth photographer ($500) & anything extra we need to buy ($900) (We will need to rent a birth pool, buy a birth kit, and I know Jaidan needs a new car seat that will come out of this possibly)

So far we have: $2,927.29

Baby Step 4-

Although we are no where near retirement it’s time to start investing 15% of our income!
COMING SOON

Baby Step 5-

Preparing the little guy (financially) for college
COMING SOON

Baby Step 6-

Start paying off the house early! What could we do without house payments?? Oh don’t even get me started! I cannot WAIT for that!
COMING LATER RATHER THAN SOONER I’M SURE 😛

Baby Step 7-

Build wealth & GIVE!!

7 BABYSTEPS :

Baby Step #1: $1000 emergency fund ((Can be completed in 1-2 months))
Baby Step #2: Pay off all debt except the house using DEBT SNOWBALL. ((List your debts in order, from the smallest balance to the largest. The idea of the snowball is simple: pay minimum payments on all of your debts except for the smallest one. Then, attack that one with gazelle intensity! Every time you pay off a debt, you add its old minimum payment to your next debt payments. So, as the snowball rolls over, it picks up more snow.)) ((Avg time to complete this is 18-24 months))
Baby Step #3: 3-6 months expenses in savings completes your fully funded emergency fund
Baby Step #4: Invest 15% of household income to Roth IRA’s & pre tax retirement ((You do steps 4, 5, &6 all at the same time))
Baby Step #5: College funding for your children
Baby Step #6: Pay off your home early
Baby Step #7: Build wealth & GIVE!

This is our Journey through FPU!