7 Days of Dave: Day 4

Welcome Back to our Seven Days of Dave Series! It's Day 4 and Baby Step 4!

Baby Step 4: Invest 15% of your income into Roth IRAs and tax advantaged retirement accounts

When I was 18, my grandparents helped me start my Roth IRA. During my college years, they added to my IRA, matching the amount that I earned working each year. At that time the maximum yearly deposit was $4,000 but you also had to make more than that to contribute that much. As I was working part-time at school and summers at camp, I never had that kind of income but we added as much as we could. I continued adding the maximum amount each year through 2011 when I left working outside the home to stay home with Annabeth.

Mark is blessed with a job in the public sector which means that he puts money into retirement two different ways. First, his job comes with pension after a required number of years of service and successful retirement. Mark also adds to a retirement fund through P.E.R.F. (Public Employees Retirement Fund).

Why does Dave say 15%?

At this point, people working through Dave's steps are debt free, minus the cost of where they live. Thus, they should begin looking to invest their income to grow their wealth. Too many people live in a "right now" frame of mind. That is all well and good right now, however, at some point we all will want to retire! And to retire, you have to have money. 15% is a fair amount because it is enough to really amount to something over the years. However, it leaves plenty to live modestly in the moment and work on Baby Step 5 which is "College Funding for Children." Dave discusses the fact that a lot of parents tend to want to save every extra penny for college but he argues that children can earn scholarships to help parents pay for school and that their degrees will not pay for the parents' retirement.

On our honeymoon, enjoying a day at Honeymoon Island

June 2009

We hope to enjoy retirement traveling as well!

Why is this important to us?

Although there are times when we would love to take a big vacation every year or own more than one car or do fun projects on the house, we really see the value in being able to retire comfortably. We would like to retire and travel, to have lots of time to spend with Annabeth, and maybe even grandchildren some day.

We know that life is, probably, not just right now. We want to be prepared for the future.

Our favorite Dave quote is:
"Now you must live like no one else so later you can live like no one else."

Anytime one of us wants something big, that isn't a necessity and doesn't go along with saving for the future we remind ourselves that this is worth it. We don't have a $200,000 house or two cars or a vacation home or a boat or... But we do have a solid start on saving for our retirement which feels, at least to us, so much better.

We thank, praise, and give all credit to the Lord for providing our family with the paychecks that allow all of these financial decisions to be possible. To Him be ALL the glory.

See you tomorrow for Baby Step 5!

7 Days of Dave: Day 3

Welcome Back! It's Day 3 in our "7 Days of Dave" series.

Today we will be looking at Baby Step 2: Pay off all debt using the debt snowball
What does that mean?
Make a list of your debts (excluding your mortgage or rent payment) from smallest to largest payoff amounts. The smallest will be your first priority.

Here is a breakdown of our loans:

Loan 1: $3,500
Loan 2: $7,500
Loan 3: $12,500
Total Loans: $23,500

Loan 1 began billing us within 6 weeks of Mark's graduation. Because we had wedding money and enough money in our "3-6 Months Emergency Fund" we decided to pay that loan off in full. It had a very high interest rate and we really wanted to just focus on the others. Paid in Full: June 2009.

From there we began paying the monthly minimum on Loan 3 ($120.00) and making as large of a payment as possible on Loan 2. Some months we were only able to double the monthly payment on this loan but others (if I subbed a lot or during the hoidays/birthdays) we were able to sometimes pay as much as $1,000 a month on this loan. Paid in full: May 12, 2010.

Down to just that last big one! Because we had only been paying the minimum we had a great deal left. During this time, Mark used one paycheck to make our house payment ($561.00) and the other to pay entirely on the student loan. I used one paycheck to cover all of our utilities and groceries and the other to pay entirely on the student loan. I will say that once we were down to this one loan we did to choose to loosen up a bit. We began to eat out occasionally and even took a short trip to Georgia the summer of 2010 to visit family. However, in January 2011 when we learned we were expecting we knew we had to have the loan payed off before the baby came/I quit work to work at home. Less than 8 weeks before Annabeth was born we achieved our goal. Making that final loan payment phone call was one of the best days of our lives!
Paid in full: August 2011

Mark is listening to the automated system say 

"Loan is paid in full."

 "Now you must live like no one else 

so

later you can live like no one else."

Debt Free Rileys!

Why does Dave suggest to pay off smallest to largest?

The general idea is that small wins (ie paying off a loan) is a great motivator to keep going and working hard to achieve financial freedom. By trying to pay off the largest first, people have to wait longer, work longer, and may become frustrated or give up sooner. 

I will say that being able to work hard and pay off two loans in the first year of marriage was a great feeling! Yes, together, they equaled less than what we had left in Loan 3 but it still felt like a great accomplishment having two paid off!

This step (along with Step 7 - where we currently are) was, spiritually, the most important to us. As Bible believing Christians, we seek God's Will in all aspects of our lives and use the Bible as our handbook. In striving to be debt free we really sought to live out Romans 13:8 "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law." (NIV)

Be sure to check out Dave's page on Baby Step 2.

Hope to see you tomorrow for Day 4 and Baby Step 4!

7 Days of Dave: Day 2

Welcome Back! It's Day 2 in my "7 Days of Dave" series.

Dave Ramsey's Baby Step 2 is to "Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball" and Baby Step 3 is "3-6 Months of Living Expenses in Savings." We, unintentionally, switched these two items. As I wrote about yesterday, in the months leading into our marriage I was employed full-time and living with my parents with minimal living expenses. I set a a goal early on to save $15,000 by our wedding day. I was well on my way to that goal until I was laid off that February. However, by watching my spending and saving my earnings from babysitting and subbing we entered marriage with $12,000+ in our savings account. We also were able to add money thanks to our generous friends and family who attended our wedding. We quickly realized that based on our apartment rent, utilities, etc that we had more than six months of living expenses saved! :) Step 3 Complete.

 One of our first moments as Mr. and Mrs. inside Old North's Chapel where we were married
05.23.09

Mr. and Mrs. Riley
For better or worse, Richer or poorer
All the days of our lives.

We have worked continuously over the years to always keep that much in our savings. As each of our father's have been laid off during our marriage we have really seen the value of having a good savings built up. Because Mark works in Law Enforcement we often feel somewhat safer than families that work for less stable fields. However, we are aware that things can change in an instant. After Mark's knee injury in 2011 and following surgery in 2013, he was not able to work his part-time job. While we don't require that money to live it is the money that we do our fun and extra things with. We were so thankful that we had that money in savings and that we did not have to worry about him returning to work before he was fully healed.

I think for peace of mind, this is probably the most important step. Knowing that if someone in our family has surgery, has a serious medical issue, or if we have a huge incident with our house that we have the money to cover it. The few times we have dipped into this fund we have built it back up as quickly as possible afterwards.

See you tomorrow for Day 3 and Baby Step 2!

7 Days of Dave: Day 1

We are a Dave Ramsey family. We are currently on Step 6 of Dave's "7 Baby Steps." A friend and reader has asked me to share more about our Dave Journey so I will take the next 7 days to talk about what we have done and how we did it.

Here is a brief history of how we came to Dave and came into our marriage:

My dad gave me a Dave book during college. I kind of glanced through it but was not really in a financial peace state of mind, I just wanted to buy textbooks each semester with cash and not a credit card.

I graduated college in 2008, right as the bottom fell out of the market. Suddenly everyone was looking for a job. After about 2 months of searching, I was offered and accepted a position at Macy's selling Ladies Shoes. It was a humbling experience as I had worked three years at UofL to earn a degree and still ended up at the mall where my friends had worked in high school. But, Mark still had a year left at VU and we were to be married that next May just weeks after his graduation. We did not really have the time or the money for me to be picky. I also lived at home that year. I love my parents and after being away three full years for school and summers at camp it was nice to sleep in my old room. It also was the best financial decision as between work and seeing Mark I was rarely if ever home and an apartment would have been a waste of money. I was able to divide my paycheck via the online payment system. I put 85% of every paycheck directly into savings and kept just 15% as spending money. This was possible because I was living at home with minimal bills and because we were paid weekly. I started at Macy's in September of 2008 and worked full-time until the company underwent major cuts in early 2009. I was laid off in February 2009. I spent the next few months job hunting, babysitting, and subbing.

The weekend before our wedding, Mark's aunt found a temp job for him at her pharmacy. Mark quickly took it and we planned our move to Greenwood. We were married May 23, 2009. About a month later, Mark was hired on full time at our county jail and a month after that I was hired on for about 20 hours a week. I spent the next nine months also subbing and babysitting in addition to working at the jail. I was finally given 37.5 hours in March 2010 but it was not considered full-time so no insurance or paid time off. March 2011 I finally went full-time until September of 2011 when I left to stay home with Annabeth. We have been really blessed that although Mark has worked a lot of jobs and shifts for the Sheriff's Office that he has been continually employed full-time with them. Mark has also worked part-time security at a local hospital since September 2011.

August 2009 - Newlyweds at The Creation Museum 

Dave Ramsey's Baby Step 1: $1,000 to Start an Emergency Fund

We often say that we feel like we got to cheat on this one. Because I was working at Macy's and living at home I was able to save a great deal of money before we were married. We realize that couples who are in school and marry right after may not have that same luxury.

I think for me, the key was dividing my paycheck so that it automatically went into savings and checking. We still do that. Mark's paychecks are divided automatically between his checking, our savings, and Annabeth's savings. We never even miss the money we put into each savings because we don't have to take it out of his checking account.

We have found it SO important to maintain at least a $1,000 Emergency Fund. We have had to use our savings for house and medical emergencies in the past and we are always glad to have that money there.

See you tomorrow for Day 2!

Spring 2014 Consignment Sale Wrap-Up

We have survived another sale!

My goals were:
1. Tag 50 Items - Tagged 95
2. Make $100 - Made: $65.50

I made more than I did last fall and was pleased with the results of this sale.

What sold well?

- Character Items (Dora and Hello Kitty)
- Dressy dresses
- Items sold as sets/outfits
- Summer shoes such as sandals and water shoes
- Toys
- 3T and larger items (we had some hand-me-downs that we were not going to wear)

What did not sell?

- Leggings
- Long sleeve t-shirts and long pants*
- 18 months clothing**

*Just as with the fall sale, I only sold items that are coming into season. I tend to shop ahead if I find items at these sales that I really like but I seem to be the only person. I now have to debate if I want to try to sell short sleeves at the fall sale or long sleeves at the summer sale

**This was most likely just a luck of the draw of shoppers. There was also a great deal of 18 and 18-24 racks so that size may have had the most competition.

I still have some very nice items left so I plan to head to the consignment store tomorrow money to try to make a bit more money. Anything left unsold after that will go to Goodwill.

It's always fun to shop these sales and to make a bit of money too! I made enough to cover the rest of May and June dance classes for Annabeth! Hooray!

Frugal Friday 33

Happy Frugal Friday!

Here is how we saved money/spent money wisely/made extra money this week:

- I made extra money selling (on facebook) a candle warmer/candle as well as a ring. Made: $30

- We spent a rainy Saturday afternoon at the library. Annabeth enjoyed having the Children's Section to herself! She and Mark played puppets and worked puzzles while I got to actually browse and pick out books for our school week and for my fun reading.

- Monday I turned in our items for the Spring 2014 Consignment Sale in our area. I will post next week with how we did!

- Since winter is coming to a close and the warm months are close, Mark cancelled our Netflix account for the spring/summer/fall because we spend these months outside. Savings: $7.99/month

- We spent Tuesday at Camp Lakeview with our friends the Stairs. Annabeth and Bella enjoyed visiting the pony Thunder, hiking around, and playing on the tire playground. Free, outdoor fun!

Annabeth loves the tire playground! 

- Wednesday night I pre-shopped the consignment sale. Annabeth went with me and was allowed to pick out one toy. She pick a bag with Minnie Mouse maracas and tambourine. We also found three summer shirts, a sundress, and (most excitingly) a pair of Matilda Jane ruffle pants! (I have been wanting to get her ruffle pants and/or something Matilda Jane for months and I found sweet little pants for just $6! Woohoo!! What a bargain.) My budget for the shop was $30 but only spent $19.26.

- Starting next week I will be posting a "7 Days of Dave" series where I share how we have reached Step 6 in Dave Ramsey's 7 Baby Steps to Financial Freedom. A friend and reader had asked for more about our Dave experience and I felt like this was the best way to organize the series. Stay Tuned!

Happy Savings to All!

"Buy Used and Save the Difference"

Spiders and Ladybugs

Annabeth is currently "SO 'fraid" of 'piders and lay-leebugs"

How did this happen?

We have no idea!

Around Mark's birthday, we got in from his parents' house around 10 pm. In the hallway, there was a tiny spider. Mark killed it. Annabeth cried and cried! We were certain it was a combination of no nap, too much sugar from birthday cake, and being out too late. But, the next morning it took forever to get her to leave her room. She kept saying, "Where 'pider? 'Pider gone, Mama?" I would say, "Yes. All gone. Daddy killed it." Then she would come back with "I 'fraid 'piders."

Since that night she slightly panics even at the word "Spider." Kind of funny, a cute little stage we thought. Then Monday night...

We have had beautiful weather so we played outside all afternoon Monday and had a picnic dinner. A ladybug landed on her shirt. We thought she would be so excited because a few weeks ago my sister gave her a pencil with a bug (not a ladybug but she has been calling it a "lay-lee bug") on it and she has been insisting on taking it everywhere. We pointed out the ladybug, now on the picnic table, and she backed away quickly. She looked a bit timid, a huge change from last summer when she loved all bugs, so I said, "Look! Mama will touch it. It's a nice ladybug." Before I could touch it she began screaming frantically! I have never heard such a scared cry come from her before. I picked her up to comfort her as Mark shooed the ladybug away. She cried for a good five minutes before calming down and coming inside. She would not go outside for the rest of the evening and kept just saying " 'Fraid lay-leebugs!"

Spiders and lay-lee bugs, oh my!