I want to be a millionaire.

If you were to invest $125 a month (in mutual funds averaging 11%) from age 25 to age 65 you would have just over $1,000,000. There is no reason we shouldn't all have $1mil at retirement. Younger than 25? Even better. I started investing at 19, and if I only ever put in $100 I will have $1.6mil at 65.

"But, I don't have an extra $125 a month!" Really? Take a look at last month's bank statement to see what you spent your money on. Pizza? Starbucks? Beer? Are these things more important to you than becoming wealthy? How you spend your money says a lot about the things you value.

"You can't average 11%, the stock market is in the toilet!" Let me just say, I don't claim to be an investing expert. I just take a common sense approach. The S&P 500 has averaged 10.88% since 1980. The Russel 2000 Value Index averaged 12.66% since 1980 (as 2 examples). Call me an optimist, but I believe long term investing in the stock market proves to be a wise choice.  Investing the past 5-10 years has been volatile, but long term investments are still strong!

I am the 99% ;)

You shoulda had a V8.

We heard a message about tithing in church Sunday. We have been giving 10% of our gross for a while now, so I listened but nothing really "hit home." We're already tithing.

As we were driving home from church, Philip asked me if I heard God at all during the message. I told him, not really... we're already giving 10%. He said he heard the Holy Spirit telling him we should give 20%. 
 
Whoa. I immediately starting thinking of all the reasons we shouldn't give that much.... thinking of our financial goals and how much longer it would take to hit them if we were giving 20% instead of 10%. God reminded me that every time we increased our giving, He was faithful.


We crunched the numbers in our budget that evening. Thinking, praying... how are we going to do this?

For the purpose of this blog, let's say the amount we were going to increase our giving was "$200."

I went out to check the mail.
Inside there was a check. For... exactly "$200."

I was in shock. I couldn't believe God! I was doubting His faithfulness. He is so merciful! I am such a fool. It's like God smacked me on the head and said .... "You shoulda had a V8." How much more plain could he have been? A check for the EXACT AMOUNT we had been discussing increasing our giving by.

I tell this story not to brag or seem arrogant, but to show how amazing our God is!! I couldn't wipe the smile off my face for the rest of the day.

FREEDOM!

We completed Baby Step #3!

and we did it in less time than we thought we would!

It was tough work, we have to say "NO!" to ourselves a LOT. Especially me. We have to budget every dollar, every month. But, it's worth it to be debt free and have our emergency fund in place.

Now, on to Baby Step #3b..... saving for a new house down payment. I'm sure there will be another refrigerator chart coming soon :P

I am so proud of myself! Philip and I have really been working on sticking to our budget to kick out the rest of our debt. I've been trying to pinch pennies, but still buy the things we need.

We've been wanting a digital video camera for a long time. I don't want Cooper's life to fly by without capturing it on video! We found a certain camera we like. We shopped around different stores Saturday, trying to find the best deal. We tried to get places to price match, Philip bargained, tried talking them down.. etc. Well, no luck. The lowest we could get the price was $127 and that was for the DISPLAY. No thanks. We left after an afternoon of shopping with nothing. Which took a LOT of discipline to not go ahead and buy it. Today I found the exact camera on eBay bundled with a tripod. I bid on it and won for $87! Whoo-hoo! The waiting paid off. I was really proud of us.

Also, I've been looking for a halloween costume for Cooper. There is one particular one I want... but it's $50 + shipping EVERYWHERE... even eBay. I found one today on diapers.com $49 and free shipping. Not a super deal. Well, they also had a 30 oz can of Cooper's formula for $19.99 (regular $29.99). If you bought formula or diapers you could use this 10% off coupon code for your whole purchase. :-D Then I got coupon happy and started searching the interent for online coupon codes. I ended up finding some and getting $80 worth of stuff for $60 annnd FREE SHIPPING.

Today Philip, Cooper and I went to Target. As we were checking out, I pulled out my FPU envelope system to pay. The cashier noticed and said, "Dave Ramsey huh?" I said, "Yeah we're working his plan, doing the best we can." She was quiet for a moment then said... "So I guess I won't ask you if you want to sign up for a Target credit card then." Bahahaha!