We are people who like to talk about money.

Before marrying Bob, it is not something I discussed with many people – I was taught by my family and society that talking about your money or their money was a big NO-NO.

I would assume that this is the reason why so many of us are in debt or don’t know how to save/spend our money.

I love seeing peoples reactions when Bob just openly asks them questions like “How much do you make?” “What are your spending habits (how much do/did you spend)?” They are shocked!

For the last few years we have tracked every single penny we spend. This has helped us to see what our good and bad habits are. I have a horrible habit spending on small things, hardly ever really buying anything, saving money and then blowing it (usually on a trip so not *wasting* it, but not using it wisely).

In 2020 we decided we wanted to make our living from ourselves. This of course, is difficult. It takes a lot of discipline, knowledge, and courage. In order to make this work for us, we NEED to know where we spend. Now that we have been tracking so long, we are budgeting once again! We go through phases with budgeting, as one should, but we always seem to get sick of it, quit, reassess, and make a new. If only we wouldn’t quit in there.

I love being on a budget. It’s like playing a game and competing with myself. It really checks my greedy impulses.

We got rid of our credit cards. Well kind of. We only buy what we have the money for to pay it off twice a month (gotta cut that interest!). However, instead of cutting them up, we are hiding them, so we have to actually think about it if we are going to use it. Bob has phenomenal credit from the way he has used his….I have….no credit? I don’t know I probably do, but somehow after getting married, my identity seems to be lost somewhere….is it in the cloud? How the hell do I know.

We are also working super hard and doubling down to pay off all our debt, except a mortgage (our Alaskan home is paid off, but we just bought our Missouri house last February) -which happens to be just our car. And we bought a new car today! Traded our 4runner (my dream car) for an Explorer (my mom car).

Once we pay off our car, then we will start investing. Does this sound familiar? We are following the Dave Ramsey “Baby Steps”. Although we are doing it loosely, so don’t tell him because he wouldn’t approve of us keeping our credit cards hidden or taking vacations when we still had debt.

It is exciting, after all the studies we have done, books we have read, and podcasts we have listened to, to be taking the next step in our financial goals.

Bob has an accountability buddy in doing this and I think that is so amazing! I wish one of my friends wanted to get down and dirty on the money topic with me. But for now, I’m just happy to see where this will take us!