Debt Free Friday: Ryan and Micha

by Greg

Here is some local (if you live in Utah) flavor. This fun couple lives in Logan where she is a basketball coach at Utah State and he works in the HR department, also at Utah State. Go Aggies!!*

This couple is awesome, they started their marriage by combining their finances and quickly realized that they needed to change. They chose to work on this project together, making sacrifices and staying on focus together.

I love that Ryan said "I believe people are eating their problems". That is so true. It's really easy to go out to eat, overspend at the grocery store and just waste money on food. That's an area that is easy to cut back on and a place where you can see quick gains.

We watch these debt free screams because they inspire us. We're working so hard to get out from under this mountain, that sometimes it feels that we'll never see the end. But then we watch real people doing amazing things and being free. That gives us hope and encourages us to keep going. We're going to make it and we can't wait for the day when you can google "Greg and Kristen debt free scream"! That's going to be awesome!!

*I (Greg) graduated from USU with a masters degree in HR, Kristen will start their Family Life Studies program soon, we've convinced our 8 year old boy that he needs to study their landscape architecture program and we're working on the other kids. Basically we're trying to raise a family of Aggies!

This Is Water

by Greg

This video is a classic, absolutely makes you think. 

We go through our lives each day and do our routine. We drive the same way to and from work. We sit in the same seats at church and in the lunch room. We eat the same food, watch the same shows and do the same things every weekend. 

We get frustrated if things do not go our way or if our routine is broken. I get frustrated with the ones I love the most. Sometimes I don't think about others and the things they are going through in life. I forget that it's not all about me. It happens to all of us.

I need to step out of my routines and try new things. I need to serve others more. I need to live the golden rule.  I do not know what others are going through, they could have unimaginable struggles. I need to step outside myself and give people the benefit of the doubt.

I am grateful that we have a lifetime to work on our issues, deficiencies and problems. We get to choose how we react to situations. I am grateful we have a Savior that helps make up the difference. I try to follow his example and be more like Jesus Christ, the one perfect example. Sometimes I'm more successful than others but I keep trying. 

I don't need to set lofty goals, I just need to try a little harder to be a little better and it will work out.

   

Wake up!

I was reading my beloved Wall Street Journal today at lunch (leftover scrambled eggs and potato salad, weird but yum) when I saw this heartbreaking poll.

Like I wanted to cry.

Nest- Egg Numbers: how much surveyed workers 55 and older said they have in savings and investments.

Less than $1000        21%

$1,000- $9,999           11%

$10,000-$24,999        11%

$25,000-$49,999         9%

$50,000-$99,999         9%

$100,000-$249,999    14%

$250,000 or more      25%

Guys. This is so sad. We work our whole lives and we look toward retirement as our reward for a lifetime spent caring for and providing for our families. Then to see that 75% of people have less than $250,000? That's just horrible. And while 250K sounds like a lot of money right now, just try living on it for 30 years. It's not going to go far.

This has to stop. Don't think that you're just magically going to be okay when you retire because you're a good person or because you've worked hard. You are those things and more but it doesn't work that way. You have to be smart and you have to be intentional with your money.

Get out of debt.

Stay out of debt.

Have a plan.

And SAVE something! Let interest be your friend, let it work for you for a change. Once you're out of debt start putting just a little bit aside each month. Before you know it, magical compound interest is going to take over and you won't be one of the 21% with less than $1,000 to your name.

Be smart. That's pretty easy, right?

Oh and if you're one of those who is over 55 and aren't where you want to be, don't give up. As long as you're still breathing there's time to change. You are going to have to be extra diligent but I'm certain you can make it.

Book Review: Founding Mothers- the women who raised our nation

I have a problem. If I sit down to read a great novel than I'm trapped until it's over. I can tune out cries for Mom, requests for homework help, probably a fire alarm and the kids might get cereal for dinner if it's a really good book.

Okay, so I'd probably hear the fire alarm but it would take a minute or two to pull myself back to reality. So the way I still get my reading fix is to find interesting non- fiction, something you've probably noticed if you've been reading this blog for any length of time. I can read a chapter or two of a great non- fiction book and then walk away, I don't feel that same compelling urge to finish the story. But the trick is to find one that isn't textbook boring.  

I've found a few gems along the way. Founding Mothers: the women who raised our nation by Cokie Roberts is funny and informative.

Writing about John and Abigail Adam's frequent letters, she says "John's advice when Abigail wrote describing the British preparations for war? If it got really dangerous, 'fly to the woods with our children.'. Thank you very much. She must have wanted to throttle him."

Or did you know that Benedict Arnold, the Revolutionary War traitor was married to a woman that was just as guilty as he was? His wife, Margaret Shippen Arnold used her correspondence to her friends to pass information to the British about the American's plans. Fascinating.

All through the book it's clear that the women played a vital role in the founding of this great nation. They didn't have the right to vote or to fight or even to own their own property but they did incredible things. They gave birth to children in horrific conditions and often buried them, they raised their children that did survive and ran their husband's farms and businesses on their own and they did all of this while a war was being fought right in their cities and towns. 

At the very end of the book George Washington wrote "Nor would I rob the fairer sex of their share in the glory of a revolution so honorable to human nature, for indeed, I think you ladies are in the number of the best patriots America can boast". 

Well said, George, well said.