My 2017 Resolutions & Goals

A new year means new resolutions and goals - I always love beginning a new year - there is an overwhelming optimism about it. 

Everyone sets new goals or resolutions they want to accomplish throughout the year - myself included. A new year means a new chapter in my life and I am eager to begin!

So here are my 2017 Goals and Resolutions....I plan to check back on these often!

1. Pay $10,000 towards my debt snowball
2. Take a photo under the Las Vegas sign
3. Go to a concert  (I love music so much and it's been so long since I've been to one)
4. View a sunset and a sunrise in another country
5. Read at least 1 book per month for 12 months - for 12 total books
6. Re-connect with my husband and make our marriage stronger
7. Volunteer monthly 
8. Become a meal planner pro
9. See my friends & family more
10. Work on the internal me and become a better version of myself

What are your 2017 Resolution or Goals? I'd love to hear them - comment below if you feel comfortable sharing.

A Nice Surprise....

Last night as I was opening up the mail I saw that we received our monthly mortgage bill - no big deal - I open it up just to check everything over and I saw a check.

A check for $2,400....

What a blessing! 

We ended up over paying on our escrow for 2016 so they sent us the overage and lowered our monthly mortgage payment (only $30 a month...but still!).

I can't wait to THROW this extra money at some of our debt - what  away to start out 2017!

I am a person who believes in signs to help guide my life - if I am supposed to be doing something I will get a sign....if I am not supposed to be doing something I will get a sign. I take this check as a sign that my husband and I are on the right track and for the right reasons this time.

I can't a what 2017 will hold for us! 

Stay tuned....!

My Sick and Tired of being Sick and Tired Moment

Dave Ramsey often refers to that ONE moment when a person realizes they want to change and dedicate their life to that change as the "Sick and Tired of being Sick and Tired" moment. I had that moment this past July as I was faced with a horrible situation.

July 24, 2016 my dad passed away, it was a complete shock and totally unexpected. A gunshot wound - a "freak" accident. Since he was not married and I am the oldest of his children (I have a half brother that I have never met, he didn't have a relationship with our dad) it was my responsibility to plan the funeral, help cover costs, and to go through his belongings at my grandma's house.

I always knew he was horrible with money, even as a child when my mom was married to him (and after their divorce) he had a problem with overspending. As I was going through his financial documents I quickly realized just how bad he was. We're talking gas stations took him to court for writing bad checks, every bank statement I saw he was overdrawn a minimum of $500 at any given time, etc. He was living off social security because he had a plethora of medical problems which made him unemployable on top of a prescription medication addiction (all legally prescribed). 

His bank account when he passed away had $27.34 in it - of which wen't to his ex-wife because she was listed as POD (pay on death) of his accounts. His truck that he owed $1,400.00 was also POD to his ex-wife. He did not have life insurance which left me and my grandmother in charge of his funeral and cremation expenses. I had to have my mom put some money on her credit card to help me cover my portion because I didn't have the available funds on mine. My dad did have a storage shed full of belongings that the family and I sold off to pay my grandma back the $1800 she paid for the cremation. The rest came out of my pocket.

I knew sitting at the kitchen table going through financial statements that I do not want to do this to my children. I do not want them to be left with less than what they had when I pass away. As a parent I want to take care of my kids, even after death, so I knew I had to change.

Fast forward to December, nothing has changed for my husband and I. We have talked about finances many, many times but have never committed to them. As of January there will be NO other option - we have to do this....for our marriage and for our children's futures.

I have my reason - now I just have to make it happen. We are currently sitting on what feels like a mountain of debt with an unattainable goal to pay it off. This will not be a sprint - it will be a marathon and it will take years. I know in my heart that we CAN do it, it's just a matter of staying "gazelle intense" and committed to the cause. 

The Truth Hurts

I want to start this post by just saying that the truth hurts. My husband and I have been living in denial for at least 5 years about our financial situation and it is worse than I ever imagined it to be. Is it impossible? No. However, I do feel as though it is going to take us so much longer than I ever expected it to.

For the past few days we have been working together to organize our debt so that we can create a budget and get cracking on this beginning in the new year. In doing so, I have learned (and quickly I must add) just how ignorant we were to our spending. For example, in the past month we have spent OVER $180 in Starbucks...no wonder they know me by name...I'm there 3-5 days a week and at $8 a pop - that quickly adds up. I also became aware of just how much credit card debt we have and to be honest, its embarrassing and disgusting. I don't see how we haven't had to file for bankruptcy. I also learned that it's time to start shopping around for new options for things like car insurance, cellphones, utilities, and so forth.

At this time I am just writing everything down on paper with bill name, due date, amount expected to pay or minimum payment, and if it is a debt, the payoff amount. Even though interest rates are important to be aware of I haven't been focusing heavily on these as I plan to use Dave Ramsey's "Debt Snowball" tactic to pay them off.

The Debt Snowball tactic only means that you pay off the smallest dollar amount debt first and pay the minimums on all others. Then once the lowest debt is paid off - you take the amount you were paying on it and apply it to the next smallest debt and so on until you are debt free. Handling your debts this way is supposed to allow for small success and to keep your momentum going - I see a lot of value in attacking our debt this way but I will update you if it does not work for us.

Please stay tuned as my next post will air out all of our debt laundry - I will come clean with how much we make per year, how much we are in debt, and what our plan of attack is. I know in my heart it will be the hardest post I will ever have to write because the truth hurts and I am ashamed to admit to myself just how bad it has gotten. I also know that the first step is admitting we have a problem...and Houston...WE HAVE A PROBLEM!

Welcome!

I would like to welcome you and say thank you for reading my post. I have tossed the idea around for a while about returning to the blogging world but alas, life was just to hectic and I took a few years off from writing.

I recently sat down with my husband to discuss life, where we were and where we wanted to be. Continuously we would both circle back to wanting to control and pay off our debt so we made a deal with each other that we would work together to become debt free. I wanted a way to keep myself accountable and starting a blog is the perfect way for me to do this. I have plans to layout our debt journey here - as embarrassing as it may be - because I know we are not alone. I know there are thousands or millions of others out there who feel suffocated by the weight of their debt.

We have started down this road many times but we are not good at keeping each other accountable, we are both spontaneous spenders, and we like to "keep up with the Joneses" but we have only been hurting ourselves and our children in the process of doing so. I don't know about you but I am tired of living paycheck to paycheck and I want financial freedom. The opportunity to pay cash for a new vehicle, not have to skip a week of groceries because we have to pay bills, travel the world with my children, and to give back to the community as much as possible.

This will certainly be educational for us and I plan to document our failures and successes right here on The Perky Mom. Beginning January 1, 2017 we will be cracking down on expenses and knocking some of this insane debt out - I am both terrified and anxious to see how it goes. I hope you will consider following our journey, I am going to need cheerleaders and motivators to keep me going!