And a couple quotes that I like:
“The trouble with the future is that it usually arrives before we’re ready for it.” -Arnold Glasgow
“If you do not think about your future, you cannot have one.”
-John Galsworthy
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Planning…It’s a State of Mind
No Comments | Tags: financial planning, funny
Instead of just planning, make a plan to give
A few years ago, my husband’s aunt and uncle gave us Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover. They had been in tremendous debt and used his methodology to become completely debt-free.
We took a few key lessons from the book, including how to create a cash flow chart for our family. But something else that stuck with me is Ramsey insists that charitable giving should be a planned expense that cannot be compromised. Of all the things in our budget that would be easiest (and has been easiest) to cut is charitable giving: In theory, it’s totally optional, so if we don’t do it, nobody will know. It’s not like skipping your mortgage payment; nobody puts a notice on your front door when you briskly walk past the Salvation Army Santa at Christmas.
And it’s especially easy not to give when there’s no actual person if front of you, asking for help.
I recently recorded an essay I wrote at the WFDD studio—our local NPR station. It was a fantastic experience (and they just so happened to be airing an interview with SimpliFi co-founder Brian Link at the time) but it really hit home how small an operation local public radio is, and how hard the dedicated few work to produce important programming. Public radio relies on donations to stay afloat. I realized how much I get from WFDD, and how little I give in return.
Certainly this is just one small, but important, example of why charitable giving is important. Friends who have lost children urge me to support the March of Dimes; my mother-in-law, dealing with a recurrence of breast cancer after almost two decades, is raising money for breast cancer research. A friend from high school, recently diagnosed with MS, is walking to support the National MS Society.
Part of why giving can be hard to prioritize is because you just don’t know where to start. My advice? Look around at your friends and family. You’re almost certain to find a cause.
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No Comments | Tags: charitable giving, Credit Card Debt, Erin E., Family, financial planning
Notes From the Trenches: Desperately Seeking Sympathizers
Hi guys! I’m Erin E. and I recently plunged my family into financial ruin.
Okay, so it wasn’t that dramatic. What really happened was I quit my job to stay at home with my 2-year-old son and pursue a master’s degree. My husband and I agree that quitting my job was the best decision for our family, but that also means going from a two-income household to one—and his is a police officer’s salary.
These days, I know there are a lot of you out there just like us—whether by choice or not.
See, even though we’ve effectively halved our monthly income (I’m thinking of taking my act on the road: Watch as I make oodles of money disappear!) my husband and I still have financial goals. We just wanted to keep our goals things like “Vacation” and “Savings” as opposed to “Dodge Creditors” and “Assume New Identities.”
It’s no secret around our house that I’m not…how shall I say it?…adept at crunching numbers. In fact, I tend to puree them. When my friends at SimpliFi heard about our new situation, they thought this program might work for us. I hope it does, since one of our new goals is “Avoid Debtors’ Prison.” They still have those, right? Never mind. I don’t want to know.
I also write over at The Fierce Beagle (click here to go check it out), but I’ll be chronicling our new journey on this blog as well. I hope you’ll join me—and don’t forget to leave comments! I love hearing from my online friends because [cue sentimental music] one thing I’ve learned since starting my personal blog nearly two years ago is that there’s a community of people out there, ready and willing to support each other.
Aside from leaving comments (I’m not trying to be pushy, but LEAVE COMMENTS, ahem), you can also contact me through Fierce Beagle or at ErinE@simplifi.net. I’m no expert, for sure, but I’m great at commiserating. And subsisting on rice and beans. Just kidding!…I hope.
Talk soon!
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No Comments | Tags: budgeting, Erin E., Family, Financial goals, financial planning
