Thank God Friday!

We've all heard of the saying TGIF, which, of course, means Thank God It's Friday.  But, I would like to make it a habit on Fiscal Misfits to make it Thank God Friday!  In other words Friday is the day that I will Thank God for his many blessings on our journey to becoming debt-free.  It's a reminder to me (and to my readers) that apart from God this journey is not only hopeless it's also in vain. 

Since this is my blog and I have total control (MUAHAHAHAHAHA!) I reserve the right to thank God for whatever I want, even if it's not directly connected to my Fiscal Misfit Recovery. 

I'm wondering if it's legit to have an evil sinister laugh inserted into the middle of a sentence about thanking God.  Which also makes me wonder if it's legit to say that "I have total control" when in reality I believe in the sovereignty of God.  But, since this isn't a blog about theology we'll get back to the reason we're here... gratitude!

* Hotsauce and I are still talking to each other!  We even like each other a little bit more since we started our Total Money Makeover 4 weeks and 1 day ago!  God is continuing to shape us into the people that He would have us be and teaching us new ways to communicate to one another.  We are not only making choices on how to be more wise with our money - we are learning the ways that our Fiscal Misfit tendencies effect us as individuals and how the other can rightly respond to the other's needs and fears.

 * I'm very thankful for the way that God is teaching us how to manage the money that He has given us. Last night we paid our property taxes for half the year.  That's a $699 check, paid in full for the first time ever!  No late fees. No penalties.  No way!!!  Hotsauce dropped the check in the mail and there was a glorious high five that followed!

* God has given us a real freedom to be honest about the journey that He has given us.  The freedom that we have to share with others has not been the "shameful" thing that we had feared it might be.  Instead we are finding that our openness and honesty is inspiring others.  It's building relationships with people we've known for years as well with acquaintances.  God has blessed us richly through the ability to share our experiences with others who are struggling in the area of finances.  It's truly humbling.

* I'm also thankful that God strengthens my heart when I'm weak and when I would love to fall back into areas of temptation!  For instance, Hotsauce got paid yesterday and I would have done anything to go out to eat... specifically at HuHots.  It was a long day and I hadn't planned anything for supper.  It was getting late and I was on the verge of whining to my hubs.  In the past I would have and he would've felt bad telling me no because he knew it was hard and busy day for me.  At the very least I would have gotten a pizza out of the deal.  But, I looked around and saw a big 5 gallon bucket of potatoes that God provided (through a great trade that I made with a friend) and I knew that I wouldn't whine.  Children whine.  Adults delay satisfaction and practice discipline!  Ugh.  I hate being an adult sometimes!  Besides I knew I'd have to admit it to the rest of you and I don't like the thought of that one bit! 

*Finally I'm glad that God saw it fit for me to be an American.  To live in the land of the free and the home of the brave where Hotsauce and I have the opportunity to change things around!  It's such a blessing to have the opportunity to strive for the "American Dream"... the one that says if a man works hard, manages his money well, cares for his family and seeks God that there's nothing he can't achieve. 

**Update**

 

After finishing budget number cinco, cinco, seis we had planned on having $315.66 in our Emergency Fund.  

Hotsauce and I just finished paying our bills for the month.  We are breathing a huge sigh of relief knowing that we are all caught up and that the weight of those property taxes are off our shoulders!

Anything leftover goes into the Emergency Fund. 

Guess how much is leftover??

More than $315.66!  Actually, more than double that!

We're at $634 in our Emergency Fund!  That's 634 reasons to thank God!  That's 634 reasons to have Hotsauce do his super embarrassing imaginary ballerina style happy dance! :)

So what are you thankful for on this Thank God Friday? 

Just the Beginning!

Are you tired of hearing about this yet?? Well, then it's time for you to move to another blog, because this is all apart of The Chronicle of the  Fiscal Misfit and our journey to financial freedom!  You know, if you would just read "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey already, then you might share in my excitement and be able to start your own blog! ;)

Dave (yes, we're on a first name basis) outlines in his book 7 Baby Steps. The first one is to have a $1,000 in an emergency fund. I was telling a friend this the other day and she exclaimed, "THAT'S A BABY STEP??" I completely understand.

So how do you get $1,000 in your emergency fund? Well, you can either bring in more income, save it by cutting out extras, or by selling things you already have. Well, I mentioned that Hotsauce and I are praying about one of us getting a part-time job... but in the meantime we are digging through our stuff and looking for things that we can sell. Dave says that you should sell so much stuff that your kids start to wonder if they're next! Now, there's a good idea!

Any idea what this is? That's 3 20 dollar bills and 3 5 dollar bills. 20+20+20+5+5+5= Just the beginning. We sold an old laptop that's been laying around collecting dust. It needed a new motherboard and we had already "had it fixed" twice. So when I came across a guy on Facebook who said that he bought broken laptops I thought, we have one of those! And I sold it. And it felt great. Now, maybe we could have gotten more for it and you're going to try to burst my bubble and say that you know a guy that would have given me twice that much. Well, maybe so!  But, here's the thing. We stopped talking about starting the TMM and we have begun our fund.

Now, $75 isn't exactly a fortune. But, it's preparing me for letting go of things that I really want to hold onto. I want to get start pushing the snowball and not running from it! So this is our first success and we will celebrate it!... and not by going to HuHots (Oh, how I love you!) and wasting it!


Here's another look at our new beginning!!

And with a Sepia tone!

Actually we're celebrating by watching the Financial Peace University DVDs that a friend lent to us for the long Labor Day weekend! And you know how the rest of you are enjoying a 3 day weekend? Well, Hotsauce worked today... yep, OVERTIME BABY! :) Normally I would be whining and crying and kicking and screaming because he had to work and I wanted him to be home with me. But, now I realize it for the gift that it is... another blessing from God that is going to push that snowball! So that money will make it's way into the emergency fund too. I can almost hear Davey (yes, he likes that nickname, but only when I say it) cheering us on!

I'm also excited that some friends are asking about reading the TMM or asking if I know where they can the FPU class. Well, let me say, I've got the wheels turning on that class thing...

Stay tuned for many more success stories coming your way!

A Call For Future Generations

Perhaps you remember seeing these faces before...



Chubba, Bean, Mo-Mo, Saucypants and Lumpy

Or really their faces usually look a little bit more like this:

Oh, these Turkey Bottoms keep a mama on her feet I tell ya! I could post far more "silly" pictures than I could ever come up with pictures of all five of them looking at the camera, smiling without cheesing, all eyes opened and no one crying. You'd think it was torture?! Speaking of torture (and trying to get back on subject) you know what I am really very fearful of? I'm fearful that my bad habits will pass from me to these adorable Turkey Bottoms. It's one of the reasons that I keep running even though I hate it... because when I come home from a run every.single.one.of.them will ask me how far I ran and if I ran fast. I want them to be healthy and I feel it's important to model that for them... and if I end up looking like a model in the process, well then woot woot Fiscal Misfit Mama! ;)

I believe that God has called us to run another race that will require more perseverance and more mental strength then a 5k or even a marathon will ever require of us. It's the race to get out of debt. It's the race to redeem the time and blaze a trail for our Turkeys that will teach them that God has a plan for all parts of our lives, including our checkbooks. I also believe that the way a person chooses to spend (or not spend) their money reveals the state of their heart. For instance, if I make a choice to go to McDonald's or even HuHots (Oh,how I love you) instead of paying off debt I have made a choice that reflects what's important in my heart...

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. Romans 13:8

I want my children to know that God intends for us to be free of debt. That we don't have to live a life of slavery to our debtors. And even more than that we want to use money to bless others. We want to be able to give to those in need, we want to support our church in ways that we can't with debt, we want to be prepared for emergencies, invested in our future and we want to have lots and lots and lots of fun and do things that we currently can't do!

I'm sure we all know that statistically the number one thing that married couples fight over is money and finances. It's also one of the major contributors to people getting a divorce. And while divorce is NOT AN OPTION (Hotsauce is stuck with me and I with him) we have had a minor tiff once or twice about money. ;) Actually this isn't something that we fight with each other over much, but there is stress because of it and there is definitely a weight that Hotsauce carries because of it. Imagine a home free of financial stress? Imagine a lighter Hotsauce! Whew-wee that would be a great environment to raise kiddos in!! And so we strive in our Total Money Makeover not just for our own freedom, but to pass this legacy on to future generations of Turkey Bottoms.