Finances

One of my friends is doing a journal blog and she's on # 64 which is:

Tell of some financial struggles you have had in your life.
I thought it might be fun to do sinc I've been wanting to journal more.

I've never been too concerned with finances. I knew my parents weren't rich but we always had everything we needed and if I wanted something extra I knew what time of the month to ask for it. (My Mom always got paid on the first.) I started working as a lifeguard as soon as I turned 16 for $5/ hour which was above minimum wage at the time. I always had enough to buy what I needed. I had scholarships to school and lifeguarded through to may my extra expenses. The last 2 years of grad school I got student loans that I didn't really consider "real" money. They didn't feel real- still don't but they will all be paid off in 3 months.

Since marrying, our budget has been really tight but we've had some great blessings and living with Grandma for a 2 years really helped. I guess one of the times that probably would be considered a financial struggle would be our time in Minnesota. It was hard to find a job there and the jobs I did find didn't pay very well. We started praying and offering service to those in our ward and we quadrupled our fast offerings and we were able to find some good fits. We were on WIC for a few months and our ward gave us a $50 gift certificate for Christmas which kind of shocked us because we considered ourselves to be doing just fine.

Then we bought a house which looking back on it was too expensive for our income and Adam lost his job. I went back to work but it was a rough time emotionally and financially. We started listening to Dave Ramsey and it occurred to us that our student loan debt really was debt. We started looking for a 12-week position in Hawaii or Alaska but those didn't work out. A Virginia opportunity opened up and a chance to get out of debt. Since coming here money has been very tight but it's been of our own making because we are refusing to take out new loans for Adam's school and determined to pay off the ones we've already got. Our goal is to get completely out of debt and save up a 6- month emergency fund and then start investing! Hopefully we'll be there by the time Lilly is 2.

We've focused more on finances and money in the last 2 years than we ever have before. It's hard to know if we are thinking too much about money or not enough. I know the love of riches is a sin but i think our Heavenly Father wants us to manage our money wisely so we can give and get to a position where I might stay home more with the kids. I don't like thinking about money most of the time. Adam is the detailed one and I usually get grumpy if we talk budget too much, but I do enjoy looking at the progress we've made. We have 0 credit cards and have paid off a small loan attatched to the house, our cars are paid off and we are making good progress towards our student loans. That part is rewarding. As Dave says, we are trying to "live like noone else so that later we can live like noone else."