New Job...WooHoo!

Having been laid off 7 weeks ago I have finally accepted a new job offer!!!  

All I can say is Thank God!

I interviewed for 5 different positions, but there was one position that I really wanted the most and that is the one that came through.  I am so excited for this new adventure and cannot wait to get started.

My first trip will have me off to Las Vegas in a couple of weeks and will get to reconnect with a few other industry professionals I have worked with over the years.

God has been so good to us and has sustained us throughout this time of much less income; and we are so thankful to be on the other side and ready to get back to work!

31 Days Ago

Exactly 31 days ago I was laid off from my job and I never dreamed it would take me this long to find a new one.  The waiting, not knowing, waiting, feeling let down, waiting, feeling powerless, waiting, feeling unsettled and more waiting has been a challenge to say the least.

For the last 10 years I have been a real estate software system administrator, but throughout the last month I have often wondered if I should just go out and get any job I can find locally (Staples, any office job, etc) just to have some income.  While the logical part of my brain says "Yes, we need some money!", I feel like the voice deep down inside is saying to just hold on and the right job will manifest very soon. 

I have applied for 5 positions, had multiple first calls and 3 phone interviews so far with another scheduled tomorrow.  I am hopeful that at least one of these will work out; however, it would be nice to have more than one offer to choose from.

One thing all of this time has allowed me to do it get back to writing blog posts; in the beginning I was pretty down and just tried to stay busy as to not think about my current situation...and frankly, I just had a mental block from all of the stress and uncertainty.  However, once all of the busyness came to an end I have found the writing to come more easily than it ever could have in those first couple of weeks.

In addition to writing I've been able to do the following:

1. Clear out a bit of clutter from our home...not near as much as I should have, but definitely more than I had cleared out previously  
2. Knit adorable baby bibs for 2 friends who have recently had little girls :)  
3. Get into a routine of exercising each morning and getting up early, which I never did even before the job loss
4. Work more on tweaking our budget
5. Take a webinar about becoming a financial coach...I definitely want to get into that one day!
6. Reconnect with family and friends  
7. Think and dream about our future
8. Reconnect with myself and my passions

A friend shared this on Facebook yesterday and it seemed perfect for the season of life I am going through right now.  It's such an awesome reminder that God is there and that He will never leave us regardless of how hopeless we may feel sometimes.

Meraki (n.): The soul, creativity, or love put into something; the essence of yourself that is put into your work.

I'm thankful to have had this time to regain my meraki and reconnect with myself and the things I am passionate about. Until then sweet friends, may you live your life with passion, creativity and love :)

Debt Pay-Off Totals and Some Perspective

Bonjour and welcome!

Today I want to talk about debt pay-off totals...yay, right?!?  No really, it is a happy topic :)

My husband and I have been really hard core budgeting for 2 years (next month) and during that time we have had times of physical injuries, job changes, job loss, unexpected expenses and also times of amazing blessings.  A couple weeks ago I was feeling a little blah about our debt pay-off and wanted to know exactly how much we had paid off during these last 2 years.  Sometimes it is easy to just look at the task ahead (ie. debt pay-off) and feel like you are trudging through with no end in sight.  It is in those time where I find it helpful to get a little perspective and look back at the accomplishments to see just how far we have come.  So, drum-roll please.....

Total Debt by Year
2016 - 49,716
2017 - 36,844
2018 - 30,684 (as of the end of May)

Total Debt Pay-Off by Year
2017 - 12,872
2018 - 6,160 (as of the end of May)

This means that even with all of the struggles and things we have gone through we are $19,032 less in debt than we were 2 years ago!  WooHoo!!!

Our goal it to be completely out of debt by June of next year and I believe we can do it!  I know that is a big goal, but we serve a big God and He wants us out of debt as much as we want to be out of debt.  We are on our path to financial freedom and nothing can stop us; we may experience bumps in the road, but we will not stop until we achieve our financial independence.

How is your debt pay-off coming along?  If you have not yet started your journey, please join us, we would love to have you along!  If you have never done a budget and do not even know where to start, check out my last blog post and give my budget template a go.  What kind of life could you live without any debt?

Until next time, have a meraki day!

Who Has Time For a Monthly Budget? Not Many Apparently :(

Yesterday I posted a question on Facebook asking who used a monthly budget and if not, why? 
Of my 565 friends only 5 responded...seriously, only 5!  That's less than 100th of a percent!
Here are the 5 replies I received:

1. I tried. I do somewhat. Fear of seeing how much I owe, how little I have.
2. Always have and always will!
3. I know my fixed expenses very well but sitting down and actually keeping up with a monthly budget was just too time-consuming for me
4. I do a yearly budget, it’s easier to keep up with and gives a good overview of your finances.
5. I don’t; Like to be depressed and they way we spend money would depress anyone. 

Of these answers, numbers 1 and 5 were from men and the rest were from women.  The last one almost seems happy and impressed that he does not budget; I happen to know this person and he is married with 2 small children...to me, there is nothing impressive about not knowing where your money is going.

Four weeks ago today I was laid off from my job and the day before we had to spend our entire emergency fund on repairing our a/c due to 90 degree temperatures.  We have been faithful monthly budgeters for the last 2 years and because of that practice I knew exactly what money we had coming in and going out.  This has allowed us to be ok while I am looking for the right job for this new season of life.

Debt.com shows the following Personal Finance Statistics:

How many Americans actually keep a formal budget?

A Gallup poll found only about 1/3 of Americans (32%) maintain a household budget

• Only 30% of Americans have a long-term financial plan that includes savings and investment goals
• You’re mostly likely to budget if you make at least $75,000 per year

Treading financial water

A 2017 report in MarketWatch found that half of American households currently live paycheck to paycheck

• 19% have $0 saved to cover an emergency expenses; 31% have less than $500 in emergency savings
• Not surprisingly, about 49% of Americans are “concerned, anxious or fearful about their current financial well-being”
• Interestingly enough, low income is not always to blame for financial hardship. Only 1 in 5 people (20%) facing financial hardship fall below the poverty line and make less than $40,000 per year

However, a separate 2017 survey by Career Builder found more than three-fourths of U.S. workers they surveyed struggled to make ends meet.

Wow!  Based on these statistics low income does not seem to be the issue, it appears to be more an issue of debt and lack if intentionality regarding money than anything else.

My husband and I follow the Dave Ramsey Debt Snowball plan so we have been actively paying down our debt, had our starter emergency fund ($1000) in place and had structured our income vs. payout so we had a cushion of about 4 weeks.  The steps we have been following for the last 2 years have really been a lifesaver during this unexpected change in our lives.

If you have never done a budget before or are struggling to find one that works for you and can be customized to your specific needs, feel free to try out my Google Sheet budget.  It's pretty simple and allows you to have fixed expenses, monthly and weekly expenses if needed.  It also allows for individual paycheck entry for a 2 income household. 

Once you do your first budget just copy that tab for the next month and make any necessary tweaks such as a difference in your electric or a bill that only hits ever 2 months (like our water bill).  There are also tabs where you can keep up with your current debt balances so you always know exactly what you owe and track your annual expenses such as memberships or vehicle registration renewals. This tab has really come in handy to remind me to budget those items once I get to that specific month or even a month ahead depending on the amount needed.

If budgeting has intimidated you in the past maybe give my Google Sheet a try and see if it helps break things down to allow you to stay on track.  If you try it please let me know how it works for you! 

Happy Budgeting!!!

One Debt, Two Debt, Three Debt, Four...Kick That Debt Right Out the Door!

Debt...such a dirty word, isn't it?  It seriously makes me cringe when I think about my own debt and makes me feel sorry for anyone else I hear about that is currently in its death grip.

Proverbs 22:7 says "The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower becomes a slave to the lender."

Holy cannoli, how true this is!  Think about it:  a slave is forced to do things they don't want to do or suffer great consequences.  When we have debt we are forced to part with our hard earned money to pay said debt; if we do not pay it we become subject to all kinds of very unpleasant consequences, repossession and foreclosure just to name a couple...very bad consequences, indeed.

My husband and I are currently in debt, and while we are not in any way happy about it, we are actively kicking it to the curb one payment at a time.  We ended 2015 with minimal debt, but on December 28th my husband (then fiance) dislocated his knee during a holiday vacation.  This injury has cost us about $2500, not including the co-pays for each doctor and physical therapy visit.  On top of that, my husband was out of work for 6 months, so to say our financial situation hit an all-time low is a huge understatement.

I had been "kind of" budgeting for a while, but it was more along the lines of just tracking my expenses after the fact and not actually making a budget plan and sticking to it each month.  Well, all of that changed in July; having had only 1 income for 6 months, huge medial bills, having used all of our savings and continued use of credit just to keep all the bills paid, I knew things had to change.

Captain Budget to the rescue!!!  I made our first really bonafide budget on 7/12/2016 and have not looked back since!  We have been able to consolidate several things as well as pay off a couple of debts and make dents in all of the others.  It is such a relief to know that everything can be paid each month along with planning for some things that we want to do like family outings, dinners out, giving and such.  We have been using the cash envelope system, and that has been working well since we were completely reliant on debit and credit cards prior to this change.

While I am not thankful for the injury to my husband's knee, but I am thankful that we were able to learn from that situation the importance of becoming debt free.  There is definitely no teacher like experience, and we gained a huge wealth of knowledge in how we don't want to live and what it will take to dig out of the hole we found ourselves in.

Are you overwhelmed and don't know where to begin?  If so, begin with a monthly budget; the first couple will have their challenges, but the more of them you do the easier they will get.  Dave Ramsey suggests using Every Dollar - a free online budgeting tool.  I just use a homemade budget in Google Sheets so I can share it with my husband and we can pull it up on any device, but Every Dollar is a great way to begin.  Whatever method you choose, you can do it!

Are you already on your debt free journey?  Congratulations!!!  We will cheer along with you while striving toward our own debt free life :)  It's so important to feel the encouragement of others when you are fighting a battle, so we are fighting with you!

Behold the Power of Positivity and Change

Let's be honest, being positive in the world we currently live in can be downright hard; but that's why it is such an important part of the strategy to reach our goals.  To me, being able to remain positive in the face of adversity echos a sense of faith, being able to see the end goal versus the current situation and be happy about it.  Don't get me wrong, being positive is about as easy as putting on Spanx by yourself, but if you can remain focused on your goal and allow that to shine through the results will amaze you.

While trolling through Facebook this morning I came upon this image that really put some things into perspective for me.  Not too many years ago, my habits more closely resembled the characteristics on the right; and just like it says, I was broke.  Over the last few years my habits have changed, not overnight and in some ways very subtly, but today I can say that they more closely identify with the characteristics on the left.  Does this mean I am a millionaire?  Not yet, but I'm working on it!

I John 4:18 says "perfect love expels all fear".  The characteristics on the right tend to all come from a place of fear, and when you are in fear you are not in faith.  The characteristics on the left all come from a place of faith; ideas and actions that may not have any immediate result, but are seeds for the future.  

See, sometimes you can actually receive encouragement and inspiration from Facebook :)  Until next time, if you are drowning in debt and praying for change, try changing one small habit to see what impact it will have on your future.  Zechariah 4:10 says "Do not despise these humble beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin."  God is faithful and He rewards those who have enough faith to step out and make a positive change.

Happy Friday everyone!!!

Our Meraki Life

Hi Friends!!!  Welcome to our blog :)

So I know what you are thinking...why Meraki?  What in the world does that even mean?

μεράκι (meraki): the word entered the Greek language from Turkish, but its meaning has evolved in Greek into a very complex concept of good taste, hard work and positive attitude towards hard labour. We say that someone has meraki when that person is good at their job, when they do it dutifully and with great attention to detail no matter how hard it might be, without complaining, but rather enjoying and taking pride in it. It can also be used in the sense of yearning. 

 I suppose the closest word we have in the English language would be passion, but to me the meaning of Meraki evokes even more than that.  It is a combination of passion, diligence, excellence and fun; and that is what I want for my life.  How about you?

This reminds me of I Corinthians 10:31:  "So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."  This means giving my all to everything that I do in life and doing all things to best of my ability with job...this, my friends is how I want to live!

So, welcome aboard as we do life...Meraki style!!!