One Family's Journey to Debt-Free Living
In the last blog post, we discussed the reasons you should have a pantry. I think we made a rather compelling argument for the importance of having a “deep pantry” (food that is set back in case of an emergency), so in this post we will discuss the 11 ways to go about setting up a deep pantry for your household.
Continue reading “How to set up a pantry”I started writing this blog post way before covid19 became a household word. Why did I start writing it? Because this is a subject near and dear to my heart. I truly believe that having what we call a “deep pantry” is one of the things that helped us win with money. Just like having an emergency fund set aside in case of a true need, a pantry helps provide stability and peace of mind in case of an emergency.
First, let me start out by listing the top 10 reasons we believe that having a pantry is so darn important.
Continue reading “10 Reasons You Need to Set-up a Pantry”
Of our many mistakes with money, one that is particularly ironic has to do with housing. The irony is due to the fact that our mortgages have been, by far, our largest debts in our lifetime. Yet, by having had so many of them — each with a break in between — we’ve been temporarily debt free several times.
By the time we had been married for 20 years, we had purchased our fourth house with our fourth 30 year mortgage. It’s not like we’ve ever had to move due to some compelling outside reason like a job transfer or being closer to an ailing loved one. In fact, none of our homes has ever been outside a ten-mile radius from our first. Each time, we had different reasons that prompted us to leave. They were generally the wrong reasons and, being honest with ourselves, they generally shared a common theme.
Continue reading “Home Again, Home Again (and Again, and Again)”
In a previous post, I ranted about how all the money ran through our hands with nothing to really show for it. Our lives finally began to change when we ran across Dave Ramsey, read his book, took a financial peace class, listened to his radio show, and started working the modified baby steps.
What helped us most from all that we learned was the zero-based budget. It is so simple. You take what you bring home each month, assign a job to every cent and stick to your budget. It is amazing how, when you take the time tell your money what to do, it doesn’t just disappear. Gaining control over your money gives you confidence and control; when you want to win with money, control is a very important piece of the puzzle.