Are you prepared??

Every where you turn people are losing their jobs. Things are not like they were 10 years ago with gas prices and jobs being outsourced. People are losing homes, cars and everything they’ve worked so hard for.

There have been some circumstances in my life lately that’s got me thinking –  “Are we prepared?” If one of us were without a job, or God forbid both, would we be able to keep up with the lifestyle we are so accustomed to?  We don’t live a lavish lifestyle at all we do have times where we are living paycheck to paycheck. Which is why it got me thinking, what would we do??!

My Dad is a financial genius. I’m not just saying that because he’s my Dad, but he’s one smart cookie. He married my Mom at a very young age  straight out of high school and has worked hard not only at his job, but at making sure he was always able to take care of his family. .. and one big way he did that was learning how to save and also to live within his means. When I started asking him how we should get started, he recommended a book called “The Total Money Makeover” by Dave Ramsey.   So I decided to check it out.

I looked into this Dave Ramsey guy, and he seems to know his stuff. The first thing he says and we should all remember this is that , It will be hard work, but it will be worth it! 

 On Dave’s site  he has an awesome on-line ‘how to’  guide to financial freedom.  He actually gives you the first 7 days free, so you can give it a try. He talks about debt snowballing, paying yourself first, and quite a few other tips. He also gives you free access to these great budgeting forms.

I’ve started my free trial, and I’ve also started the 1st Step: $1,000 Emergency Fund. I’m not sure how long it will take us to get here, I will have to keep you updated. But I am determined that we are going to do it! 

The next step will be working on paying off our debt – which I know between my student loans and his medical bills it’s going to prove quite challenging.
I’m working on a budget for our household, and I’m a little stumped.  How do you get the best bang for your buck?

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