Have you all read Dave Ramsey’s Book, The Total Money Makeover? I did, last year, and I loved it. My husband and I have a significant amount of debt and we really needed to get focused on stopping spending and paying it off as quickly as we could. Dave Ramsey was just the ticket for me to get that focus.
He talks about being “gazelle intense” when it comes to paying off debt- and I am totally into that, my husband is a different story. Being “gazelle intense” means to run away from your debt as alike a gazelle would from a predator. The gazelle doesn’t stop to eat grass or gaze at the view- he just runs until he is safe. If it were just me I could put the blinders on and not stop until we paid off the debt- no fun!! no extras!! (unless it’s free!!). All kidding aside I think it more boils down to the fact I enjoy saving money and I can get a ton of joy out of my free Rite Aid order I bought with Up Rewards. But not everyone is built that way and my hubby is one of those people- he needs to stop and enjoy the view and eat some grass sometimes (so to speak). If he doesn’t it makes it harder for him to stay the course and he can even feel depressed.
So we have to compromise. He is totally willing to be “half gazelle intense” to get rid of that debt and I am fine with that- so the other day we sat down on a cheap date and listed the things we wanted to buy in the sort of near future and later future (some much later that I did not list below). This way we could get some goals down and feel like we are working toward.
The Penner’s Long Term and Short Term Goals
1. Begin a new (used) car fund
2. Buy a freezer (will probably buy on Craigslist)
3. New Kitchen Faucet (might buy on Craigslist)
4. New Stove (will probably buy on Craigslist)
5. New Microwave (will probably buy on Craigslist)
6. Possibly buy a 1/4 side of beef or a whole lamb (have to do more research on the cost effectiveness in my area)
7. Update our two bathrooms (not totally gut)
8. New Carpet (we have not had any carpet for the last 4 years)
The first 6 are not really a big deal, the costs are not terribly high especially since we probably will buy a lot used- even still, we may not even get to all of them until the end of the year because we will be saving cash for them- but we will get there and it is so nice to have goals laid out that help us not to feel stuck (especially for my hubby).
It was a good exercise and I think we both felt refreshed from it- if you happen to be feeling down about saving money I would highly recommend it. And even if you are not down it is great to get those goals in front of you on paper and know what you are working for!!
Please share your goals with all of us, we would love to hear about them!!
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