My Total Money Makeover Journey: Introduction

I debated whether to publish this post.  Normally I share great deals, coupons, freebies, and lately I've been sharing more tips you can implement into your life to help make permanent changes.  But, I've been feeling a little hypocritical lately and need to share a bit about myself and the struggles we face – as well as how we are working to overcome this issues. Over the next few months, I will be sharing information about the system I'm using, my personal experience and opinions, as well as encouragement to help you live a greener life!

I'm great at finding deals and ways to save money, but I'm also great at finding ways to spend everything that I've saved.  A budget to me has always just been a list of the bills I have to pay so I know how much money I have left to spend. My savings account jumps up and down drastically, because I've never used it to save – just as a place to toss money until I'm ready to spend it.

Less than 6 months after we got married, I was put on bed rest for over half my entire pregnancy with our first child. My plan of working until I had him and saving every penny I could went up in smoke. For the next three years, my husband worked 2 or 3 jobs at all times while I stayed home with our sons. When we'd overspend, we'd put it on a credit card or take out a payday loan. Eventually, he got a great paying job (that keeps him away from home for 6-8 weeks at a time) and we finally had enough money to pay all our bills in one month without borrowing from anywhere. On paper, we could even afford to start paying back our debt! But, like many people that have dealt with financial difficulty, I had gone crazy when we finally starting having “extra” money. Instead of saving it or putting every extra penny I could toward old bills, I only paid our month-to-month stuff and acted as if I had to SPEND every penny every week!

Things finally came to a head recently when Hubby said he wanted to get a new truck. I've been panicking as our debt slowly rises and when I saw how much money we made last year, my first thought was “Where did it go?”  His idea of getting a loan for a truck was enough to send me into full-blown freakout mode! The idea of adding anything else to our growing debt pile was enough to start a nice fight over every financial issue we've had since we met (don't you love how a fight snowballs out of control until you've voiced every single anxiety causing issue you didn't even though was bugging you?) and make me be very honest about how I'm feeling about money.

I knew I need to make some changes, but how no idea how to start.  Then, I saw a fellow blogger mention Dave Ramsey's FPU (Financial Peace University) and how it had changed her life.  I'm very skeptical of “Get-rich quick” schemes so I immediately ignored it.  The next time I saw something, it gave a little more detail and I realized this isn't a way to get rich quick but a way to change how you are living and give you the tools to build wealth.

Instead of attending the FPU classes, I decided to order one of their bundles to get me started.  I went with the All-in-One Value Pack for $99 and used coupon code: SHIP888 for free shipping. You can use more than 1 code, so if you order anything make sure you use the following:

• SHIP888 for free shipping
• MORE for a free copy of More Than Enough
• NOEL2011 for a free DVD

From MyTotalMoneyMakeover.com

I've been working the program for 2 weeks now and am SOOO proud of myself.  I haven't gone over budget for any of my categories, budgeted to go to the movies, and paid down a little of my debt.  So far, my favorite part of the program is the online budget software and tips!

Since I'm totally in love with this program, I might be bugging the people I know a little…okay a ton 🙂  It appears to be paying off though! My friend Stacy over at Adventures in Coupons signed up for 30 days access right away and she's willing to share her progress too.  Its amazing what she's been able to do in such a short time, especially as a single mom!