Getting Unstuck - follow-up

One of the great benefits of blogging is that it's somewhat therapeutic - blogging is very related to journaling in the sense that you're getting your thoughts down in writing, giving you more clarity on what you need and desire.


A few posts ago, I blogged about feeling stuck personally and financially and the steps I was preparing to take to get unstuck. Here's a brief update on where I'm at:

1. Emotionally and mentally I feel much better than last week. I have accepted that our current situation is just a season of our lives that will pass, probably in 2-3 months. My brain is now focusing on solutions not my family's problems! That's a huge step.
2. I purchased the 4 books I mentioned in that previous post. Already halfway through the 4-Hour Workweek - great book; I highly recommend it.
3. I sat down with my wife and we went over the June budget together. That went well, and I also shared with her my little needs/goals picture chart. So far, so good.
4. One of our big needs is tires for my Jeep. I placed an order for those and they should be installed at the end of the week.
5. My oldest daughter's behavior is improving as a result of 3-4 weeks of counseling, so things are being to look up for the Jones' family.

Just remember, action is the key to getting yourself unstuck. Small goals with identifiable action steps will begin to clear the logjam from your life.

Getting Unstuck - needs and goals

In yesterday's blog post, I mentioned that today I was going to post a listing of our current needs and goals list that we're working on for the remainder of 2008. OK, so here we go!




CURRENT NEEDS

1. New set of tires for my 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee - approx. $600-700
2. New headliner for my Jeep interior - approx. $200-300
3. I need an eye exam and new glasses - $200-300

GOALS AND WANTS

1. 3-month Emergency Fund: $12,000
2. Dave Ramsey Financial counseling training: $4,000+
3. 10-year wedding anniversary trip: $2,500 (est.)
4. Ball and hitch install on our 1998 Honda Odyssey: approx. $280
5. Used Pop-up Camper $2,000 - 3,500

The current needs that we have should be relatively easy to take care of over the next couple of months. The goals and wants may take us a little longer than I like, but we'll just enjoy the journey as we go through the process!

Getting unstuck - creating forward momentum

In a couple of previous posts, I expressed a few of my current financial frustrations. I have felt "stuck" financially, especially after a devastating tax season, not receiving my stimulus check yet, and unexpected emergency-type expenses. Now that my family is debt free, I feel like I'm having a "wilderness" type experience; a time of testing to see if the Jones family is really committed to being debt free and building wealth over the long haul. I find myself wavering, beating my head against the wall trying to get the financial log jam broken so we can move forward in our family's finances.

I have faith and belief that we will move out of our current financial state soon, but I'm doing some things right now to hopefully get momentum moving along faster. Here's what we're doing:

1. My wife felt that she needed to go back to work part-time to help pay for some of our current unexpected expenses. She started that job about a week and a half ago.
2. Yesterday, I ordered 4 books from Amazon.com that I really want to read some books to help get me "unstuck," mentally. The books I ordered were: The 4-Hour Workweek, Get Unstuck! The Simple Guide to Restart Your Life, Seven Practices of Effective Ministry, and Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Sales Force.
3. Over the last 2 days, I have been putting together a picture needs and goals chart; I'm trying to get clear in my mind what our financial priorities are for the remainder of 2008.
4. Since it's the end of the month, I will be working on our June budget. I plan on having my wife work with me on seeing what we can trim out of our budget, and I plan to share with her my needs/goals picture chart. I'd like to post multiple copies of this around the house as reminders to us on what we want to accomplish right now.

Tomorrow, I'll post the list of these picture needs and goals that we will be working toward through the rest of 2008.

The effect of money challenges on the family

Over the last three years, our family has accomplished amazing goals in the area of personal finances:

1. Sold our house at a good price before the housing dip. This enabled us to pay off almost half of our debt right off the bat!


2. Over the next 18 months, we were able to pay off the remaining debt. We became completely debt free on June 15, 2007!


3. My side business (music arranging/typesetting) had its best year ever in 2007. This enabled us to quickly pay off our remaining debt and start saving a larger emergency fund.


4. Paid a large chunk of taxes in April 2008 - fortunately we were able to cash flow this through our larger emergency fund. This completely cleaned us out, though, financially!

Even though we have accomplished these amazing goals, I have found myself completely and utterly frustrated with our financially situation. I know I should feel blessed and excited about the future, but with inflation occurring in food, gas prices, and the overall rise in the cost of goods and services, our dollars are not stretching as far as they did 2-3 years ago! I feel stuck on moving forward with our financial goals when the money coming in is not going as far as it once did.

OK, so with all of these frustrations weighing on me on a regular basis, little disagreements on spending between my wife and I have been occurring more and more frequently over the last several months. Unfortunately, these disagreements are happening in front of our children.

Over the last two years, my wife and I have seen disturbing behavior problems in our oldest daughter. These behavior problems have escalated to the point that we have sought family counseling to intervene in our situation. I know that I'm personally responsible for my daughter's issues right now, especially in my possibly obsessive compulsive patterns regarding our finances. I believe the more I can relax in these areas of personal finances, I will communicate a more relaxed household.

I'll be working on this area of my life for the next several days, weeks, and months to come!

Financial Peace University Update (Session 2)

On Sunday afternoon, we had our second session of Financial Peace University. We had another great day with beautiful weather and good attendance.


The second session/DVD viewing is titled "Relating With Money - Nerds and Free Spirits Unite."



Here's what Dave Ramsey's organization has to say about this second session of FPU:



The importance of working together in relationships and how we handle money is the key to this lesson. Men and women think very differently about money. The "nerd" and the "free spirit" must learn how to work together. Write your budget down, iron out the wrinkles, budget together (with your spouse or with someone who will hold you accountable), and set boundaries. The most common pitfall people face is trying to get out of debt without doing a budget. Always discuss changes with your spouse in a "budget committee meeting."


Another key component to this lesson was a discussion of how to educate your children in dealing with finances. Dave Ramsey's company has a number of resources to help educate your children about money, including his Financial Peace, Jr. kit for kids (which includes a chore/commission chart and Give, Save, and Spend envelopes) and his Junior book series. My wife and I purchased all of these items, and they have been helpful in imparting financial wisdom to our daughters.

Larry