Striving for Financial Peace

For years, I've been hearing about Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and the Debt Snowball. But nothing ever seems to be offered in our area.

I'm a member of the Family Ministries Team at our church, so I recently got the green light to go ahead and coordinate the FPU class to be offered this summer! Yay!

In preparing to lead a class I've never attended, I've been studying and working out personal budgets. Thankfully, our debt is quite small, other than the $5000 I still owe in student loans and our mortgage. And the refrigerator, which we financed at 0% for 24 months because when we got home from Disney last July, ours had died. I drive a 2001 Chevy Suburban with 221,000 miles on it. Ole Bessie is mostly reliable, but hubby is going to need to do an overhaul soon. But she's paid for. So is hubby's truck. And the kids bought their own vehicles (cash).

In working out my budget, I went through the last 12 months of my checking account statements and came up with this list. I share it here because there are things we often overlook and they catch us by surprise. Or one month the phone bill is paid a week late because we didn't budget for church camp and it's time to send the kid.

Here's the list of where I'm "enveloping" funds:

Mortgage & HELOC
Groceries
Electric
Water/Sewer
Cell Phones
Car Insurance
Student Loan
Life Insurance
Medical/Dental (setting aside for co-pays)
Gasoline
School expenses (field trips, class fees, etc.)
Photography (senior pics, sports pics, family...)
Camps & Athletics (these are my budget busters!)
Property Taxes (paid once a year, but our county bills in December!)
DMV / license renewals
Vacation fund
Personal Care
Entertainment (includes dinners out, vineyard memberships, etc.)
Pool supplies & maintenance
Clothing
Home Maintenance & Decor
Gifts (Christmas, birthdays, secret sisters, graduations, etc.)
Tithes
Mad Money
Savings

I should point out that we don't have credit card debt, but we do use a credit card for day-to-days and pay it in full each month. We also don't have a cable/internet bill - my mother lives with us, and when I decided to trim expenses this was going to be cut and she now pays it because she wants to have it at the house.

This is still quite new to me, so if you notice I've left something off the list that you would budget for, please let me know!

Why Not Live My Dream?

For years, I have dreamed of becoming an Interior Decorator. Back in my early 20's, before the internet, I took a correspondence course and had completed everything but the final payment (I was dirt poor at that time with lots of student loans from college), so I never got the formal "certificate". Twenty years later, after putting my career dream on hold to be a full time Momma, I believe it's time to Live my Dream.

I'm working on a few portfolio projects right now. My kitchen will be gutted this summer, but as I currently work for a cabinet maker & Master Woodworker, he's given me free reign to design what I want with Sketch-Up and we will make it all happen. Goodbye builder-grade oak and laminate countertops with a horrid layout - we're going glazed white French Country with rubbed bronze, a desperately-needed island, and a built-in wine cooler & bar area.

In mid-April, I'm redoing my electrician's kitchen. His wife is a dear friend and also hates her builder-grade Honey Oak cabinets, so we'll be doing a custom glaze job. He doesn't want them painted (and honestly, oak doesn't paint well due to the grain), so we'll be going with what we're calling a "Chocolate Nutmeg" that's warm and glowing.

This weekend is my own Master Bedroom makeover - Sherwin Williams "Smokey Blue" on the walls.

I have done my kids' rooms - I just need my photographer to come get decent shots for the portfolio. In trade, I am doing his Master Bedroom, hopefully in May or June. Scheduling hasn't been easy this spring due to travel volleyball & varsity tennis! But here's a sneak peek that I snapped of the teen boy's room (the logo on the wall is our high school's logo):

And the girls' room:

I hand-painted the flowers to make a border on the chalkboard area.

So I need to gather a few more projects - bathrooms, living areas, and screened porch. Mostly if I clean a couple of those, I'll have them photo-ready. 

My plan is also to offer Home Staging & Seasonal/Holiday decorating services as well. I haven't started a website yet, but I'm leaning more toward a blog. So I haven't ordered business cards yet because I want to put my web info on them. There are business details to work out, but I will get there. The portfolio and the experiences are what I need to do right now, so prayers going up that God will bless me in this endeavor!

Love, 

C