Check Your Impulse!

Well I'm back, I had some personal things happen and had to get those taken care of, and I've been working on a project with the help and advice of a couple of friends. A shout out to Debt Free Mormon and Cowboy!

This week I'm going to talk about Impulse buying! We've all  gone into the store to buy a jug of milk or pay for gas and come out with multiple items because the price was good or you were going to die if you didn't have that soda pop or candy bar. I will freely admit that I WAS one of those people.

I work in the oilfield, and every morning I gas at the same gas station, as I'm gassing I watch the same people day in and day out come out with at least a bag of food, sometimes two. I'm guessing they are at least spending $10.00 a day. $50.00 a week and well $200.00 a month. To me that's a lot of money I can do other things within my budget. (I can accelerate another bill pay off!)

Don't get me wrong, it's not wrong to go buy a soda pop every now and then. That's why we pay ourselves with the pay yourself fund. You can do whatever you want with your allotted money. (Just remember I don't condone anything illegal.)

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I know a person who see's something on sale and thinks that it means BUY ME, it doesn't matter if it fits or not, even if it's a food product it can actually be expired, this person buys it. This is also called impulse buying and it can lead to debt if not done with extreme caution. Just so you know just because it's on sale does not mean you have to buy it.

I have a good friend who I've known for years and love like a brother (I have quite a few of friends like that, I hope that's a good thing.) He called one day and said "Lets go to lunch!" I said "OK" Well this friend knows I operate on a budget to become debt free. So we met at a local fast food joint, he ordered, I did not, we sat down, he started eating his food he ordered and I broke out my awesome Peanut Butter and Red Plum Jelly Sandwich. He just laughed (I think he was embarrassed). I didn't care what people thought, I had already brought this sandwich and thought I'm going to eat this because I don't want to impulse buy and I'll be saving money in the end. I told Cowboy about this and he actually sent a text to my wife and said he was laughing and couldn't believe it. We still laugh about it!

Use your money wisely, don't let the impulse buys get you off budget. I think I've said this before and I'm going to say it again, the stores are set up by marketers to get you to spend more than you planned for, I know those 4 for a $2.00 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are hard to pass up sometimes but you can do it!

COWBOY UP

AND

FIRE YOUR DEBT!!!!

BOOK RECOMMENDATION

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This post I want to suggest, The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko, this has become one of my favorite books. This talks about a study done over several years about what a real millionaire is like and the habits they actually use on a daily and yearly basis. Where they shop, what they buy, etc. It's a very good insightful book. It debunks what we are sold by media and celebrities. I have a co-worker who called for something one day and and we got talking and he said have you read The Millionaire Next Door? I said of course and we talked about this book for several minutes, so if I have had other people love it, I think you'll love it too.

PAY OFF YOUR DEBT AND FREE YOURSELF FROM MODERN DAY SLAVERY!

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Hey, my friends! I took a break for a week, I had a lot of things going on with life and wanted to approach this next blog post with a lot of thought. (Not that I don't put lots of thought into all my posts, but anyways.)

So we've been through the need of a rainy day/emergency fund, and why credit cards have gotten more people into trouble than they have gotten people to riches.

Today I want to show you how to pay off your debt. This is something I'm still working at myself but I want to show YOU and your family how to do this as efficiently as possible.

Before I do that I want to share a quick story. I was telling a co-worker about my trip to SLC, UT and a couple other things about it, and I said, "It was more of an inconvenience, but because I had an emergency fund, life went on." He said "Do you follow Dave Ramsey?" I said, "Yes, I do!" He said, "Me too! I'm actually debt free because of following his principles." We fist bumped and started the talk. It was such an awesome feeling. He went on to tell me he has a sizable savings, bought his wife's car with cash and how his house will be paid off in just a few more years. THIS GUY IS IN HIS LATE 20's! I said, "So how does it feel?" He said, "I can't even tell you the feeling of freedom it brings, your life is so stress free, you don't have to worry about the next paycheck." That's pretty much the same thing Cowboy told me when I asked him a few weeks ago how it felt.

I found a pamphlet a few years ago and finally read it multiple times in the last year. It was  called  One For The Money: Guide To Family Finance by Elder Marvin J. Ashton (This was a talk given in the April 1975 Welfare session of General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) This is an awesome pamphlet to read through! I want to share one quote which focuses on people that live in a gotta have it now society. "We live in a self-indulgent, me-oriented, materialistic society. Advertisements entice young buyers by demonstrating how easy it is to get credit and buy on time. Interestingly, no ads focus on the glamour of paying the money back, nor do they mention how long or hard it is to do just that—especially with the unavoidable interest added on."

Ponder that, it's true isn't it? I see you nodding your heads up and down. (No, I'm not spying on you with a drone, or anything for that matter.)

In the 1998 October General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints this counsel was given by President Gordon B. Hinckley : We are beguiled by seductive advertising. Television carries the enticing invitation to borrow up to 125 percent of the value of one’s home. But no mention is made of interest.

President J. Reuben Clark Jr., in the April 1938 general conference, said from this pulpit: “Once in debt, interest is your companion every minute of the day and night; you cannot shun it or slip away from it; you cannot dismiss it; it yields neither to entreaties, demands, or orders; and whenever you get in its way or cross its course or fail to meet its demands, it crushes you” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1938, 103).

President J. Rueben Clark Jr. also advised us to, and I'm going to capitalize this for emphasis, "AVOID DEBT AS WE WOULD THE PLAGUE." To me that's pretty powerful.

SO HOW DO WE GET OUT OF DEBT? I'm going to show you how I do it! Remember there's more than one way to skin a cat, or so I've been told. I've never tried to skin a cat.

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Have you ever made a snowball then all the sudden decided this is awesome snow, and so you decided to start rolling that snowball on the ground? Pretty soon your pushing that huge snowball which is about waist high around the yard gathering up all the snow and you look around and there isn't anymore snow on the ground it's just dead brown grass and you are staring up at this snowball that's bigger than you are tall? I HAVE! Now relate this to your debt and bills. Dave Ramsey calls this method the Snowball Method, others refer to this as the Debt Elimination Calendar, one is included in the One For The Money: Guide To Family Finance by Elder Marvin J. Ashton. 

We have small bills with just a few hundred dollars, then we have ones with thousands of dollars, right? RIGHT! The best way that I've found to get motivated is to pay off your first couple hundred dollar bill. For Example lets say you pay $25.00 on a bill that you owe just a couple hundred dollars on, after a few month's you pay that one off, then you move that $25.00 to your next bill that you pay $45.00 on, so then you are paying $65.00 and after you pay that off you will take that $65.00 and move it to the next smallest bill, etc. etc.

I hear people ask well why wouldn't I pay off my bill with the highest interest rate? Dave Ramsey teaches the Snowball method because the whole principle behind it is, the motivation you get by paying off the smallest debt first finally making it to the biggest and final one, that your smashing with huge payments.

If you want to pay off the debt with the highest interest you certainly can, but you won't see the fruits of your labor as soon as you would by working the Snowball or Debt Elimination Calendar. Again, there's more than one way to skin a cat.

A couple weeks ago, we were able to pay off some bills and refuel the $1,000.00 emergency fund due to a work bonus. My sweet wife took the smallest bills that we have left, and called each one said (And I'm paraphrasing, because I was at work I wasn't here to witness the conversations, but I believe my wife.) I have this much money to offer you can we make a payoff final with this amount, it worked we saved money and put that on the next one. We paid off two hospital bills this way and it was a phenomenal feeling. WE CAN ALMOST TOUCH THE LIGHT!

Pretty soon I'm going to look around as Cowboy and my co-worker has and I'm just going to see dead bills laying around not calling on me to pay them and I'm going to roll that big last snowball off a fricken cliff and it'll be dead too!

Follow the ways of those who are successful, as Dave Ramsey says don't take money advice from those who are broke and live paycheck to paycheck. I certainly agree! That's why I have done a massive amount of reading on this subject in the last year and a half and spoke with Cowboy and followed Dave Ramsey and a couple of others and finding this co-worker who is debt free keeps the fire stoked and burning. You need to do the same! 

Light the fire and keep it burning by surrounding yourself with others who have the same goals or who have already done it and are living it!

I have just covered a little bit of this, but I hope you get the big picture of how to do this, it isn't rocket science, but it does take time. I'm warning you! IT TAKES TIME TO GET OUT OF DEBT, JUST AS IT TOOK TIME TO GET INTO DEBT! DO NOT GET DISCOURAGED!

COWBOY UP 

AND 

FIRE YOUR DEBT!

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BOOK RECOMMENDATION

The book I'm going to recommend on this post has become one of my favorite
called The Legend of the Monk and the Merchant, Twelve Key's to Successful Living by Terry Felber. This book takes you on a journey and tells you about a Grandfather who teaches a young boy about life personally and professionally in a fictional tale, while teaching true real life principles we can all use immediately.

This is another quick read and if you were just reading for leisure can be read in a couple hours.

Credit Cards

This week I wanted to tell you about Credit Cards (CC's) and the history behind them in the United States and the different fees the CC Companies can and, more often than not, hit you with.

I have said it before and I'm going to say it again to start off with "A CREDIT CARD COMPANY IS NOT YOUR FRIEND, THEY DO NOT GIVE YOU FREE MONEY, THEY ARE NOT A CHARITY, THEY ARE IN BUSINESS TO MAKE MONEY AND YOU ARE THEIR NEXT PAYCHECK!"

According to creditcards.com in 1946 the first Bank Card was introduced by a banker named John Biggins of Biggins Bank in Brooklyn called the "Charg-It" card. You had to be a member of Biggins Bank and the charge could only be made locally. The bill would be sent to Biggins Bank and the Bank would pay the merchant directly.

In 1951 a bank in New York introduced a charge card for use only by loan customers of Franklin National Bank in New York.

Then came the national recognition of Credit Cards by a man named Frank McNamara who introduced the Diners Club Card in 1950, this card could be used in travel and at diners, by 1951 Diners Club had 20,000 cardholders. Originally the card was made of cardboard, and then over a decade evolved into plastic, which we know it as today. (According the creditcards.com American Express and possibly other companies tried to get the public to accept the  concept of a charge card but were unsuccessful, it was the Diners Club that set the trains wheels moving.)

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When I was in college (MEAGERLY EMPLOYED) I received my first CC, I remember a friend saying you have a CC? I said yeah I do, he said your going to go into debt. I said nope, and I didn't until years later. I would buy a small something on it  and pay it off every single month. Then I got another one, via an unsolicited phone call, again paid it off every month I used it. Then the inevitable happened, I didn't have the money to make the monthly minimum payment. Then the dominoes effect started, UUGGHHH! I FELL INTO THE GREAT CC TRAP!

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The pains of this were pain staking, I unfortunately let them go to bill collectors and as we all know, you don't have to be a genius to work in a dingy collection call center. After deciding I was going to man up I went and paid a debt management company to handle my outstanding debts by me sending them one lump payment and a little extra to cover the cost of them doing my dirty business. (All they really did was take my payment and divvy it up and send payments to the different companies and took $50.00 of my hard earned money.) I then had a thought while driving to work, I thought why the heck am I sending these fools an extra $50.00 each month when I could apply that to another bill.(We were living in Utah at this time.) So one night I pulled my credit report, and this time I saddled up and called each one of my creditors and told them I wanted to take care of these outstanding bills in a civil manner and here's all I could pay. I remember one guy saying "We respect your call and we would much rather work with you than the other companies anyway". We were able to get everything paid off but our car before we moved back to Wyoming.

When we got back to Wyoming, the cycle started all over again. I know, I know, STUPID with 10 Zeros on the end as Dave Ramsey would say. Then I lucked out, I got a large bonus from work and the only thing we didn't pay off was the Suburban. THE NUMBER ONE MISTAKE I MADE WAS NOT CLOSING THE CARDS! (I know there are nay-sayers that will say, well if you close a credit card you will hurt your credit.) I SAY CREDIT IS HOG WASH! SO DOES DAVE! SO DOES COWBOY!

If you pull any credit report, it will tell you that credit is (I'm paraphrasing) the ability to go into debt several times and pay it back several times. Now how smart is that to go into debt so you can take on more debt? I think you'll agree with me that it's pretty dumb.

There is a movie on Netflix called Maxed Out, and it will tell you some stories and numbers that will haunt your soul. Watch it, come on go watch it, JUST WATCH IT!

I unfortunately fell for the instant gratification of gotta have it now. We all know those people you're around everyday, who go out and buy stuff and come back to work and tell you "I bought this and this, and we went on this vacation and it was wonderful......blah blah blah" and you're thinking, how are they buying all this crap, going on these crazy vacations and we're making the same amount of money roughly? (Maybe they're dealing drugs or in some illegal black market scheme. My thoughts are if it's questionable and maybe illegal it probably will come back to kick you in the butt sometime soon.) My wife had a childhood acquaintance who would always brag about all these vacations and things they would buy and it came to light they were embezzling from the government and had to face a federal judge for sentencing. (Just an example of what not to do.)

Anyways I was back into CC debt, and for some reason the CC companies kept raising my limit, and I WAS DUMB AND KEPT SPENDING! And then I had to pay the consequences, AGAIN!

So how do Credit Card companies make their money and work? I'm going to show you this awesome flow chart!

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Did you see how they make money? If you didn't look again! Why would you pay these "friends" money that you work hard for? Instant Gratification? Why? Because you couldn't save for it?

I wanted Cowboy to build me another hat, so what did I do? I SAVED FOR MY NEW COWBOY HAT! I know, crazy! It took me a couple months to save the money, but guess what? I paid for it in CASH! Do you want to know how I did it? OK, fine, I'll tell you. I took an envelope, I wrote NEW COWBOY HAT on the front of the envelope, I then put CASH in the envelope and saved up until I had enough money to give Cowboy at Cowboy's Classic Hat Company to build my new Dwight Yoakam replica hat. (By the way you nailed it Cowboy.)

I say you truly can't be alcohol free if you have a beer sitting next to you at dinner, same goes you can't be debt free if your using a credit card each an every month. CUT IT UP!

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Every time I get one of those dumb CC offers in the mail my kids fight over who gets to rip it up first, when my oldest daughter does it she throws it everywhere like confetti. My wife and I have actually outlawed the words Credit Card from our home. What? What's that? You ask why we did that? BECAUSE WE'VE FELT THE DEVASTATING EFFECTS IT HAS ON OUR FAMILY AND RELATIONSHIPS. 

My friends I hope you understand again THE CREDIT CARD COMPANIES ARE NOT YOUR FRIENDS THEY ARE IN BUSINESS TO MAKE MONEY AND YOUR THEIR NEXT PAYCHECK!

SO LET'S TAKE A STAND AND RID OUR LIVES OF THESE PLASTIC CARDS AND LIVE OFF OF COLD HARD CASH! (Well Mr. Mitchell what's in your wallet? A Credit Union issued Debit Card and CASH. A Debit Card works just like cash, I pay ZERO interest, I HAVE ZERO FEES!) Some merchant's will actually give you a discount if you pay with cash. My wife and I had to get a new washer about a year ago, we found the one we wanted, and I asked the lady are you going to give me a discount if I pay you cash because you won't have to pay the credit card fee of 4% and she came back after talking to her manager and he gave us 10% off. NOW THAT'S SUCCESS!

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BOOK RECOMMENDATION

This week I'm going to recommend The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. This is the book that started it all for me and my family. He will walk you through common sense advice and show you why things are the way they are and back it all up with stories and statistics. If you read this, I think you will agree you will want to do all you can to rid yourself of debt.

COWBOY UP

 AND 

FIRE YOUR DEBT!

WHAT A TRIP!

First off I need to apologize for the delay of the weekly blog post this week. My wife and I had to go to Salt Lake City, Utah to get some checkups at our Doctors down there. No worries everybody things went well for both of us.

Since Sunday is just a few days away I'm going to be brief on this post and tell you of our trip we had and the testimony I built in just a few minutes of time.

Thursday February 27th we were about 10 minutes from hitting downtown Salt Lake City (6 hours from Casper Wyoming) traveling in Parley's Canyon in the middle of a rain/snow storm when all of the sudden the wipers on our car quit working, of course you start thinking "Oh No! What's Happening?". So we pulled over on the next exit which was called the Lambs Canyon exit and my immediate thought was "The fuse blew!". So I crawled up under the dash and pulled the wiper fuse. As I was pulling the fuse I heard my wife and children saying a prayer that we would be able to fix the problem or get the help we would need. As I was struggling to get another fuse (that I robbed from another accessory in the fuse box that I knew I could live without for a few minutes) a young man who introduced himself as Cole pulled up to help. As Cole and I were trying to get the fuse back in (since the engineers put the fuse box in such a convenient spot) a tow truck pulled off the exit and drove by and backed up and asked if we needed a tow. I asked a few questions such as how much is your charge, and how far will that get me and let him know I had my wife and 4 children with us. Just as I was talking to the tow truck Cole was able to get the fuse back into the wiper spot and much to my dismay we still had no wipers.

Oh great! I'll have to get a tow, so the tow truck lowered it's flat bed and asked me to drive upon the bed, well just then the car had a loss of engine power. So we had to be winched upon the flat bed. He then asked which dealership we wanted to be towed to, I had no idea! He named a few and my wife called Jerry Seiner GM and gave the phone to me to talk to the service department. I was told that the evening service consultant would give me a call right back. When the service consultant called back I told him I was in town from Casper Wyoming for some doctor appointments and was being towed in and let him know the problems I was having, he then informed me they could look at my car at 6:30 p.m. that evening. I thought that's weird most service departments I've heard of close at 6:00 p.m.

Remember how a couple weeks ago I told about the importance of the EMERGENCY FUND? I also told how we have an auto repair fund in last week's blog post. Our auto repair fund didn't have but a couple hundred dollars in it so we knew we'd have to dip into the emergency fund and were we ever glad we had it.

So the tow truck dropped us off at the dealership and on a big sign in front of the dealership read a sign "SERVICE DEPARTMENT OPEN TIL MIDNIGHT". Wow this is another answer to a prayer. I walked in and the service consultant said "You must be Brandon from Wyoming!" I said I am, and he said first off let's get you and your family back on the road by getting you a rental car. So they loaded us up in the only thing they had at the time that would hold a family of 6, a BIG OL' 15 PASSENGER VAN! Uhhh yeah not my ideal vehicle but it had 4 wheels and the wipers worked. I'll take it! He then gave my wife and children complimentary drink coupons that they could use in the restaurant connected to the dealership. 

As we were waiting for the rental van to get to the dealership I was kind of concerned that the repairs might be more than our $1,000.00 Emergency Fund, since the car also experienced loss of engine power. So I went off in the corner and said a prayer to my Heavenly Father that he would watch over and protect us and that the repairs would be under our $1,000.00 Emergency Fund.

We got checked into the hotel and we took the kids to the swimming pool and my phone rang and it was the dealership. He said what was wrong with the car and told me that everything out the door, parts, labor and tax I would be looking at $785.33. I told him sounds good, get it fixed please! He said they had to order some parts in and so it would tomorrow afternoon before they could get it finished but they would get as much done that night as they could. No worries I had the VAN to run around in!

THE VAN AND THE FAMILY!

So my friends at the end of the day I paid:

-Tow $60.00

-Rental Car with Insurance (since they said a 15 passenger van was a specialty vehicle by most insurance standards and I didn't have time to call my insurance and double check) $88.00

-Rental Car gas $28.31

-Car Repair Bill $785.33

GRAND TOTAL $961.64

THAT MY FRIENDS IS THE IMPORTANCE OF AN EMERGENCY FUND!

Like Cowboy said it's not really an emergency anymore it's more of an inconvenience. Inconvenience it was!

There was a time in my life when I wouldn't even of had the $60.00 for the tow. GLAD THOSE DAYS ARE OVER!

I hope you have enjoyed my testimony about the importance of the EMERGENCY FUND!

I will see you again on Sunday and I hope you have your Emergency Fund and are getting used to living on a BUDGET! YEAH I SAID IT, AND I'LL SAY IT AGAIN! B U D G E T!

REMEMBER 

COWBOY UP 

AND FIRE YOUR DEBT!

(Thanks Erin, Cowboy and your Awesome Family and Dave Ramsey and his team, and Integress Solutions for your inspiration and God my eternal Heavenly Father for all of your blessings!)

The B Word! BUDGETS!!!!!!

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Well my friends, thanks for reading my blog the last couple weeks! This has been really fun to get started with and I certainly get to reflect back on how I'm doing on this journey with my wife and children and I also get to hopefully inspire others as I change myself and family.

As I stated in my last blog post we are going to talk about Budgets. (I'm going to capitalize the word Budget, because I want to drive home the importance of a using a Budget.) 

ONE OF THE LEADING CAUSES OF DIVORCE ARE DUE TO MONEY FIGHTS AND MONEY PROBLEMS. (Not communicating or miss-communicating. Talk to each other, you did it once, do it again!)

I think Budgets are misunderstood, and a lot of people think that if they create a Budget, they can't do what they want with their money. 

Have you ever been in between pay periods and want to go buy something or do something as a family and you look at your bank account and only see a few dollars in the bank and wonder "Where did all of our money go?" I HAVE AND IT ISN'T FUN, IT'S DOWNRIGHT DEPRESSING!

After my wife and I read the Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, I decided we are getting on a Budget. With my employer I am able to go to the company intranet website and see how much my paycheck will be, this is nice because as a family we can sit down and have what Dave call's a "Budget Committee Meeting". This is a meeting where we can plan, sit down, and TALK CALMLY about what bills need to be paid and where the left over money is going to go. IF YOU DON'T TELL YOUR MONEY WERE IT IS GOING TO GO, IT WILL DISAPPEAR! (I know your shaking your head up and down right now, if your not you've beat the statistics, congrats!)

I'm going to describe two Budgeting techniques that are commonly used. 

The first is what I call the ZERO DOLLAR ASSIGNED BUDGET.
- This is where you will sit down with a sheet of paper, and assign each and every dollar a category. For Example!
 Paycheck = $2,500.00 (all figures are arbitrary and for example only, adjust accordingly to your needs.)

Tithing - $250.00 (Tithe means 10%, In the Bible we learn about Christ's followers paying a tithe. I'm a firm believer in the concept of tithing.  I believe God gave me this money, I can give a bit back to him for large blessings in return. If you don't tithe, that's your belief, but you can give to a charity instead.)
  
Mortgage/Rent - $1,000.00   

Food - $300.00

Utilities - $ 150.00
(Notice I Budget for the necessities of life, Shelter, Food, Utilities before anything else? I then get to the other things in life.)

Insurance - $40.00

Car Payments - (If you unfortunately have a car payment) $300.00

Fuel for Car - $150.00

Phone Bill (Cell Phones/Landlines) - $150.00

Auto Repair Fund - $50.00

Credit Cards (If you have this evil) - $50.00

Clothing Fund (kids grow out of clothes more than adults) - $30.00 

Pay Yourself Fund - $30.00

Now you will see, we have assigned each and every dollar a category. The next paycheck you will have different categories, like:

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Medical Prescription / Co-pay Fund

More Credit Cards if you have them

School Lunch Fund

Appliances / Furniture Fund

Christmas Fund

Birthday Fund

(Each person's wants and needs are a little bit different, but the basic concept is the same.)

You will notice I have a Pay Yourself Fund, some might be wondering "What the heck is this?" Ahhhh, let me explain. Has your significant other came home with a new blouse, or a new gun, or whatever their addiction is and you think to yourself  "We can't even buy milk for the cereal, and you go out and buy a new blouse?" THIS IS THE FUND WHERE YOU EACH GET A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF MONEY TO SPEND ON YOU, NO QUESTIONS CAN BE ASKED BY EITHER PARTY AS LONG AS THAT PERSON HAS THE MONEY THAT WAS ASSIGNED TO THEM.

Pay Yourself Fund is my favorite fund, because I no longer go into the gas station to buy that Coke or Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I find it is so much harder to part with that money, and if I want to save for Cowboy to build me another Cowboy Hat (check out his website at www.cowboysclassichatco.com ) I can save that money for just that reason and no questions are asked. HOW FUN IS THAT? (IT'S A PARTY TO YOURSELF!)

Next you will notice the AUTO REPAIR FUND. How often does the car break down? Not very often, but when it does your having the "OH CRAP, HOW AM I GOING TO AFFORD THIS?" moment. How often do you plan for your car to break down? Same answer, not very often. If you plan for it and you have the funds saved up that repair will be paid for before it happens. It's an awesome feeling, trust me it's worked with my family.

Okay, the second Budget is the ENVELOPE BUDGETING SYSTEM! I love this one!

This system was used a very long time ago. I tried to trace the origins down, but was unsuccessful. The nearest I could find, was back before credit cards were used people would actually save for things, yes I know that sounds crazy, but it actually happened!

What people would do and my family and I do now, is we take the paycheck and stick the CASH in the envelope assigned to the categories for example:

The Tithing envelope would get the amount assigned in the Budget meeting

Mortgage/Rent Envelope would get it's assigned amount

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Food Envelope would get it's assigned amount.

ETC., ETC.

Once that amount in the envelope is spent, it's spent. IT'S GONE!

There might be times where you have to adjust your different categories for different reasons, for instance there is a case lot sale at the grocery store and SO YOU COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR SPOUSE and say "There is a case lot sale at the grocery store, I am going to adjust here so I can have some extra money for this case lot sale".

When you start your budgeting you will find that the amount allotted for Groceries isn't enough or it might be too much. It will take a few month's to get it right, but keep pushing through. DO NOT YELL AT YOUR BUDGET MEETING, talk calmly and YOU BOTH MUST AGREE! Men, let her have the say so on the Groceries Budget amount, especially the groceries. (She will think your king of the world if you do this.)

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Life will be much more enjoyable when you live on a Budget, much less stressful and certainly not as depressing. A BUDGET IS NOT A PRISON CELL!

BOOK RECOMMENDATION

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THE RICHEST MAN IN BABYLON

BY: GEORGE S. CLASON

When I was about 13 years old, I remember my brother Trent coming home from school saying we needed to read this book called The Richest Man In Babylon. He said his religious instructor told them they should all read it, I remember him buying this book and I saw it one day on our bedroom floor and tried reading it but never got past the first 5 pages for some reason. (probably because I wasn't a reader back then, although I probably should have been.) About a year and some odd months ago, I picked up this book and it's set back in time, and gives phenomenal stories about how to achieve personal financial success and some great tips anybody can learn from. I certainly wish I would have read it at such a young age, I'd probably be millions of miles from where I am at today.

This is a quick read, and can be finished in a couple of hours. Most libraries have this book, if not they can get it for a nominal fee for you or you can get it on your kindle or nook to have forever and read again and again as I have.

FRIENDS I HOPE YOU HAVE AN AMAZING WEEK AND YOU COME BACK NEXT WEEK! (Next week's post will be postponed by a couple of days!)

COWBOY UP AND 
 FIRE YOUR DEBT

Get Your Emergency Fund On!

It seemed like whenever I would get a little bit of extra money saved up something would happen, the kids would get sick so I would need to spend money on prescriptions, or even worse, the appliances would draw straws between each other and one would decide to quit working, or the car would need repairs.

So the cycle would start over and over and over again. NO SAVINGS AT ALL! After reading The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. The first thing I did was get what Dave calls the Emergency fund together which he recommends $500.00 if your single, if you have a family get $1,000.00 dollars as quickly as possible. Keep this money liquid, which means keeping it in a safe at home if you have one, or in a savings account at your local credit union or bank.

According to a article posted on the Blaze 33% of American's do not have an emergency fund of at least $1,000.00 to use on emergency expenses. This is frightening, I was one of these people! According to the 2012 Census Bureau Report there were 313.9 million people in America, so I was one of 103.5 million Americans who didn't have an emergency fund.

Your saying to yourself how the heck can I do this? Look around your garage, your house, for free stuff online and sell it! You'll be shocked what people will buy! When I started selling things one of the things I sold was a broke down truck that didn't run on eBay, and a guy from Oklahoma bought it and had to pay a shipping company to come get it, he probably paid as much for the shipping as he did for the truck. I had to pay eBay a small fee, but I had a national audience. When you post things for sale be completely honest, if it won't run tell them, if it has dents tell them, that way it won't come back to haunt you later down the road. As George Washington said "Honesty is the best policy." 

My wife would sell and still does through Facebook groups, clothes that are in good condition that no longer fit our kids, or shoes she hasn't worn in a long time. And I say if I haven't used it in at least 2 years, another person will probably want to give me some money for it.

On the Dave Ramsey Show people ask just what are emergency's. I'll share two thoughts, one of his and one of mine because everybody's emergency is a little different. Ordering pizza on Monday night because nobody want's to cook is not an emergency! (just saying.)

- My wife's father is a insulin dependent diabetic and lives in New Mexico, if something happens I can put her on a airplane headed for New Mexico within a hour. If something happens to my parents I have enough money to put gas in my tank and start driving to their place in Wyoming to help out. These would be considered an Emergency in my family.

- A faulty transmission would be an emergency according to Dave Ramsey.

An Emergency is anything that can't be planned for, life's unexpected events. CHRISTMAS IS NOT AN EMERGENCY! IT COMES EVERY YEAR ON THE SAME DAY! IT NEVER EVER CHANGES!

Rather than having the "OH CRAP, WHAT DO I DO NOW?" moments you won't be beat down and the emergency won't be much of an emergency. Before I had my Emergency savings if something happened I would have to pull out the credit card and hope that I would have the money to pay the payments on the credit card from month to month. (we'll talk about that evil in another week or two.) Now once your out of debt you will be able to save for at least 3-6 month's of savings. This will ensure you will be able to live for an extended period of time through either a job loss or extended sickness.

President Gordon B. Hinckley of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints said this in his address to members of the church in the October 2005 General Conference, "We can set aside some water, basic food, medicine, and clothing to keep us warm. We ought to have a little money laid aside in case of a rainy day."

Since getting my emergency fund and keeping it there for only emergencies I haven't had the stress or disappointment I faced in past times when things would randomly arise, when the black cloud of life would follow me around. Around Christmas time I walked into a wholesale big box store and I was looking at all the big huge t.v.'s they always have sitting right out front when you walk in, (by the way they don't just do that by happen stance, it's a marketing ploy my friends. DON'T DO IT!) anyways I was looking at these t.v.'s and thought to myself, I have enough money in the emergency fund I could be walking out of here with just about anyone of these huge t.v.'s but I'm not doing that anymore, today in my world that would be CRAZY!!!!! A T.V. STARING AT YOU IN THE STORE IS NOT A GOOD USE FOR YOUR EMERGENCY FUND!!!!!!! DUMB DUMB DUMB IDEA!!!!!!

So friends next week I'm going to go over BUDGETS and the different systems there are to use budgets with, one is very very old and I am a huge personal fan of and use. I heard the other day while listening to the audio book Debt Free Living by Larry Burkett, that just because you balance your checkbook don't mean your living on a budget. SO NEXT WEEK we'll cover that.

So until then sell anything you think of "One man's trash is another man's treasure!" so get your emergency savings fund in place and I'll see you next week. 

REMEMBER COWBOY UP

 AND 

FIRE YOUR DEBT!

P.S. I think next week I'll recommend some books to read as well, because well, I've become quite the avid reader. Readers are leaders and leaders are readers! BOOM!

Why I'm here!

Hi, I'm Brandon Mitchell. I live in, work in and love the state of Wyoming! I have a beautiful and phenomenal wife and 4 wonderful children. 

In my short married life I've been out of debt twice, only to find myself back in debt before the end of the year. WHY?WHY ME? I didn't learn about the most misunderstood tool we all use on a daily basis, MONEY! I was a consumer.

I had a job that paid pretty good. I was literally getting credit cards and calls from banks offering me $10,000.00+ limits. HECK YEAH! I'll take that money! I can buy new appliances, build a garage, redo things in the house, etc. etc. I was keeping up with the payments, everything was going great. I WAS LIVING THE AMERICAN DREAM! or so I thought.

Things changed in a split second, on January 1st 2012 I was hurt in a work related accident and spent 2 months healing up at home. Our income was slashed by 40%, workman compensation only paid out 60% of our monthly income. WE HAD ABSOLUTELY NO SAVINGS AT ALL! DUMB, DUMB, DUMB! I was so consumed by spending that I didn't care enough about myself or my family to live on less than we made, and my debt to income ratio was too high to save any money for the inevitable or a rainy day!

After I was healed up and back to work, we were already behind on bills and the calls started coming in, and I was becoming depressed, severely depressed. The bill collectors wanted money, but I didn't have any! My ecclesiastical leader met with my wife and I, he was willing to pay for us to go to counseling through church donations. I would have went but didn't have money to put in my gas tank to get me there. I even changed jobs and made more money but still was just barely treading water. 

Thankfully through this period in my life, my sweet wife and a phenomenal friend whom I'll refer to as Cowboy, (because by all definitions he is a stellar example of what a man should be to his family and a true Cowboy friend.) helped me out and stuck by my side. I remember Cowboy always saying things about this Dave Ramsey guy, who I listened to off and on through the years but couldn't bring myself to adhere to his teachings and studies. Cowboy would always say "CASH IS KING!". I just blew it off, because deep inside I knew, but thought I was too far gone and could crumble at any moment.

One night my sweet wife, came into the living room and said your oldest daughter is in the bedroom crying wanting to know why your always so sad. That pierced my soul and saddened my heart! After my wife went to put the kids to bed, I went into the bedroom and knelt down and pleaded with my Father in Heaven to help me through this dark depressing spot in my life. I had not lost faith in God and knew through my faith that I could get an answer to my prayer. I just hoped it would be a quick answer! 

As I was driving down the road the next morning, it was as if I was hit by a 2x4 across the head, a voice as clear as day said "The reason your so depressed is because your buried in debt, you cant breathe, you can hardly sleep. Get out of debt and you will know true happiness and peace by adhering to the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ!" I picked up the phone and called Cowboy and asked if he had that Dave Ramsey book. He said it was at his shop! Perfect I would be driving by his shop in a few hours! When I stopped by Cowboy's shop, we spent the next three hours talking about debt, the bondage it has on people and the destruction it can do to a person and their families! I took that book home read it in two nights and then my wife read it in a week (she likes all the fiction mystery love tales).

I then took the step and started selling as much as I could, I sold our camper, our broke down truck and anything I could think to sell. NOW UNDERSTAND, GETTING INTO DEBT DOESN'T HAPPEN OVERNIGHT, IT TAKES TIME TO GET OUT OF THE DEBT HOLE! 
So we are still climbing out, but we are not stopping, we are learning how money works, and how CASH IS KING, about ourselves and what successful people do and becoming successful ourselves.

IF YOUR SICK OF THE WEIGHT DEBT WEIGHS YOU DOWN WITH, IF YOU ARE TIRED OF THE PAIN THEN FOLLOW ME, AND LETS FIRE YOUR DEBT!

Lets do this journey together! 

We are going to learn what over 80% of successful self-made millionaires do, we are going to learn about credit card companies, loans, the history behind them, and why our grandparents and great grandparents never lived off of these things! If they didn't, why do we have to? 

WE DON'T AND WE WON'T FOLLOW THE CROWD ANYMORE!

We'll learn how to live off of a BUDGET! 

Banks, and loan companies and credit card companies are in business to make money! Your not their friend, your their next paycheck! 

Along this journey you will also learn about yourself and your relationships will get better and stronger than ever before.

TUNE IN WEEKLY FOR NEW POSTS!

TOGETHER WE WILL COWBOY UP AND FIRE YOUR DEBT!