It's For You Too

We know we are amazingly lucky to get to be a part of Project Money....if we win the $10,000 we can put a new roof on and not have to go empty the buckets in the attic after every rain....but the best part of all this is that we just found out that everything we are learning you can learn too! Did you know Summit Credit Union offers help to everyone? We didn't know that!

The folks that help are called Financial Services Specialist, sure they can help you with "traditional" banking stuff, but they also train you to learn how to help you with your financial troubles and goals. No we do not get extra points for blogging about this info...sure wish we did, but we really want to blog about it because we thought if we had met with someone years ago, would we be in a better place today? Possibly, but that is water under the bridge.

Something we thought about is that Don, our financial coach, is amazing and our personalities work really well together. So I asked Don...what if someone comes in and doesn't like the financial services specialist they meet with?  He told us that at our branch - on Old Sauk Rd - there is 3 financial service specialists! So be diligent, if you get with someone you don't jive with - try another. After all, it is easy to find reasons to NOT deal with your finances. Don't let the person you are working with be another excuse! We strongly encourage you to make the time to meet with a financial specialist several times, because it can be difficult to get all the info in only one or two meetings.

We observed this week that Don has mentioned looking at savings several times since we started meeting with him. We both wanted to do that and have heard Don talking about saving and understood what he was saying but we didn't "get it". This past week when we were talking about it we had a light bulb moment and "got it"! Kari does most of the spending first because she is more of a spender, but also because organizing comes naturally to her. She keeps the house stocked with the little things...you know, toilet paper, dish soap, hand soap, toothpaste, groceries....the list is endless. So the thought pattern is always about what we will SPEND our extra money on! The new mind set in the Faber house is how much money can we save each month. Even if that savings will be for an eventual purchase...siding, windows, new boiler, retirement. We think about our money in a savings first mind set...not a spend first mind set. This has really opened up our thought pattern and we really look forward to keeping more of our money!

So we mentioned that we have been using envelopes to pay for our daily expenses. Some other great suggestions from Don are to look at ways to reduce our interest rates! This month we are looking at ways to move the debt around to get lower interest and fixed payment times. We discovered that by using our car we can save a lot of money in interest and have a fixed pay off time. This comes full circle to something we did right before Project Money started. By purchasing a used car with cash, we were able to negotiate a great below blue book price. Now we have this extra money to help us pay our debt down faster and with less interest over time! The bonus with all of this debt moving and faster payment is that we are setting ourselves up to increase our credit score. As we look to our future investments - house and saving for the big stuff - we may not need much in the way of loans, so a credit score isn't a huge priority for us. But, if you ever want to purchase anything with a loan, a high credit score is the only way to get the best interest rate.

This week we are celebrating that the new tires for the car were paid for in cash and that we are changing our mindset to a save first thought pattern.

Comments

[Kari]

Christy I try to keep a buffer in my grocery budget to "stock up" with on food deals. Household items are MUCH harder. We have a small house hold budget so I am trying to work a surplus into it now by not buying until we really need it! Like if I don't get contact solution this weekend...we'll be wearing a glasses for a while :) Great question!

[Christy]

As a fellow natural organizer, I also keep our house stocked with those "little things." Have you decided, then, to not stock up on them, since you are trying to apply a savings-first mindset? Do you just wait till you really need them?

Christy :)