Scott Wilder - ish

So let's drill down a little more on the last post.

 I was so excited to make the announcement that I didn't really go deep
into the details.

 When we lived near Chicago, Kathie had a job that offered stock to
their employees.

 So Kathie went ahead and got some.

 So it sat there and through these turbulent times and as a result
hasn't really grown a whole bunch.

 Once we realized how deep in debt we were; I spent a ton of time just
figuring out how we can scrape together cash to get this elephant
moving. I immediately took to first part time job I could find to
supplement my full time job. And I started looking for a 3rd job
(which I have now). We had totally forgotten that we had money in
stocks!!!

 So it was a no brainer decision. Cash out the stock, get the Baby
Emergency Fund fully funded at $1000. Pay off the remaining $2700 left
on our Kia Sedona. And we still had enough left over to pay off a few
very small credit cards.

 The other big win is that paying off the van brings more than $300 per
month back into our budget. Nice!!!

 Of course Murphy continues to rear his head. It looks like our hot
water heater is going to need replacing. Due to the VERY hard water
where we live. We seem to be literally burning through tank-based
water heaters every 4 or 5 years. So now we're investigating tankless
water heaters. Because they don't heat 24/7; most of the hard water in
the system gets flushed out the next time hot water is needed. If the
sediment does build up then a simple visit by a specialist to do a
deep cleaning is all that is required. Still weighing tank v.
tankless. But we need to do something before the small leak becomes a
big one.

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Like most Americans, Kathie and I have debt. It wasn't until recently that I finally opened my eyes to the reality of just how far in debt we are. From now on I will be documenting our journey to dig ourselves out of this hole. It's gonna take years. But we're going to do it!

Clearly, if Kathie and I were good at planning our way out of debt, we would have done it by now. So we're getting help. We will be following Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover Plan. His plan involves seven "Baby Steps." Just doing the first two are going to take us years.

1. Put together $1000 in an emergency fund immediately
2. Pay off all debt besides house
3. Finish Emergency Fund with 3 to 6 months of survival expenses
4. Start retirement savings
5. College fund
6. Pay off house
7. Build Wealth

So after talking to Kathie today, it looks like step 1 will come together. I will blog more about that once ideas become reality.

Step 2 is where things get scary. The reality of our financial situation is that our monthly debt far exceeds our income. I'll go into more details about the actual numbers in later posts. So it's going to take more than belt tightening and frugality to make this a reality. I've already started a part time job to make some extra $$$. And finding a 3rd gig is also now a "Top Priority."

Well that's it for now.

Peace out!

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