Kyle and I are nowhere near perfect in regards to budgeting, saving, investing, or anything of the like. Yes, we pay our bills on time, that's something that is non-negotiable. Yes, I have a student loan we're paying off. Yes, we have medical bills. And yes, we go out on dates and don't feel too guilty about spending money eating at restaurants. The thing that needs to change, though, is just how lenient we are with the income that we have.

I'm reading Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey right now and I've honestly learned so much. I love books that get to the point and tell you what you need to do rather than talking about the philosophies of how to do it. With many financial planning books, the authors focus on investments and IRA/401K accounts. These things are wonderful and all but right now, we'd just like to create a more stable and grounded financial house. We are very interested in investing and saving for things like our children's weddings, missions, and college funding as well as for our retirement as a couple. The only way we will be able to do that, though, is if we take the baby steps first. We need a solid emergency fund. We need to be 100% debt free. We need to learn to have enough cash for anything and everything we may need through the month. These are the things we plan on working on over the next 6 months so that we can seriously look into investing shortly after Baby E makes her arrival.

Dave Ramsey is definitely cut and dry when he points out that our financial future is in our own hands, just as losing weight would be solely in the hands of the chubby guy. If you look in the mirror and don't like the person you see because they've packed on a few extra pounds, the only way to change that would be to diet and exercise! Just as the only way to get a fat wallet and make those money worries a thing of the past is to do something serious about it. Find ways to earn more money. Pass up the "great deal" if it's not a necessity right now. Too often I've gone out to the store for one or two things but came home with over a dozen because "we needed them". Sure, we probably used the things I bought and I'm sure that I had some valid reasons for buying them. But was it necessary? Probably not. Just like skipping a workout or eating junk all the time will make you put on the pounds, buying extras each time you go shopping will cause your account balance to dwindle away. Before you know it, there's $500 in bills due but you've already spent your last paycheck of the month. So what do you do? You don't pay it (which I am strongly against) or it ends up getting put on a credit card. Kyle and I are tired of things like this happening so we're ready to take the steps to make sure that there's extra money at the end of each month and not the other way around.

Being married and dealing with bills is hard. It's not a fun conversation to have but it is definitely necessary. Kyle and I have joint accounts all across the board, and we need to be on the same page in regards to where our money goes. It's not a matter of "his half" or "my half", it's ours. We pay for our cell phones and our food. We spend money on gas for our cars and budget for our date nights. With it being so joint and united, we have to help each other. We have to encourage each other and keep each other on track. One thing that I love about how Kyle and I handle things is that we always do this by assuring the other that "It will be okay". Because it will! Someway, somehow, we've always managed to figure things out and get things done. At the same time, though, you can't just pray things will work out if you're not actively doing something about it. Just as James 2:20 says;  "But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?" We don't expect money to appear out of thin air, so we work as hard as we can to meet our family's needs. Right now, we don't need much. We try to keep our bills as low as possible and we're working on separating our wants from our needs. Luckily, with the work I do from home, I am in charge of my earning potential. I can make as much or as little as I want. Kyle has the ability to donate plasma for some extra cash if we need it. These things, plus Kyle's full-time job, help us to meet our needs as well as our wants.

Now, if I have a slower month with my work or if Kyle doesn't donate plasma as often as usual, we cut back on the discretionary spending. We have learned to prioritize the expenses we have and put them before the fun things like going out to lunch or buying new movies for our ever-growing collection. It's not always easy to do this, though. Over the past year, there were definitely times that we bought whatever sounded good and justified it by saying "I should make enough to pay this off by the end of the month" or "We have all this extra money right now, we can afford this" when we hadn't put one penny into savings. The issue with this was that the end of the month would come and we'd have a zero balance, with hardly anything to show for it. Looking around our house, yes, I see that we've purchased things to make it a home. But I have no idea where so much money has gone. I'm tired of it. We're tired of it. So we're starting today to make those changes necessary to live life more financially free.

A quote I love from Boyd K. Packer is as follows; "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without." This is so applicable in many aspects, but especially in regards to finances. Use the money, wear out the income sources, make the money work for you, or deal with an empty bank account. It's up to you. Period. Kyle and I have the ability to take charge of our finances and there is no room for excuses. Ultimately, every penny spent was spent by conscious choice to do so. There's no one to blame but ourselves, and that's sometimes the hardest to swallow.

I'm still young (though I jokingly say I'm ancient) and Kyle is still young as well. For me, I've got my entire twenties in front of me and Kyle's got half of his. We're not late in the game, no one ever is. All it takes to change your financial situation is the dedication to actually do it. By the time 2020 rolls around, we'd like to purchase our first home. We'd like to buy a newer car. We'd like to have 6 months worth of living expenses in savings. We'd like to be putting away as much as possible for Baby E and her siblings as they come along. That's never going to happen if we continually live paycheck-to-paycheck because we want to live in the moment now. We can't do any of this without a solid plan and attainable goals. Saving $20,000 in one year is just not realistic on our income right now. But saving at least $3,000 is. Putting $10,000 into an account all at once for Baby E is not feasible right now, but we can definitely afford monthly payments with a high rate of return, getting us to that goal before she turns 18.

Too often, I say I'll do something and never actually do it until way down the road. In reality, if I had started when I first said I would, I would have been so much farther than I am now. Whether it's in regards to personal goals, fitness goals, or financial goals, I don't want to be in this same place ten years from now. Heck, I don't want to be in this place in five years, or even two years! I'm making the necessary changes today so that tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, I can be a few steps closer to where I want to be. I can't do it alone, though. I need Kyle's help and support just as he needs mine. We need to work as a combined force to tackle all the things life throws at us. That's the fun part about all of this; although bills are a necessary evil and being a big kid can get overwhelming, at least we're not doing it alone. I've got a man who is my rock and biggest fan. He's got a woman who supports his day job and sacrifices time with him so that he can provide as much as possible for us. We work together, and that's the only way we can do it!

Sure, we may have fat bodies and skinny wallets right now, but just you wait. A lot can change in 6 months, or a year, or two years, or ten years. It doesn't matter how long it takes us. What matters is that we are committed to making our life together the best life that it can possibly be.