Dollar$ & Sen$e

The Archer home is presently undergoing some fun (no really it has been fun) changes in our financial dealings. It all started a couple months ago when I asked Tom if we should have some sort of college fund for the kids. It is so easy to not think that far ahead but the reality is we will have 3 kids graduate in a 4 year period. Wil and Maggie (unless she quits school and elopes...oh my I shouldn't joke about such a thing) will graduate one year apart and Trey will be a couple years behind Mags. WOW...my sentiments exactly!!

God is so cool! After our conversation about college funds, Dave Ramsey come on the radio one night while Tom was driving home. We had both heard a lot about Dave Ramsey. My sister is die hard Ramsey, some of our good friends, the Kingstons, teach his program at their church, and a lady from Tom's work uses his plan. Much of his principles are common sense...in Mr Ramsey's own words...he teaches what God and grandma would tell ya. Tommy got the book and read it in a matter of 2 or 3 weeks. As he would read, he would share the principles or the "baby steps" we would need to take. I gotta say my husband makes me feel so secure financially and in many other ways. I'm sorry but sometimes you just gotta praise your man!

Tommy is a blessed man because I'm not a spender or a shopper. I am very frugal so when he pitched the idea of going full throttle with Dave's plan, I excitedly agreed. Since we have more or less lived conservatively in our spending we haven't had to make drastic changes but one cool thing we have implemented is a budget. This budget includes everything from haircuts to lawn care to groceries to clothes. And you may think that sounds like a drag but contrary to that it is freeing, liberating even. We are now debt free except our house (which Ramsey calls debt free)!!

We are now working on saving up 3 to 6 months worth of income. This step could take a while or maybe when the promise land arrives (that is what we call tax refund time) we could finish it out. Who knows? The budget allows us to track our money very efficiently. Organization and planning really gets my blood flowin...I know I'm such a nerd. But it is fun to work as a team on this. Ramsey's plan has given us the means to be better stewards of God's money. Ramsey's book is called The Total Money Makeover and Ramsey's material is called Financial Peace University. And here is a betcha- didn't- know- this fact. Jeremy and Amanda Escue (the new and beloved Crossroadians) have actually taught Ramsey's material. Its good stuff.

On a somewhat different note, I have been trying to find ways to save. In this quest I ran across some interesting information today. Raise your hand if you are a Target (the store) fan. Here is some cool info about their markdowns:

1. Mon- kids clothes and electronics are marked down

2. Tues- women's clothes, domestics

3. Wed- men's clothes, toys, health and beauty

4. Thur- Lingerie, shoes, housewares

5. Fri- cosmetics, automotive

6. if its marked down to 30-50%, come back in two weeks to see if its marked down further

7. if the last digit of the clearance price is a 4, it is the final mark down (so if you need it and think it'll go down more, it won't if its last digit is 4)

8. Full price ends in 9

9. Target is known to send the items that don't sale on clearance to the Goodwill store. I think Jonesboro's Goodwill is on Highland.

I thought this was pretty cool to know. This is not 100% applicable to every store but after thinking on some of my purchases, I think it is for Jonesboro's. Its worth looking into.

Now why did I blog about this. If I were you, and I needed a new financial plan....Ramsey's philosophies are very doable and Ramsey is a Christian and his method reflects that. Everyone I know has had some sort of financial dilemma which is the very reason money is something Jesus spoke on many times in the New Testament. This may not be of any interest to anybody but it interested me and its my blog so sorry. I wanna say one more thing. Nevermind I've said enough