November 12, 2007
photo by joguldi
There, I said it.
I recently read a post over at CleverDude about being open about your debt and how liberating it can be to get it out in the open and off your chest. I decided to try it, and I think I’m going to make a practice of it here. A lot of PF bloggers display their net worth on their sites, (the good and the bad) and I can see why. I’ll probably start doing this as a way to keep myself motivated and accountable.
How much is huge? How about $98,865.35. How did it get so huge? I put an addition on my house, specifically a 2 car garage, a new front porch, and a new coat of stucco and paint. I have to admit, I severely underestimated the cost of the job. I should have paid closer attention to my dad’s advice when it comes to building projects, “triple your budget and double your time.” Lumber costs, concrete costs, miscellaneous thing I never thought of kept pumping up the price.
Back in 1999 we bought a typical Southern-style ranch block home with an updated kitchen and a nice pool, but with no garage, just a carport. I was a little disappointed, but because I wanted wifey to be happy, we bought it sans garage.
8 years and 3 kids later, we just couldn’t keep all the stuff (tools, bikes, toys, etc) out of the elements and keep the place from looking like a trailer park. So we went ahead and hired and architect and started rolling with interviewing subcontractors. I acted as my own general contractor, which gave me greater control and allowed me to save more money. I’ll probably do a later post on this.
I love the garage, just not the price tag. Had I known the total cost before I started, I would have probably waited. But that’s usually the way it is with construction projects.
My only hope now is to put extra payments on it and pray the Fed keeps lowering the prime rate. It’s actually a HELOC, so every time Mr. Fed lowers the rate I get a break.
Posted in Home Improvement, Life, Mortgage, Stupid Tax Tuesday 
3 Comments »
November 6, 2007
“Today is the first day of the rest of your life.” It’s the thought I like to think every morning. I’m truly grateful for everyday that I have on this earth, every breath that I take, and every blessing and act of forgiveness God extends to me. I feel like every day is a new beginning and a new chance to make things right, and this same concept applies to my finances. First off, I’m no financial genius. I’m learning every day how to control my impulses and balance my needs vs. wants. I think anyone with any financial sense has at least a small grip on this. But it wasn’t always the case with me.
When I graduated from college, I found credit cards and all the wonderful things they could offer me. I convinced myself that I “needed” things and the only way I could get them was with credit. Soon I got married and my wife and I were making a “decent income” and didn’t take care to pay off our balances every month. We had the “we’ll pay off the rest next month” attitude.
I was young and stupid. What can I say?
Soon enough we got a house (and all the expenses that come with one) and little ones and the credit card debt started piling up. And my wife quit her real estate agent job and stayed home with the kids, because we felt strongly about not having them in daycare. So there we were, down to one income and a lot of credit card debt.
To make a long story short, we worked out settlements on most of our credit cards and took a (surprisingly small) hit on our credit scores, but we reduced our debt significantly and now only have 1 credit card with a couple thousand on it.
Like a lot of people, we were/are motivated by a lot of the teachings of Dave Ramsey. The baby steps are a good framework with which to plot a course to financial freedom, which we are starting/resuming. I feel like I’m starting a little late at the age of 35, but better late then never, I guess.
Since then I’ve increased my income significantly, my wife has a home business teaching piano lessons, and we are being blessed every day by having great friends and funny, lovable kids. What more could I want?
My dream is to pay off my mortgage by 2020 and have a significant amount save for retirement. How much is “significant”? I have no idea right now.
“Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:23
Posted in Life No Comments »
November 4, 2007
Welcome to godsgreenearth.ws. I want this blog to be sort of an adventure in personal finance from the perspective of a thirty-something Christian family man. Struggles, successes, and sharing what I learn along the way. I honestly don’t know exactly which direction this will go in, what to expect, and what I can give, but I’m sure it will be a learning experience.
It’ll include some tips on all aspects of personal finance, stories, and hopefully some input from readers so I can learn from you as well. I’m not a personal finance expert, so please don’t act solely on what you read here. Sounds pretentious for me to even suggest that someone would do such a thing. This will be about my life, and what I discover that works.
What I’m really interested in here is achieving financial independence for my family and sharing what I learn along the way. I think personal finance education is sorely lacking in our society and I want to do my part to communicate clear and simple best practices we can use to gain financial independence.
I know, I know there are a ton of other personal finance sites/blogs out there, so what’s different about this one? Well, maybe not much, but maybe a lot. This is as much a therapeutic journey (more about my journey later) for me to become financially independent, as it is a place to give and take advice, tips and encouragement. So Please, join in!
Ok, you may ask, what’s the name all about? The name came from a combination of thoughts:
- I’m always amazed at the circumstances that life brings me, from the crazy things that happen when you have 3 kids under 10 years old running around, hence the often-thought phrase, “what on God’s green earth…”
- My basic belief that God is real, despite the things we see around us, and that he is in control of this beautiful green earth, as well as the “green” that we use to pay our bills and function in a material world.
- Here’s an obvious one: The term “green” is a derivative of a slang term for United States paper money, the “greenback”. Yes, this is a money blog.
- “Green” also refers to someone who is new at something, which certainly describes my attempt at blogging about personal finance.
As a complete afterthought, I realized that the name has some environment overtones to it. This was completely unintentional on my part, but it may play to some of the money issues surrounding the current “go green” movement, which I’ll probably address somewhere now and then down the line. It may include my love/hate relationship with compact fluorescent light bulbs.
Thanks for visiting and hopefully this adventure will benefit all of us.
Posted in Life 1 Comment »
