Timing is everything.  That is what I said to my husband yesterday as he returned home from work with a bag of Chipotle yummies.  I had just finished a full afternoon working on a home organization project.  Both hungry and tired, having missed lunch with my girls as I had pressed on in my task, receiving a bag filled with a delicious supper that I didn’t have to cook (and which would require minimal cleanup) was a welcomed sight.  Afterward, my husband went to use up our Kroger Fuel Points as I later had someplace to be.  On my way home from my event, I saw that the price of gas had jumped 27 cents.  27 cents!  It never seems to drop in price that dramatically. Is there anyone else out there that this just grates upon?  How on earth can it make such a jump in such a short time (and do this often)? My family just smiles at me over my obsession with filling the tank at the best possible price.   Anyway, as I returned home later that evening and realized the price jump per gallon, I was so happy that my man had determined to fill the tank before I ventured out.  On a twenty-gallon fill up that was a five dollar savings, and oh how I love to get a deal! Timing…is everything.

So, this is my blog.  And indeed, timing is everything.  I could not be more excited to be here.  My journey thus far has has taught me many things and if I have learned anything it is that I love to share what I have been taught.  Matters of finance, organization, homeschooling, one’s faith journey, parenting, and creativity are my passions.  Getting to talk about those things, and the lessons I have learned so far, thrills me beyond measure.  A friend of mine and I were talking a short while ago.  She is working on a particular area in her life and achieving great success.  She remarked how strange it is that we just reach a place and are ready to make a change.  When that happens, we see results but before that change just never seemed to come.  I agreed wholeheartedly.

Our finance journey was like that.  Retail therapy was my mode of operation.  No matter how immediate the buyer’s remorse came or how great the feeling of regret was upon reviewing the Visa bill, I wasn’t discontented enough with my actions to make a change.  My husband never struggled with issues of spending, he really didn’t like to spend money at all.  So for eighteen years of marriage, I was the spender…paying the bills and shopping… and shopping…and shopping.  Now, I am a thrifty shopper for certain but the problem lies in the fact that if you gave my husband ten dollars, he may spend one of them on something he truly needed but he would save the rest.  Me?  Well, I would spend the whole ten bucks but I would blow your socks off with the bounty of stuff I would have gained (which leads us to the subject of clutter, but we will save that topic for another day ;).

Then, five years ago, our thoughts on finances and money finally intersected.  We both had arrived at the same place…discontent.  It was time to make a change and we both knew it with every fiber of our being.  Christmastime was just around the corner and we had just returned from a vacation. We determined January 1 to be the start of a new journey.  On that vacation, I had read Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace cover to cover.  After funding a vacation and purchasing gifts for Christmas, we could not have ended 2008 in a sadder state.  A depleted checking account, a bunch of consumer debt, and a mortgage were how we embarked on this new road ahead of us.  But, the saying goes, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”  The first Sunday in church in the new year found me perusing the church bulletin.  Starting in February, a class on Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey would commence.  My Kenny got an elbow in the ribs.  I could have jumped up on the pew and screamed with excitement.  Dave!!!  And what timing!

Now, for two years our nifty little kit of Financial Peace DVDs had sat around here gathering dust.  Prior to that, I had listened to all the cds of the same content an out-of-state friend had given me for my thirteen hour ride back home with the traveling companions of three youngsters in the back seat.  I had devoured the cds and became and instant fan of Dave Ramsey.  Inspired as I was, I had no roadmap. I floundered and changed nothing except for having some great conversations with my Kenny  over matters of money and “what could be”.  So, when the opportunity came along to purchase the DVDs of Dave’s Financial Peace seminar, to watch them at home and not need childcare for our young kids we jumped on it.  But, with no accountability we made little progress together.  He found that he liked Dave as much as I did and could learn from him but we never managed to watch more than a few of the DVDs.  It was kinda like that piece of exercise equipment that one is so excited to acquire but then becomes the thing we dust off from time to time.  So, here we were in 2009, determined to make a change and a class put in our path, Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace class of all things.  Timing is everything.

To make a long story short…a looonnnnnggg story, as financial change does not come overnight but with determination and perseverance it does come…we arrived at our first destination a couple of years later of ridding ourselves of our consumer debt.  Last year, we paid off our mortgage.  My head spins at the fact that we conquered this and though, in the thick of it, it felt as though we were walking knee deep in wet concrete, looking back our progress came more swiftly than I’d ever imagined it could.  I look forward to sharing the insights and understanding I gained along the way.  I have found that this journey of managing money has flowed over into every area of my life.  Discipline, determination, saying “no”, goal setting, a sense of accomplishment, etc. have all played a part since in organizing my home, planning our homeschool, navigating relationships, and so on.  And thus, I have reached a season of life “for such a time as this” that I am bursting with enthusiasm to share and hopeful that my story will resonate with yours be it in one area of your life or many.  Whether we have one common thread or multiple ones, I am looking forward to the many cups of coffee, tea, or Pepsi that are in our future to share.

Angie