My ultimate goal is to stay home with the twins. They are 3 now and although most moms think about going back to work when the kids go to school, life will be more complicated for us when that happens. Aside from that I want to be able to volunteer in their class and make cupcakes etc... I really would like to stop working in a year or so in order to have some time with the girls before they head off to kindergarten (it makes me tear up just thinking of it). To make this happen we will have to pay off the bulk of our home mortgage. In order to reach this goal we will have to have a 2011 of sacrifice and struggle. I will have to put EVERY spare penny in the bank (or send it right to the bank as an extra payment towards our principle).
The blessing of this is that I don't mind living simply. I am happy with our paid off cars and don't "need" to upgrade. I am happy (not thrilled, but happy) with our little townhouse. It's tempting to want to move up in house, but it's more important for me to be home with my girlies. I am a pretty low maintenance girl. I don't need much. I am happy to stay home and watch a movie instead of going out. I like to eat out, but can deal with only going out to restaurants that I've earned gift cards for. The other blessing is that I'm frugal (as you can probably tell). We can live on much less than most families (hopefully you can too if you're a regular reader of my site he he!).
I think in this gimme gimme world it's a blessing to take a few minutes to take stock of what blessings have been given to you. Living simply means being happy with less "stuff " and enjoying the simple free things in life like time with your kids and family. Some of the most precious memories that I have are of times and activities spent with family. We have made a commitment to get debt free because it will free up more time to spend with family (stress free). We are almost debt free now. We only have to pay off one small bill and our mortgage. I can't tell you how freeing that is already. We have now paid off over $111,000.oo including a mini van, Dodge Durango, $30,000 student loan and $26,434 in credit card debt. It's been a lot of work, but is incredibly freeing. I can't imagine not having a mortgage, but I can't wait to find out.
Have you guys started thinking about your New Years resolutions yet?? Do you have any financial goals in mind? If you do I have one book recommendation. If you haven't heard of Dave Ramsey, I would encourage you to snag his book called the Total Money Makeover. It ships free with Amazon Mom. This book has changed my life and the lives of countless families all over the world. He is a realist and gives a detailed doable way to get debt free. At one time Dave went from being a millionaire to being in bankruptcy. I really love all of the success stories in the book. If you are not in a position to buy the book, consider renting it at the library for free. People usually need to be on a waiting list for it at my library, but trust me it's well worth the wait!
To be continued on New Years Day...
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