Dog Days Of Working... I Mean Summer!

We have a busy month upon us here at the Grant household. Jake has five weddings to photograph in the next four weeks, which means that in between each wedding he will have lots of photos to develop. I have my first Fitness Challenge Group to manage, plus learning the ins and outs of my new business venture, and preparing for next month's Challenge Group. On top of that we have several family functions to attend, a half marathon to train for, and our regular jobs.

Whew! Just writing all that makes me want to take a nap!

But when life gets busy I just have to stop and remember what my goals are, and remind myself that it is just for a season.

We desire to live debt free, and if that means taking on extra work to get there than we are willing to do it.

We desire for me to be a stay-at-home mom—once we are blessed with kiddos, that is—and if that means trying to start up a new business than we are willing to do it!

We desire to bless others financially, whether giving through our local church or supporting a missionary, and if that means taking on extra work than we are willing to do it!

You get the idea.

We have prayed and sought after what God wants for us at this point in our lives, and we have come to a place where we are willing to accept whatever He sends our way. So while this month may be super busy for us, we are thankful for His abundant blessings. Plus, I'm planning a fun date night for this Friday because we are in need of some "couple time."

What are you willing to do to be out of debt? Cut the cable? Take on part-time work? Stop eating out? Commit today to doing something about your finances, and let us know what it is in the comments below!

Keep pinchin' ;-)

I Am A Ball Of Sweat And Sobs

I feel like I should take a BEFORE and AFTER picture of my body's amazing transformation throughout this 60 day "Insanity" workout, except I have this inner monologue that convinces me not to. It goes something like this:

"Do the workout! Kill it! Slay it! Feel the burn! Ok, that's a little too much burn. Back off a little. Just a little. We'll pick it back up in a... holy mother of everything that's pure and wonderful that hurts! Ok, rest. Rest it out. Take a breath. Now start... in a minute. After another... short... wow this is hard. Harder than I thought. Maybe this isn't worth it. You know what, my knees feel like they're on fire, my feet are killing me, and I'm bathing in my own sweat. This is disgusting. I wonder what's on TV. Isn't this Shark Week? I'm hungry. Oh look, cookies!"

So, frankly, I don't think my transformation is going to be that amazing.

Ok, I'm kidding. I'm not really that pathetic.

Honestly, I gotta be proud of myself for sticking with this workout for four weeks now. Four weeks and still going strong. Next week my workout buddy and I begin month two where, from what I hear, the warm-up routine is the workout from month one. Did you catch that? The WARM-UP is the WORKOUT from month one. It has moves in it with names like Mountain Climbers, Floor Sprints, and Suicides.

That's right, Suicides. Presumably named such because people have died doing them.

And, like I said, that's just the warm-up. As for what the actual workout is, I have no idea. And I am fearful with anticipation. I am a literal ball of trembling child just sobbing on the floor.

It's really hard to know how well I'm doing at this point in the workout. I haven't lost any weight yet, but my body is firmer. Flappy areas are less flappy. I'm more flexible, and my stamina has improved, but at the end of each workout I feel like my body has just been the battleground for some kind of world war where everyone got shot and is dying in agony, screaming.

I'll tell you what, if I survive month two and come out the other side with six pack abs I'll do an after picture. If not, I'll just pretend this whole torturous experience never happened and go back to watching Shark Week. I hear they have footage of Great Whites getting eaten by Orcas. Should be epic!

Keep pumpin' ;-)

Jake's Take: Rocky - The Way Winning Is Done

Deriving financial insights from today's blockbusters and yesteryear's classics.

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There is hardly any other film series that has been as good, or inspired more generations with its tear-jerking rags-to-riches tale of love and determination than the boxing epic Rocky. One can extrapolate countless life lessons from the ground-breaking original 1976 film, and the five sequels that followed—lessons for business, morality, integrity, relationships—but when it comes to money management, one lesson holds the title.

It is a well-known Hollywood tale that when Sylvester Stallone wrote the original script for Rocky, numerous studios wanted to buy it as a starring vehicle for big name actors like Burt Reynolds, James Caan, and Ryan O’Neal. But Stallone, even though he was penniless and out-of-work, refused to sell the script without a guarantee that he’d also star in the film. Much like his character Rocky, he was determined to go the distance no matter what. Eventually he got someone to bite, and the film went on to win dozens of awards including the 1977 Oscar for Best Picture.

Rocky is the ultimate story of determination, of a man whose drive to win pushes him beyond his limits. In the film, Rocky takes a beating against boxing's champion Apollo Creed, and just when the crowd and the judges, and even Apollo himself, think Rocky is going to go down and stay down, he rises again.

It’s what Dave Ramsey calls it “gazelle intensity.”

Paying off debt is rarely a one, two punch. It’s 15 rounds with Apollo Creed. Along the way there are going to be setbacks, black eyes, broken noses, pain, and tears, but, as Rocky says: “It ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done.”

Keep pinching’ :-)

Jake's Take - Money Morals from the Movies: Babe

Deriving financial insights from today's blockbusters and yesteryear's classics.

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If you’re going to slay debt with “gazelle intensity” and build wealth like no one else, you’ve got to not be afraid to be different. In fact, you sort of have to embrace it, because, honestly, there's going to be some people who think you're pretty weird.

That’s the wonderful lesson we get from the touching 1995 comedy Babe. Based on a 1983 book by Dick King-Smith, Babe tells the story of an orphan pig who is chosen for a “guess the weight” contest at a county fair. The winning farmer, Arthur Hoggett, brings him to his farm where the poor little pig is told by just about all the other animals that he is worthless, that pigs have no purpose in life other than to be eaten by humans.

Determined to prove that pigs are not worthless, Babe sets out to learn from Farmer Hoggett’s border collies the practice of wrangling sheep. The sheep dogs laugh at his silly idea. The other animals laugh as well. When Babe goes to the sheep dog trials, an entire stadium of people laugh at him, too.

But you know what’s cool about that movie? Never once does Babe the pig question himself. He’s naive, for sure, but he knows he’s different. He knows that what he’s doing isn’t typical or expected of him, but he does it anyway. And in the end, he wins.

We can all learn a lesson from Babe, or “Pig,” as Farmer Hoggett calls him—if you’re going to be different, be it proud. Sure people may think you’re strange, but hold your head up high in the midst of the naysayers, because, guess what, you know something they don’t: today you’re living like no one else so that tomorrow you can live like no one else.

Keep pinching’ :-)

The Debt Snowball: Why It Works, How It Works

It's been 16 months since Dani and I first went through Financial Peace University, and in that time we've completed the first three baby steps. We're just now getting around to thinking about things like insurance and retirement planning, so I'm sure we'll have more to say on those topics in the months ahead.

For now, we're experts on the "debt snowball." What is a debt snowball? How is it supposed to work? Essentially the debt snowball is a behavior modification plan. It's purpose is to get you to start thinking differently about money. It's also designed to motivate you by getting you to pay off some smaller debts more quickly.

When you were a kid, making snowballs usually started with a small pinch of snow, then you added to it and added to it until you could roll it into a nice little aerial projectile of devastation. Rolling was key to making big snowballs because they got bigger quicker when you rolled them. That's exactly how Dave Ramsey's debt snowball plan works.

Start by listing your debts smallest to largest, and ignore the interest rates. It doesn't matter if it has a 2% interest rate or a 22% interest rate. Forget about it. This is behavior modification and motivation, not math.

Pay minimum payments on all the debts except the smallest one and then attack that one with a vengeance. Once it's gone, take the money you were putting toward that debt and add it to the minimal payment on the next smallest debt. Once that's done, take that combined payment and go to the next one. Knock them out one by one.

The reason you start with the smallest debt first is because if you start with the largest one you won't see it leave for quite some time. You'll see numbers going down on a page, but that's it. Eventually you'll lose steam and motivation and you'll probably end up quitting. But when you attack the small debts first you see progress. When you see the plan working, you'll be more inclined to stick to it.

The only time you might make an exception is if one of the debts is to the IRS. You don't want them hovering over you, so pay off that debt first, then proceed down the list of other debts, smallest to largest, using the debt snowball method.

Dani and I had about 19 months of payments on a car, a motorcycle, and a credit card when we started to employ the debt snowball method. In about six months our debt was GONE! This. Plan. Works!

If you want more details about the debt snowball including an example, Dave Ramsey explains it best here: How The Debt Snowball Method Works.

Keep pinchin' :-)

Financial Peace University - What If I'm Doing It Wrong?

Dani and I are getting ready to lead the next Financial Peace University class at our church starting January 28. As I have been reviewing the leadership material, I'm wonder two things:

1. Do the people who have signed up for this have any idea what they’re getting into? I sure didn’t. On the first night that I went to FPU I was terrified of all the stuff I was sure I wouldn’t understand—words like “budgeting” and “allocated spending.” Along with my weird phobia toward numbers and math, I was certain I was going to hate every second of this class. But Dave Ramsey was surprisingly entertaining and he made the whole concept of money management easy to understand. And, thankfully, there wasn’t a lot of math involved, just common sense.

2. Have I created any false hope in those attending? Everywhere that Dani and I have spoken about FPU over the last month or so—newspapers, radio, area churches—I’ve been careful to say, “When you COMMIT yourself to the plan, and are DEDICATED to following the baby steps, this program works.” Commitment. Dedication. This is what it takes. This plan doesn’t work because it’s some magic formula, or because it’s “Dave Ramsey’s plan,” it works because it’s common sense, Biblical-based stuff that has obvious and measurable success when you APPLY yourself to it. I hope I’ve done a good job at making that clear so that people who don’t apply themselves, who aren’t dedicated, don’t become discouraged or upset with me when the plan doesn’t work for them.

We had about 40 people take the class last year. Unfortunately at our one year reunion only about 10 people showed up. I’m sure that in some cases there were scheduling difficulties, and in other cases there was simply a lack of interest, but I fear the biggest reason not many people came to the reunion is shame. I think too many people failed to put any effort into the plan and thus didn’t see much success. Therefor the idea of getting back together with their class to talk about it was probably embarrassing. 

We have almost 60 people signed up this time around, not including anyone who might choose to retake the class, which is very exciting! I’m hopeful that everyone who attends will work to make it just as successful in their lives as it has been for Dani and me. And I hope that at our next reunion in 2015 there’s a bigger turnout with many more success stories.

Keep pinching’ :-)