Kitty & Kevin

Today we are celebrating 5 wonderful years of marriage. I decided as a way to reflect, Kevin and I would answer 5 questions about our last 5 years, without knowing what the other would say! 



Favorite trip
Kitty: Hands down, Cairo. Visiting Egypt has been top of my list of places to visit ever since I can remember (top was always China, but Egypt was an extremely close second). It wasn't just visiting Cairo that was amazing, it was sharing that experience with Kevin. This was something so completely new to both of us. It was also our first trip that once arrived, we were escorted around by a private guide (we tend to take a "backpackers" approach to all other vacations). Security, inexpensive tourist guides, and in ability to research recent tourist information about Cairo brought us to this conclusion...and at about $80 a day for a guide, driver and all attractions paid was well worth it. My favorite moment was arriving in Giza at our hotel late in the evening, setting our…

You know what keeps us on track financially more than anything else? More than any book, class, blog post or advice on our finances?

Financial dreaming.
What is financial dreaming? It is where we talk about where we want to be in the future. Whether it is a certain home (which we used to do before we found our new house) or updates to an existing home, a trip, an electronic device, being able to retire, or be able to pay for Lorelai's college....it could be anything.

Financial dreaming is motivation for us. It gets us on the same page, and encourages us to forgo things today, so we are better off in the future. It is a reminder of why we are living life the way we are, not carrying credit card debt or paying on a car loan.

We LOVE financial dreaming dates. Usually these are a drive together in a car, a talk on the couch when Lorelai is sleeping, or a meal out together. Time where it is uninterrupted that we can talk about our future financial goals.

Some people swear by a financial…

We mentioned in our immediate recap of our No Spend Month, that we expected to see a lot of results the following month, rather than immediately after.

After our No Spend Month, we were able to put an extra $1,400 towards our mortgage.

This has been a huge blessing for us, but you may be thinking....where did that money come from and how much money were you spending on frivolous things on the regular?!

First, we always try to put a few hundred extra towards our mortgage on any given month. So part of this money was the usual amount we pay towards our debt. Yes, not spending money on anything except for food basics, gas, utilities and rent certainly saved us some cash....but it was more than just that.

I mentioned in our earlier recap (read more here) about how this exercise helped change my mindset of spending. Part of this money (about $180 of it) came from the huge clothing sale I had last weekend as a way to simplify my life and living more intentionally (see post here). It was a sn…

Last week I read "A Simplified Life: Tactical Tools For Intentional Living" I've read a lot of books on cleaning (tidyng), organizing and how to take control of your life. They all had a lot of steps and seemed like a TON of work to implement. But this one was different, and it didn't just talk about your "stuff" it went through everything from meal planing, to finances, organizing your phone to digital photos on your computer.

And even better, this book is gorgeous to read. The hard cover, bookmark, beautiful photos throughout....it inspired me to live a more simplified life and have the intentional living mindset.  I'm in no way "there" yet, but I'm making be strides. 
My first step was immediately after starting this book I went through ALL my clothes. I pulled out about 300 pieces of shirts, dresses, shoes, belts necklaces...the works. I threw it all in my living room and invited friends to come over and pick anything they want for $1.…

In the 5 years we've been married...we have literally NEVER had a budget. Our approach to money has been spend as little as possible, save as much as possible....and never spend more than we make.

A lot has changed this last year... we went down to a 1 income family, we had a baby, we bought a new home (with a larger mortgage). And we've decided to give old fashioned budgeting a try. This was made very apparent with our No-Spend month last month, where we became much more aware of what we had previously been spending money on.

What has helped me get in the budget mindset is Rachel Cruze (daughter to Dave Ramsey). She is self-proclaimed spender and said she loves the budget because it gives her PERMISSION to spend.

Here is what our budget looks like for February (I've blocked out the amounts, but you can see percentages)


Notes: Housing includes everything from utilities, mortgage, our extra mortgage payments, cell phone bills etc. That is part of why it is so high. Also you…

Have you ever heard of a "No Spend" month? We thought it would be fun to take on this challenge as we work to pay off our mortgage as quickly as possible. Yesterday was the last day of our challenge, and we wanted to recap on how it went for us!

The Hardest Part:

My hardest part? Shopping for Lorelai. I have the most irrational set of "needs" for our daughter, and as a clearance shopper it is SO HARD for me to pass up a bargain on something. I went to the outlet mall once with my sister this month, and it was IMPOSSIBLE for me not to buy things. She laughed at me as I walked around Old Navy with a pile of $1-$2 shirts and dresses for Lorelai I found on clearance, and 15 minutes later she found me slowly putting everything back. It just about killed me. Through this experience, we learned I need to have a budget for what I can spend on Lorelai. This girl has plenty of clothes and everything else...and she certainly doesn't care what she is dressed in.

My second har…

In the world of personal finance, there are two loud voices on the subject of saving for retirement while paying off debt.

Some say to wait to save until your debt is paid off. And others say you should be saving for retirement while paying off your debt. I'm a strong believer that you cannot afford not to save for your retirement until your debt is paid off.

Here are a few reasons:

Free Money!! Many employers match money that is saved for retirement. If your employer matches 50% or 100% of the money saved, I cannot say enough how important it is to contribute the max amount your employer will match. If you were told, "if you put $100 in a savings account, I will give you $100 extra"...wouldn't you do it?? What better option is there for your money than getting free money?? Especially when the money is all YOURS, you get to do whatever you want with it in retirement. I know you may be paying 8% interest on your loans (or 25% interest on your credit card) you're stil…