food for finance: baby step 1

(healthy) food for finance is a column where we talk about how fitness and finance correlate with each other. join us on our journey to be both physically and financially fit.

Sometimes I feel a little self conscious when I talk about Dave Ramsey. And it is only because I don't want people to roll their eyes and say "oh there she goes again, talking about that Dave dude!" But then again....who cares!  I do try to tame myself around others and if I hear someone is a fan.....I get so excited then I take off!

So today my jeep broke down. I was about to exit the interstate and smoke was coming out from under my hood. I called work and when I pulled up to the parking lot, my manager and co-worker were there to assist. We all saw the leaky hose and the security guy confirmed it. It had to  be towed to make sure my engine did not lock up. I did learn that it was not smoke coming from my hood, it was steam. Who knew? All in all, the cost to fix my jeep was $315. I'm back to having transportation.

According to a recent CareerBulider survey, three-fourths of Americans live paycheck to paycheck.  The event that occurred today had the potential to be very stressful.  Kyle and I have always had a savings account, but we never had a plan for it.  Now we do.  Baby Step 1 on the Dave Ramsey plan is to have $1,000 in an emergency fund. It is for when something unexpected happens, you have something to fall back on. Baby Step 3 is to have three to six months of expenses in savings.  Kyle and I are still on baby step 2 and believe me, there will be a blog, party, you name it.....a much deserved celebration when we reach that goal!!  I'm so thankful that we choose to live paycheck to paycheck...but in a different way. All the extra money left over from our budget goes towards our debt snowball.  I'm so ready to kick my student loan to the curb!  We've come a long way with our budget. That story will be dedicated to another post. We cut back on a a lot of things in order to reach our goals. Keep in mind Kyle and I still have fun, even with the cut backs!

I'm thankful for a lot of things.  Thankful for my co-workers, Baby Step 1, and for Kyle! We have a plan for when bumps in the road come our way. A plan that doesn't stress me out but that makes having a car problem not a big deal.