My quote

Just to follow up...on the not my quote. I have been reading a lot about debts, spending, economy and the future of our finances lately. Well, I guess its been about 7 months. I will be honest, we havent always made the best budget decisions. We are changing all of that now.

We are in the unique position of being able to pay off some things. I spoke to a financial adviser at USAA-our bank. This is a free service to military members. She helped with a budget, not that we couldnt have done this alone but why not use the free advice? I knew which interest rates were higher, but should I pay off this one or this one because of this and that. We have 2 debts that we want gone before Frank's return home. We are unique because he is deployed, yes there are many soldiers that are deployed, but we can use the additional hazard pay to get these debts payed down and apparently many people cannot afford this.

We have very little debt, our ratio is low especially compared to the average American. But we want none at all. We dont owe on our cars, granted they are not new or fancy and sometimes they break. But then we fix them ourselves. I want our children to grow up seeing good financial decisions being made, I include them in bill paying and discussing future finances IE savings accounts, having no credit card bills, avoiding even student loans if possible and planning ahead.

We will be buying an RV-travel trailer- and using it to go to school with Frank and for traveling otherwise. Vactation, family reunion, attending state fair etc. The children and I saw some lovely new ones yesterday, that we can roll into our house payment! I politely declined and came home. Oh they were nice! The one I loved the most had 2 bathrooms! I cant find that same one or a similar one used online. But can we make it with one bathroom and spend 25 THOUSAND dollars less? You bet we can! I am not even disappointed. Things are not as "shiny" now as they were 10 years ago. Several paid off debts later, and a lot of learning.

Now you know our plan. Get out of debt, stay out of debt. Keep raising animals and a garden for food savings (no we wont have animals if we travel to school with him but will again later) and find more ways to save and be sufficient. No more creating debts unless absolutely necessary.

I think individuals should look at their own spending habits as closely as they do those of the governemnt. Our economy is troubled right now, and there are a lot of reasons. Many of them I do not even know, I dont pay attention to politics. I think we should address the smaller close to home issues, even as we vote for and sometimes worry over the larger financial issues in our world.

I have two very good friends who have very good spending habits. I have watched them make excellant choices, and when they have extra they spend it wisely. When they dont have extra, they are paid up. They set a good example to their family and to their freinds. We are following suit! I think in this economy, its a good habit to learn and then stick with it even when things look up.