Over the last few months, I have actually been able to list all of our monthly bills, which are current monthly expenses, which are revolving credit and which are old debt. Where possible I have been getting rid of the old debt so that our overall monthly expenses go down and more money is available each month to make even more payments with.
Currently we are at the point where less than half of the money that comes in each month goes to current bills. More than half is going to old debt. The reason that I say I can see the light at the end of the tunnel is because, in the next twelve to eighteen months, all the debt that I am aware of will be gone. Then every month afterwards the extra free money, really will be free money.
After that, the plan is to get copies of credit reports, one more time, and this time eliminate every bill on them. And then...
The serious work of planning our financial future can really begin. The idea here is to take the amount needed for our monthly bills off the top, open six new bank accounts and begin splitting the left over money each month into those accounts. The accounts needed will be vacation, savings, investing, charity, blow, maintenance.
The vacation account is where money for such things as trips to Disney World will go. In the savings account we will keep money for a rainy day, extreme emergencies and future home purchases. The investing account will be for things such as stocks, bonds, forex and mutual funds. For all the world has done for us, we would like to be able to give back and that is what the charity account will be for. The maintenance account is where money will go that is earmarked for fixing things up around the house and maintaining others before they break.
The blow account will be a special account that is set aside specifically as a fun account for us. We will be diligent in making the other accounts continue to have more and more money in them each month whenever possible. This last account is our reward for being disciplined with the rest of our money. It will begin every month as close to zero as possible and it is our goal to spend every last cent in this account on ourselves. This account is designed as a celebration and enjoyment of our success. It is our alcohol fund, our extra movie fund, our splurge account.
And last but certainly not least. I am not sure if we will need to set up another account for it or if it can share resources with one of the other accounts. But we need a pool of money set aside for personal growth. This would include movies, books, seminars and workshops designed to give people more tools to empower and improve themselves and the lives of others around them. Perhaps we could just set up an account labelled other and use it for whatever miscellaneous purposes we come up with.
It has taken a little longer than the seven years we originally planned to get to this point. But, unlike the first few years, progress can actually be measured now. We are getting to where we want to be. And each day we draw closer and closer.
What does the financial plan for your life look like? Are you swimming in debt? Could you use some advice?
No comments:
Post a Comment