Month: January 2020

Categories
Down The TBR Hole

Down the TBR Hole #221 – 240

Welcome to Down the TBR Hole #221-240!  What is Down the TBR Hole?  It is where I grab 20 books from my insanely long TBR list on Goodreads and decide if I am keeping or removing the books.  Need to catch up?  Click here to go to the previous post.  As a reminder, here are the rules:

I think this is the first week ever that I am starting with the same number I ended with in the last post.  I’m proud of myself, but I am also struggling because I am not reading books on my TBR list as I should be.  If you follow me on Instagram, you would have seen previously that I am on both a Kindle Unlimited and Black Romance kick right now.  And I haven’t taken the time to add any books that I want to read on my TBR.  I just read them. Kicking off this week with 4,657 books on my TBR list.  Let’s get started.

 

 

 

1. Financially Fearless: The LearnVest Program for Taking Control of Your Money by Alexa Von Tobel

I would love to learn more about this 50/20/30 plan they have, so I am keeping this one.

 

 

 

 

 

2. Live It, Love It, Earn It: A Woman’s Guide to Financial Freedom by Marianna Olszewski

I’ll probably be keeping all the finance books because it is a passion of mine, and I could learn all day long about this topic.  It’s also a plus that it’s a female author.  Keeping this one.

 

 

 

 

 

3. The Laws of Money, The Lessons of Life: 5 Timeless Secrets to Get Out and Stay Out of Financial Trouble by Suze Orman

One of the original people I started to follow when it came to finances (a true OG).  Keeping her on the list.

 

 

 

 

 

4. MONEY Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom by Tony Robbins

I’ve heard of Tony Robbins as a motivational speaker but not in the financial world.  But I love that it appears he did his research by reaching out to the experts to write this book. I am keeping this one.

 

 

 

 

 

5. Smart Women Finish Rich: 9 Steps to Achieving Financial Security and Funding Your Dreams by David Bach

I’m not a fan of men who write books for women.  So I am removing this one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. The Richest Man In Babylon by George S. Clason

This is one of those classic books but one that I don’t mind reading.  I am keeping this one.

 

 

 

 

 

7. Your Money and Your Man: How You and Prince Charming Can Spend Well and Live Rich by Michelle Singletary

Another OG in the financial world for me.  It’s a major plus that she is a woman of color because until recently, I wasn’t seeing anyone that looked like me in the “famous” financial world (think Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman).  I am keeping this book.

 

 

 

 

 

8. Spend Well, Live Rich by Michelle Singletary

Another one from Michelle Singletary and I have had this book on my list for so long.  I am keeping this one.

 

 

 

 

 

9. Listen, Love, Repeat: Other-Centered Living in a Self-Centered World by Karen Ehman

I believe once upon a time, I was very others-centered.  I regularly did for others, helped others, and put others first.  Somewhere along the way, I gave that up and became super all about me.  There has to be some balance I can achieve.  So I am keeping this one.

 

 

 

 

10. Beyond Jabez: Expanding Your Borders by Bruce Wilkinson

Okay, so apparently this book is a follow up to his original book, Prayer of Jabez (which is also on my list).  Both books are about prayer but the first book, more specifically on 1st Chronicles 4:10.  I had to look up the verse, and it makes me wonder why out of all the prayers in the Bible, this is the one that was chosen to write a book on.  I am removing this one.

 

 

 

 

 

11. Sister Betty! God’s Calling You, Again! by Pat G’Orge-Walker

Oh my goodness, this seems like it would be a funny book.  I haven’t read too many funny Christian books (at least I think this is Christian fiction, but it is for sure African American fiction), so I am keeping this one.

 

 

 

 

 

12. Drawn to Destiny: How to Discover and Bring to Fruition Your True Purpose in Life by Yvonne Capehart

Hmm, so I think the purpose of my life books has come back around as an interest for me.  No telling if that will be the case by the time I get around to reading some of these, but for now, I will keep this one.

 

 

 

 

 

13. What Do I Know About My God? by Mardi Collier

One thing I like about this book is that it speaks about reading the Bible to get to know God.  The other thing is that it includes a study method.  I am keeping this one.

 

 

 

 

 

14. The Pursuit of God: The Human Thirst for the Divine by A.W. Tozer

One of the classics.  A.W. Tozer is one of those Christian authors I always see quoted.  And while I may have removed some of his other books until I know more about him, I know this particular book is one that I want to read.  I am keeping this one.

 

 

 

 

 

15. Let Me Be A Woman by Elisabeth Elliot

I was torn with this book.  While I would love to “learn what it means to be a woman” by starting “with the One who made her.”, a part of me is not wanting to limit my focus on just being a woman.  I’m going to go ahead and remove this one.

 

 

 

 

 

16. The Role of a Lifetime – The Script God Wrote for Women by Claudia Barba

Remember what I just said up above?  This is why I am torn.  Because this study seems more like a book that I would read about God’s role for women.  That means I am keeping it.

 

 

 

 

17. The 21 Tenets of Biblical Feminity: Transforming Girls into Young Ladies by Jerry & Sheryl Ross

My initial thought was, did Jerry throw his wife in as an author because he knew how wrong it was for a man to write about Femininity? Although I wouldn’t mind reading about this topic, it grinds my gears that the primary author is a man.  There are so many books by amazing women that write about this topic.  Removing this one.

 

 

 

18. The Choice is Yours: Life Happens. Walking with God is a Decision. by Terrie Chappell

From personal experience, I’ve learned recently that decision fatigue is a real thing.  I want not to have to make as many decisions on matters and want to be led more by God’s Spirit with things.  That’s also why a primary focus of the Year of Healthy is building habits. I am keeping this one.

 

 

 

 

19. Secrets of a Happy Heart by Debi Pryde

It was a little challenging to find the synopsis for this book, which tells me I added it from a recommendation list.  But it is a study of Titus 2.  That happens to be one of my favorite chapters in the Bible.  I am keeping this one.

 

 

20. What is Modesty by Michelle Brock

Most of my life, I have been a pretty conservative dresser.  I like to be comfortable and am not a fan of showing a ton of skin.  But the older I get, the more I wonder about the balance of being modest and being sexy (which I also enjoy).  I want to look and feel good.  And as much as I love a good pair of ball shorts and a tee, I also love a good dress.  I am keeping this one. (fun fact: I took a 2-second break after getting a message on IG and scrolled for a second and saw a modest apparel company advertised.  👋🏾 Big Brother 🤣)

 

Final Count: Removing 4; Keeping 16

TBR Down to 4,653

Another week’s list that has quite a few books about money and finances, which continue to go in line with January’s Year of Healthy theme.  Have you read any of these books? Did I make a mistake with removing or keeping one?

Categories
All 66 Books

All 66 Books: Haggai

Need some background info on this series? See here and here.

Haggai is a short book that I read after Ezra.  According to Crossway, it takes 6 minutes to read.

Just a reminder, it’s best to let scripture interpret scripture. I like these resources because they help me better understand scripture, but I may not agree with everything they say. As in all things, pray and invite God to help you in your time of reading and studying. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you and use discernment when using resources outside of the Bible itself. “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15 NIV)

Here is an additional resource I recommend looking into after you read Haggai through on your own:

The Bible Project

Leave me a comment below if you have taken the 6 minutes to read Haggai.  Do you know any other great resources for this book?  Leave them below!

Categories
Family Finances Home

Our Monthly Budget Spreadsheet Part 2

I hope that you were able to get some valuable information from last week’s post on Part 1 of our Budget Spreadsheet.  I shared our Income, Giving, Saving, and Debt sections.  To read Part 1, head here.

While what I shared so far are some notable heavy hitters, I believe what I am going to share next are things that we most often have forgotten about.  The things that month to month may be a struggle to remember to pay, or they pop up unexpectedly.  Things like our household bills, auto-related expenses, and subscriptions.  These items for me are still sectioned off on the left side of my budget and grouped with their related bills.  On the right side, they are listed under our Bill Tracker, and most items have trackers to keep up with the day to day details.

Insurance

Our home insurance is connected to our mortgage, but we still have Life Insurance, Auto Insurance, and a Home Warranty to pay for.  If we had any supplemental medical insurance, we would include that here as well.  As a reminder, the left side of our budget consists of the following columns: Budgeted, Actual 1-15, Actual 16-31, Diff/Remaining, and Notes.

I am hiding the section of the Bill Tracker that I showed you last week, so you can still see the column headings.  But here is what the insurance section looks like.  Here I can document the exact Due Date, the exact Amount, the Method of payment (mail check, scheduled, autopay), which Paycheck it will come out of,  and if it’s Confirmed Paid/Payment Cleared.  Then I also have a Notes section here.

Utilities

Depending on where you live, if you rent or own, and what is included with your rent, this section could have less or more than what I have listed.  For us, we only have to worry about Electric, Security System, Internet, and our Cell Phone.  But for others, they may also include Cable, Water, and Trash.

Here is what the Utilities section looks like under the Bill Tracker.

Home

This is another section that will depend on your specific living situation.  In this Home section, we include almost everything else dealing with the home that hasn’t already been covered.  For us, that contains Groceries, Home Improvement (a sinking fund which I will discuss later), Yard Maintenance, Alarm Permit Renewal, Pest Control, Septic System Agreement, and Septic Permit.  A lot of these are quarterly or yearly payments and can be a considerable chunk out of a paycheck if it hits all at once.  So having it here in our budget allows us to put money towards it each paycheck.  For example, our Septic System Agreement can cost up to $450 a year.  So instead of paying all of that out of one check, we can set aside $37.50 from our “bill light” paycheck (meaning we don’t have a ton of bills coming out) each month.  Then when it is time to pay the agreement, we pull the $450 we have saved to pay it.

For the Bill Tracker section Home, I only have listed actual bills that need to get paid.  This section is essential, especially for the bills that are due quarterly and yearly.  When I created this sheet and going forward every year with my planning, I will include the estimated due date and amount here until I get the actual invoice/bill.  So, for example, I see last year in November is when we paid for our Septic Agreement.  It is yearly, so I know this year, in November, it will be due again.  My tracker will most likely show an 11/01 due date to help me plan out the monthly amount I need to save.  And then, when I get the invoice in September or October, I will update the exact due date and amount.

This section also includes the first of the specific trackers.  Probably like many of you, if there is one area of our budget that we are likely to overspend, it is on food.  I love eating, and I love cooking.  A couple of years ago, due to some health issues, I had to make a significant change in the type of food I was buying and cooking, which increased our food budget.  Knowing how easy it is to have this category get out of control, I knew I needed to create a Grocery Tracker.  One thing that has changed recently is I am going to the grocery store a couple of times a week (from 5 times in November to 12 times in December).  I am trying to reduce the amount of food we end up wasting because it stays hanging around for too long.  So each trip I document the Date I went, the Amount spent, the Place I went to, if the Payment Cleared and Notes. One difference is the total here gets automatically plugged into the Groceries category in the Home section of our budget. And that cell is merged because it doesn’t exactly matter much for me which paycheck we spend money on groceries. After all, it is something that is needed, no matter what.  Here is a sneak peek: Next month’s topic for Year of Healthy will be me going vegan (just for that one month).  This will be interesting to see how that impacts my budget as I always hear (and have experienced) that it is more expensive to eat healthily.  But cutting out meat and other animal products should help.

Auto

The auto section is where we have our Gas, Car Maintenance, and Car Registration listed.  I can also tell you that Driver’s License Renewal will get added to this section thanks to me thinking I lost mine last month and having to order a new only to find it later. Car Maintenance and Car Registration are both categories that we tend to save up for by putting money aside each paycheck mostly.  But due to the number of miles we drive each month, we have to get an oil change on at least one of the cars each month.  So at a minimum, we have to put that amount aside each month.

For the Bill Tracker, this is where we keep Car Registration #1 and Car Registration #2.  Ours come in the mail what feels like 3-4 months before they are due, and as someone who frequently forgets hers, it needed to be added to the budget.

Based on us having to get an oil change for one of our cars monthly, you may have concluded that one of our vehicles gets a lot of miles put on it, which means a ton of trips to the gas station.  While I can get away with going once a month, my husband sometimes has to go 2-3 times a week.  To keep up with how much gas is costing us each month and if we need to increase our budgeted amount, we track the Date, the Amount, the Place, which Car was filled up, if the Payment Cleared and Notes. This helps us keep an eye on which gas station tends to have the lowest price for gas, and we can plan better.

His/Her

His/Her section covers items that are specific to Chris or I.  This is where we will have our Blow $ allowance, Clothing allowance, and Personal Care (hair/nails/etc.).  You will notice that Chris has an Entertainment section, and I don’t.  At first, I thought that I don’t need one because Chris is more likely to go out to the movies with his friends, whereas if I go, it will be with him and will go in the next section we talk about.  But this would probably be a good spot for any books I buy. I usually put them under blow $.  I’ll try it for a month, and we will see.  Also, this is where I keep the categories for my Website Domain and Website Support.

Out of all of those categories, the only ones that go on our Bill Tracker pertains to my Website Domain and Website Support.

All others get tracked under the His and Her Trackers that we have.  Here we are monitoring the Date, Amount, Place, if the Payment Cleared and Notes.  This is only for transactions that we use our debit card for.  So if Chris and I decide to take out cash for our blow $, we wouldn’t include that info here.  But again, having this track the individual purchases helps with planning our budget for things like clothes or personal care that may not be a monthly thing or may have one month that has more spending than others (like when Chris needs a new uniform for work). Notes usually are where I will document which category the transaction would be apart of.

Sinking Funds

Another section that I picked up from following Dave Ramsey is Sinking Funds.  A sinking fund is a mini savings “account” that I may or may not use each month.  For us, this includes a Pet Fund, Date Nights, Eating Out, Gifts & Misc., Medical Expenses, and Home Goods.  Most of these are also areas that we can quickly cut if we need more wiggle room in our budget (except the Pet Fund and Medical Expenses).

We do have a Sinking Funds Tracker where we can track the specific transactions for all the sections mentioned above.  Here we document the Date, the Amount, the Place, which Sinking Fund it goes to, if the Payment Cleared, and Notes.  We also record our Home Improvement sinking fund transactions here as well from the Home Section.  Putting money aside in that fund monthly, helps me save for a larger project we do during the year like redoing our patio or my office.

Subscriptions

This is a newer section for us because when I was going through our bank transactions, these little suckers always came up unexpectedly because we didn’t plan for them.  While I usually would have generic categories here, I wanted to leave our exact subscriptions to help refresh your memory! This section took three months to build out because each month, I was saying, “Oh yea, we pay for that also.”  Some are monthly. Some are yearly.  Some we canceled for the moment but may use again.  Either way, it is all here, so I know that it comes from our budget.

I consider these bills, so they go under our Bill Tracker as well. Because most of these are on Autopay, it has been a lifesaver knowing when they are going to hit our account.  And seeing the number of subscriptions we had, made us do some cutting down.

Odd Balls/Summary

I keep this Odd Ball section just in case there is a random category that comes up that doesn’t fit any of the other sections or categories that I already have.  I have yet to use it, but just in case.  The final part of our monthly budget is our summary.  They are formulas that show what is left after our Actual Expenses are subtracted from our Actual Income and what is left after our Budgeted Expenses are deducted from our Budgeted Income.  This gives me a high-level view of if our budget is in the red for the month and lets me know I need to make some adjustments.

Here is a full view of what the Bill Tracker looks like.

What’s Next

Since Finances are such a big part of my life and super important to talk about when it comes to marriage and families, I am thinking about adding another month to focus on budgeting.  Maybe talk a bit about our goals, paying down debt, or even what it took to transition to a one-income family.  Let me know what you think about our Budget Spreadsheet and if you have any topics you want me to cover in the second month.

Categories
Faith

Rhenáe’s Randoms – 1/23/20

I first want to start by repenting if I was ever a person who complained about another Christian’s journey and relationship with the Bible.  I was in a situation recently where I was getting a ton of flack for constantly reading my Bible and even more so for using my color code system and highlighting in it.  I know some people refuse to write or mark in their Bibles and see it as disrespectful.  But I have never been one of those people, and I have yet to come across scripture that tells me I cannot do it.  I have come across plenty of scripture that tells me to meditate on God’s Word, to make it known and to not only hear but to be doers of the Word of God.  In my opinion, I cannot do any of that if I don’t spend time reading it, studying it, and just overall enjoying it.  How I choose to do that is by color-coding certain things, highlighting, and underlining.  It’s what has kept me consistently in God’s Word, and I don’t see that changing for me.  And I definitely won’t be changing it for other people.  Especially for people who don’t even open their Bibles themselves.

I’ve noticed that the people who typically complain about me reading the Bible, me color coding in my Bible, and me writing in my Bible tend to do so with a wistfulness in their voice. Almost like they are envious that I’m doing it and they aren’t. Here is a secret: you could do it too. God cares that I’m in His Word. Not what I’m doing in it. I would think He would appreciate me doing whatever faithfully keeps me reading and knowing His Word compared to me being fearful and not being in His Word at all. I’m not better than you for doing it this way. I’m not better than you at all. Let’s stop judging others for how they choose to walk out their relationship with God and prayerfully thank God that He has another soldier on earth. 

*I use to share things that stuck out to me from my daily reading on my social media accounts.  Here is the blurb I use to include:

Why do I share? To show you that it is quite simple to jump in and open your Bible and read and study it for yourself.

💙 Look for what the passage says about God/Jesus/Holy Spirit

💜 Look for what the passage says about God’s Word

💖 Look for any prayers

💛 Look for what the passage says that you should be applying to your life

💚 Look for what the passage says about your identity in Christ or as a child of God

Categories
All 66 Books

All 66 Books: Ezra

Need some background info on this series? See here and here.

For a while, before I read this book, I felt like God was telling me to read it.  It helped me confirm this idea for the blog, along with some other things.  God has been dropping the word help into my spirit for years now, and when I found out that Ezra means help in Hebrew, I knew it was time to read it.  According to Crossway, it takes 40 minutes to read the book of Ezra.

Just a reminder, it’s best to let scripture interpret scripture. I like these resources because they help me better understand scripture, but I may not agree with everything they say. As in all things, pray and invite God to help you in your time of reading and studying. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you and use discernment when using resources outside of the Bible itself. “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15 NIV)

Here is an additional resource I recommend looking into after you read Ezra through on your own:

The Bible Project

Leave me a comment below if you have taken the 40 minutes to read Ezra.  Do you know any other great resources for this book?  Leave them below!

Categories
Family Finances Home

Our Monthly Budget Spreadsheet Part 1

If you have read any of the Year of Healthy posts from January, you learned that I have a love for budgeting.  You also learned that after taking a break from handling our household budget, I decided to break out a spreadsheet that helped us previously and update it a bit.  I wanted to share with you what our monthly budget spreadsheet looks like.  To get some more background information check out the previous posts here and here.

All In One Place

While this post will talk about our monthly budget, I do want to touch on what else is in this excel document.  I am a firm believer in having all you need in one place for almost every area of my life.  That is probably why I have a lint roller in the living room, laundry room, bedroom, bathroom, and the closet.  It just doesn’t make sense to me to have to go hunting for things.  So when it was time to update our budget spreadsheet, I knew I wanted it to include all things financial for us.  I may do a post later showing the specifics of what else is included but for now, here is a quick list:

  • PayDay Calendar
  • Mortgage Tracking (Statement Info, Date Pymts Posted, Escrow Details, Principal Balance, Interest Paid Balance, Estimated Equity)
  • Financial Goals (Monthly, Yearly, Lifetime)
  • Bank Transactions
  • Yearly Budget (until 2021)

Monthly Template

One thing I did while putting together the spreadsheet was to create a new tab for each month.  That way, when things come up that are in the future, I can already have a spot designated for it.  For example, if we decide to take a trip in May, I can increase our blow money for that month during my planning in January.  Each month already has my budget template, and I only need to update it if I make significant changes.

On the left side of the template is the actual budget.  I have our income and expenses sectioned off in groups because it makes it so much easier to see where our money is going.  I have a column labeled Budgeted, and that is where I do my preplanning for what we expect to receive income-wise and spend expense wise. The next column is Actual 1-15. Any money actually received or spent will get documented under this column for the first half of the month.  The second half of the month is recorded under the column Actual 16-31.  The final two columns are Diff/Remaining, which I have set as a formula to let me know where we either overspent or underspent by subtracting our Actual from our Budgeted and lastly, a Notes column.

On the right side, is my trackers.  Each major group has one, so I can keep track of the totals and sometimes compare it to our goals.  Some of our sections, like gas, needs to be tracked in more detail than just saying we will spend $250 this month.  We can see which car is using more gas, etc.  This side also has our Debt Snowball information, our bill tracker with specifics such as due dates, how it was paid, and if it has cleared yet.

Let’s jump into the different sections and trackers.  *By the way, I include blank shots of our template.  I’m just not there yet with showing specific numbers on the intranets.  I hope you feel me!*

Income

This section in our budget is pretty self-explanatory.  Any income that comes into our household gets documented here.  That could be traditional employment, business income, rental/investment income, side hustle income, gifts.  It all goes into our income section.  Since it is just Chris and me, we have it noted as His Salary and Her Salary and then a couple of spots for Extra Income.  For this section and every section, we have a formula for the subtotal and also for the Diff/Remaining column.

On the right side, we do have a Paycheck Tracker.  Although it probably should be titled, Income Tracker.  But this is where I track the details of our income.  Specifically, the date received and what type it was.  If you expect to get rental income every month on the first, under Extra Income #1, you will document 1/1/20 with a Target amount of $1,000.  If that is what you actually get, you record the Actual amount to $1,000.  This is extremely helpful for those who don’t have a consistent income amount.  We expect our paycheck to be a certain amount every month, but different variables could have us receiving more.  I only want to budget off of what I know we will receive.  Anything extra is an added benefit that I can distribute out once that money is in my hands.

Giving

Our next section is giving.  I am a Christian, and I believe in tithing.  For me, tithing is done before paying anything else as I am a firm believer in God being able to make the rest stretch as long as I give Him my first fruits.  I actually already have the formula set up in that field based on our total income.  Right now, it is documented as 10% Tithe, but I believe that one day we will be able to do more.  This section is also where I include our Offerings amount and extra spaces for monetary Donations that we make during the month to charities or those in need.

My YTD Giving Tracker helps me track our giving towards our specific goals.  Under Target, I list out our goal (for example, 10% of our annual income would be our 10% Tithe target), and each month, I would update the Actual amount.  I have a formula set up for Percent Given.  This allows me to make sure we are on track each month.  If I get to, let’s say, July, and for some reason, we are under 50% of our goal, it is time to reevaluate or confirm that the rest of the year has us hitting our goal.

Saving

I also believe in paying yourself first before you pay anybody else.  I’ve seen (and done) too often, people who wait until everything is paid before they put any money in savings and then they are left with nothing.  This doesn’t work for us because we have goals that we are trying to hit.  In the past, we have followed Dave Ramsey, and he says that you should start with saving an Emergency Fund of $1,000 before you start paying off debt.  That is more of a short term goal that we may already have accomplished.  But if we ever have to use the fund, we need to focus on building it again.  And that is why it keeps a permanent spot on our budget.  We then have a place for Retirement.  The older we get, the more critical this section is.  As a No Car Note family, we need to keep that going for as long as possible.  That means we need to save for our next set of cars, which happens in the New Car Fund.  Our next one is a calculation.  Have you ever heard the statistic that, if you pay one additional payment a year to the principal on a 30-year mortgage, it will remove seven years from your mortgage?  That’s seven years of interest I do not have to pay!  So we take that one extra payment and divide it by 12 to know how much extra we have to put aside each month in our House Fund.  We would also use this when it comes time to save for a new house.  For additional money that we want to save for no specific purpose, we have a Savings Goal section.  This is also a formula that can calculate 5%, 10%, or 25% of your total income.  If you are in school and paying for it out of pocket (like I was), there is a Tuition section.  Many financial gurus will tell you about the benefit of having a certain amount of your monthly expenses set aside in case of job loss.  Depending on who you follow, that amount could be anywhere from 3-12 months.  I prefer to save in 3-month increments for our goal.  So we currently have it set as 3-6 Months Expenses.  Finally, we have our Vacation Fund to save for those vacation dreams we have.

I threw in some sample numbers so you could see what the YTD Savings Tracker looks like in action with the goals listed.  Target is where we keep our goal numbers for each section.  Each month, as deposits are made into these funds, the Actual amount gets updated.  Then the formula I have under Percent Saved will calculate and let us know how on track with our goals we are.  Admittedly, some of these goals have to take a back burner depending on whats going on in our life.  Some gurus will tell you only to have an emergency fund while paying debt.  Other’s will show you how to save in all these areas AND pay off debt, albeit slowly.

Debt

Although this tends to be a substantial section, the numbers are pretty straightforward.  The Debt section is where I list our budgeted and actual payments for our Mortgage, Credit Cards, Car Notes, Student Loans, and any Other Debt you have.  (I’ve added Student Loans up here because I know that is a large amount of the debt those in America carry.  We were lucky to pay mine off before we bought our house and cash flow, my classes, when I take them).  The Budgeted section here will show the minimum payment amount only.  Once we make the payment (which hopefully is always more than the minimum), we update the Actual section.

The Debt Snowball Tracker is for me one of my favorite parts on this spreadsheet.  But it can also be the most shocking if you haven’t taken stock of your financial situation before.  This is another section where I have added sample numbers for you to see.  The Debt Snowball is where we track the overall totals of our debt.  I include the Due Date since those are typically fixed.  Then I add in the Original amount for the debt.  Each month, I update the Balance.  And the formula calculates the Percent Paid.  I document the Interest Rate to keep an eye on those.  And I update the Per Statement Date to show where I got the balance from.  Plugging in all of those numbers will then have the formula calculate the Total Current Debt and the Debt Starting Point.  Then I have a section for the Total Debt Paid Off, which gives me the dollar amount that we have already paid off and the percentage.

The Bill Tracker is the biggest section on the right side of the spreadsheet, but I am going to break it up.  This section here is where I track the payment information for the debt that we have.  I document the exact Due Date, the exact Amount, the Method of payment (mail check, scheduled, autopay), which Paycheck it will come out of,  and if it’s Confirmed Paid/Payment Cleared.  Then I also have a Notes section here.  While the Debt Snowball Tracker shows the total amount of debt we have, the Debt section of our Budget shows the minimum payment due, and what we plan to pay, the Debt section of our Bill Tracker focuses on the monthly payments that we actually make.

Next Time

Next week, I will go into details about our other bills, subscriptions, blow money, and savings categories for some of those areas.  Let me know below if you have a budget spreadsheet or what you think of ours!

Categories
Down The TBR Hole

Down the TBR Hole #201 – 220

Welcome to Down the TBR Hole #201-220!  What is Down the TBR Hole?  It is where I grab 20 books from my incredibly long TBR list on Goodreads and decide if I am keeping or removing the books.  Need to catch up?  Click here to go to the previous post.  As a reminder, here are the rules:

This week has been a recoup and recover week from a stressful week with a family emergency that happened. I usually would turn to books, but I am not sure I read anything outside of some poems this week.  But I also didn’t add many books to the list, so I am starting this week with 4,663 books. Let’s get started.

 

1. The Art of War by Sun Tzu

I’ve heard so many great things about this book, and although it is about the military strategy, it is supposed to be great to use in business.  It’s one of those books that is probably considered a classic.  But I decided last year that just because a book is a classic doesn’t mean that I have to read it.  So while I am sure this is a great book, it isn’t something that I want to read at this time. I am removing it from my list.

 

 

 

2. The Art of War for Women: Sun Tzu’s Ancient Strategies and Wisdom for Winning Work by Chin-Ning Chu

The author uses Sun Tzu’s strategies and gears it towards women.  But like the book above, it just isn’t something I want to read in this season.  I am removing it from my list.

 

 

 

3. Simply Clean: The Proven Method for Keeping Your Home Organized, Clean, and Beautiful in Just 10 Minutes A Day by Becky Rapinchuk

When I quit my job, I had this dream of being the best damn housewife out there. So I wanted to learn all these additional things to make my house the best home for my husband and myself.  So I wanted to read all the books to do just that.  As much as I love cleaning and organizing, I feel like I can always learn a better way.  With that being said, I am keeping this one.

 

 

4. The Organically Clean Home: 150 Everyday Organic Cleaning Products You Can Make Yourself – The Natural, Chemical-Free Way by Becky Rapinchuk

Apart of me wanting to do better with cleaning and organizing was also to do so naturally.  I wanted to replace all of the things that weren’t good for us and our home.  So finding a book that can help me make my own cleaning products, was right up my alley.  So I am keeping this one.

 

 

 

 

5. The Power That Changes the World: Creating Eternal Impact in the Here and Now by Bill Johnson

I think this message has been given and packaged in many books, and there isn’t anything calling out to me about this book.  Because of that, I am going to remove it.

 

 

 

 

6. Big girls DO Cry: Letting God Heal Your Hurts From The Inside Out by Lisa K. Spivey

I think every Christian should know how to handle any type of loss before it happens spiritually.  I’ve seen so many people lose their faith after a tragic event, and it is heartbreaking.  Since this book talks about the way to turn to God during those times, it is a book I want to keep on my list.

 

 

 

 

7. God is With You Everyday by Max Lucado

Another devotional.  And as much as I love Max Lucado, I need to be honest with myself about if I’m going to read all of these devotionals.  And I am not.  So I am going to remove this one.

 

 

 

 

 

8. One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp

Another book that I have heard great things about.  And being more appreciative of the everyday things and moments is something that I need to do.  I complain a lot and am hoping that in 2020 I can change that.  I am keeping this one.

 

 

 

 

9. Closer Than Your Skin: Unwrapping the Mystery of Intimacy with God by Susan D. Hill

Intimacy is something that I struggle with in my relationship with God.  I can honestly say that because He isn’t someone I can see or tangibly feel all the time, it’s easy for me to not really “feel” like He is here.  I know that isn’t the correct way, but it’s just my truth.  I am keeping this one to help with that, hopefully.

 

 

 

10. Steal Like An Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon

Someone promoting being yourself and using our own creativity instead of being like everyone else?  Yup, I’m for it.  This seems like it will be a quick, motivational book.  I am keeping it.

 

 

 

 

11. Be You & Live Civil: Tools for Unlocking Your Potential & Living Your Purpose by Karen Civil

Karen Civil is one of those badass women who I sit back and watch and be amazed at all that she is and has accomplished.  So I will be happy to read all that she produces.  I am keeping this book.

 

 

 

 

 

12. But Are You Making Any Money?: Stop Being Busy and Start Creating Cash by Marley Majcher

I think this would be an excellent book for a different season.  I realized that I have shifted into one of those people that can sometimes get caught up in the creating and planning and struggle at times with the actual doing.  I am removing this one.

 

 

 

 

13. Girl Code: Unlocking the Secrets to Success, Sanity, and Happiness for the Female Entrepreneur by Cara Alwill Leyba

Another book I’ve heard a lot about specifically in the female entrepreneurship world.  It’s been on almost every recommended book list I’ve seen for business women.  I do want to read it.  I am keeping this one.

 

 

 

 

 

14. The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller

Success, productivity, and purpose.  Three things that I am interested in.  I am keeping this one.

 

 

 

 

15. Money, Possessions and Eternity by Randy Alcorn

Money is a hot topic in Christianity.  We think we should be blessed enough to have money but turn our nose up when those in ministry have money or ask for it.  I have my own opinion based on what I have read in the Bible, but I am always interested in hearing others’ views.  So I am keeping this one.

 

 

 

 

16. The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danco

This is a book that has been on my personal list for a while now, even though it is a top-rated book.  I am keeping this one.

 

 

 

 

 

17. The Rules of Wealth: A Personal Code for Prosperity by Richard Templar

This doesn’t seem all that interesting, so I am removing it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

18. The One-Page Financial Plan: A Simple Way to Be Smart About Your Money by Carl Richards

My love for all things budgeting and finances made me interested in this book.  I am keeping it.

 

 

 

 

19. Nice Girls Don’t Get Rich: 75 Avoidable Mistakes Women Make with Money by Lois Frankel

What money mistakes am I making that is specific to being a woman?  Is there such a thing?  Those are questions that led me to add this book to the list.  I am keeping it there.

 

 

 

 

 

20. Rich Bitch: A Simple 12-Step Plan for Getting Your Financial Life Together…Finally by Nicole Lapin

It seems like Nicole Lapin’s approach to getting rich is different from others.  Because I love learning more about money and different ways to keep it, I am keeping this one on the list.

 

 

 

Final Count: Removing 6; Keeping 14

TBR Down to 4,657

This week’s list had quite a few books about money and finances, which go in line with January’s Year of Healthy theme.  Have you read any of these books? Did I make a mistake with removing or keeping one?

Categories
All 66 Books

All 66 Books: Nehemiah

Need some background info on this series? See here and here.

I found a new book genre that I have just fallen in love with, Biblical Fiction.  I was about to start reading Harvest of Rubies by Tessa Afshar, and it was about the cousin of the prophet Nehemiah (remember the book was fiction).  So I figured it would be a good idea to read the book that bears his name.  According to Crossway, it takes 58 minutes to read Nehemiah.

Just a reminder, it’s best to let scripture interpret scripture. I like these resources because they help me better understand scripture, but I may not agree with everything they say. As in all things, pray and invite God to help you in your time of reading and studying. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you and use discernment when using resources outside of the Bible itself. “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15 NIV)

Here is an additional resource I recommend looking into after you read Nehemiah through on your own:

The Bible Project

Leave me a comment below if you have taken the 58 minutes to read Nehemiah.  Do you know any other great resources for this book?  Leave them below!

 

Categories
Faith

Rhenáe’s Randoms – 1/14/20

My church, like many others around the country, is in the middle of their 21 days of prayer and fasting (on week 2).  For the past few years, I have gone hardcore with this.  I’ve done juice fasts, Whole30, given up social media, etc.  But this year, I felt a little off.  While I could use a change in my eating habits, 2020 is the Year of Healthy for me, so I feel like I will have that covered.  I hardly watch T.V. anymore, and my social media habits are improving.  There was honestly nothing I could think of to sacrifice that would mean anything to me. And because I am already working on building healthy habits, I couldn’t see anything to add immediately.

But during my Bible reading recently, I came across some information about fasting that I have never been taught before.

“Will the fast I choose be like this: A day for a person to deny himself, to bow his head like a reed, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes?  Will you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the Lord?  Isn’t this the fast I choose: To break the chains of wickedness, to untie the ropes of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, and to tear off every yoke?  Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your house, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to ignore your own flesh and blood? Then your light will appear like the dawn, and your recovery will come quickly.  Your righteousness will go before you, and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard.  At that time, when you call, the Lord will answer; when you cry out, he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you get rid of the yoke among you, the finger-pointing and malicious speaking, and if you offer yourself to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted one, then your light will shine in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday. The Lord will always lead you, satisfy you in a parched land, and strengthen your bones. You will be like a watered garden and like a spring whose water never runs dry.” Isaiah 58: 5-11 CSB
I honestly feel like everything that I learned about fasting may be slightly incorrect.  I’ve been taught it is a day/time to deny myself.  And nothing about doing for others during/with my fast.  Maybe I should have just connected the overall “love thy neighbor” message to fasting, but it never clicked for me.  Admittedly, I need to do a study on fasting to get a better grasp of what I should and should not be doing.  I’ve added that to the list for future studies.
Categories
Finances

YouTube Review: One Big Happy Life (& Convos About Money)

YouTube Channel Name: One Big Happy Life

Creator(s): Tasha & Joseph

Genre: Lifestyle and Wealth Building

Website: https://onebighappylife.com

Rating: Related imageRelated imageRelated imageRelated imageRelated image

One Big Happy Life started as a lifestyle channel but has naturally turned into an amazing financial channel with so much information on wealth building.  It could be the budget geek in me, but watching the videos immediately makes me want to jump into my budget and finances.  One way this channel differs from others that I have seen is that they actually show their real numbers.  You see how much they make, how much their expenses are, and their net worth.  Tasha has an amazing story where she started as an 18-year-old single mom in the military, making less than $20,000 to now having multiple six-figure incomes in their household.  They were able to do all of this while saving money, paying off debt, taking trips, and starting a business.  If you know me, you know that on and off again, we have followed Dave Ramsey since we have been married (I even co-led the Financial Peace University groups at my previous church home).  And while I think the program is great, it doesn’t work for everyone or even every season.  People tend to lose motivation when they have been paying off debt for so long and have to sacrifice vacations and retirement savings.

Another thing that I like about Tasha and Joseph is, they are doing what works for their family by not being married.  They have specific financial goals, and they break down how much money they would be leaving on the table if they got married.  It honestly makes so much sense.  I know that isn’t the traditional thing to do, but it’s working for them, and it’s their life.  It’s something that should be discussed before you take that jump while in a committed relationship.  They present a range of topics that are important to be apart of your talks about finances including IVF, Business (growing, maintaining, budget), Combining Finances, Holidays, Food (meal planning, shopping, diets), College/Student Loans, Large Purchases (houses, cars), Job Hunting, Home (DIY, repairs, closets), etc.

I’ve been subscribed to this channel for a while, and as they release video’s, I tend to watch them.  But I decided to spend a weekend catching up on videos, and that meant going back to the beginning and just watching the videos that caught my attention.  It’s incredible to see what they have accomplished over three years.  What started as Tasha’s channel to help funnel some of her creative energy while dealing with a job that she didn’t like turned into this brand and multi six-figure business.  They have programs to show you how to launch your own business, build wealth, and creating a life that makes you happy.

My History With Money

With my focus on building healthy goals and habits this year, finances are going to be a significant part of that and is why it is my focus for January.  Some background info on me and finances:  My entire career revolved around finances and financial institutions.  From my first nonpaid job of being a bookkeeper for a family members business in high school, my first paying job in the government to me switching to working in the banking industry for my last ten years of traditional employment.  Most of the time that I was in school was going towards some type of degree in business, finance, or financial planning.  Then my job turned into more of a project management role, and I fell in love and thought that finance was no longer my calling.

If you have read my 2019 Word of the Year blog post, you will see that when I left home for my sabbatical, I handed over our budget and our bills to my husband.  As a control freak that could track down to the penny of our budget, this was major for me but also showed how burnt out I was with everything in life.  Even for a while after I returned home, I didn’t pick up that responsibility again.  How did I feel about that? I’ve learned how to let go of having to be so tightly wound up and stressed out with our money.  But I also missed it.  I missed setting financial goals, seeing our debt go down, and our savings go up.  And after a conversation with the hubby one week, we realized that this is something that we need to do together specifically as we start talking about generational wealth, our family legacy, and our future goals.  What bought this conversation about?  We have had some significant issues with some appliances at our house that were unexpected (we built four years ago). It caused us to pause and realize that our situation looks a little different from last year, and we need to adjust for that.

Read more about our finances in this Year of Healthy post.

My Takeaways

Those issues, along with watching the One Big Happy Life channel, made me pull out our original budget spreadsheet and do some updating.  Our budget spreadsheet started as an idea from a budgeting group on Facebook I was in years ago.  (I wish I remembered the original group or person who shared the budget template because it has been so helpful!)  I used that idea and then created our own spreadsheet with sections that made sense for us. We’ve always budgeted monthly, but one thing I wanted to start doing based on the channel was to create a yearly budget for us as well. With it being the beginning of a new decade, I knew this was a perfect time to develop and start working on our 2020 budget.  Not only did I create the space for each monthly budget, but I went ahead and completed each month with what we knew was coming.  Then I created our yearly budget.  I tell you, something is humbling about seeing how much you are paying one entity for the whole 12 months.  It’s one thing to see your cell phone at $200 a month, but another thing to know that you are paying $2,400 for that little thing in your pocket.

I spent about two weeks tweaking our personal spreadsheet, updating what worked, and didn’t work for us.  Adding trackers to help keep track of our spending, our payments, and our balances.  I sat down with my husband to show him the changes, and we have frequently been having conversations to make sure we are doing this together and on the same page.  Each month, as we smooth out our process, I can make changes to improve it for our situation.  For example, I realized we had a lot of subscriptions, so one month, I created a subscription section on our budget.  The most important thing this did was help me breathe more comfortably when it comes to some of the issues we have had at the house lately.  My process improvement background thankful allows me to think of how can I fix this usually, and how do I prevent this from happening again.  This means not taking for granted that we had a brand new house and adding a line item to our budget to cover home repairs yearly. Keep an eye out for future posts where I share our update spreadsheet with you!