At the beginning of February, we finally kicked our last debt (excluding our mortgage) to the curb and began Baby Step 3 of Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover! Our goal for Baby Step 3 is to build up an emergency fund in the range of 3-6 months of our expenses. In light of the current economic conditions, I can't think of a better step towards financial peace.
What we are learning in this step is how to tell ourselves as Dave Ramsey jokes, the ancient word that is hardly used these days, NO! Just as we paid off our last debt, our dishwasher died. Using the emergency fund was out of the question since we both agreed it wasn't a true emergency. But we did go back and forth for a few days about whether or not we should use our anticipated February snowball towards buying a new dishwasher. That would mean of course delaying the start of Baby Step 3. When we (actually Dave came to this conclusion quickly, it took me some weeks of whining about not having a working dishwasher to come to this conclusion) compared having a fancy, new dishwasher to building up our emergency fund, which would keep us in our home, food on the table and lights and heat on in the event of job loss or other emergency, there was just no question the dishwasher would have to wait!
Our latest challenge has us currently weighing getting needed exterior repairs done to the house or waiting until our savings is fully funded. The exterior of our 30+ year old house is starting to look shabby - but without the chic! A small owl has even taken residence in a bird hole in the side of the house (I think it's kind of cute in a way, Dave is not so amused!). We've been quoted a great price that might not be available later in the year as business picks up. And I love the idea of using a small company based in town, which uses crew guys from surrounding neighborhoods and frequents local businesses for supplies. BUT...can we really afford to delay building up our emergency fund?
Get Your Finances In Line in 2009 Monthly Check Up - Money Saving Mom
5 comments:
way to go on funding BS #3. We have struggled with getting our EF fully funded, as other things always come up.
Congrats on getting all of your debt paid! I would defintely suggest getting the house resided if it really needs it that badly. Like you said, later in the year or in years to come quotes won't come so cheap...with the economy falling like it is, I fear that businesses will have to start raising prices just to make it through. Plus, think of it this way, you'll only be set back a month...it's not like you'll be set back for years...and this is something that really needs done. Best of luck!!!
MoneySavinDiva
Good going on paying off your debts! That's AWESOME! As for the dishwasher, watch your electric and water bills to see if they increase while NOT using a dishwasher, if they do you may want to rethink the "wait" for the new diswasher. I don't have the luxury of owning a dishwasher but I have heard many people say it takes less water and electricity to run a dishwasher as opposed to doing the dishes by hand. I'd really like to know if this is true or not and your family is the perfect family to let me know! :) Good Luck building your Emergency Fund! :)
I love Dave Ramsey, too! We're doing the debt snowball, and had our dishwasher die as well. I started a fund with little skimmings from my grocery budget, and even though we have over $6K in the EF, I'm not touching it for a stinking dishwasher either. I commend you for pressing on to your goal. Great job!
Good decision. I had no dishwasher for the first 14 years we were together. I still wash dishes even though we have one.
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