Honeymoon, New Home, Retirement...IN CASH!

"If you help enough people get what they want, sooner or later you will get what you want."
                 ~Zig Ziglar

Well, friends, the day has come!  We just paid to purchase a home, funded our Roth IRAs, and paid for a tropical wedding vacay!  I never thought this would happen so soon.  My fiancee and I have been working our wealth-building plan side by side for 3 years.  I've been teaching Money Makeover classes and seeing private Financial Coaching clients, helping others to get out of debt and build wealth.  Our progress seemed very slow but steady.  And our longterm goal of buying a home seemed still so far away:  as our savings increased so did the cost of homes in our local inflated market!  With 2 self-employed incomes we could see our home dreams getting pushed years out.

I guess I have my 12 year old son to thank.  Puberty and his need(who am I kidding?  MY need!) for him to have his own room propelled us into looking for a larger home sooner!  And our landlord raised the rent for each of us another $100 a month.  So a few months ago we began looking around on craigslist.  And lo and behold, before the holidays we found a beautiful 3-bedroom, 2 bath home with stainless steel appliances, pergo floors, and level streets for biking.  

The best news of all is that we have financial balance:  we were able to fund our Roth IRAs before the end of the year and also pay $10,000 for our honeymoon in Hawaii.  All of these goals have been ones we have been working toward and saving for, thanks to our wealth-building coaches' guidance and having a plan.  Sometimes blessings come in 3s!  But we could not have predicted that.  We only knew they would happen eventually. 

Here are our secrets to PAYING CASH for everything:

1.  MAKE SAVING A HABIT.  Most of my life spending was a habit.  Then I became a tither, and giving and spending were habits.  It wasn't until I also became a saver that I began to build wealth.  Both Steve and I have a habit of systematically putting a percentage of our income in savings each month.  It does mean saying no to some of our wants, but not all of them.  We still give and spend, just not outrageously.

2.  HAVE A PLAN.  Decide what your financial goals are, and break them down into steps.  You can use the 7 Baby Steps to wealth-building, or simply your own wishes of what you'd like to achieve.  Write them down.  And use a monthly budget to be able to aim your dollars along the path of your plan.  Check out www.everydollar.com, a free budgeting tool to help you get started.

3.  BE PATIENT.  Rome wasn't built in a day.  A garden doesn't grow in a week.  And your nest egg takes many seasons to mature.  Start now, and keep going.  The old story of the tortoise and the hare was not far off:  the tortoise ended up the winner through his patient, careful steps forward, while the hare leapt about wildly and erratically, wore himself out, and never made the finish line.  Practice contentment in the little things, and then the big things will eventually come.

Celebrate with us, friends!  Our story is one of many.  Please share your stories of paying CASH for things, and the freedom that it brings!  Blessings to you and have a peaceful & prosperous New Year!

love,
​Kathy Kali