epilogue... Losing it all part 2

​September 8th, 2020.  I was literally weeks away from publishing my book when we had an unusually warm windstorm in Southern Oregon.  Out my front window I noticed a plume of smoke on the horizon that appeared to be about a mile away, beyond the dry grass fields.

We thought, oh how odd.  We've never seen a fire in Ashland.
 
And within 20 minutes our neighborhood was burning.

I asked my husband to have our teens pack “go” bags. I hurriedly ran from door to door letting elderly residents in our neighborhood know, until the fire was 3 houses away from ours.  

At home my husband and I each put a cat under one arm and a computer under the other, got the kids in the car, and got out.  The road out was blocked due to smoke & fire, so we followed a crowd of 15 other residents who were on foot and waited in a burned out field until the road opened up. 

Because we gave a ride to an elderly neighbor and her dog, we were able to save our car!
 
We are so thankful everyone in our neighborhood made it out safely.  However, only 3 out of 70 homes in our neighborhood were still standing after the wildfire raged through.  In the greater valley 2500 homes were lost in the historic Almeda/Obenchain Fires that ripped through the neighborhoods of North Ashland, and the cities of Talent & Phoenix.
 
As you can imagine this has been emotionally and spiritually devastating!  The last 2 months have been a wild ride of lots of unknowns.  We stayed with a friend for 3 weeks, and now are in temporary housing.  We still don't know where we will live longterm.  But thankfully, due to the give, save, spend method, it has not been financially devastating. 

Our future looks bright.
 
*Because we are GIVERS, we have a wide and deep network.  Our friends and family raised money for our most immediate needs the first month.  We were so thankful!  Supplies, furniture, food, have poured into our lives so our every need has been met!
 
*Because we are SAVERS, we had an emergency fund to be able to cover not being able to work for several months, and initial costs of temporary housing, food, clothing, etc.  It has been wonderful not to stress about any expenses during this transition time.
 
*Because we were smart SPENDERS, we had bought good insurance.  We received good value for our home, and are able to purchase something new.  I had just upgraded our insurance a few months ago to cover the true market value of our home.
 
Life can be stressful enough without adding financial stress!
 
My hope for you is that you can use the GIVE, SAVE, SPEND method to not only give, get out of debt and build some wealth, but be prepared for anything!  When life’s disasters happen, and they do happen, at least financial stress does not need to be one of your worries.  You can focus on what is most important:  the people in your life and their well-being.

And YES the Give, Save, Spend Book is coming out January of 2021.  Stay tuned.
 
Have fun giving, saving & spending, and taking good care of your loved ones! 

​Life is precious.
 
Much love,
Kathy