Baby Step 1

Yesterday, Marcel called me and told me that he got a revised financial aid letter from school. His financial aid had already paid for the entire semester, but they "found" (I don't know the right word, but found works for me!) more grant money and he was awarded an additional $1,338! Because his account is already paid in full, the school will issue it to us as a check, usable however we see fit.


At first we were not quite agreeing on how to use the huge surprise. I wanted to pay off one of my smaller school loans; Marcel wanted to use it to buy the computer he has had his eye on: a Mac. It is something he will need but since school is no longer in the immediate future, I thought it was a want and not practical since our bonus wouldn't have even bought the whole thing. Where were we going to get that extra money?? I got to work at the gym and had an epiphany: if we are moving to Idaho to get ahead of our finances and are currently reading Dave Ramsey's The Total Money Makeover as our guide then we needed to follow the steps he sets out for us, so I realized we needed to start with Baby Step 1: Save $1,000 FAST!!


Marcel was able to pick me up from work after being at worship practice and said, "So...that money needs to be our emergency fund. We can't spend it!" Remember that I am super emotional, but I almost cried. I asked how he came to that realization. At worship practice they have a prayer time and his request was once again for finances. He explained that we are moving to Idaho for financial reasons and that set off a light bulb for him! So our plan is to tithe our 10% like we are called to do and then put away the money and forget about it until we encounter an emergency.


Just the other day I was telling Marcel how I was in the stage of knowing we have to tithe because we have seen the blessings but still always worrying how it was coming to be when I had to sit down and pay bills. I think this newest surprise was just what I needed. Previously we've seen it in a few extra dollars here and there but to receive such a huge amount at one time reassured me that everything goes according plan, not our plan, but His. We are loved by a very awesome God!


Now on to Baby Step 2: Debt Snowball!