Evolution of a 30-something

Hey Y'all! I wanted to get back to my earlier financial theme with this post. Recently I spoke with some family members and friends who had asked some further questions about "our plan." In case you haven't been following, the majority of what we do follows Dave Ramsey's 7 Baby Steps . We're currently investing in retirement (step 4) and saving for a large down payment on our first house (step 3B, which isn't found in the steps, but he mentions in books/radio show) instead of step 6, paying off our house. The plan is meant to be in one step at a time until you get to steps 4, 5 and 6, which you would do simultaneously. What family and friends have said recently: One family member said, "You should share more about your budget. Not like what you spend, but how you put it together. I think people need help with that. I know each month we try to get on track with it, but we don't actually do a budget. We just look back at monthly card statements ...

We've officially moved into our new apartment and we've been here a week. There was no chance I was going to get a blog out last weekend, or this week, due to being busy unpacking and picking up some extra hours at side jobs. I really meant to get a photo of the friends that helped us move, but we totally forgot, and thinking further, we were all gross, sweaty, tired and dirty. Thanks again to my parents, Megan's mom, Chad Dekker, Adam Schmitz and Kieven Sperry. Much appreciated, gang! Our last apartment was really nice, and underpriced for what it included. It had a lot of new appliances and updates. Our new apartment is the upper of a house in Shorewood. The new unit has a lot of character as it is a house instead of the cookie-cutter features a lot of apartment buildings have. However, it has some older features like creaky hardwood floors, and older style doorways and ceilings. We're still figuring out exactly how we want to decorate everything. We've ...

Hey Y'all! It is official...we're moving! We have decided on an apartment, requested a new lease end date to get out early, and start a new lease in Shorewood. Quick recap - we we're told our lease renewal was coming in the mail for 2+ months and finally when I emailed was told, "Our son wants to live in your unit. You will not have the opportunity to renew." Our lease was scheduled to end July 31. They gave some flexibility to move out during August. After being incredibly frustrated, we decided to take action and start looking and found a great place in Shorewood scheduled to start in July. We negotiated to terminate mid-July to avoid duplicate rent and stop paying rent to people who didn't want us around. We are really excited about our new apartment, but are dreading moving. In the next week we'll pack up the boxes we've collected recently and plan to crush this moving process. We had three good friends, Chad Dekker, Adam Schmitz and Kieven Spe...

Hey Y'all! Section D, Row 38, Seats 1 & 2. OK, it was general admission, so I don't really have a clue where we stood. Last night we checked out Phil Vassar at Summerfest. He has been a staple of our Summerfest attendance for a few years now. Its a fantastic show. Phil has his own hits, but also writes for a lot of other artists including a bunch of songs even I know. I'm not the biggest country music fan, but his shows absolutely JAM! I didn't think shredding on a piano was possible, but after last night, I'm positive it is. While listening to the concert, he played " Just Another Day in Paradise ," and I began to think how much fun we were having in the moment and realize I'm living in my own paradise . Our society has a way of telling us we need to be busy all the time and constantly moving and shifting and working, and working, and working some more. Last night, even for only a few hours, life slowed down. We grilled out with friends, took ...