If you are in a tight spot and need help fast, start listening to the Dave Ramsey podcast or read his book THE TOTAL MONEY MAKEOVER. You can also sign up to take FINANCIAL PEACE UNIVERSITY. This class really changed our lives. It's a nine week course and there are local groups that meet in person or you can take a class via zoom. If you're ready to make big financial changes this will help!

I also have a ton of info on instagram - there are two FINANCIAL ED highlights (watch the green one first:) that will give you an intro to the topics below. 

If you've been following for a while or know me personally, I've probably talked to you about financial planning in some form. While Noah and I have always been fairly frugal and money minded, we had our lives changed by attending and then leading Financial Peace University.

In 2016, we lead our first class and for the first time REALLY applied what we learned. At the time we were fortunate to have no consumer or student loan debt, but we also had no investments, no life insurance, no budget, a couple of credit cards, and around $200,000 in debt from our home.

After teaching that class, we began to embody gazelle intensity and became beans and rice people (IYKYK). We decided that it was worth it for us to get super intense for a relatively short period of time and enjoy financial freedom for the rest of our lives...

We did it! In January 2019 we paid off our house. It was, and still is, a surreal experience. There is nothing like owning the ground you live on. It also drastically changes your financial situation. Our mortgage was about $2000 a month. No longer having that expense allowed me to resign from teaching and stay home with our young boys. I am forever grateful.

In the months following this we started investing for retirement outside of our teaching pension benefits, got our insurance in order, saved a full emergency fund, and are still pursuing the financial goals that are right for our family (i.e. working hard, but more than anything, cultivating an ENJOYABLE LIFE TOGETHER).

I hope that this story is inspirational rather than depressing if your financial situation isn't where you want it to be. I recognize that finances today are VERY different than they were when we bought our home. While I want to be sensitive to these differences, I also want to encourage you, that no matter the economy, there are real things you can do to improve your financial life.

Without a doubt, the practice I will continue for a lifetime is our monthly budget. Budgets get a bad wrap as people think of them as a fun stopper. However, there is more freedom in a budget than you might think. A budget is actually PERMISSION TO SPEND! If you have designated money to spend on vacation, then you can spend it without guilt or hesitation. If you don't have money set aside, you will still spend, but you will wonder what your credit card bill will look like later...it takes away a little joy and adds a little stress to every swipe of the card.

Permission to spend and enjoy your money in a thoughtful way is a blessing and gives such freedom. You can find more information about how to get started budgeting on my Instagram highlights (@megancouser). I would also love to help. Send me a DM if you have questions or need a little encouragement.

I know it's not always fun to eat at home... but it is one of the most effective ways to save money and maintain a healthy diet. Sometimes meal planning feels overwhelming, so I use this method to simplify and reduce decision making!

Instead of planning a unique menu every week, I plan a seasonal menu. This means that I select 6-8 meals that we eat on repeat for the season. The meals don't get repeated long enough to get sick of them, but it makes shopping and cooking predictable each week without decision fatigue. Another bonus is that this allows us to eat seasonally and plan meals around the ingredients that we grow, hunt, or have available each season. Give it a try and let me know how it works for you!

No matter your financial situation, you need an emergency fund. Though the size of the fund may vary, you need to have some buffer between you and a financial disaster. 

If you are in 'debt pay off mode', you should have an emergency fund of at least $1000. This money must be available quickly in case of an emergency. The purpose of this is to hopefully cover unexpected needs without adding to your debt. Depending on your situation (do you have children, frequent medical needs, etc.) you may want that fund to be larger. It is important however that you're able to save this amount quickly and then get back to paying off debt.

If you are debt free, besides your mortgage, it's time to save a bit more! In this case you should have 3-6 months worth of expenses saved and available in case of emergency. This doesn't mean 3-6 months of income, but expenses. Take some time and calculate how much you would need per month to cover necessary expenses. When deciding how many months to save for, base your decision on personal comfort as well as reliability of your employment. If you have a highly secure job, three months of expenses may be enough. Again, this is largely personal based on comfort and financial stability.

When it comes to storing your emergency fund, find a savings account that is readily available, but has a higher interest rate. This money shouldn't be invested as you don't want to pay penalties for withdrawing when needed. Check the different savings rates at your local bank or look into online savings accounts. For example, Barclays online bank has an interest rate of 4.35% at the writing of this article. This is an area that is worth researching a bit as your emergency fund may be quite large. Happy saving and let me know if you have questions!

• Budgeting

• Debt Snowball

• Insurance

• Legacy Planning

• Investing

• Giving