Celebrating our successes and looking towards the future!

   Despite being sick, this has a been a big week for my husband and me. We reached our first big financial goal for the year.  We officially have our emergeny fund goal reached.  I cannot explain how excited I am to have that goal accomplished.  We also are pretty close to having our second goal achieved which is to have all of our bills caught up and being paid on time. It is amazing how much money you can spend in just careless late fees. 
   My entire view on money has changed over the last twelve months.  My dad once told me that you want to have enough money so that if you ever need to you can tell your boss to take this job an shove it...(lol I don't think that was his exact words), but I understand now what it means.  I don't want to feel like my husband and I are stuck.  Having money and using it wisely can allow you to have so much freedom.  I want options.  I want to know that when my husband and I have kids that i can stay home if I want to. 
   My life dream has always been to have my own business. I didn't know what type of business, but I knew I wanted something of my own.  I have tried several times to start different things, and last year I quit my career as a counselor to pursue a gift basket business. I realize now that I just didn't have a full grasp on how to make all that happen, and how to prepare for the financial uncertainty that comes with starting a business. But now I do, or atleast I have a better a understanding of what I need to do to lay the foundation. 
   For February, my husband and I have set another goal.  We want to find a way to bring in or cut from our budget an extra $800.00 for the month of February. This will put us totally caught up with everything, and paying everything on time as mentioned above.  I share this just because I am going to be sharing on weekly basis the ideas and tips we come up with to create that extra $800.  I am sure there are others out there that are in way too much debt, would love to stay home with there kids, take a trip, or just have a little more wiggle room. 
   You know my husband and I talk about everything in regards to our money, but I think even he would admit that I pretty much handle our finances.  I think that up till now I really didn't take that role to serious, but now I realize 10 years down the road we are either going to have the life we want or not, and the only one to blame will be me if we don't.  I say that with certainty because I know God has always provided us with what we needed and even more, but it is up to us to manage it, to make it grow, to use it the way we know we should. This month in honor of Valentine's Day I want to love my husband enough to be responsible and manage our money well. 
   I have made it a goal for this month to blog two times a week. My other blog this week will include some of the ways we have already created some extra income this month, and how we are going to save on Valentine's Day;)
  Thanks for sharing this journey with me :)