Investing

I have been reading The Automatic Millionaire since last week. Chad’s brother gave it and a few other financial advice books to the kids for Christmas to try to help them have a more successful future than their parents. (He did the same for his other nephew and nieces.) I only gave one interested in possibly reading one of the right now, but Chad and I could definitely use the help. 

I am only a few chapters in, but I have read enough to know that he is not talking about a get rich quick scheme, he is talking about using automated systems to help save and invest. From what I have read so far, Chad and I have decided to make a few changes to help us have a better future. First, we looked at how we spent our money to see where we could make some cuts. We already cut out Door Dash and don’t go out to eat as often which is helping with the day-to-day stuff. We decided that our soda habit was what could change to give us more money to invest. We have been buying three twelve packs of Dr. Pepper Zero of various flavors for quite a while. It currently costs about $8.00 per twelve pack when on sale, so we could save at least $24.00 per week if we stop buying it. This money can be invested into our Robinhood accounts. It’s not automatic yet, but s could be set up that way. If we can stick to this, we can make it automatic. Next, we checked each of our 401(k)s to see what we were investing and how much we had. The book suggests we have 10% invested from each paycheck. He was set at 7%, and I was at 3%. We were comfortable with his, but we decided I needed to invest more. I changed my contribution to 5%. I’m not comfortable with going all the way up to 10% yet. That will come with time. 

I’m not sure if we have the time to become millionaires by the time we want to retire since we are already 45 and almost 50. I am willing to put a greater effort into it. However, I am hoping we have enough to retire with some kind of dignity. Let’s face it, there will probably never be that inheritance that we all hope for. 

Where to Start?

I have been feeling the pull to be more organized. This has always been a weakness for me, but it has gotten out of control lately. Last week, I was set apart for a new calling which includes a blessing that helps with the calling and life. I was told that I would be able to organize be more organized along with other things. On my way to church this morning, they talked about the mood enhancing effects of cleaning and organizing. Then, one of the speakers talked about a blessing she was given when she received a calling that helped her months later, and I got the distinct impression that I needed to dig deep into the blessing I was given to help me with my life. This means that three times within a week that I have received a message about organization.

I’m not sure where to start. Noel is having friends over for her birthday next week, so the obvious answer would be to start with cleaning. I feel this is getting better as we do 10 minutes of cleaning each night as a family. I can add to that personally, and I will. Another area I need to work harder on is our finances. I used to be good at this, but that was back when I wasn’t allowed to have a job and had to figure out how to feed my family on very little money. This hasn’t been my problem for a while. I am at a point that I feel like my husband and I work way to had to feel this broke. Working on these two areas should help a lot. I don’t know totally how to get a handle on them, but I have to figure it out.