Hello, I'm Janet. I am in my thirties, married, and a mom to a one-year-old. I have a full-time career in Corporate America. In my free time, I also write blogs and create RU-vid videos about budgeting, blogging, business, motherhood, planning, and my debt-free journey.
Have You Ever Considered The Benefits Of Creating An Annual Budget Instead Of A Monthly One? Free PDF: janetknowsbest.com/annualbudgetfreebie Google Sheet: janetknowsbest.com/product/annual-budget
Watch the start of my journey: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-B6EBPQSm8zo.html
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Great video! I’ve been watching since your first video and you’re doing awesome :) Have you ever looked at YNAB? I used to use the TBM workbook too and YNAB has been a lifesaver for me and my finances.
Pay your highest interest debt first regardless of the type. Make sure you are paying off some of your debts. A house will need a new roof eventually, new ac, new furnace, new water heater, new other appliances, plumbing repairs... This is about 300 a month. Taxes are usually 300-500 a month. Debt is there to keep you working.
I love how most personal finance journeys have started with Dave Ramsey lol. While he helped me pay off some of my debts as well. It’s not sustainable long-term and working 6 to 7 days a week and juggling three jobs was a bit much (especially if a family is something you want in your future.) It doesn’t truly matter where you started just as long as you’re starting when it comes to taking control of your finances. I’m definitely following along and can’t wait to see what you uncover.
I agree. I think Dave Ramsey is a great starting place because his program helps you work on your mindset to get rid of debt which most Americans have. I like different people for different stages. Right now I am all into Ramit Sethi because I am trying to be consistent with my saving, investing and spending instead of just saving.
Congrats on another baby boy! One recommendation is 1 month of expenses as an emergency fund. I like this because everyone's expenses vary and it could help with all bills for a month while you sort whatever your emergency is. Later you could save the rest of the 3-6 month expenses as a fully funded emergency fund.
Hey Janet, I love the long term changes you’re making for your family. One thing I think might help, you’ve mentioned putting money into 529s for your kids, but I’d encourage you to reconsider that at this point. With credit card and IRS debt, it might be best to wait on the 529 investing and put that money toward these high priority debts. If you haven’t yet, I’d encourage you to look into the Money Guy Financial Order of Operations. It’s like the baby steps but they advocate a more realistic approach. Looking forward to staying up to date with your success!
Congrats on baby boy 💙 I feel so confused as I want to save, build sinking funds and payoff debt 🤦🏽♀ is there an order to dealing with this as im starting to get overwhelmed and getting discouraged. Thank you for being so informative and sharing with the rest of us. 💚💚💚
Hello! I understand the feeling. It really depends on your goals and priorities. I personally do not believe in living on beans and rice and depriving myself and my family of experiences and fun activities. I also would like a lot more sinking funds, but right now, I cannot afford to set aside extra money for all the sinking funds, so I prioritized debt, investing, and saving for a few priorities this year.
We decided on 5 sinking funds. Christmas, home repairs, family vacation, a weekend getaway for my husband and I, and sports for our kids. These expenses are recurrent year after year, so we plan for it. And paying for all the Christmas expenses in cash removed ALL the stress my husband had about the holidays. Biggest game changer for us. We always make a small trip with our kids during the summer as our family vacation, so we save for that too. The yearly weekend getaway will get canceled if the funds are not there but we try to make it work. And sports are important for us, so we plan for it too. It's not crazy expensive (yet) but I will have to save more as our daughter has now entered the competitive level. Home repairs, well, there's no way to avoid them so let's prepare! We have retirement plans through our work, plus a small retirement fund for my husband every month. Most of the extra money goes to debt repayment. We don't believe in removing all pleasure from our lives until we are debt free. We tried, but it's easier to stick to the budget if we have room for some fun too.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE your office setup! Love the colors, the built ins, the decor....so cool!! I really want to revamp my office into something better now! Maybe it'll motivate me to actually get some work done LOL
I don't start debt free journey buying special binders to help lol Sorry, I just use a plain old notebook. I am not saying this to be snarky at all. We all have our weaknesses. Sometimes we can't see them if someone doesn't point it out. Good luck on your journey. If the binders help you get out of debt, it will be worth it.
Thanks, Janet! I’ve been looking forward to this video since my husband and I also have a 1.5 year old son. This was great information to jumpstart our research!
We finally started our 529s because of the new rule where you can eventually roll unused funds to a Roth IRA for the beneficiary. There's obviously still rules in place for how you do that, but it makes it a lot more flexible then it used to be!
I’m a brand new subscriber and I haven’t been clicking on your videos because I didn’t realize it was you! Until I saw the green wall behind you at the beginning of this video. Now I get to go back and watch
This is where I have beef with Dave Ramsey...I do not think $1000 is enough for anyone's emergency fund these days, unless you are a college student/early 20s with very minor living expenses. Especially as a homeowner, I wouldn't feel comfortable unless I have a good $20k saved for house things that can go wrong and to cover living expenses in case of a job loss.
Dave Ramsey has said that the $1000 was never enough to be a fully funded emergency fund, even 20+ years ago. Fully funded is 3-6 months your expenses. He has always said the $1000 is just a starter emergency fund while you’re getting out of debt so that every single tiny thing doesn’t knock you off course. That’s why if you go through his steps, he says after becoming debt free then fully fund your ER fund. People keep stating that they have fully funded their ER fund once they hit the $1000 and people just assume that is what Dave said.
Hey there! You shouldn’t need to pay anything to get your credit report. You can get it for free and other places like credit cards apps, nerd wallet, or credit karma will get you close enough. This sheet does look great! Good luck with staying on track!
no don't cut your hair! its soooo beautiful - but I get it! I just cut off all my hair. I had it to my waist, and I cut it off all the time for a re-freshen look.
Wow, how do you do it all? With your husband’s business if you need a bookkeeper, let me know. that way you don’t commingle your funds with his business and your personal life. Plus seems like you don’t have any time to do it anyways!
