Welcome to Straight Cents!
How did Straight Cents come about?
A couple of years ago we realized we would be facing the “Empty Nest” Syndrome. A little scary to think, but exhilarating at the same time. I knew my husband could retire in January of 2019 and that was just a few years away, right? While my husband contributes to his PERS account at work, we really hadn’t been investing or saving in the entire 28 years of our marriage. I mean, we invested small amounts in small places, but nothing significant that would set us up for success financially. I was ashamed and embarrassed. I know it takes two, but I had been the one doing the finances all those years.
We never kept a budget. We just paid our bills, bought new cars, racked up some credit card debt and lived life like every other normal person. We didn’t know any different. But we made decent money and really had nothing financially to show for it. Yes, we had things…things, and more things….everywhere! That’s the day it hit me! All of these things had to be bought with money or credit. I cringed at the thought of all the money we had wasted on stuff! Stuff that was suffocating us and what had kept us from being wealthy in our old age.
It was then I put us on a budget, started selling “things” and taking control of our money. I no longer wanted to be a victim of my money telling me where it’s going instead of ME telling it where to go. While we continued to live by a budget, we were far from perfect. We ended up buying a new car since I had been in a car accident, and taking out a HELOC loan to get some things done to the house. What were we thinking??? We just added about $60k to our already $8k in credit card debt.
A few months passed and I was honestly getting sick and tired of being sick and tired of the situation we had created. That’s when I found Dave Ramsey! I started following the debt-free community on Instagram and learning more. I started following his plan and with the help of a financial coach, we finally were doing things right. The more we started to see progress, the more I got excited and thought, “Hey…I can help people like us!” I signed up and went through the Dave Ramsey’s Master Financial Coach Training and graduated with the intention of helping those that might have no clue where to start. That’s why there is Straight Cents! To help others that might be just starting out, or they might want to have more clarity where their finances are concerned.
We paid off $68k of debt and cash flowed $30k for a few things like a wedding for our Son, two trips we were committed to that we couldn’t get out of, and various other things that were beyond our control. We did this all in 17 months!
My passion stems from where we were to where we are today. If you can relate to any part of my story, then I can help! Schedule a free 15 min. mini-session with me and we’ll see if you are a good fit for Financial Coaching.
Remember that if you do nothing now, you will still be doing the same thing later with the same results. Work with me and I can get you on a plan that you’ll feel proud of and less stressed about.
~Kacy