Dave Ramsey isms

I listen to Dave Ramsey a LOT. If you don't know who he is you should. He is blunt, tough, but effective. Chris and I have been following his baby steps and they WORK. 

• Baby Step 1 – $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund
• Baby Step 2 – Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball
• Baby Step 3 – 3 to 6 months of expenses in savings
• Baby Step 3b- Save for a down payment for a home
  
• Baby Step 4 – Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement
• Baby Step 5 – College funding for children
• Baby Step 6 – Pay off home EARLY
• Baby Step 7 – Build wealth and give!

Chris and I are on Baby step 3b! We are proud of what we have accomplished in about 5 years of Marriage. We have no car payments, and Chris' student loan is GONE. We are so grateful for Dave Ramsey and his podcasts! If you have any debt at all, you NEED to follow him, listen to him and do the baby steps; it comes with some sacrifices (mostly social, no eating out, etc) but it is SO WORTH IT, and SO freeing! 

Things I've learned along the way:

• Saying no. As much as I want to, I have had to tell myself no a LOT. And my friends No a lot.
• Selling things we don't need on Facebook Marketplace, online yard sale pages etc. 
• Being more mindful of the things we buy and bring into our home! This saves us a lot of money!
• Working on being a minimalist (needing less, which in turn means spending less)
• Working with what we have and making it work, repairing it, re purposing it, etc. 

Cleaning On A Budget

 Everyone loves a clean house and I am no exception. There can be so many cleaning products out there and sometimes it can become overwhelming. I wanted to write a post and share some of my favorite AFFORDABLE cleaning products as well as some of my favorite cleaning hacks! 

Favorite Budget Friendly Cleaning Products:

Comet Powder (.85)

Pumie Stone for Toilet ($2.98)

Distilled White Vinegar ($2.69 for a Gallon)

Blue Dawn Dish Soap ($2.69) 

                                     = $9.21

I have been recently trying to be more selective about the cleaning  products I use and have in our home. We live in a condo, so space is valuable. I need cleaning products that can be used for multiple things! Comet Powder is awesome, it is a disinfectant and can be used to clean toilets, sinks, and bathtubs. I have always found that comet does a great job and I know the surfaces I use it on are clean afterwards. I had a friend tell me about a Pumie Scouring Stick for the toilet once, best thing EVER, it can remove rings around toilets, and also be used for a variety of other things on so many different types of surfaces! One Pumie stick usually lasts us quite a while as well! 

Distilled white vinegar is a great way to clean countertops. I find that I love to clean my kitchen table by spraying it with Distilled white vinegar. Vinegar is safe to use around my girls. They might not like the taste if they were to lick our kitchen table (it's been done before) but it won't hurt their little bodies. I also had someone I follow share this tip; in a spray bottle mix 1/4 cup of blue dawn dish soap and fill the rest of the bottle with Distilled White Vinegar. It makes theBEST cleaner and is SO affordable. It works especially great when I need to clean my shower, or sometimes I will spray it in our kitchen sink let it sit for 10-15 minutes and then rinse out my sink. No real scrubbing required. It is AWESOME. 

I would love to hear what some of your favorite dual use cleaning products are and how you use them around your home. Comment Below!