FRIENDS AND FINANCES FEATURING BEYOND A BUDGET
Welcome back to friends and finances my featured blogger series that introduces you to some amazing bloggers. The biggest reason I decided to start this new series, is because I believe in getting different perspectives on handling your finances. I also believe that the bloggers featured here each week have a lot to offer the world and deserve recognition. Some of the blogs featured will be other personal finance related blogs and others will not be. The reason I chose to include some other blogs that are not related to finance is simple, we all have a financial story no matter who we are. I believe money is not the only focus we should have when traveling our road to financial freedom, and I think discovering some fun blogs that share something different can be a welcomed break from over focusing on money. So today I welcome Joel and Emily from beyondabudget.com
My husband Jason and I pictured left had the great pleasure of meeting this awesome couple in person, as you can see in the picture above. What an awesome experience for bloggers to connect and meet, especially after we have had the pleasure of connecting via social network and email in the past.
Hi there, we are Joel and Emily! After starting our lives together as a married couple, we quickly realized that debt was holding us back from moving toward our ultimate life goals. We are both dreamers and have an elaborate future planned out that is best achieved with financial independence. After being sick of our debt, we eliminated all $40k of it in 12 months. This included student loans and credit card debt. Although we were ecstatic to abolish all our debt, it just didn’t feel like enough. We wanted to help others achieve the same success, so we decided to start Beyond a Budget.Personal finance isn’t a well-taught subject and we often noticed that many people were unaware and reserved about the topic altogether. Not intentionally, it just isn’t a topic many feel comfortable talking about. We are big advocates of the freedom and opportunities a debt free life can provide. We believe with the right guidance, anyone can achieve that independence. The goal of our blog is to provide a confidential yet personal way to learn about money!
1. How long have you been blogging?
We have been blogging for about 4 months now and are enjoying every minute of it! Emily has always been a blog lover and one day during a car ride to our hometown, we sporadically decided to give it a shot. After many, many hours spent creating a website, designing images, and lots of writing, Beyond a Budget was born. It’s been a great experience so far and we have met some incredible people, such as Saving Joyfully!
2. What has been you biggest money mistake?
Ahhh where to start? We have unquestionably made our fair share of mistakes with money. The excessive use of credit cards is probably the most costly mistake we’ve made. Like most people, we heard about the dangers of credit cards, but thought we were immune to them.One of the turning points in our debt free journey was racking up a ridiculous amount of credit card debt from our wedding, and then using almost all the money we received as gifts to pay it off. We came to the embarrassing realization that we had to use the money our friends and family gave us to help start our lives, on things we previously purchased. Not one of our best moves.
3. What is your best advice for recovering from or preventing this money mistake?
AVOID CREDIT CARDS! It’s a common misconception that they are needed to survive financially. Many claim you have to use them in order to maintain a good credit score. However, borrowing money doesn’t have to be the norm, and measuring the ability to pay off debt is the sole purpose of a credit score. Buying things in cash that you can afford is a stress free alternative and a safe way to purchase!
4. Favorite quote or money advice and who was the author?
Joel – “It’s not your salary that makes you rich, it’s your spending habits. – Charles A. Jaffe”
Emily – “You’ve got to tell your money what to do or it will leave. – Dave Ramsey”
5. Favorite money or budgeting related book and author?
Joel – “The Total Money Makeover” – Dave Ramsey, and “How to Win Friends and Influence People” – Dale Carnegie. Although this one is not a book about money, it’s my favorite book of all time and I believe it provides keys to winning with money and in life!
Emily – “Love Your Life Not Theirs” – Rachel Cruze
6. Favorite money-saving website?
Well obviously savingjoyfully.com is our favorite! ;) Outside of that, our most visited is probably everydollar.com. I know it’s technically an app/service, but it is a major component to our success with money. Although we have been using the new budgeting spreadsheet we created recently!
7. Favorite money-making app or website?
The only websites I can think of that we use to “make” money is Fidelity. That’s where we manage our retirement savings and long/short-term investments. We have sold a few things on sites such as craigslist and eBay before, but don’t use them regularly.
8. Do you have an emergency fund or savings account?
We are currently in the process of building our emergency fund equal to 6 months of expenses. We’re about 80% done and it feels fantastic! After spending a year putting all our money toward aggressively paying off debt, it’s rewarding to be able to finally keep our money and see our savings account build up.
9. What is your most successful strategy for saving money?
BUDGET. BUDGET. BUDGET. There are plenty of strategies and opinions out there when it comes to handling money, but the one TRUE vital element is budgeting. Just like Emily’s favorite quote, without monitoring and developing a plan for you money, it will leave. Once you learn to control money and eliminate debt, the opportunities are literally endless!
Twitter - @beyondabudget
Facebook - @beyondabudget
Pinterest - @beyondabudget
Instagram - @beyond.a.budget/
Website URL - beyondabudget.com
