Hey guys!!
So get this – our guy “Johnny” from the other day took everyone’s advice and TOLD HIS WIFE about all his debt!! Despite how scared he was about it all!
And I’m happy to say he’s alive and still married, haha…
In fact, his wife even commented on our blog post and sounds like a blessing of a person:
Hey everyone,
An update on our situation:
He came clean to me tonight, followed by showing me this post. I read through it, and I read through all of your comments. Thank you for the positive feedback and advice. Many of you share my thoughts/have similar ideas of how to take care of this situation. It is comforting to see these thoughts because I am a bit ignorant when it comes to financial things (I’m an elementary teacher). I know the basics, and I’m pretty good with my money but don’t know much about tracking and keeping solid financial records like some of you were mentioning. Luckily I have no debt of my own, so we will be able to just focus on solving the situation at hand.
My husband has made significant lifestyle changes, and now it makes sense as to why he was so insistent about it. I know that he and I will come out of this situation stronger and DEBT FREE.
Thanks again for all of your advice and encouragement. Sometimes it just takes enough people saying it to give you the courage to make the jump.
Sincerely,
The Wife (:
See, it always pays to tell your wife everything :) That line here was pretty interesting to see too – “now it makes sense as to why he was so insistent about it.” And now they can work TOGETHER to supercharge it even more as well! Must feel so good to get that out of the way – good job, Johnny & wife!
(You can read the original article on this here if you missed it: The “Debt vs. Savings” Trump Card)
In other news, it’s been about two weeks now since the launch of our babe and I’m pretty sure I’ve saved about $60 on coffee so far since not working out of coffee shops haha… Of course, it’s all been eaten up by the INSANE AMOUNT OF DIAPERS we’re going through all over again, but hey – you take the savings where you can get them, right?
Like this, too:
(Yup, those are socks on his hands instead of mittens… these guys grow the sharpest nails!)
Here are some other things I’ve noticed in our household lately:
- We’ve been taking a looooot more walks and park trips every day (fresh air and free!)
- I’m not nearly as afraid taking out all my boys just by myself anymore – done it twice now and feeling like Super Dad! Haha…
- I’m remembering what it’s like to just “be” again, vs always being on the go (something kids are GREAT at as they live for right now and nothing else!)
- I haven’t thought about “work” hardly at all, compared to the first two births when my anxiety piled up with each passing day off I took… (Not sure if this is good all the way, or not (what if I turn lazy and never want to work again???) but it is a nice change :))
- And I’m beyond grateful to have excellent health insurance and not my crappy self-employed plan anymore… A huge benefit of working a 9-5 which people often overlook when dreaming of going out on their own… So yay for the Mrs. for enjoying “normal” jobs and stability so that the rest of us can benefit from it! Haha… We’ve probably saved $3,000 alone on this birth already due to it, so helpful.
So two weeks in and I’m still kickin’! Along with my wallet!
Although I did just see THIS when I went to compose an email in Gmail this morning — anyone else notice this???
Apparently you can now send and receive money through Gmail!! Or “Google Pay“, to be precise…
Here’s what it looks like when you click the $ sign:
Someone on Twitter said it’s for helping out all those Nigerian princes in our spam folders, but something tells me that’s not too accurate ;) If you’d like to be the first one to test it out on me though, feel free to send some over!! Haha…
That’s all I got for you today… What’s good in your worlds?? Anything new and juicy going on? Money and life good?
I know this post was kinda all over the place, but it was also fun to just “go with the flow” like I used to do back in the day… Sometimes I get so hard on myself for always wanting to put out solid well-thought out posts that I forget I’m a blogger and not a journalist ;)
So you’ll probably see more of this throughout the next handful of weeks as I get re-adjusted here, but I’ll always try and keep them as helpful (and fun!) as possible.
Enjoy the weekend!
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Good afternoon, from a cool South Africa. Congratulations on the little guy, he is so cute!
I am so glad that Johnny told his wife, she is a cool lady, handled it like a pro. They will for sure get through this. I am so glad he followed the advice and there was an update.
Have a great weekend all!
South Africa represent!
Johnny! You wild man. O.K…so you survived the ordeal, now NEVER hide anything from her again. You’re a team, and you both need to know where the goal posts, the ball, the sidelines, and referees are at all times. Good luck Now go start a blog.
J$ – damn he’s cute, and the rambling posts are fun to write and fun to read. No more beating thy self up.
Class dismissed.
I have a really bad poker face and my wife can read me like a book. If she wants any info out of me, she can probably do it by asking a few questions. I am so glad that we don’t have any debt to hide from each other. In fact, I tried to encourage my wife to take interest in our finances from time time time by telling her the progress of our net worth, but the interest just wasn’t there at all.
Awww he’s precious!
I commented once before on this blog about my battle with debt and wanting to rent but not having the approval of my dad. I’m happy to say it all worked out! I paid off my credit card. I made a nice budget sheet showing all that I have saved up the saving plan for the while I live there and also showing that the amount after rent isn’t nearly as little as he thought. I was commended and now it’s time to sell my car!
Does anyone have any advice on selling your car when you still owe. I’m worried I won’t break even on it and will still have to pay on it even after selling it. I’m thinking I’m going to try to throw as much money as I can at it for the next few months.
Hope you enjoy your weekend!
Heyy!!! So glad you stuck with you guns and it’s working out for you, man!! GOOD FOR YOU!!! That’s hard to do!
RE: upside down car loans – yup, we’ve all been there at times, haha… for me it was my *house* actually that i was upside down on when I sold (had to bring a check for $15k to closing!) but if you know it’s the right move deep down then you just gotta do what you gotta do :) Whether you pay off more now or pay more when you sell it, it’s still roughly the same money you’re needing, so I’d just focus on the overall game plan and know you’re heading in the right direction for yourself. Or depending on how new/old the car is you can just drive it into the ground and ride the payments out, but you’d know what’s best for you more than anyone else. (Another idea: picking up a side job or overtime hours to help you nix more of it temporarily!)
What a happy ending! I’m glad both Johnny and his wife are aware of their overall financial situation now.
The Nigerian Prince scam is rampant in Vietnam. Many people, especially older single women, have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. I’m surprised people even believed it!
What a waste of lives screwing over your fellow brothers and sisters…. I know we make fun of the scam and others here cuz it’s super obvious to us, but unfort. that’s not the case with the older crowds and thus the scams keep going! if only these people used their talents towards something more valuable :(
Glad he told the wife and is still alive to talk about it. It seems like he married a winner! I manage all the money in my household but don’t make a move without my wife knowing the move, the reasoning for it and the full picture of our situation. Separate accounts or joint does not reall matter. Having all the info and using it to work together as a team is key. If one spouse saves everything and be other spends everything you’re back to square one.
Congrats again on the new little man!
Since you asked “what’s good in your world?” I have to be honest…
I am still steaming at the CLE vs. GSW game last night! JR Smith may have single handily lost Lebron James that entire series…Just can’t get over it hahaha
I was just reading about that, haha… Def. sucks to make a mistake like that out of alllll the games you’ve played, but I guess that’s what makes sports so interesting, eh? The other team loved it!! :)
Baby nails = puppy teeth
Glad to hear Johnny came clean and they are going to figure it out! Bet he feels 10 pounds lighter.
We are 8 weeks out from our due date – starting to get real!
Ooooh you’re in for a real treat, my friend!!! Make sure to soak EVERY STAGE of it up! They change every few weeks! :)
Good job with the offspring! Watch out with that onesie, though… I always thought Mr. 1500 had a monopoly on dinosaurs ’round these here FIRE blogs…
Mr. 1500 can come over here and try to rip it off my baby ;)
Happy Friday! Little guy is looking happy and satisfied in the picture.
I am glad that Johnny came clean to the wife, the wife was positive and now “happily ever after” is a work in progress for them just like all of us!
Looking forward to this weekend and being home :)
That turned out pretty well. She sounds like a saint. Did she even get mad? :)
Good job with the kids. Take it easy and be a SAHD.
Right??? She also sent me an email and was SUPER nice and positive in it.. Maybe she doesn’t get phased easily, which is a Godsend for Johnny!
So about them diapers…we started potty training at 6 months old and by just over a year old we only needed nighttime diapers. And we have a boy so don’t let anyone tell you they are slower than girls to learn! That alone saved me TONS of money! Which I know is music to your ears. ;-)
How much do you charge to train others??? :)
The baby is so cute!
I’m happy that the wife took the info so well. She is a compassionate person.
I learned the hard way about my DH’s debt. He landed in the hospital for weeks and bills came due. The CC’s amounted to $18,000. We do not share money or accounts and my job was small as I cared for the kids. So, I did the next best thing and called his mother. She paid them. The sad part is that things haven’t changed and we’ve been married nearly 25 years.
Oh nooo :( That is super sad, I am sorry!!! Maybe you can somehow sneak this blog in front of him too?? :) Tell him it’s “sexy” and I guarantee he’ll at least come over once! Haha…
I need SO MUCH HELP with the “just being” part. I know my kids would love it if I was better at it. And your babe is beauuutiful.
It takes a lot of practice!! But you can do it!!! I started last year by just shutting down the laptop/phone at certain hours and that alone forces you to “live” more :) It’s amazing how addicted we are to them :(
Oh, boy; how I feel for ‘the wife’. Eight year ago I was in her shoes and I was much less accepting and forgiving. I was so vexed that I shouted at my husband every time I saw him for the next couple of months (thank goodness I travel for work quite a bit). Eventually I sorted out the debt but trust is very slow to rebuild. Good luck with that. (Oh, and Jay, the baby is adorable :)).
I never knew that about you two!! You ever write about it on the blog?? If not, you should! I bet so many people can relate/be helped by it!
(and thanks!! looks like we’ll have another when it’s time to us to finally fly out there and visit you haha… which at this point will be even longer away, d’oh)
Oh the diapers life! Thank goodness they’re so cute to make up for all the diapers :)
The Wife: I’m so glad he ‘fessed up!! I am willing to bet that since he had already started trying to fix the mistake, it makes the lie easier to forgive. That’s what would stand out to me, anyway.
Related: I keep thinking how lucky PiC is that I’m scrupulously honest and the only thing I don’t really tell him is when I’m pushing more dollars to savings. It would be really easy for me to take advantage of his lack of interest! Not that I ever would.
Google $: I saw that a few weeks ago but I refuse to give Google more access to my money :D
I agree PiC is lucky – in many more ways than just that :)
I’m glad he told his wife. I can imagine how difficult that must have been.
I’m enjoying the new dad life, too. Except I’m brand new with only one :) We’ve been buying a ton of diapers on sale, and even though he’s still in a size one diaper, we’re already stocking up on size 4 diapers!
You’re gonna be just fine with those smarts :)
J Money you all need cloth diapers! When they are little, they are so easy to use. And super cute too! Your new baby is just adorable. I’m so happy for you!
We considered it with baby #1 but my wife was not having it haha… I admire everyone who does though, saves $$$ and environment!
Love the picture of your new baby! He will have a mohawk in no-time. Congrats!
What a beautiful baby! Congratulations :)
And I’m so happy about “Johnny” and his wife. Good news all around!
Yay for Johnny coming clean and his wife being so chill!
And super yay about your son!!!!
I have about 2 weeks left before I’m due to pop. We’re making the last touches on the nursery and checking things off the before-baby-to-do list…and napping. I love napping.
Haha…. Napping is the smartest thing you’ve ever said :) Going to be the adventure of your life!! Soak up every minute of it!
Good to hear Johnny letting her wife know about their financial situation. She sounds really nice, doesn’t sound like she got that upset about it. It was more like ‘how are we going to handle this situation.’