The Recipe for Financial Preparedness

This is the first post in the Financial Cupcakes Series

Like the majority of the population, I have made the repetitive new years resolution of getting financially prepared. When I say repetitive, I mean it’s a roll over from last year and the year before. I think its safe to say spiffing up your finances is one of the toughest goals to accomplish next to diet and exercise. If you’re like me it seems that every time you get close something happens, an “emergency” that just throws everything for a loop. It’s HARD and encompasses so much that it’s overwhelming. Don’t stop trying because its just too much.

NOT THIS YEAR! I can do hard things, and you can do them too!

First I think it would be beneficial to change our paradigm on financial preparedness. Just the terms “financial preparedness,” “budgeting,” and “getting out of debt” seem to elicit a feeling of doubt, dread, and foreboding. Not exactly the best way to start out. So I’ve thought long and hard about how to change that. I decided to rename it, something that everyone loves.

We’re going to make cupcakes! Yumm! Don’t you feel better already, empowered, hungry for success! Drooling? Good!

Getting Started!

Together we are going to make cupcakes one step at a time until we have a delicious batch of financial security.

Step one: Set your financial goals

Step two: Identify your ingredients – Tracking your spending and where your money has been going

Step three: Picking a recipe – Assess your needs vs wants. What combination of ingredients yields the best results? This is where we’ll make this recipe “fat free”

Step four: Budgeting 

Step five: Baking! aka Emergency Savings

Together we will share this journey, with our mistakes, successes, and plenty of  encouragement. Share recipes, and help each other so we can all enjoy the goodness of the iconic treat… The CUPCAKE!

These books from Dave Ramsey have been crucial in helping my family get out of debt. See them at Amazon:

PreparednessMama

Preparedness Mama and its collaborators have created a one-stop shop of critical resources for families looking to prepare for disaster. We know firsthand that getting ready for the worst with a big family poses some particular challenges.

 

We’ve learned from the past so that you don’t have to make the same mistakes again. Fear of the unknown is one of the scariest things in life, but we hope that Preparedness Mama’s treasure trove of practical advice will make that unknown less daunting and ultimately help take the scared out of being prepared for every single one of our readers.