An Anniversary to Remember

Last Thursday was our scheduled weekly meeting with our coaches. They suggested meeting at the corporate office instead of our normal meeting place. So, we show up and the room was dark, with candles, and a small table with a red and white check table cloth, and champagne glasses with sprite, and a lemon meringue pie (which was an awesome touch because Dave "opted out" of a piece of pie to put the money in savings instead). So all this because our anniversary was the 27th. And the topper, the complete "wow" moment: Doug Fecher was there with his guitar, and Tom Rice and they serenaded us. They played 4 songs for us and convinced us to dance. Wow!! really? I'm getting all warm and fuzzy thinking about it again. I love our coaches, they are absolutely wonderful and I don't think they could change in anyway to make me happier, more comfortable, more excited.

So yes, I am in <3

Jessica

Saver and Bill Payer?

First, I want to say that Jessica and Dave are just GREAT!!! I love spending time with them during our " Financial Meetings ". They are Awesome to work with and it has been a pleasure each and every step of the way. This first quarter Jessica will be the SAVER in the family and Dave will be the BILL PAYER in the family. What does this mean you ask? Jessica is going to be saving extra money from each paycheck and depositing it in her high dividend rate account with Wright Patt Credit Union. Dave will be making extra payments on a high interest rate credit card; and then they will be switching roles at the beginning of each quarter. This will help Jessica and Dave become Amazing Savers and Outstanding Bill Payers!!!

What a Fun Night!

We surprised our family Thursday night with a small anniversary party to commemorate their 7 beautiful years of marriage. They had NO idea what was going on, just that they were to meet us at a different location than where we usually get together for our family meetings. When they arrived, there were some candles set up along the path to welcome them, and inside they found more candles, a lemon meringue pie (which we specifically got for them because a few weeks back Dave had been craving one, but opted not to buy it, and instead put that money into his savings account), three excited coaches, and two men – WPCU President/CEO, Doug Fecher, and Tom Rice, our Tech Services Manager. By now Dave & Jess are probably thinking, ‘What the heck is going on here?!’ They were very happy to find out that it was an early anniversary party for them. Doug and Tom have a band and were sweet enough to stop by to perform a few very sweet slow songs for them. After Doug and Tom left, and Dave & Jess were finished with their pie, we had a very brief team meeting, then let them go home to enjoy the rest of their night. We hope they had a great time at the “party,” and wish them many more years of happiness!

Happy Anniversary!

What a wonderful and happy couple. We so enjoyed Thursday evening and it was a wonderful surprise for them. Dave and Jessica are such a great family to work with and I am sure that they will be very successful with this contest. I wish you a very happy 7th anniversary. Jessica and Dave are very open to all of our ideas and suggestions and are very active in deciding how we can save money in certain areas. They have been great at filling out our logs and identifying what they have saved by making different choices. It is truly a joy to see them every week. We have all became so close in such a short period of time.

Back to School

Wednesday night I attended a few classes with Jessica; they were the first of the WPCU “pit stops.” They covered credit reports/scores & budgeting. Both were extremely interesting and helpful, not to mention, eye-opening.

When I was younger, I had a credit card and almost ruined my credit completely. Once I finally paid it off years later, I told myself, “Self, NO MORE CREDIT CARDS!” That is, until Wednesday night. I learned that having open cards, with AVAILABLE revolving credit is actually very helpful for getting your credit score up. I actually hurt my credit by closing the card! Using it once a month, even if it’s for a tank of gas, then paying it off at the end of every month would leave a large part of the credit available, and unused. That means I could easily pay off the balance (with money that was hopefully earning some dividends in my savings account), and my score would be improving. Although my credit still has a few dings and bruises, after Wednesday night, I feel confident that it’s completely reparable; something I believed years ago would never be the case.

It takes a lot of discipline, but having a credit card doesn’t mean having to be in DEBT. It can help you or it can hurt you; like anything in life, it’s all in how you use it.

And so it goes....

This week has been an exercise on how to hold on to your goals even when the unexpected hits.

Turns out that the driver who hit me last week is insured under two different insurance companies. So, while they fight over who is going to pay for my car's repairs and my medical bills, David and I have had to get our insurance company involved and pay the deductible (which ironically and unfortunately turns out to be the same amount we planned to put towards our debt/into our savings a month).

We were still able to squeeze out the money to keep us on track, but it's going to be a very tight couple of weeks.

sigh...

It never goes easy, does it?

Jessica

What a whirl-wind week!

Wow. What a whirl-wind week! Yesterday was a not-so-great day, but today was wonderful.

First the not-so-good: Wednesday I was on my way to Foy's with a few friends and was in a car accident on St Rt 35. The traffic was horrible and stopped suddenly. I stopped in time, but the car behind me did not, rear-ending me and pushing me into the car in front of me. Everyone was relatively OK, and it could have been much worse, but my car is undriveable and had to be towed. So now, for the time being, we will be a one car family. Now we have the waiting game as the insurance companies play the reimbursement game.

Tonight, we had our weekly meeting with our coaches; Jayme, Andrea, and Kim (can I just tell you how much I love them?!) and they gave us our goals. I am so confident that we will be able to reach and surpass our goals. It will be a change in our spending habits, but I know we can do it! We have been doing a good job on keeping up with our spending journal and it has already opened our eyes to our spending habits. We have also already implemented some saving "guidelines" that saved us $16 this past week. Every little bit helps us get closer to our dream of finally having a family!

And I have also promised Dave that I would not buy any shoes (unless I truely needed them, by his standards) until the race is over. Now that's a sacrifice!!

Jessica

First Official Team Meeting

During our first official family meeting, the team discussed spending behaviors and current debts with the Bledsoe family. We were looking for ways to help them cut back, while at the same time, trying to make sure that saving doesn’t completely interrupt their LIFE. Collectively, we settled on trying to make a 1% reduction in their debts, and begin a 1% increase in their savings, and see where we can go from there. Their goal as a family is to work hard to meet these goals, while our job as their team is to try not to overwhelm them, and just give them our support. It’s a lot of work on both sides, but I feel that the final outcome is going to be so overwhelmingly impactful on all our lives, that it makes it more than worth the effort. At the conclusion of the meeting, we gave the Bledsoes some “homework,” and asked that they continue to be diligent in filling out their spending journal, because it’s important for them to see where their money is going, to determine if what they are buying is something they really need or just something they want. From there we can help coach them on the best places to cut back. More updates to come!

I can't wait to help the Bledsoes win so they can achieve their dream of adoption!

As a mother of 3, I understand the desire to have children, and I’m so excited to help them win, so they can achieve this blessing.

I am estatic about the Savings Race!

I am ecstatic, and looking forward to working with such a great family like the Bledsoes! I know that we will be successful in helping them achieve their dream.

We're Off!

Energy and excitement are fueling the Bledsoe team. Dave and Jessica, alongside their coaches, Andréa, Kim, and Jayme, are ready to save, save, save! They have dreamed of adopting a child, but the cost of adoption is so high, that it’s a major struggle. Winning this race will help the Bledsoes start their family sooner, rather than later.

They’re a fun couple, and you can tell they’re going to be amazing parents. They truly deserve this; I know they are going to be 100% dedicated to this race.

Our team started last week with a challenge for our new family. We handed them a “spending journal” and told them to keep track of EVERY penny spent for the whole week. “Writing everything down forces you to really look at what you’re spending your money on. You may look back at the journal in a few days and say, ‘I can’t believe I spent money on that,’ which might cause you to think twice later, when spending on a similar purchase.” Jayme explained to us. “I think it’s a great idea for everyone to start a spending journal.”

To launch the Savings Race, a kickoff party was held at the Gantt Member Center last Tuesday evening. Our family got a chance to meet and mingle with the four other Savings Race families, and meet some of the WPCU Coaches, Savings Race seminar instructors, and management.

We look forward to updating everyone on our team’s future successes, and hope that through the Bledsoe’s journey, that they not only learn great ways to save, but that their story encourages everyone around the Miami Valley to start saving, too!

Getting the Ball Rolling!

Off to the races...literally. Last week was all preliminaries, the first meeting with the coaches was Thursday night.

The kickoff "party" was Tuesday, and it was a good tone-setting. I was a bit disappointed that we didn't have the chance to meet the other families, I'm not sure if that's purposeful or just something that wasn't thought of. We did get to meet quite a few people involved in Wright-Patt, so that was nice. Got to hear a few adoption stories...it's great how people share their common interests/circumstances when they have them.

I did learn something amazing during the opening speech...the average savings amount put away by Americans is near zero? Aye, caramba! I can see the whole point of this thing, and I guess it's more widespread and maybe noble than I'd assumed, from their point of view.

We're already started, keeping a log of purchases. Ouch. We really do spend that much, day to day...and it's easy not to notice it. Of course, last week was a bad week, with me eating out a lot...setting up the Haunted Trail in Beavercreek keeps me out of the house in the evening. But that kicked off Friday, so we can go back to sensible food.

David