5 Ways We Stay Motivated on Our Dave Ramsey Journey | Dave Ramsey Blog Series

What did you think about last week’s challenge? Did you do it? If so, were you completely shocked or were you expecting it?!

While making this lifestyle change to financial freedom, you HAVE to stay motivated. In a world where credit cards and fancy new cars are “cool,” you can easily get off track. Over the last year and a half, we have found what works best to keep us motivated and are excited to share it with you guys!!

STAYING MOTIVATED & FOCUSED:

1. WE ALWAYS TITHE. ALWAYS. Even when we wouldn't be able to make ends meet on our own, God provides. (This deserves its own blog!) When we see God provide, it encourages us beyond belief! We also LOVE giving, so the fact that we do tithe and give makes us happy and excited to keep on track with our budget so that we can keep giving!

2. We set goals! We aren't just doing it to do it, there is a bigger picture to accomplish here and we keep that in mind to help us stay motivated and focused. It also helps to reward ourselves when we meet one of our goals by going on a small date. Celebrating keeps things fun! When you celebrate it makes it seem real and you can reflect how far you have come. We have been reflecting a lot lately. It warms our hearts and makes us realize how blessed we really are!

3. When we do have a trip or expense that is a larger amount, that will take us awhile to accomplish, I make a color chart so that we can color in and visually see our progress. We have found that by doing this it helps keep us motivated and it feels very accomplishing when we color in our chart! We often "fight" over who gets color in the progress hahaha!!!

4. And when we have a larger amount to accomplish we break it down and set small goals so we don't get overwhelmed - For example. we are currently trying to save $12,000 for when we decide to grow our family so that we don't go into debt when the time comes. So instead of trying to tackle it all at once and getting overwhelmed at this number of TWELVE THOUSAND DOLLARS, we are only trying to tackle $500 at a time. (No, i'm not pregnant nor are we trying, we just want to be prepared).

5. Knowing that we obtain this lifestyle of financial freedom is motivation in itself. We don't have to worry much about finances because we know we have our basis covered. We have no questions when something comes up, we are prepared. And it helps so much in our marriage because we don't have to argue about big things that come up, we can casually discuss them.

It is extremely motivating when you see others living out this journey; there are Dave Ramsey Facebook groups (HERE, HERE, HERE) that you can join where you can see how others are implementing this into their lives and what they're accomplishing.

With this being a lifestyle change, not just a “diet,” next week we are sharing all about how we go on dates often and what our favorite cheap date nights look like!

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