I am the baby step queen. I firmly believe in them, and will celebrate every baby step like you just collapsed over the marathon finish line. Okay maybe not quite that exuberantly, but definitely with (figurative) confetti. Maybe even cake, depending on what the baby step is. I expect my circle to celebrate my baby steps as well. I need my village to support me. 😀
Went into the gym? Celebration. Don’t care if you stayed five minutes or fifty. Got up when my alarm went off? Celebration. Made my lunch? Brass band on deck. Went into Michaels and didn’t get anything? Standing ovation. You see where this is going?
Dave Ramsey is a financial guru who, among other things, has established 7 baby steps as part of his money-management plan. He has a financial course that many have found works for them. I have not taken the course or fully researched his methods, so will not offer any comment on his ideas. Feel free to research his methods for yourself if you are interested.
I will, however show one thing that I’ve taken from his methods: Baby step #1 (find more info at https://www.daveramsey.com/baby-steps#baby_step_1), which is to save $1,000 to start an emergency fund.
$1,000!! Tuh. Yea right. It’s okay if you’re thinking this. It sounds like a big number, especially when you’re trying to figure out how to pay this week’s bills. I was thinking it too. Sometimes still do. But you have to start somewhere.
I can’t take credit for the idea for the image below (I found multiple variations of it on the internet), but this is my version and how I decided to keep track of what I was doing. Everything is better in color, and I like being able to check something off. Also, visuals sometimes help.
See how pretty it is? I put a little black checkmark whenever I cross off a box, and I am not worried about trying to get all of the boxes checked by some arbitrary date. I’ll get there. No, we will get there.
Slow and steady…
(Helpful hint: I started/am starting with the largest boxes first to get them out of the way, but do whatever works for YOU.)