Introduction

Life is funny. Not laughable funny but amusing in an interesting way. It is certainly an enigma; we never know where it is going to take us. Life ebbs and flows, constantly changing. In life, there are difficulties and challenges we all must face. That is the certainty. This is true about most people's lives. It has always been true of my life, but it was only in looking back, in retrospect, that I realized it has always been this way.

As a kid, teen, and even a young adult, I didn't understand the significance of life's ups and downs. Once I became fully cognizant of the volatility of life as well as the fleeting nature and rarity of it, I knew I had to choose a path that would allow me to control what I could in a world where little is static and there are no guarantees. I also gained an understanding of disappointments and setbacks which are nothing more than life lessons. Being aware of those things brought me to where I am today.

Understanding your financial and life goals, tracking your money, growing your money, and protecting your money are what this book is about. I have been in your shoes. I have been in debt and was spending money without really thinking because it was just the way everyone lived. Like many of you, I didn't know where to begin with personal finances because I did not have an education about it when I was growing up. I found myself right out of college, with degrees in accounting and finance, and I was earning a decent income as an auditor. My whole life was ahead of me, but I had no real knowledge of what I should actually be doing with my money. I was earning it. Wasn't that enough? I really did not know where to start or what to do with my money.

But I opened my eyes, educated myself, and committed myself to changing my situation in order to create the life I wanted and knew was possible. Now it is my life mission to help others realize their dreams of creating the lives they have always dreamed about; a life that is free of debt, financial burdens, and stress.

With this book I will take you step-by-step through the same process and the same steps I followed. Together we will walk through the framework that I developed and refined in Budgetdog Academy to help you achieve financial success. Through this book, I will provide you with the tools to lay out your plan, track your money, grow your money, and protect your money. This book is going to teach you the same framework that my wife and I used to accomplish our financial goals. The goal is to help you lay out your own roadmap that will lead you to financial success.

I have broken the book down into the steps, chapter-by-chapter, that will enable you to be financially independent. Not all the steps may apply to you today, so you may need to come back to different chapters as they pertain to your unique financial journey. However, I encourage you to read this book in its entirety because many of the principles that I teach cross over into other areas of life such as family, fitness, faith, and business, and are all valuable and necessary to achieve continued financial success.

In Chapter 1, “Who I Am: My Journey,” I give you my background. This is important so you know who I am and why I am the right person to help you along your financial journey. I will explain my journey to you, so you fully understand that anyone, including you, can achieve financial independence and success. Personal finance does not have to be complicated, but it will take commitment and dedication on your part to achieve your goals. I can show you how to do this, but you have to bring the desire and passion to win.

Chapter 2, “The First Step,” is where we will look at the psychology of money, especially spending, saving, and investing. It is all about your relationship with money, so you are able to understand your money mindset. This chapter will help you better understand yourself and what you value, which is reflected in your spending. It also focuses on knowing your spending habits and how they are tied to your goals. I share with you what my goals were that led me to this place. It will be your opportunity to hone in on your goals that will ultimately lead you to your financial wellness.

Chapter 3 focuses on getting organized. In this chapter, “Evaluate Your Financial Situation: Getting Organized Through the Balance Sheet,” we work through setting up your balance sheet, which is your starting point. To achieve anything, you need to be honest with yourself about your starting point. Let's be really honest: most of us, unless we were bequeathed money before we were born, have a starting point of $0 at birth. When I started my journey, my starting point showed me that I was in a hole; I had an $8,000 negative net worth. So, I had actually gone backward. Yikes! This chapter will help you establish your number, so you will know exactly what your starting point is. If you don't know your beginning point, it is difficult to proceed to the next steps or to have any kind of barometer to measure your growth and success.

Once you know your starting place, in Chapter 4, “Craft a Plan: Create Your Budget,” you will now create your budget and begin to get more organized with your spending. So in this chapter, we build upon Chapter 3 and continue my Budgetdog Framework aspect called Tracking Your Money. Your budget will help you focus on your spending, tracking your money, and committing to your goal. This step may amaze you, as it can reveal wasted money that you can actually use to help pay off some of your debt or help accelerate you toward your financial goal. These steps will show you what is possible with what you currently have as long as you are intentional with your money. In this chapter, you will learn how it is possible to see the finish line even if it is years away because you will have the right tools in place to show you the exact road map to paying off your debts, therefore freeing up your cash flow for more exciting things like growing your money!

Chapter 5, “Getting Out of Debt: The Triumph Before the Real Storm,” will continue to give you strategies on how to track your money. Here you will learn about paying close attention to your money and debt payoff through methods such as amortization schedules. By the time you get to this point, you will be paying off debt, if you have any, either through the snowball method, avalanche method, or a hybrid combination method. We will cover what each of these debt payoff strategies entails, so you can decide which strategy you will employ in your journey. For those who are in the process of paying off debt, I am going to introduce you to an extremely powerful tool that will fully map out your debt payoff and show you the impact that even small additional payments can make to your debt payoff timeline. Then you will be well on your financial journey of becoming financially independent.

Congratulations! You are becoming more solvent, so it is now time to learn how to Grow Your Money, the second tenet of my framework and Part II of this book. This is the part everyone wants to skip ahead to, especially if they don't have debt. But let me stop you right here! If you have not mastered your mindset around money and spending, clearly defined your starting point with your balance sheet, and built and learned how to follow your monthly budget, and know how to utilize amortization schedules—how to track your money—you need to go back to Chapter 2 and start again. All of the work up to this point is the most valuable work you will do in this entire book because it will set the stage, speed, and efficiency for everything else you will achieve. So do not skip ahead.

In Chapter 6, “Setting the Stage for Your Investments,” we jump into information about investments, so you can make sound financial decisions to Grow Your Money. Here I discuss the five main types of asset classes for building wealth: cash and cash equivalents, stocks (equities), bonds (fixed income), real estate, and commodities (real assets). We will also delve into topics such as brokers; investment products; stock market basics; diversification and Target Date Fund Diversification; 401(k), 403(b), and 457(b) plans; Thrift Savings Plan (TSP); Individual Retirement Account (IRA); 529 College Savings Plan; Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) and Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (UGMA); Health Savings Account (HSA); Taxable Brokerage Account; and Single Asset versus Mutual Fund versus Index Fund versus Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs). In addition, I will give you investment strategies for building your portfolio and my personal recommendations along with when to start investing and how to start investing. This chapter is about giving you the tools and information you need to really grow your money, so you can continue on the journey of reaching your financial goals.

Growing your money might be the ultimate goal for many of you who are reading this book, but let me emphasize that it is not the end. In Chapter 7, “Formulating Your Investment Plan,” you will learn ways to protect yourself and your money. A key component of having money is protecting it. This chapter is about building your moat to ensure you don't lose your money due to some preventable misfortune. Protecting Your Money is the third aspect of my framework. The overarching ideas for Chapter 7 include insurance and the different types, tax diversification...