So your money journey, you guys would you say
right now in the present you guys are in a pretty
good spot? Would you agree with that?
- Yes.
Has it always been like this?
- [Both] No. (both laugh)
What was it that you were like,
"We have to stop this"?
Was there this huge fight, this meltdown,
were you going bankrupt?
- Well when we first got married, living in L.A., it was
paycheck to paycheck, there was not much left over
at the end of the month, and we didn't really have
any sort of budgeting going on.
We kind of just went with whatever we thought,
we weren't really talking about anything.
- Really your debt starts to add up without you really
realizing how much.
I think it just got to a point where we're expecting
a third and we're thinking about the future more
and wanting to set ourselves up for success.
So how long ago was all of that for you guys?
- That was probably about a year and a half when
we got into the house.
And I think at that point I kind of got to the place
where I was just done with not knowing anything
about our money.
'Cause you guys weren't budgeting or anything
at this point?
- We weren't budgeting, we weren't really talking about it.
That's the thing is we never fought about money 'cause
we never talked about money.
So, as a woman, would you say that that made you
fearful or insecure that you had no idea what was
going on?
What caused you to press into that?
- Never fearful, but avoiding the subject a little bit.
I would go out and just get things that I believed
I needed and that I probably knew he wouldn't think
I needed.
Okay, did you ever hide a purchase from him?
- Yeah, there's been things like that.
I knew that we needed to get somewhere where we were
on the same page.
At that point is when I started to try to budget
for the first time.
And I was on EveryDollar for a little bit.
When I had all of the stuff in this budgeting tool,
all of our separate credit cards and all the extra stuff
I realized how big our debt really was.
And I think that was the point where we had been
hearing about Financial Peace at the church
and I said to Ryan we need to do this as soon as possible.
So when she brings that up, what do you think?
- I was on board, I mean, it was the kind of thing
going back that I was handling a lot of the larger
bills and things, and so she wasn't really in the know
of that, but I wasn't really in the know of what she
was purchasing and that sort of stuff.
- And everyday needs, the everyday like school
supplies or things like that.
- It just sets a time aside every week that we just go
and we learn and start learning how to use the tools
and how to communicate better.
And I just knew as soon as we took that step
we were gonna benefit from it.
Okay, so I'm gonna quiz you, because I have an answer
in my head, I want to see if we're on the same page.
There's one category in the budget that almost everyone,
including the Cruzes, if we bust any category,
it's this category.
So if you had one budget category that you were
to bust, what would it be?
- Groceries. - Yeah, groceries.
[Rachel] Groceries, yes! Okay, I'm so glad.
Okay, so do you feel like you got progress on that
part of the budget?
- Yeah, we have actually started for the first time
doing the envelope system for groceries.
And knowing beforehand we are able to plan a little
bit better.
And like Dave always says, you're feeling
- The purchase. - The purchase.
Just last month I think we spent, probably over $100
less than what we did the month before.
- It's all those little trips to the store that
you don't think are adding up that end up just
adding up.
So $40 here, $60 there and, "Oh I need to go get
this one thing for this one meal that we weren't
planning on."
- I'd call Ryan: Can you stop at the store real quick for this,
or this, or this?
But being able to plan ahead of time.
So you guys now, you would say that,
because you are working on the same page and you're
communicating about money, do you find that your
marriage is even better today?
- Absolutely. - 100%.
I mean communication is key.
So it's definitely helped us communicate better.
Not just budgeting and that sort of thing,
but in other areas of our marriage, as well.
- [Nanette] We're talking about all those things now and that
has changed
just the trust between us and all of that kind of
thing has made a huge difference in our marriage.
So your two boys, they're younger.
Have they noticed any shift, or have you guys worked
with them at all?
What's their take been on all this?
- Absolutely.
Elliot, our 7-year-old,
- It's been sweet.
- He's definitely caught on, he's got the itch now.
And he's definitely overheard us and asking questions
and that sort of thing, which is great.
We've also got the chart.
- [Rachel] Oh from Junior? Financial Peace Junior?
- And so I love that idea, too, where it's not really
a chore, it's a commission.
Not allowance, commission.
- Yeah, not allowance, commission.
So I love that if you don't do the work you don't
get paid.
- I've had a lot more help in this house.
He's saving up for his own little thing,
whatever it is at the time that he's saving up for.
I believe at this point it's gumballs for his
gumball machine.
That's sweet.
- So he'll be like, "What's a budget?"
And I'm like, "Well, buddy, let me tell you."
So great. Here's EveryDollar.
- Exactly.
Well you guys are like absolutely killing it.
I mean you're doing it so fantastic.
Seriously, you could've lived in that monotonous
state that you guys were at a year and a half ago
and done that for decades, right?
And that's what a lot of people do.
But sitting here and saying, "You know what,
we're gonna be intentional, it's gonna be hard,
it's not gonna be fun."
As you look at all the debt, and it feels like
this mountain, but as you're chipping it away,
I can see it in your faces, you're seeing the hope
and the excitement of what that's gonna be like
and for those boys, being able to have that legacy
of being debt-free and not only just that,
but having parents that actually talk about money
and communicate and are on the same page,
that's such a huge gift.
So you guys are awesome.