Last week, we began to outline the sorts of insurance policies you need in order to complete Step 4 of our 8 steps towards financial health. Everyone needs four basic insurance policies: Home, Auto, Health, and Life. Last week, we discussed Homeowners Insurance and today we are going to complete this step by discussing the final three types of policies: Auto, Health and Life. Auto Insurance Just like the homeowner’s policy, there is property and casualty insurance on the aut

Everyone needs four basic insurance policies: Home, Auto, Health, and Life. I am going to give you very broad and brief overviews of these policies, but please know that you should speak to your insurance agent before making any changes in coverage. If you don’t have an insurance agency that you have a good relationship with or you would like a second opinion, my agents at Trumble Agency are always available to talk with you about your coverages and they hold the same standar

We are on an 8 step path as we systematically fill up our financial tanks. Just as there are 8 marks on your fuel gauge for a full tank, there are 8 marks on your financial fuel gauge that indicate if you are financially healthy. Here’s where we have been: Step 1 - Spend Less Than You Make; Step 2 - Give 10%; Step 3 - New Zero in Checking; and today, we are beginning Step 4 - Adequate Insurance. Today, I’m going to discuss the subject you have probably been most excited abo

Last week I asked you to do something counterintuitive: give 10% of your income away first, before anything else. If you took that step, I hope you felt what so many others have felt when they start giving first: something shifts. You stop looking inward and start looking outward, and your whole relationship with money begins to change. This week, we move to Step 3 on the Fuel Gauge, and I want to tell you about a trick I played on myself that changed everything. A few years

Spending less than you make sounds simple, and it is, but it requires finding the one or two leaks in your budget that are quietly draining your account and plugging them. That is Step 1 on the Fuel Gauge. If you have done that work, you are ready for Step 2. I will warn you right now: this one is going to surprise you. Step 2 is to give 10% of your income, creating a tone of gratitude and abundance in all of our finances. I know what you are thinking. You picked up this colu

The foundation of every family's finances comes down to one simple principle: spend less than you make. That's Step 1 on the Fuel Gauge, and if you've been plugging the leaks in your budget with tools like the 24-hour pause, the buddy system, or cash, you're already on your way. Now it's time to make sure that progress sticks, every single month. I'll be honest with you, I don't love budgeting. Some people get nerdy about spreadsheets and fall in love with the whole process.

What good is a full tank if there's a hole in it? That's the question at the heart of Step 1 on your Fuel Gauge: Spend less than you make. Although it sounds simple in theory, I've sat across from enough people to know that this first step is where most of us are quietly bleeding in our personal finances. The first winter I spent with Lauren's family in Michigan, her dad offered to let me chop down a tree with an ax. Now, I had never held an ax in my life. But when he asked

Last week, we talked about your G.P.S. — your General, Personal, and Specific Purposes — and the roadmap they provide for where you're called to go, who you're called to be, and what you're called to do. If that conversation stirred something in you, I'm glad. Remember, when money is tied to purpose, it becomes incredibly powerful. It becomes FUEL. So, I want to ask a very practical question before we go any further down that road: how much fuel is in your tank? Because her

Money targets independent of purpose targets are meaningless. Money is not the destination—it’s the fuel. And fuel is only useful if you know where you’re going. I want to introduce you to a concept that has helped me think through where I’m headed. I call it your personal G.P.S. Just like a GPS helps you get to where you’re going, your Personal G.P.S. will provide a path to walk down as you pursue the life you were created for – a life I believe is worth fueling! Without tha