Category Archives: blog goals

Solo family account

We are moving slow and steady toward our goal of simplifying our family finances. We added Hubby to our local community bank account last week, and now our next step is to start the transition of all the direct debit accounts.

The beauty of automatic bill pay is obvious, but it is a hassle if you ever decide to merge accounts or switch banks. We identified six accounts linked to Hubby’s old corporate bank.

Paycheck deposit
Mortgage
Car payment
Insurance
Savings account
Netflix

Given the monthly ebb and flow via deposits and debits, I also calculated how much is being taken out by these transactions each month so that I can transfer enough funds into to our joint account to make sure everything is covered until Hubby’s paycheck deposit kicks in.

I know there is still more work ahead, but I can hardly wait until I can look into one account to find out how much we have available to meet our family needs and wants.

Are there any accounts that you choose to pay the old-fashioned way?

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Sustainable Family Finances

The story of a family creating an abundant and sustainable life.

Baby Step Strategy

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If you’ve been following my blog goals so far, you’re probably wondering “How on Earth are you going to reach all these goals?”

The simple answer: one step at a time.

Although I want to create radical change, I certainly don’t expect it all at once. I may be an idealist, but I know my daily reality includes plenty of obligations beyond my own personal wants. Yet, this doesn’t mean that I should let my needs languish (nor should you!). Quite to the contrary, we need to be tenacious in our attempts to reach our dreams.

Here are my first baby steps:

Post my new-and-improved family budget template
Review each budget line item one week at a time to consider green impacts
Set small attainable goals per line item
Help Hubby identify debit accounts to switch to our joint account
Start with a simple online carbon calculator
Take some credit and share ways we already save by living green
Find more ways to live abundantly on less

Together we will reach our goals; it just may take a whole lot of baby steps.

What are your personal baby steps?

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Sustainable Family Finances
The story of a family creating an abundant and sustainable life.

About Us: Sustainable Family Finances

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Sustainable Family Finances Blog Goals:
1) Record my family income/expenses/savings monthly
2) Meet monthly with hubby to discuss budget
3) Simplify family accounts
4) Track our family’s carbon footprint
5) Share ways to live abundantly within our means

About Me: My name is Darcy. Some call my an idealist, striving for Darcy’s Utopia. Others might say that I’m a 30-something middle-class working mom with two young kids: my five year old son (referred to as BigGuy) and my two year old daughter (referred to as Girly). I also have two more guys in my life, my life partner of 10-plus years (referred to as Hubby) and a big black Lab (referred to as Doggy). We live in the best of the Pacific Northwest, aka Oregon, although we hope to connect with people from across the globe through this blog.

About our Family Finances: We are a dual income family, yet we spend more than ever before. I’ve always been pretty responsible with my money, but “life” can easily distract me from making it a top priority. Due to an almost $2k monthly child care bill, we truly need to balance the budget each month. Otherwise, we are starting in a pretty good place: we are able to pay the mortgage on our “dream home” (a 1904 Victorian), our only other debt is my college and graduate school loans, we have a growing emergency fund, and a modest retirement fund. Financially, our short term goals are to track our family budget better, spend with our values in mind, and increase our emergency fund. Our long term goals are to retire well, save for college, travel as a family, and share the wealth. As a busy working family, our first dilemma is how to streamline our finances and keep our eye on our short and long term financial goals.

My Partner in Inspiration: As mentioned in my very first post, my twin sister Miel, was my inspiration for starting this blog. She has been very successful with the DINKs Finance blog that she has been co-writing and administering for the past four years (and recently sold). She continues to share her life adventure through Vicarious Nomad. She has agreed to be my partner, and share her blog savvy to make this the successful entrepreneurial venture we hope it will become.

Beyond balancing our family budget, I try to balance my life. My family literally requires a lot of “care and feeding,” which means that I have to be strategic to get any “me” time. I work full time in a community-oriented position, which is both challenging and satisfying. I work hard, but also prioritize play time. I love the outdoors, gardening and any sport that gets me in the water. I’ve always enjoyed writing and believe that this blog will help me get beyond the daily family juggle to see a bigger picture view of how we are interconnected. I hope you will share this journey with me.

Disclaimer #1: I am NOT a financial adviser, and I don’t pretend to be one. You may have more financial expertise than me. If you need professional financial advice, please hire someone. I am simply an individual on a journey to learn how to manage my family’s finances in a sustainable way. I have a Masters in Environment & Community, and the only finance related class I ever took was environmental economics. I’m a savvy researcher, and will do my best to only share reliable sources. Yet, I will repeat, if you need financial advice, hire a professional!

Disclaimer #2: While we try, my family does not in fact live a truly sustainable life . Some of our efforts do include reducing our home’s energy footprint through the Clean Energy Works program (Parts I, II, & III), driving less, biking with kids more, commuting by public transportation, drinking only tap water, limiting ourselves to one can of trash a month, and taking steps to track our carbon footprint. We enjoy gardening (even if with a hapless harvest), have our organic groceries delivered to avoid extra time shopping for the essentials, and we recently started enjoying the indulgence of some extra help with ecomaids.

Disclaimer #3: My family comes first. Work is a close second. There may be times when a sick child or a deadline will take an obvious priority over writing this blog. While I am taking this endeavor seriously, and I don’t want to dissappoint; this blog is really just a creative outlet. It’s a tool to help me reach my dreams…which includes inspiring you.

You: Thank you for sharing a moment on this journey. I hope my story will help you create your own uniquely abundant and sustainable life. Your comments and engagement help boost my creative resources.

Thanks for the journey!

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Sustainable Family Finances This blog is the story of a family creating an abundant and sustainable life.

Goal #5 Share Ways to Live Abundantly Within Our Means

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One thing I hope to make clear is that in my opinion living abundantly is not a selfish thing. Living in true abundance is the act of both giving and receiving; a truly reciprocal relationship. It’s about finding creative ways to give of yourself and your talents to the extent that with luck and faith you’ll receive all that you desire.

I don’t want to come across as some money hungry Earth mama either. I’ve just come to a point in my life where I feel the need reconcile my neccesity for resources and my desire to be thoughtful about the role I play in the web. More than anything, I believe that abundance is a state of mind, as we all know that joy does not know your account balance or your so-called net worth.

So, with that said, my last goal will very much focus on you and your desire to create a meaningful and successful life for your family. I hope that through this blog I will be able to share fun and creative ways to help us all find value in things that matter. I aim to be your touchstone and provide incremental inspiration as we travel this journey.

On the eve of the Martin Lurther King Jr. Holiday weekend, I urge you to find some way to volunteer with your family . You can’t get a much better return on your investment than by volunteering in your community. There are countless ways to give, so be creative in finding a way that suits your family. My family will be joining a community tree planting event, which is a terrific way for kids to be able to see the long term impact of our community service.

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Sustainable Family Finances
The story of a family creating an abundant and sustainable life.

Goal #4 Track Our Family’s Carbon Footprint

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Anyone who knows me knows that curbing global warming has been a passion of mine since adolescence, and yet I’m just like everyone else fumbling their way toward a greener planet. Face it; it’s not easy in our culture. Everything is geared toward consumption, driving and raising the next generation’s thermometer.

I remember first calculating my carbon footprint about a decade ago using a basic online calculator, and being secretly proud that my impact was estimated to be similar to a European. Yet, despite my best intentions, it’s been a slippery slope and having a family certainly makes it more difficult to stick to a low-carbon diet. We practice many daily green habits, but it’s easy to ignore the bigger things you don’t feel control over. And just like my family’s monthly budget, I feel like I need a baseline to be able make tangible goals and track our progress.

I plan to use a couple of calculators, just for giggles, and to make sure that we are truly accounting for all of our emissions.

EPA’s Household Emissions Calculator

Energy Trust of Oregon

Online Home Energy Analyzer takes ten minutes and includes your homes appliances and several house specs
Energy Performance Score gathers actual utility data and estimates your Energy Consumption and Carbon Emission

Carbon Footprint’s Carbon Footprint Calculator claims to be the best on the web

I’m also hoping that I will get a few hard-core followers who have the technical know-how to call me on any carbon oversights (and yes, I do know that methane is a huge culprit). So, like managing my family’s finances, I’ll give regular status updates about the real life challenges and joys of trying to become a “sustainable family.”

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Sustainable Family Finances
The story of a family creating an abundant and sustainable life.