Meet the Exantus Family
Michael and Synee Exantus are so committed to improving their financial fitness that they decided to forego an elaborate wedding ceremony this past
October and opted instead for a bare-bones, simple civil ceremony. Eventually, Michael would like to give his wife a “real” wedding, he says, but for now, they’re focusing on eliminating debt and bad spending habits, designing a financial plan for their future and working toward buying their dream home.
Synee is finishing her training to become a licensed physical therapist; Michael is employed with the Department of Revenue with a goal of establishing his own small business. “We want to be examples for people who need something they can relate to,” Michael explains, “and to be able to teach our future children how to live spiritually, mentally, physically, and last but definitely not least, financially fit.”
Blog
Freedom is in our Sights
06/20/2010 10:35 pm
This past week has definitely been a hot one. Our savings is still on track and we both have eaten out once at a restaurant this past week (our first time since April). We are learning to control our spending and still be able to enjoy some of the things we like to do. Going to the movies every weekend is out, but catching up with Red Box rentals have made it bearable. We opted to cancel our gym membership and keep our cable since we love to watch the different shows that our subscriptions have to offer. Along with watching TV on the weekends we save money by not going out and spending all of our pay. Usually every pay week we would go out and spend money without checking our account, and since we would have had all of our bills paid, we would spend a little more. Not anymore.
We have a very distinct goal to make savings a priority, paying off debt secondly, and the adverse effect will be raising our credit score. Long term, not having to use credit at all to make purchases is my goal. It’s very difficult to see how we will accomplish this great feat, but every day we remind ourselves of the goal at hand. We will have all the desires of our heart, and achieve all things, as long as we stay motivated and focused on the dream of being free.
The Wonderful World of Saving
06/04/2010 07:24 am
Welcome Exantus Family to the Wonderful World of Saving....
IF someone would have told me that we would be addicted to saving money, I would have suggested they get their head checked.
We have tried to save money for years even before we entered in holy matrimony. But every time we failed. Here is what would
happen: 1. the money was spent on some frivolous item or 2. the money would be used to cover overdraft fees.
Since enrolling in We live FIT program, we have found the key to saving.....COMMUNICATION.
Being accountable to each other, knowing where the money goes is key so that you just spend spend spend and don't know where
it is going. The fact that I would be accountable to husband for purchases outside of the budget, makes me want to save as
much extra money possible. He keeps me on my toes & vice versa.
With the help of our coach we found that our money was going to misc things and eating out. Since decreasing the money we
spend on eating out and cooking more, we are able to save more as well. The meals are planned out for the week and we go get
the groceries. It really cuts out of extra trips and from picking more stuff. You already know how Wal-mart is. I think
coupons will be next thing we try to use.
I like looking at out acct and see that we are in a better position. It represents hardwork, willpower and sacrifice. We can
safely say the Exantus family is addicted to saving. It's the best thing ever!!!
How Do You Maintain Your Motivation?
06/03/2010 05:28 am
How Do You Maintain Your Motivation?
Have you ever had to tell your Self “You Can’t Break Me!”? You and your Self conversing on an epic but consistent debate of your budget like what to eat for lunch, or should I go out and have a spirits fest. Do You ever find your Self negotiating a deal with “well maybe if…” or “how about…”
I feel great saying that the month of May definitely yielded great results. We surpassed our goal on saving, paid off one credit card, and best of all, communication is at an all time high.
Synee and I (Love the sound of that) have become driven, yet and still we are tempted by old habits. Even if we succumb to those superfluities that we have longed to subdue, we understand the fact that we can recover from one indiscretion. It’s when you continue to travel down the road of self pity and doubt, that you find the never ending black hole.
I maintain my motivation by creating my own visual (learning style) image of what I know can be possible through my creator. I suppress my Self in order that the higher Me prevails.
Be Inspired
Meeting With Coach Part 1
05/20/2010 11:02 pm
Ok so #2, we met with our coach, and our eyes were opened. We eat out too much, not communicating, and shopping too much, not properly planning trips. There you go I "found" our money. This past month we have put our money together and it has worked. We know where the money is going. We are held accountable to each other & Mandy : )
We have devised a great savings plan and budget that causes us to use cash, so that the debit card is not always used. If you know what you have and it's gone, you learn to manage your money better.
More to Come
Wanting Better!
05/20/2010 10:57 pm
OK so, It is close to the end of the month and this challenge is so much bigger than competing with other families, you are challenging yourself to do better and want better for the future. We are a young couple, we have so much that we want to do in this life, but unforuntaely money and credit is something you need. So if youre not millionarie but a regular person, your money and credit have to be on point. So with this challenge, this month, I have challenged myself to do better by managaing my money.
We calculated that we have about $1000 of excess money that is unaccounted for. WE are a newly married couple and our budgetting mostly consisted of 'Honey you pay the rent and I pay the bills...' Well that has worked out but that $1000 extra every money, is gone...spent...no where to be seen. Believe me I've looked everywhere for it. But every month without fail, we are barely getting by and breathing easy when the next paycheck comes.
The Curse of Cash in Advance
05/20/2010 09:23 pm
Curse the day that someone would say get a cash advance. That has to be one of the worst ways to sale yourself back into perpetual debt/Financial slavery.
I should know.
When I first started getting cash advances, I was moving into my first one bedroom apartment. It became like an addictive nature and an excuse for me to buy what I wanted with instant gratification and ignoring the fact that I was going deeper and deeper in debt.
Now trying to really do some big time savings is very different. When I want to buy something or go somewhere, I have to weigh the options of where I’ve been and where I want to be.
Yard Sale Gold Style
05/14/2010 05:35 pm
Our original thought when we heard yard sale was WOW, we just donated our entire excess of cloths, electronics, and house ware to Goodwill when we moved out of our last apartment. We felt like a sense of purging was necessary because that situation was stressful enough. We were looking for a way to shed the pain. But I digress.
We toiled with the idea of having to part with some of the things that did make the final cut. The big picture is we could do more with less. We decided that we could trim more of our material possessions for a higher goal of increasing our financial potential. Now that sounds kind of profound because we’re just talking about a yard sale, but for two people who have mastered the art of “Pack Rat” this was a big step.
Once we got focused, we came up with some great big ticket items and smaller items of great and acquired interest to some. For instance, we owned a book that was the third of a fantasy series called Dragon Lance which was about mages (magicians), knights, dragons etc. Well a couple came over to our table and it just so happened that the husband read the first two books of the series and not the third. He could never find the third book until this day of destiny. We all talked about the awesomeness of fantasy books and how we, two couples, who probably would never have interacted, found something in common.
This event offered us an opportunity to interact with a different demographic, the yard sale demographic. We met and spoke with people from every walk of life. Some offered us great advice of saving, like the gentleman who brought my pool cue. He told us about Magic Jack, and how he has saved $4,000 from not traveling since November.
We spoke with a couple who purchased a great amount of my wife’s clothing. It turns out that the husband is a pastor and he delivered a message that inspired us to persevere for the day.
I would also be remised not to mention another couple we met who in few little words opened my eyes to a greater understanding of the purpose of tithing in church. He stated “God wants you to be aware of money management; by you giving him 10% first, you have to acknowledge what you have left.”
We raised about $230. We surpassed our expectations of how much money we thought we would make. This being our first yard sale, we came out feeling successful and that much closer to our goal. Since we did leave with two big ticket items, we are looking to have another yard sale or at least posting them on the internet for sale.
We give all thanks to Florida Commerce Credit Union, the big bend community, the participating families, and our own friends and family members who helped us in so many ways, bring us so much closer to our dreams of being debt free and responsible savers.
All the proceeds from this yard sale have been placed in a great savings account with FCCU where on the first $1000 your earn a cool 5%!
The important treasure from this event has to be the gift of positive interaction between people from all walks of life, and most of all the power of true team work between husband and wife.
Mike and Synee Exantus
Gold Team
Photos
Videos
Scorecard
| Current Savings* | Debt Level* | FICO Score |
|---|---|---|
| $45.85 | $182,626.00 | 460 |
Figures as of April 2010
