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"What do you do?"

"Where are you from?"

"Where did you go to school?"

The above questions are simple questions that are asked of us when we are getting acquainted with someone new. These questions are a small snapshot into our lives. As you think about your answers to these questions, think about how they affect the person you are today.

My life is completely shaped by the fact that I grew up in a small town of less than 2,000 people and I went to a school that had one building for K-12 grade (my class was the last class to attend all years of their schooling in the same building). My life experience is different than somebody who grew up in the city and attended five different schools for K-12.

I propose we change the question a little bit. What would the conversation sound like if we asked a slightly different question? This is not a question you have with a brand new acquaintance, but a discussion you have with a significant other or an accountability partner.

I have come up with five questions that you can sit down and ask yourself to help answer the question, "Where do you come from (financially)?" I have answered each question honestly about our finances and I ask that you answer each question honestly.

Question 1: Where were you five years ago at this time (financially)?

SoC Answer: Five years ago today, I was engaged to my beautiful wife. We were in the middle of planning for a wedding and I was knee deep in preparations for marriage by trying to pay off as many debts as possible. I was about to be the man of the house and I wanted our family to start off on the right financial footing. 5 years ago today, I had a negative net worth and was struggling to get out of debt.

Question 2: Where were you ten years ago at this time (financially)?

SoC Answer: I was a junior in college ten years ago at this time. I was in the middle of building up student loan debt, credit card debt and I was overall bad at handling money. I was leading a life of overspending and no self control. I had a negative net worth that continued to grow.

Question 3: Have your finances improved the last five or ten years?

SoC Answer: For the Summit of Coin family, yes our finances have changed. We have made drastic changes that has seen rapid growth in our net worth. We are over 1/5 of the way to becoming millionaires.

Question 4: If your finances have not improved, what needs to change? If your finances did improve why did they change?

SoC Answer: Over the last five years, we have made drastic changes to push ourselves toward saving as much money as possible. We have done the following:

Have a Goal
- Five years ago, we were looking to get out of debt.
- Four years ago, we were working towards home ownership.
- For the last two years, we have been working towards paying off our house early.
  - The house goal can be a little long, therefore we have created more short term goals:
    - Nothing New Challenges
    - Frugality Challenge of 2018
    - Mini-Celebrations after reaching certain milestones in paying off our home.
Have a Plan
- Setting a goal is great, but you have to have a plan to reach your goals!
- Our plan involved budgeting, using the debt snowball and sacrifices to cut expenses.
Make a Buget
- Tell your money where to go each month.
- We make it a priority to sit down every week and revisit our budget.
Start Each Month by Saving and Giving!
- Paying the Lord and yourself should be the first thing you do each month.
Be on the Same Page
- You can have the best intentions, but couples have to be on the same page to see any growth.

Question 5: Whether your finances improved or not, how do you feel about your finances at this very moment?

SoC Answer: As I look back on our finances, it is amazing to see how far we have come in less than five years. We have seen net worth increase at close to $48K a year. That is pretty impressive for a young couple starting out. Despite my desire to speed up our mortgage payoff, I must remember that we are on the right track. We are making choices today that will set us up for a bright financial future and I need to celebrate progress.

It's Your Turn!

You have now read our answers to each of the five questions above. I challenge you to take the time to sit down and answer these questions yourself. They may open your eyes or they may remind you of your successes. No matter the result, the important thing to do is reflect back on your decisions.

You could come out of this answer session with three results.

Result #1: You will be reminded that your efforts over the last five or ten years has helped you become successful with your money.

Result #2: You will see that your efforts over the last five or ten years has done nothing. You are in the exact same spot today that you were in ten years ago.

Result #3: You will see that your efforts over the last five or ten years have put you in a deeper financial hole. You still have debt and your debt has seemed to extrapolate.

Hopefully, this reflection time finds you and your family celebrating the results shared in result #1. However, I know there are people out there digging deeper and deeper financial holes. No matter your financial situation, a look back can be just what the doctor ordered to stem a change that is necessary to reach financial success.

DID WE STAY AWAY FROM BUYING ANYTHING NEW IN NOVEMBER?

In the month of November, we didn't have any restrictions and we did not shy away from buying new stuff, including stuff that would have been exempt during the challenge.

The exempt items purchased were:

Diapers ($46)
Handle for Flushing the Toilet ($6)
Propane for grilling (actually exchanged) ($14)
Household Cleaners
Unmentionables

With no restrictions and no rules we were allowed to buy anything. We could have went on a shopping spree, but we didn't. Even though we didn't buy everything in sight, we still ended up purchasing items that weren't allowed during the nothing new challenge. The items are listed below:

Houston Astros World Series Shirts (2)
Carseat (1)
Christmas Ornament (1)
Christmas Lights (4)
Birthday Party Supplies (5)
Clothing (1)

By the end of the month of November, we purchased a grand total of 14 new items. These 14 new items cost us a grand total of $421.71. We would have spent less than $7,000 without these purchases, but I don't feel like we went overboard with our spending.

My daughter had grown out of her car seat and we needed to get her a new one for my wife's car. I had a few strands of Christmas lights from the 90s go out and decided that it was finally time to purchase some new strands of lights.

For my daughter's one year birthday, we had a lady bug theme and purchased napkins, plates, decorations and ribbon for this theme. Really, the only thing that could be questionable in the 'new' purchases is the Houston Astros World Series shirt. We really didn't need them, but it was the first World Series in the history of the Astros and we got to experience it!

Here are the five questions once again:

Where were you five years ago at this time (financially)?
Where were you ten years ago at this time (financially)?
Have your finances improved the last five or ten years?
If your finances have not improved, what needs to change? If your finances did improve why did they change?
Whether your finances improved or not, how do you feel about your finances at this very moment?