Roots of Personal Finance Member Spotlight: Cindy Windau

Cindy Windau had no income for two years due to a disability and her wife is a city employee. This put a huge financial strain on their family. "Our house was in danger of foreclosure and we had many creditors on our case for medical bills, credit cards, student loans, etc." But Roots of Personal Finance helped them get their heads above water. 

Since there was only one income for two years, Cindy and her wife struggled with not having enough money and communicating their spending habits to each other. Once they started budgeting and talking about it on a regular basis, they both know where all of their money goes.

A huge accomplishment for Cindy and her family has been going three months without their accounts being overdrawn. "We have lost literally thousands of dollars each year in overdraft fees." They have also been able to stop relying on credit cards and start paying them down. Cindy paid off a $500 loan against her life insurance. "We saved our first $1,000 EF and had to use that for a plumbing emergency and have saved $750 towards our next EF. We did manage to cut costs and save $160 on our car insurance, $40 on our cell phone, and $20 on our landline/Internet monthly bills."

Cindy's advice to you is "to do a monthly budget and use it. Don't just file it away. Look at it regularly and adjust as needed."