A few months after we started dating, I heard about a guy named Dave Ramsey. He had a radio show and I started listening to him as I spent hours every week out in the field for my job, driving around North Carolina. Dave Ramsey is an in your face, tell it like it is guy. He likes to say he "gives you the same advice your Grandma gives, except he does it with his teeth in." If you are not ready to make the changes you need to take control of your life, you are not going to be able to listen to him.
I was ready to make a change. I had a small amount left on a car loan. But my bigger burden was that I had somehow accrued $10,000 in credit card debt. No matter how much I made, I always seemed to spend more than I was able to pay off. But I justified that it was OK because I was regularly meeting my targets and getting fat bonus checks every quarter which I could use to pay those cards down. I had been in this predicament before. A few years before, I had accumulated about $13,000 in credit card debt and my dad gave me a loan to pay it off. I paid him back over 3 years, but a promotion with more income gave me the false sense that I could spend more. Once again, I found myself in the exact same situation. I tricked myself in to believing that because I was making twice as much as I used to make, now I could spend twice as much. But as the balances on my credit cards crept up, I realized I did not have control over this. This time, I was not going to ask my dad for help.
At some point, John revealed to me that he had $64,000 in student loans. I was fortunate enough to have had my education paid for by my parents. I figured if we ever got married, it would take us about 10 years for him to pay this off. Ten years seemed like a long time to send in monthly payments. I wondered if we started paying more, if we would be able to pay it off in half that time. We both needed a plan.
I heard on the radio that Dave Ramsey was doing a Total Money Makeover event in Charleston (August 2008). I was able to drag John with me, somewhat unwillingly. WOW! This was the slap in the face and wake up call we both needed. We both came clean about where we were financially and we started talking about money and how we were going to get out of debt and save for our future. Just four months later, we were engaged (December 2008). Three months after that we had a small wedding on a budget and with a gift from our parents (March 2009). In between the engagement and the wedding, I finished paying off my car (early!) and my tax return paid off the rest of the credit card debt that I had left to pay. Two months after we got married, we signed up to attend the Financial Peace University a church nearby. About a week after we signed up, John was laid off (May 2009). We took the class and started putting as much as we could on to his student loans. Six months later, he was rehired (October 2009). Having two full incomes enabled us to be more aggressive with the debt repayment. And about 8 months after that, I received word from my company that I could either take a major pay cut or I could find another job (June 2010). After discussing the options with John, I decided to stay with the company and see where things went.
So here we are, about 8 months after the last financial earthquake. How are we doing? Are we still on track? Yes we are, but we also know that at anytime, God could allow us to have a detour in our plan. This is just the story of our journey. We've learned a lot of things along the way. Namely, we are not alone in this struggle. Our culture pressures us to have the latest and greatest. To experience all we can. To seize the day! But I think that it is a symptom of a spiritual lostness that we are told can be found by everything except God. Yes, this is a spiritual blog, too. But we could not have done this and come this far without God working in our lives. We give him all the glory. Hopefully this blog will help you get ideas and inspiration if you need it.
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