@Risk Remix: A Look Back

Photo courtesy of ZaksterNT

*This is the second time I've turned to this image for a post, the first was "Full Circle: How our TMM Began...". I encourage you to read it as well. This picture represents perfectly how our financial situation felt before (Barren) and how it feels now in comparison (Overflowing)

Today I found myself looking back over a few posts from nearly a year ago, just to see how far we've come in that amount of time. I really must say that I'm pretty amazed by what I saw. The post in question is "1/3 way home" And it was about how excited we were to reach a minor milestone in our journey.

At the time we had just finished paying off the 10th bill out of the 30 that we started with, so we had just passed the 1/3 mark on our debt snowball list.

Fastforward to today and we are WELL into paying off the 32nd bill out of the 41 we now have on that same list. That means we are 3/4 of the way done with the 'list'!

At the same time we have officially passed the Half-way mark on our debt total as well. We've paid off $52,730.06 and have $$51,506 left to pay before we are DEBT FREE!

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES!! So I guess in our case you could say that "Hindsight is 50/50!" We're halfway there!!! I can't wait to see where we are this time next year! We should be heading into the Home Strecth at that point!

It's never too late to start, if you have not already! We're here for you, so let's GO!

@W

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Suze Orman: Your Loss is Her Gain...

Photo courtesy of Glennia


"I'm proud that I make money, that I work hard, that I've created what I've created. But I can tell you this: I haven't hurt one person getting here." - Suze Orman

Oh really Suze?

I usually don't do this. I usually don't 'go after' someone in the public eye. But Suze Orman has pressed my final button, so I just have to get this off my chest.

Orman is considered to be the most recognizable personal-finance expert in the world. And quite possibly the most polarizing as well.

Now anyone who follows this blog knows that I'm a fan of Dave Ramsey's methods for eliminating debt and managing your finances. Not because I have a 'thing' for Dave, but first and foremost because he uses the Bible as a foundation for the principles he teaches. There is proven truth to what he says... he doesn't sugar-coat it, he doesn't water it down.

Suze on the other hand seems to "play to the crowd" a bit too much for my liking. She wont tell you what you NEED to hear all the time, because it may alienate you from being endeared to her.

I just read an article about her on Time.com called "The Queen of Crisis". I highly recommend checking it out. But I digress...

My biggest problem with Suze is that she's not afraid of credit. She wants credit to be your friend in turning your woes into wealth.

Last week I caught the 2am replay of Oprah. (Please don't ask...) Suze Orman was the guest of honor and she was answering every one's "tough" questions about this economy and their money. Questions like: "We're getting married this summer and we want to spend no more than $50,000. After our expenses each month we have about $500 leftover. How can we afford to make this happen?"

Suze told them that they couldn't afford it, but she then went on to tell them HOW they could afford it!

Oh, and how about the couple that wanted to remodel their kitchen and bathroom by taking out a $76,000 Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC)? Suze said "Go for it!"

Whaaaa? Excuse me? Have you seen property values lately?

To me this is reckless! While we're facing the worst economic situation in the last 80 years, The world's foremost financial expert is on a show with possibly the widest viewership into the 'average American home' and she refuses to be a voice of reason against the mentality of trying to afford what you cannot afford?! Really? At a time like this?!

In the quote at the start of this post, she says she hasn't hurt one person getting to where she is... but I beg to differ. With advise like the variety she gave on Oprah, I shudder to think how many people she hurt in that hour alone. How many people did she just empower to continue to run their finances into the ground?

Ok, and one last question...

Why does she charge $80,000 per speaking engagement? Is her advice really that valuable? As I said before when it comes to the economy, our loss is apparently her gain.

Till next time,

@W



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I've Seen the Promised Land...

"Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

*Allow me to forewarn you, this post wont be entirely about debt, or money at all, but it still has very much to do with the future of my family. (Which is why we need to get out of debt ... cause otherwise my family wont have much of a future...catch my drift?) Now before you click away from this site thinking that this will be a political post, let me correct you cause it's not one of those either. What I cannot promise is that I wont be preachy no matter what I make this post about lol that's just me...

As I said this has to do with the future of my family. Today I saw it very clearly in a number of distinct and memorable ways.

See, I am a married, Christian, 30 year-old, African-American male. According to the secular world those 5 things might as well be the new "5 deadly sins"... but I wear each of those things with tremendous pride.

Although this blog started off as a chronicle of our journey out of credit card debt, for us this entire movement has now gone FAR beyond just being about money. My life has changed during this process. Getting our money in order is now a distant second to getting ourselves in order in the things that can't be measured by their worth in just dollars. This is now my testament, this is now my witness to the world.

Some of the things that I'm doing now wont fully be realized until my children are nearing my current age. For instance, my children will be the very first generation in either of our families to never get a call from a bill collector. Think about that. They'll never be charged an overdraft fee due to insufficient funds in their account because of what we are doing now. WHOA. Such mundane and constant parts of my everyday reality, they will never experience themselves. How awesome of a thought is that?!

Which leads me perfectly to my next point. The sacrifices made by those that came before me, put me in the position to pursue something like this for my family.

45 years ago, in Selma, Alabama in order for a black person to vote the had to correctly guess the number of jelly beans in a jar or recite a portion of the constitution or perform any number of other outlandish tasks. Just to cast their VOTE, which had been established as their right nearly 100 year prior in the 1860's! They faced attack-dogs and water-cannons so that they, and those that would come after them could enjoy a constitutional right. In 13 days it will be for THEM that I cast my vote. And most likely with tears in my eyes I'll be fully aware that I am witnessing something that they NEVER could have imagined: a Black man as the President of the United States.

Today in Leesburg, Virginia (Yes, long-time-red-state-VIRGINIA!) I attended an Obama rally where the turnout was 100 times the number of jelly beans in any of those jars in the 1960's! An estimated 30,000 people turned out to see a married, Christian, 40+ year-old, African-American man. Amazingly he's just like me in those ways, but what's even more is that he wants to do for this country the EXACT same thing I want to do for my family. And we both fully intend to honor the advancements and sacrifices that got us here, by further sacrifice and advancement in bold and unorthodox ways that will pave a very different for any that dare to follow in our footsteps.

In both cases, many doubt it can really be done. Many don't realize the magnitude of what we both are separately reaching for. My children will never KNOW for themselves just what kind of sacrifices were made for them by generations past and more directly by my wife and I... and THAT all by itself makes it worth EVERYTHING to me... that they never have to know.

As for me, I promise to never forget...



Thank you for what you did for me!

Yes We Can, Yes We Will... Will YOU?

@W

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The @Risk Bailout Plan...

Dow: Down 778 points in one day...

Congress: On crack...

The current bank that holds my account: Changes by the minute....

Financial outlook: Bleakest we've EVER seen...

Personal Opinion on this whole mess:

THIS IS WHY I NEED TO BE DEBT FREE!!! (And why you do too!)

What are we waiting for? What's it gonna take? Why are you surprised?

And most importantly, what are you going to do about it?

Oh and lets end this on a high note.... this just in: Oil is now $95/barrell!

(See, it aint ALL bad news!)

This too shall pass,

@W







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An Open Letter to my DEBT...

I need this relationship to be over.

I've said it a million times in my head, and I've said it to others about you, but never directly to you . Forgive me if I sound rude or ruthless, but I need this to feel as painful for you as having you in my life was for me.

I'm leaving you behind because you bring nothing but pain and remorse. You are what stands between me and my dreams. You've been the cause of so much strife and confusion in my life. I've thought about YOU more than probabbly anything else in my life, and that's just not right.
You were always good for showing me a good time... And then leaving me stuck with the bill. I cant count the times you told me to freely use you, to rely on you. Only to find out later YOU were using ME!

And when I had exhausted my resources you never lent a hand. Instead you sent merciless goons after me. But time after time I came back to for more because I thought you were the only way. The way to everything I thought I wanted.

I've finally got up the nerve to head out on my own without you. I know you wont miss me cause I never was your 'only'. I'm finally at a point in my life where I can SEE living life without you!
Oh yeah, I'm so through with you! But I want you to know I'm not angry with you. In fact I'm grateful because of what you've allowed me to learn about myself. I'm different from the dude you met in college. Thank you sooo much for putting me up on the game. Now that I know you inside out, you'll never be able to get me back.

So I urge you to enjoy what time you have left with me. I've made a vow to get rid of as much of you as I can each and every day till there's nothing left of you in my life.

Yes it's a slow painful process like climbing a mountain using only your fingers... Or scraping peanut butter out of a jar using a toothpick... But once you're gone I wont ever have to do it again.

I pray my children never meet you. In fact I forbid you from ever coming around them. Going forward you are to keep your hands off of my family... PERIOD!

Again, I'm not mad at you. You were only doing what you were designed to do. Just know that you cant do it to US anymore. I just thought it would only be fair of me to be straight up with you and tell you why I'm leaving you.

I cant wait to be free of you...

@W




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@Risk Theater: FPU Plasectomy Edition

Photo courtesy of SmittyToday

One of Dave Ramsey's claims to fame is a simple ritual called the Plasectomy.

At the end of his Financial Peace University course he allows families to come up on stage and forever exorcise their credit card debt by slicing up their plastic in the most creative ways possible.

Check out the video below as an example:



One day very soon this will be us... um well maybe not this exact way, but the day is coming when we'll take part in this ritual too! You gotta love it! lol

Now that's what I call Gazelle Intense!

@W

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A Near-crash Course In STUPID TAX!

Photo courtesy of rollingtheberries

I messed up royally yesterday...

Stupid Tax can be defined as anything stupid you do that ends up costing you money. Simple as that. It can be that get rich quick scheme that is so "foolproof" that you used your rent money as the down payment. It can be that $700 white Prada bag you accidentally spilled nail polish on (let's have a moment of silence for the ladies, I know they felt that one. lol)

So yeah, I messed up yesterday. It's almost a shame because otherwise it was a truly PERFECT day! We got to church early. (A rarity.) We took communion. (MUCH needed.) We spent time with our friends and church family. (Always a pleasure.) And then we decided to drive across the Potomac and check out the newly opened National Harbor.

It was nice over there but we didnt stay because my wife didnt have a change of shoes and I didnt want her feet to hurt. So we were headed back to VA, and while trying to merge onto 95 South, I saw a muffler lying in the middle of the lane. The car in front of me centers their car and rides right over it without incident... I try to do the same... center my car over it and...

The muffler somehow nicks the inside wall of my front driver side tire... instant blowout.

See friends, THAT'S stupid tax lol. Like I alwasy say: If you're gonna fail, fail epicly! lol

But here is the amazing difference between the stupid tax I used to pay with regularity, and the stupid tax I occasionally have to pay now: There is no pain, and there is no panic. Instead there is peace, Financial Peace, because I've already budgeted money for my mistakes. It's called our emergency fund, and this situation is a prime example of why you need one.

We have money in our emergency fund to cover replacing the blown tire. And that's all there is to it. We just pay to replace the tire and keep it moving! No wringing our hands. No being caught financially unprepared. No flared tempers with the wife and no arguing.

Financial PEACE.

Once again, my wife was effortlessly calm, and supportive. Her disposition in times of adversity truly humbles and awes me. We were on the side of the road laughing and cracking jokes as I put the spare tire on! Once I finished putting it on, we spent the rest of the afternoon driving the long way home thru DC. We just had a BLOWOUT, this is supposed to be serious emergency stuff and we're both as carefree as we were at church earlier!

On that note, I'm certain that our taking communion earlier at church played a large part in the peace we felt in this situation as well.

Isaiah 26:3 (KJV) says: Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

The Word aint no joke! That's exactly where my mind was (On Him), so I know that's where the real peace came from... peace that not even all this money talk can't buy.

Thank you Jesus,

@W

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Full Circle: How Our TMM Began...

Photo courtesy of ZaksterNT

Over the past 2 weeks I've taken a break from the blog. I needed to clear my head because I've been overwhelmed by the resonsibility I feel towards you as my readers. See I want to reach you, but most of the time I dont know how effectively I'm doing that. I thought about extending this 'break' for the blog through the rest of the year. I thought about quitting it altogether. But something happened last Saturday that changed my mind.

I've often heard the saying: "When you feel you've reached the end, try going back to the beginning."

Last week my wife and I went away for the weekend with a group of married couples for our annual Duets Retreat. On Saturday morning, my wife shared a portion of our financial testimony with the group and it was incredibly powerful to hear it from her.

No sooner than my wife stopped talking, the couple next to us tapped her on the shoulder. They wanted to know more. A few hours later, while walking with another couple, the conversation again turned to the testimony she gave. We spent the rest of the afternoon sharing with them just a few of the blessings we've experienced since this journey began for us. There is something beautiful about witnessing someone hungry to change their life for the better, and it continually blesses us to be a part of moments like that.

There was something I kept identifying with in that couple. It was an urgent need for change. It made me realize that it was a year ago this week that we were first exposed to Dave Ramsey's TMM. The similarities are strangely alike the more I think about it.

This time last year my wife and I were just getting back from our Honeymoon, which we celebrated at the same location as this year' Duets retreat. The next week at church, a young couple ran up to us in the lobby and happily pushed a bag into our hands. The couple was on the leadership council for the ministry, and had taken extra special care of us at the retreat. Inside the bag, was a book wrapped in tissue paper... The Total Money Makeover. At the time we were more grateful for the thought and gesture than we were for the actual book.

A month went by. It was now September and we had never given the book a second glance, but we were now in the greatest financial challenge of our young marriage. We prayed over who to call, who to open up to about the trouble we were facing, and the Lord directed us to them again.

So on September 13th (my birthday) we called and explained the situation to them and they proceeded to share their amazing testimony with us. All we were looking for was Godly counsel from people who had been in our shoes before, nothing else... but by the end of the conversation they had offered to gift us a portion of the money we needed for our situation. (And not a small gift either!) A few days later, we went over to their house to pick up the gift, and they had another one waiting for us to go along with it. It was Dave Ramsey's 13-cd Financial Peace University set.

From that moment on we became students of this movement, and stewards of the message. We began our makeover officially in October when we did our budget, and started having weekly meetings. But the seeds were planted in August and September when they handed us the book (that we never looked at tsk tsk tsk...) and again when they gave us counsel and set an excellent example of generosity through their cheerful giving.

In Revelations 12:11 (KJV) is says: And they overcame by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

NEVER discount the power of your testimony! I never thought we would be here, or at least not this early in our marriage. I was thinking we would reach it maybe 10 years from now... maybe. But within the next year we will have erased ALL of our debt with the exception of our mortgage. All within 2 years of grinding and putting off the instant gratification this world tries to shove down our throats daily. And the only reason I'm online typing this out to you is so that you can KNOW you can do this too. That's it. That's our tesimony in a sentence! We are doing this because we know that YOU can do this.

And so now it has come full circle for us a year later. Now we are on the leadership counsel for the couple's ministry. Now others are seeking us out for the same counsel we sought. And now we get to be the couple gleefully pushing a bag into another couple's hands with the book inside.

Today, I'm honored to push this post into your hand with the same energy and enthusiasm as it was handed to me!

...And to think I almost gave that up.

@W

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Food Bank: 5 Ways to REALLY Boost Your Food Budget

Photo courtesy of shine_dorydevlin

You've heard yourself say it a time or two... "I cannot possibly cut anything else out of this budget!" But just humor me by going along with this mental exercise.

The biggest and often most overlooked place for savings is your food expenditures. There is no way around the truth in this statement: "You ARE what you EAT."

If you have expensive tastes, your bills will be too. This can quickly be compounded when you are married with no kids, because you will most likely eat what your spouse eats in the evening. So if he/she has a thing for eating out frequently... good luck!

It is with this in mind that I came up with 5 simply profound ways to impact how much money you spend on food. This applies to both your grocery shopping and dining out. If you even try just 2 of these I promise you'll see a noticeable drop in what you spend.

If you don't have time to read each of the 5 points below, I think I can sum them up in one sentence.

Don't spend money buying things that are available for FREE!

While reading these points ask your self how that statement applies. Except for point #3, just don't do it.

1. Drink more WATER

Water is the cheapest most plentiful food resource we have available to us. Usually it can be found for FREE where ever you may be. If 'public water' is just a little more adventurous than you can handle, invest in a filtration method for your home. They can easily be added t your sink, or you can buy various pitchers from Brita or PUR on the cheap.

Drinking water throughout the day will also help you eat less, loose weight, and stay properly hydrated.

2. Buy less COFFEE

I'm not Anti-$tarbuck$ or anything... but $4? Everyday? Plus a pastry or sandwich or CD....

7-Eleven, Dunkin Donuts, Panera, McDonald's, Seattle's Best, & Bengal Traders (Exxon) are not exempt either... it's a ripoff!

I would venture to say there is not a workplace in America that doesn't offer free coffee and tea. Does it really taste better just cause you paid for it?

3. Stop buying ALCOHOL... period

Literally, It's one of the oldest sayings in the book, (and yes I AM talking about the bible)

"EAT, DRINK, and be MERRY"

It's found in Luke 12:19 (NIV) , but it's not an endorsement for "buying out the bar" as hiphop loves to proclaim. In fact it's the opposite. Let's read it in context:

18"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '
20"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'

I just have one thing to say about that...OUCH!

If you drink socially, odds are you pay almost as much per alcoholic drink as you do for your entree... and lets face it, who buys just ONE drink? (Whew, I thank God I don't drink alcohol anymore!)

4. Stick with the Small or Medium sized "Value Meals"

Since the start of the year I've really cut down quite a bit on eating fast food. (It helps to mention that I've completely QUIT drinking soda as well, as this truly makes a difference.) Ah but Wendy's still has a hold on me. Sometimes when standing in line, I hear other people order a #6 (mmm the Homestyle Chicken Breast meal...) but they make one mistake. They order the "Great-Big-Ole-Biggie" size for the soda and fries. When they do this it ends up costing nearly $8 bucks! Then later when I'm eating in the restaurant, I see them toss the half-eaten meal in the trash.

Solution: Stick with the small. I only buy one meal from Wendy's now. The "DoubleStack Attack". It's $3.49 and it's more than enough for me to eat as a lunch meal. I just ask them to add lettuce and tomato (which they do for FREE!) and I've got the equivalent of whatever 'Feature' burger they're offering.

Another tip that I'll throw in for free is to not buy a 'meal' at all and just get the sandwich. I do this when I go to Burger King. I get 2 Whopper Jr's, no cheese. (They charge .40 cents per slice!, which after tax drive the cost up a full dollar.) 2 Whopper Jr's = $2.10 and I'm FULL! Need something to drink with it? Wait till you get home to eat it! I know you have juice/soda at home c'mon.

5. Brown bag it

It's unfashionable, It's borderline miserly, and it can be boring. But it save a whole heckuva lot of money! (and time)

The only con, if you can call it one, is that you have to prepare this ahead of time. But it's time well spent, rather than money spent poorly eh?

I apologize I know this post was a bit lengthy, but as I said if you incorporate just 2 of them you'll see improved results.

God Bless ya,

@W

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How Cycling is Changing My Finances & My Life...

Photo courtesy of .kol tregaskes

I'll be turning 30 in September, and I wanted to do something monumental to celebrate. I was looking for a personal challenge that would both push me and reward me on a number of levels. Somehow cycling has become that challenge for me.

A few years ago when my wife first moved into her condo, we saw 2 mountain bikes (male and female) next to the dumpster with a note on them that read: "Free Bikes, only about 100 miles worth of use ... Enjoy!" So we looked around to make sure this wasn't some sort of setup, and then wheeled them bad boys inside before the person changed their mind! lol

The bikes sat, the tires got flat, and we never ended up riding them until last month.

Around the same time a co-worker of mine who also lives close by, told me how he bikes in to work once or twice a week. He said the health benefits from it made him feel brand new, and that by doing so he saves about $30 in gas per week. ($$Ca-ching$$)

After hearing that, I was sold on the idea... but he went on to explain that it takes him 1 hour and 45 mins. to get to work, and that's just ONE WAY! Also it's about 26 miles from Leesburg to Tyson's Corner... or the distance of a marathon!

Like I said I was already sold on the idea because gas ain't cheap and $30 a week equals $120 a month that can go towards debt... That's a no brainer for a Gazelle Intense dude like myself right?

Yeah, I was sold alright, that is until I got out on the WO&D Trail for the first time. I was overdressed, poorly hydrated, and over-confident. It took me about an hour to go 5 miles my first time out. but it taught me a lesson in preparation. (Click the link to read my wife's excellent article on it) The next time out it took me 30 mins. but it taught me how to efficiently use my gearshift. Each time out I kept learning something new and adding it to my routine and now I can do that same 5 miles in about 15 mins. But while these time improvements were great for a 5 mile distance, they accounted for roughly 10% of the total distance to my goal.

See, It's great to have short-term goals, but it's important to keep in mind how well they are helping you meet your expected goal. This is particularly important to keep in mind when dealing with finances. Yes, it's hard to stop living in the moment and focusing on what this week's check will do for you this week. But at some point I hope you'll ask your self "What do I need to do so that one day I won't need to worry about next week's check being short?" or " When do I want to stop working for my income?" or "When do I want to start saving for my future, retirement, children, or business?".

Short-term goals are great. But they're called 'short-term' for a reason. They are meant to lead to a larger success, and they provide you with the momentum and confidence to do so.

Yesterday, I reached my goal in cycling, I made it all the way to my job in 1 hour and 40 mins. And I achieved this a full month before my birthday! Yes it's a great feat and I'm proud of what I accomplished. But it has now forced my long-term goal to change. See I didn't take into account that once I made it to my goal, I would also have to cycle all the way back home the same day.(I barely had enough energy to make TO my goal lol. You mean to tell me I gotta go BACK?!) So now my next challenge is to be able to make it to work and back home in decent time! But at least all it costs me is a FREE gallon of water per round trip instead of $4 per gallon of gas to drive!

Happy Trails!

@W

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Welcome To The Next Level...

Photo courtesy of Great Beyond

Many of you have waited weeks (and some of you have even waited months!) to find out what this is all about... and we are glad to say that the wait is finally over!

Today my wife and I unveil the first tangible fruits of the larger vision that has been entrusted to us. Those fruits come in the form of 3 separate blogs.

The one you are reading right now is @Risk Living. It is meant to be my personal blog about our journey to eliminate all of our consumer debt in the next 2 years. It's our hope that it will 1. Bless and encourage those who are on the debt-dumping path already. 2. Inspire others to join us by proving it can be done. 3. Serve as a voice of reason against the financial myths told by the mass media and greedy corporations. 4. Forever document for our children exactly when, where, and how things changed. And to honor our parents by exemplifying all they hoped we would be. (Pardon me I got a little emotional there lol.)

The 2nd blog is Basically Wright. It was created by my wife to be her personal blog where she could not only document our journey to debt freedom from her vantage point, but also as a platform for her unique insights on wellness, weight management, and work-life balance.

The 3rd blog takes both of our voices and combines them to focus on spiritual issues such as Stewardship, Ministry, Marriage Enrichment and truly living a healthy, Christ-centered lifestyle. Mywrightsolutions is the online media hub for The Wright Solutions or TWS for short, the parent company we have formed to house these outlets and others we will bring to you in the future.

So there you have it, It's official now, and it's all for you! We envision these sites as a place for us to connect with you, and for you to connect with each other. We encourage discussion, questions, viewpoints, and the exchange of ideas.

Lastly, we want to dedicate this to all of you who helped position us for this moment with your time, resources, support, and love. It is out of thanks to you that we launch this venture!

Be Blessed,

Adrian Wright (@W)

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Happy Financial Independence Day!!

photo courtesy of Will Hirzy

No, we're not Debt-Free yet, but we have lightened our non-mortgage debt load by almost $15000.00 since October! That's more than $1600/month going straight towards debt on average! WOW!

It is with this in mind that I randomly deem today July 3rd, 2008 as

Financial Independence Day!

While on this debt-dumping journey I feel it's important that you take every opportunity to celebrate your progress in various ways. Some of the celebration may be legitimate, and some of it may be random, contrived, or just plain non-sensical. (Ahem - like this post) But no matter what, the fact remains that the accomplishments should be recognized whether great or small.

We've only been at this for 9 months and so many positive things have come about as a result of this experience. This blog, many of the friends we've made, the lives we've touched and the people that have touched ours - much of it has stemmed from our mission to wipe out our debt for good! It is truly changing us and the way we use ALL of our resources, not just our money. This thing is deep!

Monday will be the one year wedding anniversary for my wife and I. And I can truly say that I never imagined it could be THIS way. Now, hear me out... Marriage has lived up to every expectation and hope that I had, but before the debt-freedom initiative entered our lives, I had envisioned a life where I was going to have to work much harder for the happiness of my family. I was willing to sacrifice -- for my wife and future children -- the thought of possibly NEVER retiring so that I could make ends meet, put the kids through school and one day build a dream house with my wife. But I never, NEVER thought life could be lived this way. I'd never seen it done, I didn't think it was realistic, and everything about my lifestyle and buying habits was completely opposed to it.

This experience has taught me that ALL of those things and more WILL be possible because of the sacrifice we're putting in now. And we're still only at the beginning it seems. We've knocked out just above 25% of our consumer debt excluding the mortgage. And as you'll remember we've paid off 10 of the 30 -- or one-third -- of the accounts we started out with.

I'm not saying it's been all easy street, but it's been well worth it. I see my family walking with a vision and a purpose that is both awe inspiring and humbling. I never thought I could be 'this' guy. To my wife of one year, I hope you hear the excitement in my voice, this one’s for US!

So yes, we still have a lot of the 'baby' present in our 'baby steps' lol. But we are making great progress...

And that to me is cause enough for celebration,

@W

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A Look Inside Our Weekly Budget Meeting

Photo courtesy of rubymatt

My wife came up with this great idea for a post: a brief walkthru of our weekly budget meeting.

I'm sure some of you out there who are just starting out have experienced the 'thrill' of the 2 hour budget meeting, but I assure you it will get better. The more consistently you meet, the faster the meetings will go in the future. You will soon find that both you and your spouse are improving the way you both approach and communicate about finances.

I remember back in October when we first started having meetings.... pure disaster! It would take forever for us to get through it, and just the thought of how our finances looked at the time caused a great deal of tension. Many nights we didn't even want to sit down and look at the budget because we just KNEW it was going to end in silence, or frustration, or that defeated feeling when you know you've got more 'month than you do money'.

BUT YOU MUST KEEP AT IT!

You have to consider the first few meetings like Training Camp. When the team gets together to shake off the rust of the off season and learn what direction the team wants to grow for the season. You learn your routes, learn to read your teammates, and learn how to respond to game time pressure. This is where you solidify your financial chemistry with your spouse which is extremely important because...

How you arrive at decisions about your money is just as important as paying down the debt.

If you are married, this must be a team effort and you both need to have equal say. If you both can't agree how to proceed, Husband it's your call. God made you the head of the household for a reason and this is one of those times when it counts. BUT it usually doesn't even have to come to this point because there is almost always a mutually agreeable solution... or at least there should be. However if it does come to this point, I urge you husbands to make your decision in a way that will best serve your family, not just to 'have your way' or make a point. Sometimes the wisest decision a husband can make is to listen to what his wife says and act on it.

Time is of the essence...

Your weekly meeting should not be a long drawn out event. In fact the shorter the amount of time you take, the better as long as you cover the basics of your meeting. The meeting should be viewed as a tool to keep you motivated and informed of your progress from week to week. I cant stress enough that the first few weeks wont look or even feel good, but soon after you will see the progress, the preparation, and the peace that comes from being on the same page with your spouse.

To help you increase the impact and efficiency of your budget meeting, I've broken this post down into a few sections.

- Establishing an agreeable meeting time.
- Finding a place outside of the home where you can meet.
- The tools you should have handy.
- The Objectives you should meet at every meeting, NO EXCEPTIONS.
- Goals to set for the next meeting.

Times that you should NOT be meeting:

-Late at night - It can RUIN you sleep for the night...

-Early in the morning - It can RUIN the day ahead...

-When either of you are sleepy, cranky, hungry or watching 'the game' or Iron Chef. lol

Any time other than the three I mentioned is highly recommended.

Rendezvous Point:

Where you meet helps determine how effective you meeting will be. I don't recommend doing them at home because you can easily be distracted, or tempted to multi-task other things at the same time. Instead, I recommend meeting at a coffee shop, restaurant of public library (my personal favorite). It's good to find a relaxing environment, but not a cozy one. Or if the weather is decent you can meet outside, the fresh air will help you concentrate.

Tools of the trade:

-Prayer, always start with it!

-An agenda of the items you want to focus on.

-2 copies of the budget. *You will both need your own copy for note taking, doodling, and editing, because your budget NEVER stays as it was first drafted.

OR

-Paper to take notes. *Trust me by the 2nd day you'll have forgotten everything if it isn't down on paper. This saves you from recapping all of last weeks' meeting this week! lol

-Resource materials such as The Total Money Makeover, or the book/program you may be following. *This is optional, but helpful to have at the ready. Don't try to do it all yourself, there is plenty of help out there available to you, most of it free.

Prime Objectives: (If nothing else gets discussed, these are a MUST...)

Naturally there are topics that you should strive to discuss every time you meet. Here are a few, but your list depends on how you both approach things.

-"The 4 Walls": Food, Clothing, Shelter, Transportation.

-Know your next payday.

-Know what dates each expense/payment is next due.

-Know who does what: who's calling the creditor, writing the check, withdrawing the cash, dropping off the payment, addressing the envelope, putting the stamp on it, purchasing the stamps if you don't have any, and who's placing the envelope in the mailbox. *The 'who' does not and should NOT have to be one person. This is a team effort!

-Know when each of the prior items should be done by.

Close with a look ahead to the next meeting:

-Have tangible goals you would like to see completed by the time you next meet.

-Discuss payments, conflicts, possible problems you foresee on the horizon.

-Propose changes in strategy or format. *This can be helpful because your partner wont feel like a suggested change has been 'sprung' upon them. It gives them enough time to think and digest the suggestion in time for the next meeting. It's both a considerate and fair way to voice your objections if you don't like how something is going. And it also means your not just 'complaining' about the process, your bringing a solution to the table.

Well that's about all there is to it! If you take some of these things into consideration going forward, I'm sure it will help smooth parts of the process out for you. And as always if you have any suggestions of how you and your family do something differently, please let us know in the comments section!

Till we 'meet' again... get it? lol

@W

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How To Remain Generous In Your Giving While Getting Out Of Debt

Photo courtesy of monoculaire

The title of this post is a little oxymoronic, isn't it? For those of you who are on the debt-dumping warpath, I'm pretty sure you've struggled with how to continue your generous ways while seemingly pinching each and every penny till it screams.

Well, below I've listed a few observations that I've learned from people I consider to be generous givers who also just happen to be turning their finances around at the same time. I've noticed these traits frequently enough, and across a broad enough swath of people that I thought it warranted listing them for all to see. (If you think of any that I missed, please let me hear from you in the comments!)

*Also a quick note of clarification: When I refer to 'generosity' here, I mean separate from Tithes and Offerings given in church. I'm talking about street-level, everyday, practical giving.

1. Generosity is a character trait - Getting out of debt is not.

Being charitable for most people cannot be turned off and on. Either you are a giving person or most likely you just aren't. Now you can become more frugal and still maintain your generosity, but you cannot be stingy and expect to still be considered generous at the same time. Being frugal means that you are simply more considerate of getting the most value out of your money and the resources you acquire with it. Being stingy means you are miserly, or selfish with your money and usually have little regard to the true value your money holds.

2. Generosity often has little to do with just money.

Too many people equate generosity with how much money you donate to charities, and other philanthropic foundations. But I'd venture to say that financial giving is only the tip of the iceberg, not the iceberg itself. You can be generous with your time, energy and talents more easily than you can with your money. You can be generous with your faith or your spiritual gifts. You can volunteer towards causes you have a passion for.

Do me a favor and look closely at the picture at the top of this post. I chose that picture for this post because the donation box didn't say what to donate... so the people who did give something gave freely. To me it serves as a metaphor for the many ways you can show your generosity while staying true to your mission of becoming debt free.

3. Generous people excel at assessing genuine 'needs'.

(Brace yourself this is gonna be my 'soapbox' part of the post lol)

Many people in our society have formed the nasty habit of describing their 'wants' as desperate 'needs'. It's gotten to the point where the line between the two has completely faded in the minds of many people. This blurred line between wants and needs is one of the general contributors to the cycle of debt and overspending we see today.

Because of this, generous people need to be selective in who, what, when, how, and why they give of their resources. Being carelessly generous can sometimes do just as much harm as being selfish or scrooge-ish.

Years ago I was downtown for lunch and came across a homeless man begging for change. Naturally he asked me for some money so that he could get some food. I told him that I didn't have any change but since I was on my way to lunch I would buy him anything he wanted to eat. Amazingly he turned ME down. At first I was offended, but soon realized that he didn't 'need' to eat. In fact I later learned that he didn't need the money at all. Get this - he wasn't even homeless, he was simply too lazy to find an honest, stable job! He spent his days staking out prime pan-handling real estate -- The White House, The Capitol building, Georgetown, and local tourist attractions etc.-- and making about $100/day doing it!

The moral of this story -- all of it true -- is that people don't always need what they say they need. The other moral is that if anything, we NEED to be careful of giving to every seemingly good cause. Again this goes back to being frugal vs. being stingy vs. being an aloof giver.

4. Generous people have a firm grasp on the concept of 'Blessings of Increase'.

This past Sunday, I took my bike out for a ride. I didn't want to carry much in my pockets, so I only took my driver's license and a $20 bill. Somewhere along the way, either coming or going I dropped that $20 bill. (Which was a large chunk of my food money for the next week) Upon realizing that I dropped it, I was initially disappointed -- in part because I was now in line to order some food lol -- but I quickly got over it and hoped that my 'lost' bill would 'find' someone else when they needed it most.

Though I lost $20, so what! It will be replaced in the first hour of my next working day. Instead I realized that I gained a blessing (multiple actually) in the fact that the next person who finds it will be pretty hyped over it. Another blessing for me was that I was ok over losing it. It was another timely reminder of the Financial Peace that I continue to gain as we eliminate our debt. I could've obsessed over what a nice snowflake $20 dollars would've been, yada yada, blah blah. But as I said before, so what! I could've lost my driver's license instead of the $20.... and then I'd really be getting some use out of my bike!

5. After you get out of debt, there's no limit to how generous you can be!

The title of this post is "How To Remain Generous In Your Giving While Getting Out Of Debt". Yes, you already knew this, but i just wanted to point it out again because it's meant to be a transitional concept. You are not always going to be 'getting' out of debt, one day you'll just be 'out'! (Can I get an AMEN?)

Baby Step #7 of Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover is simply this: "Build Wealth & Give!"

Once you're out of debt for good, it's my hope that you will carry on the obligation of helping others to get out as well. It will truly be one of the most generous things you do with your new found financial freedom!

6. Generosity is a core responsibility for the Christian.

A compelling promise is given in the bible to those who chose to be generous in their giving. It is found in Luke 6:38*:

*Taken from the NIV translation:
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

This is the basic formula for the blessings of increase that I mentioned in point #4. But just like bread cant be made without yeast, this recipe is useless without a loving spirit. There is no such thing as malicious giving. And although there is such a thing as indifferent giving, it's just as pointless as not giving at all.

The recipe given in Luke 6:38 simply cant be followed by just anyone. It's the hallmark of a seasoned chef, one who has come to understand and know the six points laid out here.

So with that I ask you, what's cookin'?

@W

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Our First "Non-emergency" Emergency

Photo courtesy of ultramarineblue

*The names, faces, dialogues, and timelines have been changed to protect the author - er I mean the innocent. lol

Tuesday morning 8:57am
My wife and I woke up, got ready for work, left the house, hopped in the car.... and just SAT there. When I tried to start up the car it seemed like all sorts of crazy things happened all at once and there were all kinds of alien error messages on the display that I'd never seen before. I tinker with the lights, door handles, the key, etc trying to mojo my car to life but It's not happening.

9:20 -- (To my wife) "Well I have that plug-in battery charger in the trunk, let me hook it up and we'll be on our way..."

9:30 -- (To the charger) "What do you mean your batteries are dead?!?" Oh the irony...

9:40 -- (To my wife) "Well, I guess we better just call AAA..."

9:45 -- (To the person on the phone) "What do you mean it's expired?!?"

10:00 -- Thinking...

10:15 -- Still thinking...

10:16 -- At this point *'Husband Panic' sets in. That’s what I like to call it when you know your wife is waiting on you to make a decision but you dont know WHAT to do! And to make it worse, every option you're considering has dollar signs attached to it. * This occurs internally and is completely undetectable by the wife. (Yeah right!)

10:20 -- We do what we must, we use our emergency fund to renew the AAA membership, because well this is a full fledged emergency.

Fast forward to 11:30
AAA arrives. The car is completely dead now, no response at all. He gives us a jump and we decide to try to drive the car for a while to see how it's performing.

12:30pm -- Obviously neither my wife or I are going to work today so we focus on the issue at hand: making sure our car is alright, it's the only one we have... and right now, though it's running, it's not letting us get out of first gear which makes me very very affraid. (My 'Husband Panic' is saying, "$ Please $ don’t $ let $ it $ be $ the $ transmission $!!")

12:45 -- While eating lunch in the car - which has been running since 11:30 and wasting our precious gas away and is now down to 1/8th of a tank - we decide to pray for guidance on what we should do next, and that this not set us back financially.

12:50 -- My wife remembers seeing an auto shop that specializes in servicing our make of car. So we drive over there, talk to the mechanic, and I reluctantly agree to let him run the $90 diagnostic.

1:30 -- He comes back and tells us that ALL of the problems are being caused by a bad battery and that he has reset the onboard computer parameters for us free of charge, and that he is also willing to install the new battery at cost! (without any service chages, etc) Praise God!

2:30 -- A family member came over to the shop to loan us their 2nd vehicle if we needed it, which at this point we do. The costs have slowly been mounting through the day and they have now exhausted our emergency fund.

The AAA, the diagnostic charge, and the replacement battery did us in, but our emergency fund did it's job perfectly!On top of this, I have every reason to be thankful that this emergency was able to be contained within our emergency fund at all! I was thinking of electrical damage ($$$), transmission work ($$$) and possibly engine work as well ($$$), but God protected us from those types of financial difficulties!

Equally important through this ordeal was the poise of my wife, and our ability to be of the same mindset in the midst of the storm. We both saw this as a CLEAR opportunity for God to show himself on our behalf, and He did just that. It was beautiful to see our Spiritual Peace working in tandem with our Financial Peace during this situation!

A friend of mine once defined a financial emergency simply as "Anything that happens that you have no financial provision for." So I guess I can't truly call this an emergency at all, we had the financial provision, and more importantly the Devine provision to weather this particular storm.

Isaiah 26:3 says:

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.

Thanks again for joining me,

@W

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June is the LAST month we spend $500 on FOOD!

photo courtesy of cycrolu

Dont you just love epiphanies? I had one yesterday while preparing for the 'weekly' budget meeting with my wife. (She'll get a laugh out of the 'weekly' part lol.) For what seems like months I've been looking at our budget trying to see what else I could squeeze out of it. I could never see it, but I could just sense that I was missing something that was staring me right in the face. And boy was it ever, it was the $500 we've been spending on food each and every month! $500 as in a car note on a brand new 5 Series BMW... $500 as in a PS3 and 2 games! For the record, right now it's just the 2 of us, no kids and no pets! I know of couples with 3 children that get by on spending less!

I know just how we got in this bind, and sadly I know we're not the only ones. Sure our situation may be slightly different, but the symptoms are completely the same for anyone who is overspending on food or any other area of your finances. For me it's a word called COMFORT, that simple, inviting killer of many other positive C words: conviction, concentration, character, courage, & chutzpah!

It might not be called the same thing for you, but you need to understand that no matter what you're calling it, IT is keeping you from that next level in your debt dumping experience. See there are basically 3 factors that determine the relationship you have with money: Emotion, Psychology, and the Numbers. I was reading a great article over at Zenhabits.net yesterday called: How I Paid Off $35,000 in Debt, and How You Can Too.

In the article the author was debating the logic of paying your debt off in order of interest rate from highest to lowest, versus paying your debt in order of account balance from lowest to highest. Both approaches have their benefits depending on your psychology towards money. And it was while he was explaining this that he threw out a quote that hit me like an uppercut!

"Many experts advise paying your high interest debts first. Obviously, this makes the most sense mathematically. But if money were all about math, you wouldn’t have debt in the first place. Debt is as much about emotion and psychology as it is about math."

When we started this budget back in October, I was eating fast food almost daily, and my wife was on a weight-loss program. Because of this, we made the decision to split our food money into His and Hers envelopes. The deal was supposed to be $50 per person per check for personal food, and another $50 every other check strictly for non-food groceries such as cleaning products, toiletries, etc. This worked 'fine' for us because we could basically expect one of us to be paid each week, so it equalled $50 per person each week. That might not sound like much at all right? $50 divided by 7 days is $7.15/day... But when you look at it on a month to month basis, it works out to about $200 per person just for our food allowance, and $100 each month for non-food groceries.

I never needed $200 just for food, it just a comfortable dollar amount for the types of food I wanted to buy. Everybody knows it's cheaper and healthier to prepare and cook your own food than it is to eat out all the time. And everybody also knows that it's far cheaper to brownbag your lunch each day rather than frequenting McDonalds, Wendy's, Burger King, and Taco Bell and letting them hit you up for $6-$8 per meal!

While everybody (myself included) might have already known this, yesterday I was finally willing to admit it to myself. My Emotion (wanting to be comfortable) was not in keeping with my Psychology (Kill off this debt by any means) or my Numbers (Spend less on wants, and more on needs and debt elimination). The three have to be in agreement for things to work at an optimum clip.

By the end of the budget meeting, my wife and I decided that we could do away with the His and Hers food money, and also do away with $150 of that $500 tab each month. We both feel very good about it, because we both realize not much is being lost, but a whole lot is being gained by the change we just made. We basically just created some extra income where there was none by curbing our wasteful spending and thinking outside of the box.

I'm sure there are ways you can do the same if you take the time to balance the Emotion, the Psychology, and the Numbers to work to your advantage.

So here's your homework till the next time we meet up: I want you to A) Find a name for your emotion towards your money or B) Give a name to the emotion that prevents you from whipping your financial picture into better shape. And if you care to share them, feel free to use the Comments section, we'd all love to hear you perspective!

Be Blessed till next time,

@W

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A few improvements to the blog...

Photo courtesy of nationalmint

"We appreciate the kind that jingles, but we'd rather have the kind that folds."
Lisa McDowell - Coming to America

If you've been tuning in to this blog, over the past weeks hopefully you will have noticed some major changes. First of all I truly want to thank you for even taking the time to scan this blog at all. So many outlets are competing for your time, attention, and loyalty. It's truly a blessing and an affirmation to have you here as a friend of this site! And so again I say loudly and proudly, THANK YOU for being here!

Here's a breif rundown of what's new:

1) I've been working hard to make this site easier on the eyes by adding relevant images to each of the existing posts!

2)You'll notice that I'm diversifying the content to include videos, exclusive interviews, polls, how-to tutorials, and even guest bloggers from time to time!

3) A custom Google search box has been added to help you easily locate other debt-help resources and content.

4) I've added 2 new and important ways that you can directly help us dump our debt in the form of A) Ad content provided by Google Adsense. And B) By adding PayPal donation links to the sidebar, and to the bottom of each post.

Now, I want to ensure you that @W has in no way SOLD OUT by choosing to add these sources of revenue. I'm not out to beg for your monetary support, but I am willing to leave that open to you as an option if you feel impressed to do so.

Furthermore, let me add that I will never ask you to pay for the content provided on this site, nor will I ever seek to sell any goods or services through the use of this site. This site is strictly a vehicle for encouragement, education, and edification of fellow Christians FIRST and FOREMOST and also fellow debt-dumpers of any other creed.

Once again (yes AGAIN!) thank you for being a friend of @Risk Living!

Adrian Wright - @W

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Pending Transactions or "When $16.05 costs you $86.05" Part II... Finally!

Photo courtesy of TW Collins

Here it is folks! The long awaited sequel to the smash hit article "Overdraft Fees, or "When $16.05 costs you $86.05" Part I" !!

There's an old adage that goes a lil something like this: "Cash is King!"

For years I refused to accept it while I was using my debit card to purchase everything under the sun that I both could and could not afford. But more recently I've come to know and love that saying in a very special way.

Dave Ramsey calls it the Envelope System, and it's just as simple as it sounds... If you know how much you're budgeting towards an expense, withdraw that amount in cash, place it in an envelope, and spend it.... but once it's spent, you get no more until the next check shows up. If your budget is $100/week for food, and you eat out on Monday spending $75... then it looks like you'll be eating PB&J for the next few days!

Yes it takes discipline to place yourself on this type of system, but not nearly as much as you would think. Now, back to that saying "cash is king"... here's where it comes into play with the envelope system. As you spend your money out of that envelope, it allows you to instantly assess, inventory, and prioritize that next purchase. As you see that money dissolve in real-time out of your envelope, it forces you to question whether you really NEED to spend money on that next item you intend to purchase.

But what I truly love is that the envelope system is maybe the closest you can get to experiencing personal-finance-instant-gratification! There are no pending payments, no waiting for a payment to clear your account, and no getting caught up in the ODF cycle. You take the Russian out of the Roulette! And you gain a big portion of your financial control back! All by stuffing your cash in some envelopes and sticking to the script.

I've become somewhat of a celebrity at my local bank branch because of the envelope system. Ok, so maybe I just threw in the celebrity part, but each time I come around they know me by name. They've given me the nickname "Cash-man". So what if it's not the freshest moniker, at least they know me for something positive!

See when I walk in, I already have a very specific breakout of how I'd like to receive my cash. I know the exact number of $100's, $20's, $10's, $5's, and $1's I'd like to withdraw. Unlike many people I don't just let the bank give me 100's and 20's, if that's not exactly what I NEED. After all if I'm banking with them, then I'm their customer, and that means that them giving me the exact amount I need is part of servicing the customer! ( WHAT A CONCEPT, eh?!)
I'm writing this as a follow up to an incident that happened to us in April (read the title of this post to get the gist) because banks are literally milking us for all we're worth as a nation. My wife and I are sick of being caught in this vicious cycle where only the banks and oil companies are having all of the fun with this money thing!

Too many of us are living right on that line of financial ruin. If that whole Overdraft experience had happened to us before we got on Dave Ramsey's TMM, things would've quickly spiraled WAY out of control. One overdraft fee would cause some other pending payment to come up short, which would cause another overdraft fee and on and on...That's what living check to check and far beyond our means has done to us as a society. It's the root of the credit crisis, the mortgage crisis, the stock market volatility and it just spreads like mold from there. They are making Trillions off of us because of the trap we've allowed them to spring on us.

I tell ya what, if this sounds a little too drastic for you to try all at once, Dave Ramsey suggests starting out with putting only your Food money under the envelope system. So this means that on payday, you decide how much you realistically want to spend on food for the week, you withdraw that money in cash, mark an envelope with the word FOOD, and ALL food purchases are made from this envelope for that pay period. If you run out of money before the next payday, tough luck! 1) It means you need to evaluate where your food money is going. 2) you should explore more cost effective ways to stretch that dollar amount. Or 3) you need to increase your Food amount but decrease some other aspect of your spending. After doing that for about 3 pay periods, you will know how much you can realistically spend out of your pay check towards food. And this knowledge will help you curb the habit of chronic overspending.

Dave Ramsey's program is all about achieving Financial Peace. And I really must say there is a profound sense of peace in knowing how far we've come in just a few months of doing the program. That experience was not nearly as damaging as it could've been because we now envelope virtually all of the money that we budget from each check. None of the panic of worrying what check might bounce next. Why? Because we withdrew all of our expenses in cash to avoid that. Now we just have peace...

Financial peace....

Peace,

@W

To get the full impact of this follow-up article, please take a moment to go back and re-read the original post about how our bank made $55.00 in profit off of us from only $16.05 in purchases.