Why you haven't heard from me lately...

Photo courtesy of *Tiny Dancer*

It's been awful quiet around here lately right? Well I cant say that it's been by design, but I can certainly see that it's been for the better. And for those of you who REALLY stick by @Risk Living, we haven't really been gone at all...

Twitter and Facebook have had a serious impact on how frequently I delve deeper into a personal finance topic. See most of my posts start off as a simple thought or observation. Sometimes, only after I ponder on a thought for a while do I even recognize there might be a post inside my thinking. But with Twitter and Facebook, once I've put that thought or quote out in the open I rarely come back here and unpack that thought the way I used to.

As a blogger I'm learning that there are advantages and disadvantages to tweeting and being 'live' on FB. The advantage is that you get rapid-fire real-time insights into what I see, think, and feel. However, the disadvantage is that once you get accustomed to 'micro-blogging' your way through a day it feels strangely slow and cumbersome to sit down and put together a complete post. One is a hand-grenade: portable, serviceable, and leaves a relatively small mark, while the other is a H-bomb: heavy, broad, and not nearly appropriate for every occasion lol.

As a side-note, I've noticed some pretty impressive spikes of traffic to the site since I've spent more time tweeting and FB'ing. Currently on Twitter I have 1500+ people following the @Risk Living blog! NEVER did I think I would be reaching such a wide audience with the blog and it's focus: Getting OUT of Debt!

Now! Having said all of that, @Risk Living isnt going anywhere, in fact I have HUGE plans for where I'd like to see this site go next. You'll be hearing more on that soon.


Thanks for sticking with us, I hope and pray we are of some help to you!

@W




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@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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Update: @Risk Blog to be Shut Down...

Photo courtesy of Jasoon

It's with the deepest sadness that I must let you all know that I've been ordered to shut the blog down. This is not a joke or prank. This is simply what happens when you 'go against the grain' in too loud and effective a fashion. It appears that this post did not go over too well with Suze Orman and her stable of lawyers. They've filed and injunction for me to cease activity on this blog.

What makes matters worse is that we didnt even get to reach our One year anniversary as a blog! In fact we fell a mere 3 days short! I was in the middle of making huge plans to celebrate that anniversary when I got the email from her lawyers.

This experience has TOTALLY changed my life! It's no small feat when I think of how I went from simply LEARNING how to get my family out of debt, to making it a personal responsibility to TEACH others how to do it as well! God is so good!

I've got to wrap this post up because right now I just can't handle that it's over. I'm crying as I type this. I hope that I at least helped SOMEONE in the last 362 days! That's all I ever wanted.
Again, I can't speak to the details too much, but I can say this much: Happy April Fool's Day!

*Cue the song: Bad Boy For Life*


[chorus]We ain't, go-in nowhere, we ain't, goin nowhere We can't be stopped now, cause this bad boy for life We aint, go-in nowhere, we ain't, goin nowhere We can't be stopped now, cause this bad boy for life!

Can't stop, won't stop! lol

@W




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@RL Top 12 Posts of 2008...

Photo courtesy of Pictoscribe

Wow, this blog has come a LONG way in the past few months. And I've posted alot of content covering various topics. So I thought it would be fitting to pull out what I feel have been my 12 most important posts from 2008. This was an extremely difficult task because - well, let's face it I'm a BRILLIANT writer!! But in the process of selecting the best of the best, I think I accidentally re-inspired myself while revisiting all that we've seen and learned so far on this journey.

Before we start though, I took the liberty of excluding two very critical posts from the 'official' list below.

The first,ironically is the very first post of the blog, "Today was a day for the ages...". It sets the tone and gives the why and how of where we were when we created this blog. I apologize to you now if you're about to read it, my writing skills were horrible in those early posts. lol

And the second is "Welcome to the next level...". This post served as our official coming out party and announcement to the world. It was hard keeping this one out but truthfully it was much more about 'us' than about our debt exploits, so it was benched.

So with that part out of the way, If you're new to the blog, or maybe not so new and just need a refresher on what this blog really has to offer, i give you the best of @Risk Living... so far.

In no particular order:

"A look inside our weekly budget meeting" - Here we give you the very same tools and strategies we use on a weekly basis.

"Our first 'Non-emergency' emergency" - A quick example of how our Emergency Fund kept a crazy day from being a bad day.

"The Prey, the Predator, and the unexpected Protector" - Ahh, this is STILL one of my personal favorites. This was my very first Video post. You have to watch it to understand just what the title means. It's amazing!

"How to remain generous in your giving while getting out of debt" - The Lord really placed this message on my heart once I realized that getting out of debt was becoming Secondary to my overall position as a Steward of God's assets... ALL of them.

"Five ways to REALLY boost your food budget" - The title says it all, but it says it the way that I would say it... know what I'm saying? lol

"Full Circle: How our TMM began..." - This is about the time I almost gave up on the blog when I heard someone say, "When you feel you've reached the end, try going back to the beginning. "

"Tired of rejection, consumers turn to credit card companies for approval" - Gosh - yes, I used the word 'gosh' - I love that title, It's so witty right? This post highlights the surprising link between finances, material possessions, and your self-esteem.

"The $10 blessing: Integrity pays in your business dealings" - This post tells the tale of an honest $10 bill that ended up blessing me and many others.

"Beer and Money... A match made in... (nevermind)" - One of the few Recession/Depression proof products is beer. Read the post to find out why. (PS - Thank you Homer for the photo shoot)

"I've seen the Promised Land" coupled with "We shall overcome" talk about the amazing events we have the honor of witnessing and the various ways those events have impacted or inspired me financially, spiritually, and culturally.

"We're getting pumped!" is all about the joy of finally starting to make SERIOUS progress in our efforts!

And finally, "Overdraft Fees, or 'When $16.05 costs you $86.05' Part I" and "Pending transactions, or 'When $16.05 costs you $86.05' Part II" - These two posts are by far two of my better pieces of work. I try to give you a little bit of everything here: humor, honesty, transparency, and insight.

Thanks for taking the time to reminisce with me. Now lets move full steam into 2009!

@W



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Forgive Us Our Debts...

Photo courtesy of Doc Stampede

Welcome to @riskliving blog, season 2...

Though we're only 2 weeks into this year, I'm already seeing a pattern or theme for what this year might hold for the blog.

Yes, it will still be about debt, but in many more ways than the financial kind.

This process is turning into something LIFE changing for us instead of just changing our financial situation.

See, somewhere along the way in 2008 a different mission was handed to us (my wife and I) than the one we signed up for. We just wanted to be debt free. No collections agencies, no past due bills, no accounts in default, no more screening 'Unknown Callers'... we got fed up with it.

But we soon realized we had a calling to not just pull ourselves out of the pit, but to try to bring YOU along at the same time. Back in the mid 90's there was a song called "It Ain't No Fun If My Homies Can't Have None..." and though the message of that song is VASTLY off-topic, the point still applies.

We need you on this journey with us.

If you don't band together with us in this effort to eliminate debt it will make our life worse! No, really! Who will we go on cruises with, who will we sow and give with, who will we travel and vacation with if we're out of debt and you're still in? We won't really get to see you much, because you won't be able to do the things that we have been positioning ourselves to do!

We want you to be a part of this movement, this family.

Jesus once asked the question "Who is my Mother, and who are my brothers but they that do the will of my Father which is in heaven!" Matthew 12:48-50 (paraphrased)

And one aspect of our Father's will is for us to not be mired in debt. In fact Jesus even taught us to pray for the forgiveness of our debts in the 'Lord's Prayer'. Matthew 6:9-15

Now I know what you're saying: "@W, He wasn't talking about that type of debt."

But I beg to differ, He didn't specify what type of debt because He was talking about ALL forms of debt...

Well... all except for maybe one type of debt: The Debt of Gratitude.

I now know that even after all my bills are paid off and I don't owe another red cent of debt. I will still owe something.

I WILL NEVER BE DEBT FREE, because I will always be indebted to both those who have served as our mentors in this process and those who have looked to us as examples. If you are reading this, then you fall into one of those 2 categories.

That is the only debt I'm willing to live with!

@W






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We Shall Overcome...

I still can't quite articulate all of my thoughts and emotions at this time. They truly range from elation, to stoicism, to cautious optimism, and even to bittersweet sadness.

The hardest hitting thought that occurred to me last night was for the lives of my children. Their American experience will be distinctly different in a number of unique ways. First, they will be born into a family that holds no debt. That alone will place then into a different frame of life and opportunity than most of the people they interact with in their lifetime. They will already be a peculiar exception to 'the way of the world' because of this. But now, as of last night it has dawned on me that they will be born into a world where a black man sits at the head of their government. It will be ALL they have ever KNOWN to see a black man as the main person responsible for the care and guidance of our nation. It will be a regular thing for them... regular...


But at the same time I still contend with my feelings of cautious optimism because despite the hope infused in what I see on CNN, this world is still in the closing hours of it's history according to what my Bible tells me. Is this man the calm before the storms predicted in Revelation 13: 11-18, or is HE it? Time will tell, but as a Christian with the Blessed Hope of seeing the Lord return in my lifetime, I have to weigh every political figure that ascends to the world stage against the scriptures. And the more compelling and wondrous the figure appears to be, the more watchful and discerning I have to be! Read what Revelation 13:11-18 says:

Revelation 13:11-18 (King James Version)

11And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
12And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
13And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
14And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
15And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
16And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

Finally, with this amazing turn of events comes an uncontrollable sadness. Sadness for those who not only died, but those who were lynched, hung, castrated, murdered, raped, tarred-and-feathered, kidnapped, enslaved, tormented, assassinated and martyred in generations past, and never got to see this moment. Four years ago, NO ONE in this country had a viable hope that we would possibly EVER see a black man as president. At that time we could have probably envisioned one day having a person of Latino descent, but NEVER an African-American. There are still living among us a very large population of black adults who lived or were born into a time when they lived completely segregated existences. They lived through Clan rallies, and race riots, and all kinds of institutionalized evil.

As of yesterday, we now have the KEYS to that institution...

The other thing that saddened me was the overwhelming turnout of voters across this nation. People love turning out to vote, because it's their RIGHT. What on earth would it look like if the Kingdom of God ever decided to stand up and execute their RIGHT and responsibility to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

Replace for just a moment the crowd gathered at Grant's Park in Chicago, with jubilant, white-robed saints professing their love of Christ.... and now do the same thing at every other high turnout campaign rally that we saw Obama hold. 90,000 showed up in Manassass... what if they were all born again, and had a knowledge and thirst for Jesus, the same way they thirsted for this historic change? Now I'm sure you can understand my sense of sadness...

So really what does this mean NOW on November 5th? Will black young men in every ghetto lay down his glock, and stop selling drugs? Will bloods and crips embrace each other? Will my credit score get better just because this man is in office and he's so much like me? Will the current stat that only 30% of men who graduate Detroit city high schools automatically jump to 100%? Will black men nationwide stop stepping on each other's Jordans?

NO.

We have not 'Overcome' because of what we saw last night. That is not the Finish Line, it is only the starting line of a brand new race to be run. Again I turn to the Word, where it is clearly identified for me, what will allow us to 'Overcome'...

Revelation 12:11 (King James Version)

11And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

I am newly inspired to finish this race!

@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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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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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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1/3 way home?

photo courtesy of householdriot

Mark today on your calendar... Ok well maybe not you, but I sure will. Today we reached a minor milestone in the fact that we just closed out our 10th account out of the 30 we started this journey with. So we are technically one-third of the way to our vision of debt freedom. **On a side note, finding a title for this post gave me fits!! This is why there's a question mark behind it... people always say 'half-way home' 3 quick words. But no one ever gramatically uses any other fraction in the same way... it always has to be "one-third-of-the-way" ect. which for me was just too many words for a snappy title. So please consider my title as my one-man mutiny against that stupid gramatical convention lol.

Now keep in mind this is only meant as a symbolic milestone because we are NOT anywhere near paying off 1/3 of our debt in dollars and cents... But trust me when you're in the grind of trying to eliminate debt you take EVERY victory you can.

So now, this is where our Debt Snowball finally gets rolling. Eventhough the monthly minimum for this personal loan was under $200, that freed up money now serves as a nice infusion to our financial situation. It gives us options we could not afford before. And no when I say "options" I don't mean I can just go blow that extra cash each month now LOL! It gives us some flexibility in how aggressively we can tackle various aspects of our debt.

Though it's a shame, I'm already eyeing the next milestone. It's gonna be maybe the most pivotal factor in our journey (unless my job wants to promote me again haha). In November we'll be making the last payment on our other line of credit. When that day comes I'll be LIT because it will open up yet another $500 each month for us to really throw at this debt in addition to what we freed up today!! It's at this point that the end will be in sight for us! Kind of like when a runner hits his second wind during a marathon. I imagine that's what it's going to feel like!

While I'm here I really just have to testify of how good God has been to us as of late. He's really been carrying us through some of these trying financial times. I can truly say there has been NO lack in my house even during the leanest of times. There have been nights where my wife and I would look in the fridge and see nothing that would make a meal...I mean the jount would be BARE! But by the end of the night when my wife was done cooking whatever was available we were full and satisfied. I dunno. Maybe you've never been THERE before but I know someone reading this (besides my wife and I) is feeling what I'm saying right here.

The word says in Psalms 34;1-9...

(King James Version)

1 I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.
3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
5 They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.
6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
9 O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.

His word is true, and the events we've watched Him carry us through lately bear witness to that...

See ya next time,

@W