We're Getting PUMPED!!

Our budget is finally about to pack on some serious muscle in this war we've waged on our debt!

The Lord is aligning a number of things at JUST the right time as far as our finances are concerned. My wife just got a DREAM of a part-time job. (Ka-ching $$) My job just assigned me to a large overtime project. (KA-ching $$$) And largest of all in the next few days we'll be paying off a major loan that will push an extra 5 'bills' ($500) straight to our debt snowball! (KA-CHINGY ching chang $$$$!!) LOL

Now usually our budget meetings have become pretty fluid and pain-free, but last night took it to a whole new level. We were actually GIDDY talking about out finances! We were joking around and giving each other funny lil nicknames. For instance, because I'm the one that actually plots out our budget spreadsheet, and withdraws the cash ect. I made a joke that she should call me the "Comptroller". And since she's so great at filing our budgets, papers, and bills as well as keeping track of the decisions we make, as well as the follow-up involved so that we can ACT once we have the money in hand, I said I'm gonna call her the "Administrator" lol. Well to make a long story short we settled on the fact that she's the "Commissioner", and I am the "Mayor" lol! (right honey?)

So anyway, as you can see this new turn of events has us STOKED! And we are both certain in the fact that the Lord is blessing our efforts in ways we could only dream of! For the longest time both of us have been 'worried' about our Gazelle Intensity, because certain circumstances prevented us from generating any extra income. We 'wanted' to get to a point where it could be realistic, but even a recently as last month it just didn't seem possible.

We knew the loan would be paid off in November and that had us amped enough, but we didn't know where else we could squeeze out more income. For the time being that no longer appears to be an issue and I truly and openly praise God for making a way. We're so undeserving of how well He's protecting and accelerating our efforts! WOW!

Which brings me to my point for today: It's really true that He will make ways for you, when you start moving His way! (Oooh I LIKE that one, did that really just come from ME?! lol)

Mmm, I think I can stop right there for now, that'll preach all by itself!

For those of you who are attempting a Total Money Makeover, and really giving it your ALL, THIS is for YOU. It doesn't start out easy, and it doesn't always feel easy as you're going through it, but I can GUARANTEE that it is EASILY worth the effort! (Man I'm just on a roll today with the good quotes! lol)

You will suddenly see things open up in amazing ways as you continue in this process as long as your heart is in it for the right reasons. Not to BE RICH, or to flaunt your newly reclaimed income potential recklessly. No not at all! Chasing those things is what got you here in the first place! Instead, once this process takes ahold of the way you think, feel, and interact with your money, you wont even WANT all of the things your money will now be able to afford you! Yes, when you get to the other side of this thing - when you are finally able to scream "WE"RE DEBT FREE!!!!!!" by all means celebrate and enjoy your accomplishment. But I promise you, you wont be out to blow your extra income on every DVD that Best Buy carries, or every new toy for your car, or every color that Gucci bag comes in. I just don't think it's possible to go through this process and hold on to that type of materialistic mentality.

I'm not saying you wont get nice stuff once your debt free. Oh yes you will, but you wont be living your life slaving to acquire those things, because you'll be in a position to safely afford them while living within your means. And there's a BIG difference between the two.

"If you live like no one else...one day you will live like no one else!"

Lord, I cant wait for that day. But thank you in the meantime for what you are allowing us to do with each day you give us between now and the day we pay off that last bill! And Lord you know this isn't just about the money for us. I love you for what you are teaching me as a steward and a husband. I love that what we are learning can be just as easily applied to how we steward our TIME, or set our PRIORITIES, or how we manage all of the other resources you've given us. My marriage is stronger for us having gone through this. I am stronger in my trust that you will provide in EVERY circumstance what is needed for me to rely totally on you. If I wasn't going through this process, I don't know how else you would have shown me all that you are teaching me. But I'm thankful that you chose to call us to bear witness to this message. Thank you for your ways and your mercy towards me and my family. We do this to honor YOU... because you really do own it all!

Your servant,

@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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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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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

I did'nt even know God could type!!

Photo courtesy of pbrian49

So check this out... We just got a letter in our mailbox this evening from God. Yeah the letterhead says it came from our mortgage company, but God devised, typed and mailed it out to us. (Hmm does God use stamps? lol)

To make a long LONG story short we had an on-going issue with our mortgage company. They had wrongfully imposed insurance coverage on our condo unit, which caused our mortgage payment to go up by nearly $200 each month. The reason we knew this was wrong was because my wife used to work as a loan officer. The type of loan they were trying to force on us was not required by law because we owned a condo versus owning a single-family house.

The truly amazing part is that if my wife had not been aware of our rights in this situation, we would've been swindled out of an extra $200 each and every month! This really makes me wonder about others who have no idea what their rights are when dealing with corporations and companies that throw around intimidating verbage and clauses on their forms.

We had told them that they would not receive a penny more from us than we had already been paying no matter what the statements said. I'll be honest, it took great faith for us to say that to them. But we came to a point where we were not willing to be moved on the issue. And we knew that God was on our side. There was no way we could afford what they were demanding and that was that. And what's more they were demanding something of us that they had no right to demand.

Ok so i said i would keep a long story short, but if you've read ANY of my posts you'll know I just cant do that lol. So let me add some background. In order for us to prove to them that we did not have to purchase the policy they demanded, they wanted US to provide proof of our condo association's insurance coverage for the unit. Our condo association assesses a $250 fee for requesting this information... Wait I'm not sure your following me so I'll put it another way: the mortgage company wanted us to pay to prove that we don't need insurance on their property, and the penalty for NOT doing so would be that they would FORCE a policy of their choosing onto our loan and make us pay anyway!

That's practically like the bank you secured your auto loan thru telling you that they need you to buy Supreme-grade gas from a specific gas station even though your owner's manual says that only Mid-grade is required for your vehicle! And if you refuse, then they will fill your gas tank with Supreme in the middle of the night and simply add the cost to your loan each and every month lol. How absurd would that be?! Could you imagine walking up to your car and seeing a receipt sticking out from under your windshield wiper?! It's a crazy visual, I know, but I think you see my point.

Now to be "fair" lets look at this from the mortgage company's perspective. Until we pay off the mortgage in full, THEY still OWN our house. So any insurance purchased only protects THEIR investment! But wait, if they were so concerned about insuring THEIR investment against any type of damage or loss, why would they use us as a middle-man to achieve that? Because just like many other clauses and mortgage company policies, it's assumed that just because they said it or put it in writing, it must be lawful and the homeowner simply MUST be obligated to do it. This type of thing is done on a daily basis to millions of homeowners across the nation. And nine times out of ten the homeowner complies with the demand because they have no idea what their rights are within the situation.

So anyway enough of that, lets get back to the letter from God. Back in March we get an official looking letter from our mortgage company saying that effective April 1st our payment would be inflated by $200, which started this whole long drawn out dispute. So then another identical letter arrives yesterday in the mail from our mortgage company saying that effective April 1st our payment amount would be reset again... But the catch is that this "new" payment amount is now $50 lower than our ORIGINAL payment! The only difference between the 2 documents was the new payment amount and the date the letters were issued. Ok, so no it's not a huge amount, but we had specifically been praying that God would relieve the situation somehow... And he did! And not only that the letter came just days after my last blog post about the cost of gas and all of the miscellaneous expenses that seem to be hitting us this month. And on top of that, we had basically expected God to only keep us at our original payment amount in the first place... we never even thought for a moment that it would decrease! We were only expecting fairness in the situation, but God wanted to show favor!

What a blessing it is to be able to see God's hand in times of blessing, trial and even uncertainty. By answering our prayer about the bogus insurance, He also freed up some extra loot for gas JUST as we as we had prayed as well! He's always looking out for us!

Ephesians 3:20,21 says it this way:

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Thank you Jesus!

@W

Time to get the lead OUT!

Photo courtesy of rendebbie

Aight, confession time... I've been hiding from you guys. I've hit a wall. I know it's temporary but I've just kind of found myself in a financial lull this week. I havent even wanted to LOOK at our budget, let alone make descisions on how/what to pay.

It's natural to feel this way, I know. But it's still painful. There's a restlessness that comes with deciding to get out of debt. Once you make that decision, you want it to be OVER with PRONTO! But I've heard some people say "Hey, It took me my whole life to get INTO debt, so obviously it'st gonna take some time to get OUT!" Though I know this to be true, it's just not helpful to pacify myself with that thought at times like this.

Yes, it's a process getting out. And sometimes you just dont really grasp the toll it takes on you when your income vs. your outgo only ebbs -- not really flows -- on a bi-weekly basis. The only time the debt moves is virtually once every 14 days, or when you get that paycheck. You make a payment, then wait another 14 days to do it again. It's a SLOW process at first.

But there is hope! And it's called the Debt Snowball! It's truly a work of art once it's working properly in your financial situation. Right now, my wife and I are about 3-4 months away from the moment this tool will really start to be of benefit to us. We have it all graphed out, diagramed, and circled on our calendar, and we cant WAIT for that baby to start gathering steam.

We have 2 large monthly expenses that are really standing in our way right now. A personal loan with about $700 left to payoff (4 more payments). And another line of credit with about $3000 left to payof (about 7 more payments). Once those 2 monthly payments are gone, it will REALLY allow us to lay into more of this debt!

Wow! Just writing about this has helped improve my mood. I think sometimes we dig around in the details so much that we lose sight of the big picture. Thanks to you all for helping me through this funk!

Anyway that's my time for now. It's Friday afternoon and I gotta run some errands so I can start my weekend off WRIGHT!

God bless you all,

@W