October 18th...a day to remember

It began as another typical weekend day. We overslept because of our ridiculously comfortable bed combined with a down comforter from heaven. I expected nothing spectacular.

Then, while entering some financial information into our monthly budget sheet, I had a HUGE realization. Today was the day we would become debt free.

I believe we began addressing the debt issue on a strategic basis in January of this year. That would mean that in 10 months we were able to knock out debt equal to one of our yearly salaries. This exceeds my imaginative powers.

We could not have done it alone. My sister coached us along, provided a fully-formulated worksheet into which we could plug our own financial state and see how to budget appropriately. My brother and his wife provided the reading material that would change our lives: Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. I know Ramsey seems like a fad, but let me tell you that his plan is hard. It's painful. It's not fun, and yet it is 100% logical and in some ways fool-proof. If you follow what he says, you will find that the weight of your debt lifts quickly.

I also believe that when you are faithful to God with your resources, He will bless that. Thus, we had a great deal of one-time extra money come in this year, thousands of dollars, that also made this possible.

I'm in awe of this process, of how quickly (though at times it seemed long and impossible) we could create this budget, follow the guidelines, even managing a small vacation and some fun weekends with friends, and come out on top in less than a year. Praise the Lord!

To anyone who is discouraged about debt or money issues...I do highly recommend giving Dave Ramsey's solution a try. Even if you despise him, try it and see. You can even modify it to fit your lifestyle, to an extent. We didn't do the cash system because we don't have a bank nearby. We use a credit card, but we pay off every thing as soon as it shows up. We use a debit card. But we do keep track of everything we spend and we've spent less than we would have had we not wanted so badly to get out of debt.

Thanks to our parents and grandparents for the help they provided, and the examples of living responsibly and within one's means. Thanks to our friends and siblings who understood when we couldn't do fun things because of cost. We still can't, actually, because now it's time to save for a house. Bigger and better things await!

It's a big day. Hard to fully comprehend. My school is paid for and when I start school again this summer, we can pay in cash! God is good!

Disappointment and Confusion

People amaze me. Not in the "wow, that's incredibly awesome" way, but more "why would you do that" sort of way.

I've just been through a particularly difficult week because of one seemingly small situation. I keep playing scenarios over in my head, trying to figure out where I went wrong or if I did what I've been accused of doing. My conclusion is that I did nothing wrong and yet, why do I still feel defeated?

I'm so lucky to have Kyle around. I think I may have lost my sanity last week had it not been for him. Lord knows I desperately needed support.

Even though I fully believe that sometime later in life this particular situation will prove to have been a useful learning experience for me, that cannot change the fact that I'm shocked at the lengths people will go to to prove themselves correct, to "win". Every year I am more aware that keeping score in life is counterproductive. Nobody wins when we keep track. Everybody loses.

Last week, everybody lost. And it doesn't feel good.