The picture of us to the right is on our second anniversary to Taos. Yes, I did have some big dreams to go all inclusive, head to the beach, or Europe or something but the reality was, we had just finished off paying our debts 2 1/2 months earlier. There wasn't a lot of extra, but there was enough extra. Our step was just a little bit lighter and WE CREATED NEW HABITS. Not to mention we both love a good road trip, and a quiet, quaint place with good energy!
As I reflect on where we were, where we've come, and where we are going it is filled with nothing but excitement, accomplishment, and FREEDOM! We did follow Dave Ramsey's program to a T (and yes, I might as well be a spokesperson for him)! I take no credit for the principles we used, he gave them to us in clear, easy terms. I do, however; take credit for the work because, well damn we worked HARD! Really hard! Many of you have asked how we did it. For those of you who do not know, we paid off $63,000.00 in 17 months averaging $74,000-$83,000 income per year combined! YES you read that right, working in public education and being a coach doesn't exactly bring in tons of dough! So what did we do? Here are 5 steps we took. I hope they are helpful to you!
5 Steps to Financial Freedom
(of course, in addition to Mr. Dave Ramsey's Total Money Make-Over)
1. WE DIDN'T TRY TO IMPRESS OTHERS:
It's that simple, really, that simple! We had what we had, we got what we needed, and we didn't give two rips about what others thought. I'm not gonna say this wasn't the easiest thing off the bat. We are conditioned to do things a certain way and some of the people I was surrounded by had money, their husband's made dough...what I learned? The friends that matter don't care, the ones that don't matter-judge and care. I learned to say "I can't." My quote for this and the little mantra I repeated over and over in my head (just before I wanted to throw a fit like a two year old) was "What we have is what we have and what we don't we don't need. In this time, we have everything we need." What we (I) found was that really our lifestyle didn't change all that much. Okay, maybe a little - we don't have tv (no cable bill saving us $500-$1200 per year), and we switched from expensive Verizon contract to Boost mobile (service coverage area wasn't as good but well worth it considering..) and went from approximately $170.00 per month to $70.00 per month (yearly savings of $1200.00). Sure maybe a few less dinners out and a few (okay A LOT) less random stops at the store but in all actuality, we embarked on the most significant path- sustainable, local, having what we truly need, and being grateful.
Don't, I repeat, DON'T try to keep up with the Jones next door! It's STUPID!
2. WE PUT IT ON PAPER, OUCH:
Why ouch? Because well we noticed the first month that we had $500.00-$600.00 that we couldn't account for. Yep, PUFF, it was just gone. When we started putting everything on paper, we realized money was just disappearing in previous months. We actually were shocked to see that there was $500.00 extra when for two years we just made ends meet each month. I mean, we thought we were frugal people! We used a simple plan-a pen and a blank piece of paper -with four columns across the top: Need (this included all bills to pay in order of most to least important, basic needs for living, etc),
Pay Date 1-this was our first paycheck or checks of the month,
Pay Date 2, our second paychecks of the month,
Variable Income-any extra that may be coming in from either working harder, or selling things (bike things, house things).
Then we agreed to it. I'm not going to sit here and say every month was perfect, but we did pretty well most months. We are lucky, we didn't fight or bicker over this much at all, this piece was pretty simple for both of us.
3. WHINE, CRY.....THEN LAUGH (about your whining and crying):
This was the hardest part for me, I have to be honest here. Maybe it was just me that whined and cried, but the tantrum wasn't over not being able to do things or spend money. I lost balance (or harmony) if you will- everything become about working more, making more money to put toward my loan. I ultimately isolated myself, not only from my friends but from my husband too. I was exhausted, burning the candle at both ends and stressing TOO MUCH. If you know me well, I'm kind of an all or nothing type of person. So, when I decided to jump in, I decided to jump in- remember 17 months making, my guess, about the average income for a family of 2 in America. I'm not sure I recommend this to the extent I worked. I kind of went crazy and my health suffered too. This is one area where I may not completely agree with Dave Ramsey (it might be the only area). I think everyone has to work hard, but when you take a type A personality with a goal, you might end up in disaster if you can't be patient. To me the loan suddenly became the end of the world and it had to go. I couldn't hide from it (which wasn't a bad thing). What I did learn from this though, was that money isn't everything, health is actually wealth. So you can't suddenly treat yourself like shit for one goal. Its about balance or harmony. Have your goal, work hard (even work more) but listen to your body too before you crack because of lack of sleep, living off of caffeine and sugar, and still trying to be a rockstar in all other areas of your life too. When we find harmony we know that maybe working is going to take a forefront right now for a SHORT PERIOD of time and that racing or training may have to take a backseat. My problem, I wanted to be perfect at everything- the perfect wife, the perfect athlete, the rockstar employee, the perfect friend....What I didn't realize was you can't be any of those if you don't sleep, don't eat real food, and don't take some time to enjoy the beautiful miracles around you happening each moment. With that being said, it likely is one of the best things that happened because now I take much better care of myself and ultimately will be able to take better care of my family.
Life is good, life is looking up!
4. ALL CASH: CARS- The Jetta & the Subi-:
Oh our jetta. I wish I had pictures for you, but I don't. I drove a car that had a glove compartment duck taped, heat blowing from the vents, and a check engine light that would come on and off around! Yep, this may be Dave's claim to fame, honestly the car has 190,000 miles on it almost! However, when I started driving more for my job and the jetta became a little less reliable we had to get something else. The jetta wasn't gonna bring in much money (if any at all) so we couldn't sell or trade it in. Instead, Daniel offered up his truck. Since he commuted to work on his bike and didn't drive much it wasn't an absolute need during this time- good man (will he get another truck- yes someday)!
Really though, that and selling some stuff around the house allowed us to buy the subi in cash. You should have seen the salesman's face when he said "you don't want to finance?" Actually, just seconds before that comment I assured him if he couldn't come down on the price we were gonna head to dinner, think it over, and check out another deal pending- that felt good! Then we informed him that we'd be paying in cash! I wish I had a picture of the look on his face. "You have that in your purse?" .... As a matter of fact "I do!" That might have been the most fun of it all. We still have the Jetta and we (or Daniel) still drives it, but it stays in town only because it is becoming less and less reliable every day. So... moral here, don't give a rip what others think, do what you can afford!
5. FIGHT TOGETHER and WORK TOGETHER (from the same bank account):
My only comment here, after our wedding (which is when we started our debt snowball), we decided to combine all our bank accounts. This, I believe, is a must. Oh yeh and we cash flowed our entire wedding so we didn't add to my massive school loans. Yes, the entire amount we had was one big looming school loan. Mine, not Daniel's, I must add. Working from one bank account not only built trust but made it much easier! I don't judge, to each couple there own but I have to admit, I have no clue how a couple can work together and have separate accounts.
Good man, he knew what he was getting into and he knew it would take two of us together. Bye bye burritos or weekly lattes. We learned to come together in the kitchen to make meals, one of my most favorite things now. We grocery shopped together at first too (maybe that is where the bickering came in). I may have slightly starved Daniel for a few months. I learned quickly that boy has to eat! The food budget wasn't an area we were going to slim down too much, I didn't think. But we did, all the while changing our diet to whole real organic, non-gmo foods.
I hope these tips help. What's been your experience?