It’s been quiet on the blog for a short while. Through a series of interesting events, my husband and I have decided to put all of our effort towards getting out of debt.
Over the fall, I was searching for ways to become more of a blessing to my family. I do not like to cook, but decided that I needed to become more active in the kitchen. I started to research meal planning, and found Jammerill Stewart’s Large Family Table YouTube channel.
Well, I binge watched for awhile. On one of the videos Jammerill was explaining her meal plan calendar, and she casually mentioned that she and her husband taught Financial Peace University at her church (which was on the calendar). It was nothing more than a small mention, but my ears perked up, and I felt the urge to look into this.
Before long, I had purchased Dave Ramsey’s book, “The Total Money Makeover,” and was watching debt-free screams on his YouTube channel. A fire was lit inside of me, and I realized that something must be done. Who would have thought that a meal planning video would have led me to Dave Ramsey? (And yes, I’ve heard about Dave Ramsey before. I just never realized how much we needed his program.)
We have struggled with money, always wondering where it all went. We seem to make a decent income, but have hardly anything to show for it.
For the first time ever, we wrote a real written budget. We’ve essentially stopped eating out, and I’ve opened my Etsy shop again.
And my, oh my, the results. In the past two months we have:
Paid off my daughter’s braces. ($1100)
Paid off our only credit card. ($1434)
Cash-flowed a new heating and air unit ($4250, minus a $1500 credit we received from the gas company when we decided to go total electric.)
Cash-flowed our $590 portion of our daughters’ wisdom tooth extraction that wasn’t covered by insurance.
Paid an additional $1100 on our van.
I can hardly believe it, and I’m just so thankful right now. But I know it would be so easy to let up, and we must keep our momentum. That is why I’m typing this out. For accountability! We now owe $550 on our van, $9,400 on a personal loan, $14,500 on our travel trailer, and $33,000 on my ridiculous student loans. Rusty also just reminded me that we owe $600 on our phones through the AT&T Next Plan, so that will be going soon! We also have house debt, but we aren’t sure if we should try to pay it off as quickly as possible, or if it would be wiser to sell.
Hopefully by the end of the year we will be in a much better place financially.
What about you? Did you make any resolutions for 2017?
This is really encouraging, Nicole! My husband and I (as well as several of our children) have gone through Peace University a few years ago, but failed to apply the technique. We just never built the habit of budgeting into our routine. This sounds like an excellent resolution for 2017!
Thanks Cheryl! It’s hard and foreign to me still, but we are giving it our best shot!
We’re buckling down this year and trying to get close to getting out of debt. I don’t think we’ll be able to make it all the way, but we’re going to get closer. It’s such a burden, I can’t wait to be free! You’re doing amazing!
Thank you so much for sharing!
Way to go! My husband and I read that same book early on in our marriage, and committed to always following a monthly budget and staying out of credit card debt. By God’s grace, we have been able to avoid credit card debt and paid out of pocket for his Masters degree as he went. We have now paid off 4 of 5 student loans from undergrad. We feel very blessed, even though sometimes these goals can seem like slow-going. For anyone out there who feels overwhelmed, just take it one step at a time and remember that God gives us His Holy Spirit to help us… we don’t have to do anything on our own strength! And for more reading, another helpful book we like even better than Total Money Makeover is Living Financially Free by Jim Paris, editor of ChristianMoney.com.
What a wonderful testimony!
A great resolution. Congrats on your progress so far.