paying The Man sucks

Exactly a year ago, Aaron and I started on an incredible journey. We were broke and arguing over money. In desperation, I headed over to the public library and rented the first book I saw on money: Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. I had heard of him before, so I grabbed it and Aaron and I began reading it that night.

It really changed our lives, friends. We drank his Kool-Aid and never looked back. We went from being $48,635 in debt from school loans (mine) and a "Career Starter loan" (his) and today, we stand at  $21,447. One more year, folks, and we will be free from the awful burden of that debt (I fondly refer to it as The Man)! I think about how a year ago, we would get so stressed when our monthly bill of $489 towards some loan would come around and we would argue and feel so stressed about how we were going to pay it. And now, only a year later, we pay more than twice that amount and don't sweat it a bit.

I admit that it hasn't been easy. We basically stopped going out to eat. We stopped assuming that we had enough money in the bank. We stopped eating meat every night. We did everything we could to not spend money and pay off the debt, and it really sucked at times. We moved to Arizona and payed for the entire move in cash, about $5,000. Our couches are starting to sag, and our cars are starting to sound a little funky, but we press on and live on little so that later we can live on and give God much.

In fact, every month I am amazed at how much God provides for us. We pay 36% of our monthly income towards debt and we tithe more than 10%. And God continues to give us extra money here and there every single month. It's been amazing and humbling! God has blessed us beyond belief! I sleep peacefully, knowing where every penny is going and how every bill is getting paid. And Aaron and I love talking about money and our budget.

I know it's considered taboo to talk about personal finances in a public setting, but I really get so excited when I think about the freedom of being debt free. Call us crazy, but we are sold out to this new freedom and it makes all those little sacrifices worth it. I really hope that this post has been encouraging to you to start thinking about your own finances. Whenever you are faithful with what God gives you, be it small or great, God will bless you more and more!

"...the borrow is servant to the lender." Proverbs 22:7

Gazelle Intensity: The Bus Blues

Tonight I realized that my sister, Chelsea, and one of my best friends, Erica, are rockstars. First off, my sister moved to Chicago when she was nineteen and mastered public transportation and impressed me with her fearlessness on the EL. I was always pretty scared when I would go visit her because everything having to do with public transportation is just foreign to me. Then, there is my friend, Erica. She has never ever owned a car, which is impressive in itself since she is a college graduate and has gone this long without car payments, car insurance, and gas prices. She, too, has recently mastered public transportation and frequently takes the bus to work.

So, the time has come for me to hop on the bandwagon and hop on the bus. Ha ha. It all started with Mr. Team Blue's Jeep (which we lovingly call Bulldog) breaking down, leaving us with Carla (my beloved Saturn). At first, we managed okay since I had only one job and was able to drop Aaron off at work and pick him back up. No biggie, right?

Well, now I have three--yes, three--jobs and gas went up to $3.85 this week. Going along with our Gazelle Intensity, it has become so expensive to drop Aaron off thirty minutes away and drive back times two. Bleh. So, tonight I took the bus. I would really like to sound noble and cool and say that I did it of my own free will, out of sacrifice for our debt free dreams, but that would be a lie. I really didn't want to. I have been prolonging my bus riding for a couple of months now. Months.  Knowing the whole time that we could be saving tons of money if I would just take the bus. Today just so happened to be the first day that we couldn't possibly get both me and Aaron to work with one car.

It wasn't so bad, really. These two men got on the bus and one of them said, "Hey, there, pretty lady," sans friendly cowboy accent. Another creepy old man sat in front of me and pulled out his phone and started typing "Butthole itching" into a text message (yeah, I definitely learned my lesson on that one. Don't look at other peoples texts, it's not worth it...). And this other guy talked to the bus driver the entire time, telling stories of his lady-friends, his daughter, all the while loudly proclaiming his age every fifth sentence (which, by the way, is either 41, 52, or 97...not sure which).

All this saying, it was an adventure. And when we passed by all the gas stations screaming that gas went up 40 cents, it felt more worth it. If you are on the edge of embracing public transportation, it's not so bad. Just keep chanting in your head "Debt free. Debt free. Debt free." And don't forget to take pepper spray :)

Lentil Love: Getting out of debt one bean at a time

Team Blue has recently embarked on a journey to become completely debt free. That's right. No more debt. Ever. No more school loans, Sallie Mae, and unlike how most of America feels, we are never ever ever getting a credit card.

So, if you have ever read Dave Ramsey, you have probably heard of the term "gazelle intense." Well, that's us right now. Rice and beans for us--well, in this case lentils.

Have you ever had lentils? They are jam packed with nutrients and are my current legume of choice these days. I just sprinkle a few with whatever we are eating...lentils and spaghetti, lentils and rice, lentils and baked potatoes, lentils on top of lentils. Lentils. Lentils. Lentils. The life of a gazelle intense couple is not easy, nor very tasty. But whenever I get discouraged, I think about how awesome being debt free will be. One day, I will cook deliciously vibrant and nutritious meals, I will go to Disney World, I will give freely and generously to those who need it, I will live in the freedom that God can do whatever He wants with us because we are no longer in bondage to the lender. One day, I will put lentils behind me and cook them only when I am craving lentils, or need a reminder at how faithful is our Jehovah Jireh.

If you are on this journey too, be encouraged. I hope to share more about our journey in becoming debt free, because I really feel strongly that people need to hear it is possible.