“Act Your Wage”…

{This is part of a series “Trimming the Fat-Around the Waist and the Wallet”. If you would like to keep up with my journey, sign up to receive updates to your e-mail. You can also follow City Chick on FB and Twitter}

I first heard about Dave Ramsey and his financial planning books/courses several years ago. Both Jim {The Hubby} and I appreciate much of what he has to say and while we have not really used his “system” {he uses an “envelope” system}, we have used many of the same practical ideas he has advocated over the years. After all, getting out of debt has one main objective running through it:

SPEND LESS; SAVE MORE

Or as Dave likes to put it:

ACT YOUR WAGE~ Dave Ramsey

Such a short statement that, for most, feels impossible to apply. Believe me, I am no stranger to spending more than our monthly income. There have been many moments where I had myself convinced I “simply could NOT live without______________” {fill in the blank}. I refused to “act my {or rather the hubby’s} wage!

My statement up there…about not wanting to “be without” might seem odd to some that have known us for a while. Over the years, we have almost exclusively had:

• second hand furniture
• hand me down clothing for everyone
• used vehicles
• out of date household items from the paint on the walls to the rugs on the floors
• a fridge that had plenty of food, but barely noticeable name brand items
• archaic electronics

Not to mention we only went on extremely modest, low key vacations every OTHER year. How then can I say I lived a life of “wanting more…NOW!”?

Like most issues in life, the one of money is a “heart” issue. It includes things like greed, selfishness, and immediate gratification. On the flip side, it also includes generosity, gratefulness, and contentment!

Until we willingly acknowledge AND submit to God* the role money has in our lives, nothing will feel “right” or “enough”! <click

{*God’s word has a LOT to say about money. More on that in subsequent posts in this series. In the meanwhile, do a web search. You may be shocked at what you find!}

My heart was struggling with God in those early years. I thought “things”=peace/security. I was quite a “demanding” child of God and He was quite patient with me; saying “no” about “things” was one of the ways He was working on my faith…to trust HIM more than “mammon” {Matt. 6:24}. I am the worlds SLOWEST learner at times. I just didn’t get it…yet.

Over the last 24 years the hubby and I have found ourselves in financial “dire straights” three times:

The first one was when early in our marriage, we had a few store cards and a Visa and a few calls regarding “late payments” here and there. The hubby went to a “financial freedom” class at church and one night, he came home, paid and clipped up the credit cards, paid off my {unbelievably useless} student loans using most of our savings, and we began living life without credit cards. This worked great for a few years. By “great” I mean the hubby said “no” to things I thought we NEEDED and I complained about it {albeit mostly in my heart head}. His salary was increasing and we had a small savings account. 4 kids later and…

Enter: THE AMERICAN DREAM. 

The second fall into the debt-pit came about 10 years later. The “American Dream” included a house. We were American’s so, we bought a house we insisted we could “afford” {Yes, we are one of those couples that contributed to the Freddie Mack fiasco of the 90′s} and moved OUT of NYC, into the boonies country .

There, I thought, I would find the “peaceful life” I was longing for. Please re-read the above statement about “money being a heart issue”. Since my heart was STILL struggling to let God have control, I STILL struggled with peace of mind {heart}.

Although we did not go so far as renovating the house or buying all new furniture, we did presume that the hubby’s lovely {much larger than now} paycheck would always be around. Instead of stashing away the little extra each month, we spent it on truly needful things like food, mortgage, van, etc. HOWEVER, we began using the credit card on “small, extra things” here and there. Naturally, THESE added up to a couple thousands dollars over the course of 2 years. 

ENTER: A BUSINESS VENTURE AND 9/11

For many reasons–like only “seeing” Daddy on the weekends–the hubby decided to leave his job in NYC {he commuted 1 1/2-3 hours EACH way}, we started a business in the hopes of a better routine and higher income. Too long to even get into here, but the business failed primarily as a result of the attack on our country on September 11, 2001. Combine that with some pretty stupid unwise financial moves {charging the schooling he needed for said business venture, having virtually no back-up savings, etc.}, we ended up losing everything—our house, our second {used} vehicle, and every penny we had in the bank. We were bankrupt.

God had things under control. We had so many lessons to learn about ourselves, our God, and how He really will provide for us all that we NEED!

At this point we enter the “Crazy Church”<–click  portion of our saga which had little to do with finances other than the Crazy Church rented us a house…for cheap! We spent the next 5 years re-building our credit {and our lives}.

God gave us the gift of leaving said crazy church by providing us a nice, little affordable home—WITHOUT  a mortgage. My in-laws bought us the home we live in…another LONG story of God’s faithfulness and the blessing of my hubby’s amazing parents {who now live with us :0)!}.

Have you ever had a time in your life when your spiritual growth felt exponential? That has been our lives since moving into our latest home {and PLEASE LORD let it be our final home this side of glory!!}. We healed, learned, grew, and our faith has been tested, grown, and tested again. That “peace” I had been striving for has finally arrived and WHAT a shock 0_0…money had zero to do with it.

ENTER: HOW THE HECK DID THAT HAPPEN??????????

This, our THIRD trip down “Financial Hell Lane” sort of snuck up on us. I mean, we saw it happening but in all honesty, we thought we had it under control. THUNK on the head please!

About three years ago, we passed the magical “7-years post bankruptcy” line and we applied for a credit card as to us, this seemed a logical way to rebuild our credit. We used it some, paid it off, used some, paid it off…until sometime in the spring of 2011-ish. We had one child going off to college, another right on her tails, 2 grand in dental NEEDS, 3 grand in medical co-pays from three surgeries and two hospital stays, we had a few van repairs {Note to self: if you are within walking distance of a strip mall AND a hospital, you CAN live with one vehicle}, we “only” charged the rental house on vacation…then there was this HUGE Amazon.com NIGHTMARE last Christmas that maxed out the credit card and took nearly 5 months to fix…

Let’s just say we find ourselves now facing 10 grand in debt. Actually, our total debt {not including a home equity loan we took out to renovate a mini apartment so our in-laws can live with us} is:

$11,370.10

To some, this might not seem like much. To US, it is a HUGE amount. This burden of debt affects our every day like. It prevents us from giving to God’s people and work in a way we long to. It interferes with daily decisions we need to make. It ties up minimum payments in excess of $300 a month.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT COULD BE DONE WITH $300 A MONTH????

We are hoping that THIS year, we will knock it down 100%. We have ideas we have already implemented, plus we are hoping God will give us some NEW out of the box resources and opportunities to be out from this burden…again! Maybe “three times the charm”??

As we go through our year of debt reduction, I hope to share with you all our successes as well as what did NOT work for us. Just like the choice to “eat healthy” is a better outlook than “dieting”, our goal is to live frugally, spend thriftily, and give joyfully, rather than have the main goal be “getting out of debt”. 

Here is a challenge for you: Have the courage to set down every penny you spend, and add it up weekly. ~Josephus Nelson Larned

Do you have a debt burden you would like to be OUT from under? Do you have ideas to share? Let this be THE year of living frugally and Trimming the Fat of debt from your life. 

Today I am linking up with the following! Stop by, say HEY, and consider joining: