So...
After the "light bulb" flipped on, I was able to fall into a deep slumber. When I woke, I felt this great rush of hope from remembering that long ago conversation. I promised myself that I would do it right this time, and actually read his books for myself. I went to my favorite on-line store and after reading tons of reviews I decided to purchase "TheTotal Money Makeover" (TTMM). It was his newest book that expanded on his original book, "Financial Peace". I know I could have gone to the library to check it out but I am the type of person who highlights passages, and take notes in the margins of my favorite books. So you can see why the library was out. But it was okay because I got it almost half off the retail price. YEA!!!..See I was already spending money more wisely!
That night my hubby came home from a very long day at work. I approached him about our finances, and about what I wanted to try with TTMM. We decided that we would read the books and follow all of his advice. We also went onto his website and were able to get started, since he had all the baby steps listed for free! I think the most important thing that happened that night was the fact that we were actually discussing our mistakes with money without accusations, anger or resentment.
My book came in the very next day, and boy was I excited! I was soooo excited in fact, that I literally could not stop reading! At 3 am when I finished, I was filled with the conviction that we could do this. I woke my hubby up and told him that right then and there we needed to take a sacred vow- we call this "Tavern",( I will explain later) to stop our cycle of debt, then and there. Yes, perhaps I could have waited until he woke up, but when you HAVE to call "Tavern", you just don't wait.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Breathing In Debt
Where to start...
First allow me to introduce myself. My name is Marvey and I am 32 years old, married with two children. I was first made aware of Dave Ramsey and his strategies to becoming debt-free about 10 years ago by my sister. She was excited about this new book she had read. It was about a man who had declared bankruptcy twice in his life but was able to rise up, and not only become debt-free, but RICH!
She explained to me over the phone what I had to do and I thought, hell yeah! I can do that! I thought I had a great understanding of what I needed to do, to get my husband and I out of debt after our casual conversation. Ummm....can I say ...WRONG! I didn't bother to read any of his books. Nor did I do any research on what it was I should be doing! I rushed out and bought a coupon organizer, labelled my envelopes and filled them with money. No, I didn't do a budget, I somehow forgot about that part. So as you can guess I depleted my envelopes within a few days, and couldn't tell my hubby where all the money went! I quickly gave up on the program after that and never really thought of it again until right before Christmas this past year.
Its the most wonderful time of the year? Not for us...No for us it was the most stressful, dreadful time of our lives. We were BROKE, as in $23 in the bank, zero savings, bills due and two little boys eagerly awaiting Santa Clause. What were we going to do? I didn't want to think about how deep we were in debt. I didn't want to admit that once again I had screwed up our finances. I was lying to everyone, including myself, about how WELL were were doing financially. I didn't want to face the truth, because I was too embarrassed and ashamed of myself...
I remember lying in bed that night unable to sleep. I felt as though I couldn't BREATHE. My God, I thought, what have I done???? I'm not an overly religious person. ( I tend to think of myself as more spiritual than religious.) But that night I prayed my bum off while crying silently next to my husband, so not to wake him. I truly believe that he heard my anguish, because then the answer came to me...Financial Peace.
First allow me to introduce myself. My name is Marvey and I am 32 years old, married with two children. I was first made aware of Dave Ramsey and his strategies to becoming debt-free about 10 years ago by my sister. She was excited about this new book she had read. It was about a man who had declared bankruptcy twice in his life but was able to rise up, and not only become debt-free, but RICH!
She explained to me over the phone what I had to do and I thought, hell yeah! I can do that! I thought I had a great understanding of what I needed to do, to get my husband and I out of debt after our casual conversation. Ummm....can I say ...WRONG! I didn't bother to read any of his books. Nor did I do any research on what it was I should be doing! I rushed out and bought a coupon organizer, labelled my envelopes and filled them with money. No, I didn't do a budget, I somehow forgot about that part. So as you can guess I depleted my envelopes within a few days, and couldn't tell my hubby where all the money went! I quickly gave up on the program after that and never really thought of it again until right before Christmas this past year.
Its the most wonderful time of the year? Not for us...No for us it was the most stressful, dreadful time of our lives. We were BROKE, as in $23 in the bank, zero savings, bills due and two little boys eagerly awaiting Santa Clause. What were we going to do? I didn't want to think about how deep we were in debt. I didn't want to admit that once again I had screwed up our finances. I was lying to everyone, including myself, about how WELL were were doing financially. I didn't want to face the truth, because I was too embarrassed and ashamed of myself...
I remember lying in bed that night unable to sleep. I felt as though I couldn't BREATHE. My God, I thought, what have I done???? I'm not an overly religious person. ( I tend to think of myself as more spiritual than religious.) But that night I prayed my bum off while crying silently next to my husband, so not to wake him. I truly believe that he heard my anguish, because then the answer came to me...Financial Peace.
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