Thriifty Decor Chick: debt free

Showing posts with label debt free. Show all posts

Living debt free

This time of year I’m especially…incredibly grateful that we are one of the weird ones. Well, I’m always weird but weird meaning debt free. :) If you’ve read along with me for awhile you know <a href="http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/2010/08/live-like-no-one-else.html">our story</a> – we were $125,000 in debt. It was a combination of everything – I took out a ton of credit to get through college and had a pretty decent student loan bill at the end of the four years (even though I had grants for almost half of my education!). We financed absolutely everything as adults too – TVs, cars, trips, furniture, a hot tub…all of it. We did what “everyone” does. What’s funny is it never crossed our minds to save for those items. We wanted it…so we got it. We now know the meaning of delayed gratification. Sometimes it sucks. But three months later, six months later, two years later when we still would have been paying it off, then it does not suck. ;) It’s been almost <a href="http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/2011/02/well-its-official-were-weird.html">four years</a> since we got rid of that massive monkey on our back (all but the house and we are chipping away at that) and it is now just our nature to use cash. To save. To be patient. To be deliberate with our money. That is huge. It’s hard to explain the freedom that comes with not having debt – it just becomes normal so it’s hard to put into words all this time later. We now live like no one else and some think that term means living extravagantly. That’s not the case. Living like no one else means you get to do things you weren’t able to do before, yes. But more than that it’s living with a peace that we didn’t have before.   Deep in my soul I am thrifty. Most every time I will do something myself before I have anyone else do it if I’m able. I will always wait for a sale, use coupons, and try to find the least expensive way to do things (well). My car is now nine years old and I still love it. My husband’s car was 11 years old and this year we were able to buy him a new-to-us car. I’m not a big bucket list person but that was one of those things that I’ve dreamed of doing my whole life – we paid for that car with a check. Amazing!!! I tell you what, it makes me tear up to even write that. Who gets to do that?? And of course we give way more than we did before. I can’t really put that into words either – giving more is easily the best part about being debt free. It took us years, a lot of sacrifice and a ton of work to get through all of our debt. We used the teachings of Dave Ramsey and they truly changed our lives. I got to meet him two weeks before we paid off the last bill: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMDylLeoDCEYloHYxS64pI8RvDbBi8YViJ67nOGWxDGPY82VgzeL_k_tqM3fGLLyTTT6Caha6-8kIXWclUIKZY65HzIQcI3OLT8-X6xwgEw4MFjh0j1T01ojJ0F-38y7OfkXEBKv82aiE/s1600-h/IMG_9971%25255B4%25255D%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="dave ramsey thrifty decor chick" border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilweX9y0HuDQFZK9ZY8yQAh_NzObMDnjDNevvbWJxWpWO31kQtqqL9bAxCP9axkINtSq3tLJnVgs3vwiw0cLu4yrZNFoBMOiESiWY9lBdj0X3L_8crKwhTXx9H1_RiAoaflZJymp0spi4/?imgmax=800" style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="dave ramsey thrifty decor chick" width="320" /></a>He was the nicest guy and genuinely excited for each one of us that stood there with him. For us it started when I caught his radio show on a business trip. I think he actually annoyed me a little bit at first. ;) I was all…I have it under control! We don’t have that much debt! We could stop any time we want! And then the more I listened the more I woke up and then dreamed of us doing the same. I told my husband about it and he bought <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1595555277/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1595555277&linkCode=as2&tag=thrdecchi07-20&linkId=GPPWU2WLONTYL3ZQ">his book</a> – we were hooked. We worked through the debt for years and it was when we took his Financial Peace class that we really got hard core about it. A few months later we were debt free. The book is wonderful, the CDs are great…but those classes changed our lives. That’s why I chose to give a few of them away every year. I missed last year so I’m making up for this Christmas. ;) I’m giving away five Financial Peace classes/packets and the lovely folks at Dave Ramsey are throwing in five as well. I’m thrilled to have developed a relationship with his team over the years and am so grateful that they continue to do this for my readers. Things you should know – this includes a packet of info (including the book) and you can follow along on your own at home. But I strongly recommend making the commitment to the classes. They meet once a week for nine weeks. Our church offered free childcare during the class so that was a huge help. You will meet others in your situation and will get a lot off your chest – it helps to just be able to talk about it with people. You don’t have to share any details at all – but the group setting helps immensely. Go <a href="http://www.daveramsey.com/fpu/classfinder#center=40.267194,-86.134902">here</a> to see if you have a class starting in January near you. Or any time – it doesn’t have to be January. If you want to take the class or get a packet, feel free to comment to enter. I will sign up the ten (randomly chosen) winners or have the packet delivered to you. This giveaway is now closed, thank you so much for entering! This is a feeling I want for everyone that feels completely overwhelmed by their debt and finances. It is worth it.   Affiliate link included for your convenience.

Living debt free

This time of year I’m especially… incredibly grateful that we are one of the weird ones. Well, I’m always weird but weird meaning debt free...

8:49 AM

The holidays, debt free

<img alt="Thrifty Decor Chick Dave Ramsey" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw5rOsG24g9GqoX1AE1P0-VqhJCcTvdDjQ7K_epHUR9ijSHmdCcTbuYYyCeHZdLvUdzoEVlymNPdV2oHNHaqwKmCncNU5kLb1tkEolEz8aOsv7vYosDPw1n7f5b4eRxZVurDby8VJS6sg/s1600/IMG_9971%25255B4%25255D.jpg" title="Thrifty Decor Chick Dave Ramsey" /> I don’t know what it is about this time of year, but the last time I blogged about our debt free journey was last November as well. I guess it’s the upcoming holidays coming up that gets me thinking about it. This year it’s extra special because I was asked to participate in the Dave Ramsey Merry Different Christmas series over at <a href="http://www.daveramsey.com/christmas/blog/id/celebrate-debt-free-joy-peace">daveramsey.com</a>. It was such an honor to be asked to write about our experience and I so cherish the relationship I have built with the people there. It’s been almost two years since we finished paying off $125,000 (in credit card, car, student loan and I-have-no-idea-what-we-bought debt) and became debt free, and yes, I can easily say it’s been the best two years of our lives. It has changed us, our marriage and our outlook on life in general for the better. I get asked all the time how it’s changed our lives. To say there is a peace and a feeling of FREEDOM is an understatement. The only money we owe anyone is for our house, and we’re chipping away at that at a good rate too. After living our entire adult lives in debt, that is an amazing feeling!! It’s the little things that make a difference to me – I can buy primed wood if I want to now, instead of unprimed. Silly maybe, but it’s still not lost on me. This year I went to the salon to get my hair highlighted for the first time in five years. I don’t shop Goodwill as much as I used to, which I think bothers some people. Thing is, I believe I’ve saved money by not stopping in a couple times a week anymore. I used to buy items just because I’d be afraid to “lose” them for a good price -- and my house filled up with STUFF I wasn’t using. It was a waste. Some things have not changed though – our two cars combined are 16 years and 300,000 miles old. They are…interesting. ;) But we’ll keep fixing them as long as we can to avoid buying new (used) ones. And although we can now hire help sometimes (no, I didn’t frame and drywall our basement, thankfully we hired out for that), I still find great joy in doing things myself and always will.  :) A time that I feel the change in our home the most was last Christmas (our first without debt), and that’s what I wrote about over at the Dave Ramsey site <a href="http://www.daveramsey.com/christmas/blog/id/celebrate-debt-free-joy-peace">here</a>. A few years ago, right about now, I would start to feel the panic of not having enough money to pay for Christmas. Then that panic would be “eased” by our fall back method of using credit cards throughout the season. But it returned a couple months later…and for months (years?) after, as we continued to pay off the holiday (and everything else from months and years before). It’s just what we did. It’s what so many do! And I’m not mad at you if you do either – but if you are fed up with the debt, I write this to tell you you CAN do it differently. That day that we asked each other – “Can we REALLY live without credit cards?” -- caused a shift and changed our lives. This year the folks at Dave Ramsey are encouraging you to be weird too with their "A Merry Different Christmas” series. They want you to avoid going into debt for Christmas gifts, parties, decorations and focus on what really matters. To celebrate, they’ll be doing product and cash giveaways that total around $75,000 ($10,000 per week and a $15,000 grand prize)! There hope is that this will ultimately provide someone the chance to celebrate being debt-free for Christmas. AWESOME!! It gives me chills. And yes, every time I hear a debt free scream on the radio show, I still get tears in my eyes. It is an emotional thing. My hubby and I would like to pay it forward too. If you are struggling with a little or a lot of debt, we want you to know that is really IS possible to become debt free. So like last year, we are giving away the Financial Peace University classes to five of you. This is the nine week series of classes that got us SUPER excited to kick some debt butt. The end of our debt journey was the hardest for us, and these classes motivated us SO much. You can just use the CDs in the packet to go through the class on your own, but I highly encourage you to go to the classes if you can. It makes a difference! You can take a look <a href="http://www.daveramsey.com/fpu/locate-class/">here</a> to see where there are classes near you. Many start up at the beginning of 2013 – I can’t think of a better way to start the new year!! The Dave Ramsey folks are throwing in 25 desk calendars as well: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivW4v_vuSJL0nadnuVEyIhrX21ewVx46WNph2Vya147iyzWisNQVXrbngGU3GLCgNFRoeVdj0iAzLVriteavmkxlMqIPNpSjoUxA67qMPPV6Mzn40l0svoUp3Yfmf5q2uIvlYizN1FMo8/s1600-h/dr_calendar_2013_400x400%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img alt="dave ramsey " border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzCINlulmRYdjP2ICP_qEPuPiqex4YZoQ8qM_UCZ2GolItGGcdZINb3ViziAm2jJbOhyphenhyphenA2UHUz99yrB9UtlRqG4xXhGaEBpBJQun0GO2BbF3Y__GlCYLRLaTHRfZ0snXGo650rUWnfp88/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px" title="dave ramsey " width="240" /></a> Believe me, when his words are staring at you every day, it motivates. ;) To enter to win one of the five Financial Peace classes, just leave your comment here with an email so I can contact you if needed. And of course, if you’d like to enter privately, please just send me an email at thriftydecorchick (at) gmail (dot) com with the subject “Financial Peace.” I’ll leave this open all week, till this Friday, the 9th, at noon. Winners will be contacted via email. Good luck, and if you have a debt story to share, please feel free to do so in the comments! I love hearing them!

The holidays, debt free

I don’t know what it is about this time of year, but the last time I blogged about our debt free journey was last November as well. I gues...

9:44 AM

Debt free: Nine months later

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw5rOsG24g9GqoX1AE1P0-VqhJCcTvdDjQ7K_epHUR9ijSHmdCcTbuYYyCeHZdLvUdzoEVlymNPdV2oHNHaqwKmCncNU5kLb1tkEolEz8aOsv7vYosDPw1n7f5b4eRxZVurDby8VJS6sg/s1600-h/IMG_9971%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Dave and me!" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPlh-WJCzZjS-PbIzdSyYax5Mxu4KrrWAZn6OnSbpBmdkf0rLkXR6pQSvVVBYrjUxpuw4eAwX8cR_7pV_6eUB68I_p4tY1kQiyBgOKRzwvYsdCIuaaM3jUJuBtAh_yUCv_bpyoMwY6vik/?imgmax=800" style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="Dave and me!" width="300" /></a> Well, it’s been nine months since we paid off our last debt. (Which was the US Department of Education – my student loans. Not sure if I ever told you that!) It certainly has been nine months of living like no one else, in more ways than one. I know so many of you are fighting the good fight against your own debt, and I wanted to follow up on our story and continue to give you the motivation to KEEP GOING. It is so incredibly, amazingly worth it. Many of you have asked what made us decide to finally attack our debt. (Which was $125,000. Yes. Three zeros. Six digits.) I try to be as transparent as possible on this blog, especially when it comes to our debt story. But money is probably one of the most sensitive of topics, so I try to walk the line of what to share and what not to share. I’ll tell you we were sick and tired of making a decent living and having absolutely NOTHING to show for it but wallets full of credit cards. It was just ridiculous and sad and depressing. Month after month, half of our money went to a credit card. Or a student loan. Or a car payment. We had money leftover, but not a ton. So when we wanted something and couldn’t afford it – what did we do? Charge it. It wasn’t crazy or extravagant. It was just little bits, here and there. It was breaking one of my own golden rules: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhlDLD-U9F1hYDs5Tf9_Odo5m6vxQPrAmrLV7YKQ8v-VLl4pMdwRSOdb0jwU-QMKiAxeYJpJv9XID3LNHIOXftA8r2zUsmjhvvZBIK9IeGV752ZD3Udonc380GeQ4hV-YCZdUeQgHE4hg/s1600-h/IMG_2873%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img alt="definition of maturity" border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9RemqQNoqxbBFgwTlzIhiekw7BVrGGItCYivt-MegEpTE08Pg8_VufUx_UKQblUi2R3-PLMSyzt09fCm5oTVWd3wxX6GimqZej6nvgj6P5-qZrfHlx6SMZMOdrEOxAzAV_o2ydHPCKlk/?imgmax=800" style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="definition of maturity" width="400" /></a> I had first heard that quote in college and it stuck with me. I would recite it to myself often. Obviously not often enough. ;) And one day, something clicked. We finally got serious about changing our lives. Because we got MAD. Madder than hell. We wanted to keep our money. We worked hard for it (who doesn’t?) and dang it, we were finally spitting mad about passing it out to them and them and THEM and them every month. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0cJM_LWSXaq4qYznpax3LRg1JKd6Ax1XoXbOr2PVWgRww2ezwT1ozwShYQut3Ej9O3ITt1uaj5YCs9TiNEis7wP0ULckRj9bNiHBO4lWbEU9jiQzcbMuC6S2ZLfQWsW3S7hhPoqK7kMg/s1600-h/IMG_2870%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img alt="financial peace" border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTB6gvuJTBRENGjvfZJrIhUaPeqFPVSC_1GXNWIRxSe7F6iL1XLVm7UH-Vl72Yaj7c0UGG0c3KLzo3FWhbZHFFPPijzw79ZXeWrtqOdI1gQQL2a1FvN-jxlnS6OvDWjEHCuuZ4D4oMJFI/?imgmax=800" style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="financial peace" width="320" /></a> That’s what it takes to make it happen. You need to get ANGRY at the debt. You need to want it out of your life so bad it’s all you think about, dream about, focus on. GET FURIOUS. So we got mad. :) And we attacked it. I’ve mentioned before we didn’t follow the “plan” to a T – we didn’t always go after the smallest debt first. We had some credit cards with just insanely high interest rates, so we went after those first. We didn’t eat rice and beans. Well…sometimes at the Mexican restaurant. ;) We did still eat out and treat ourselves occasionally. But we did follow the <a href="http://www.daveramsey.com/home/">Dave Ramsey plan</a> otherwise. No, it’s not rocket science. Ramsey himself will tell you that. But when you’re drowning in debt (and when you finally take the time to add it all up and realize how much you are drowning), you feel completely hopeless. I’ve had a few really sucky days in my 36 years and the day we added it all up was one of the worst. Dave Ramsey gives you the HOPE. He gets you amped UP. Crazy intense. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijWGplop34r2yxBC-Mhjki5o80X3dK-tDeWBEGUK_J4sbiDjkw7uOruBucGWRY-ejD1rjSHD2jKU350EJnbU9D1vN9tQwLgYD-oAHEUhg25Nvr2788ExyEqE9dMcaIjUnJjSBKbxxN5H0/s1600-h/IMG_2858%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img alt="dave ramsey studio" border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnBoQJoEp7PpD464wWGqjQFB0u7Q4TJKkRk3YzUnIDCVMedhvbTHZVqPK0FLH-pT8Hio5_CqjO3Shrl1v8kCYVMj4SZowVlJD3y8zqOSpdN_cmFDaHqT3qtQipW2uLYETHUGMxOiFaKAc/?imgmax=800" style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="dave ramsey studio" width="309" /></a> (When I took this picture I was as giddy as a <strike>grown woman</strike> teenage girl waiting to meet NKOTB. I went to take Dave’s picture and right when I took this he waved. AT ME!!! I was all bouncy and hyper and texting all my girlfriends. For reals.) It felt like we’d never get there…we worked at it for years. When we were getting to where we could feel the finish line, we decided to take Financial Peace University at our church. I have to tell you – that class was one of the most amazing experiences we’ve ever had. It bonded my husband and I and made us even more excited and determined. There were moments when my husband would reach out and squeeze my hand and we were SO in this together. This process changed our lives and it changed our marriage. We finished paying off our debt two months after our last class. The 125,000 pound monkey was off our backs and it was surreal. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXvRNnuOoFBODhZDvf6sD5a7PplBNmvMnrXPxypW4qonNHUspfmhcR9hyphenhyphenfyfT_7V9iRsyfyeQXhbOlZWUrAJcg4Kgv0kiz5ak7SVb2_tkMYn5SA09sy2HEQgV4eilht0_atsWIYeRv-jo/s1600-h/IMG_2864_picnik%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg264I-tYcSQtZ3NeipjUTad-xQWm8GPBXgtIhjw77rBOMy-2f2EZ_b5QKPJSQtHCi6QNs8zJISOYQibi_nd1Yxp6gtQ2d2ygV-a1CIIHiRAyt1QdtMpvkYNv5tzQXhwpTL9CoPfn91ga4/?imgmax=800" style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="" width="400" /></a> (This couple was there the day I met Dave – I had to take their picture because they had paid off something like $400,000. Talk about inspiring and emotional!) It took a while for it to sink in. There are still moments when I realize we don’t have car payments. How stinkin’ weird is THAT?! <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrJnnLkb_mFZeO-gua3jaQrT9fMigxSiUiwG62NqXcIY3-7ClLeTMFP2o1TBSWyRlvKcKS5zxlJhxUz_22uNVWgyXFx1PfOLUTihx0yBKdHJvIAJ8pN8xvi_Ad5or52e2QbdLIpzX5o7g/s1600-h/IMG_2877%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg02rDeIzoMQ60ARXRbSnc4Xx0CDy7ERxQx_FPWuNvtLgtvFmb_3h4oEAvNpoKwyNzSpcrGcLTurWRS4bYu_cB4JUWRDaCmt9-N2RNXSzDU9u3SUPtqnojAscNjmKgvJDMGSsPAfz_4prk/?imgmax=800" style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="" width="400" /></a> And yes…we’ve been able to do some things we would have never done before. Well – we may have done them. But we would’ve been paying them off for the next five years. Let me tell you – sitting out on our patio at night sure is sweeter when it’s completely paid for and all ours. :) But I think it’s important to mention all the ways we live like no one else – just in ways you wouldn’t think. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6jxgCj5AEM79MBMWb_sUvFcqQjvnPWWklHs4VuZzEPCymoOGWHydTFRCLbpMGZZUR22kLBwWti1IrkjmKsogyFkeJ9dvfiIDhFFveLxrqAFKcai3vIETztNRypxbL5LpM5befthfm780/s1600-h/IMG_2878_picnik%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img alt="live like no one else" border="0" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw_0HjFOKfL-y5UqX5CggetNZdbTTJswiXJ9Eg2KuaohCZUsg-Cc7kCmRzkD1OB2eLd3LtPeiDIExbI-s8AcprHud0A3K81tl56nYN1-MiC9rM1gxYHTRZ6loU4qFzWWiMLK03-Z2I0Gc/?imgmax=800" style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="live like no one else" width="400" /></a> Our paid for cars aren’t fancy – not at all. Hubby’s car is nine years old with something like 210,000 miles on it. Mine is seven years old with 110,000 on it with a stupid amount of dings and dents. (I’m a magnet.) We NEVER go on vacation. We go on some fantastic trips but they are ALL for hubby’s work. Always. Our last three trips to NYC have been business-related. Even our RV vacation this past summer was planned because of a work commitment – I don’t know if we would have done it otherwise. (Now that we have, we’re doing it again next year for sure!) Other than a few weekends to New York here and there, I don’t think in all the years I’ve been with my husband we’ve gone on one vacation together. I hardly ever get my hair cut, nails done, new clothes. I got my nails done yesterday and I think the last time I did that was about the time we paid off our debt. ;) I use a box to color my hair (completely necessary –- the greys are out of control), my hubby doesn’t treat himself EVER (I try to get him to, but he just doesn’t), and we don’t buy name brand…well, of pretty much anything. But saying it’s all worth it is a complete understatement. We have started a new course for our marriage and our kids and our family tree. When you’re considering giving up the cards, paying off your debt or are in the middle of it – you NEED to hear that it can happen. And you need to hear that’s it’s as peaceful as you think it is. It is. All of the above. :) <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIamMCetf3mfbrd2GLva7CRiFpTsW69XZFNejRwKk3sL879g434veRwF5BY1dzJ4ucKZQrSlkUzrepizfNDUJV6D_sUgKmsYmex6RfM6JZvsZiqbUciHi1jd2Tsr7MQD2k8Z8nvhmTHkY/s1600-h/IMG_2881%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5RYUqAoopkickr2fU0U80c2t5iaM42hP8DvPsXwL8aW5oLUN-drwPgk94Io4Iwb__9bs1xtdf5syScNOAdtMhJnb_6f0vsXzWP7cJjUx8WuXidl6jA0SDw7zwKnf0WlaUQM2WVddJuCg/?imgmax=800" style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="" width="450" /></a> One evening while in our Financial Peace class I turned to hubby and told him I needed to help someone else get there that wanted or needed to be there. (It was that powerful.) I approached my new friends at Financial Peace Plaza and they agreed to help me out. ;) I’m paying it forward and want to provide some of you with the chance to go through the class. I’m giving away three Financial Peace packets and the wonderful folks with Dave Ramsey are throwing in two more of them. You will get everything you’ll need in a box – and if you are able to attend the class, I WANT YOU TO GO. Sorry I’m yelling. :) The class is so worthwhile. (Go <a href="http://www.daveramsey.com/fpu/locate-class/">here</a> to find one near you. I’ll either have the packet sent to you or pay for it through the church where you’ll attend – just let me know.) If you don’t have a class nearby, you can go through it with the info and CDs in the packet.  Either way, we want to help five (individuals or couples) kick start your own peace. I also have three new copies of the Total Money Makeover book – it’s the one that we got hooked on and it’s the one they recommend to anyone thinking about taking the plunge. Because debt is a private issue, I’m not going to ask you to leave a comment here to “win.” ;) If you’d like a chance to attend Financial Peace free of charge, or if you’d like a copy of the book, just send me a quick email. I don’t need anything else from you other than a brief hello. (thriftydecorchick at gmail dot com) Title it “DEBT FREE!” and just let me know if you’re interested in Financial Peace or the book. That’s it. I hate to put a deadline on something like this, but I want to get you going as soon as possible if you win, so let’s say I’ll take emails till next Thursday, the 17th. (This giveaway is now closed.) Thanks again for your support and love throughout our journey – it has meant the world to us. Your encouragement and celebration made the process even more worthwhile. :) **You can learn more about our debt story <a href="http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/2010/08/live-like-no-one-else.html">here</a>. And read how awesome it is to be weird <a href="http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/2011/02/well-its-official-were-weird.html">here</a>. **All pics are from last winter when I visited FPP with a bunch of bloggers. We had a blast!!

Debt free: Nine months later

Well, it’s been nine months since we paid off our last debt. (Which was the US Department of Education – my student loans. Not sure if I e...

8:58 PM

Well, it’s official. We’re WEIRD.

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE_ML1Nq6__wae6_S4W4Qb5LpyG0JdZ7OVQ55R77mf4Cv0PLGIx8RPz9U5-ehuWo988ZGu9J2UFI85R5ya6cLolnqY3flm6i5iUaVJItQUlFpIPkoJjy3YGrPZhFFBsT4jrmpwOMjwj4Q/s1600-h/IMG_2878_picnik%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="IMG_2878_picnik" border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvmgdEoULaiGI1fnHlZYgg-1OSySdKKJXqDa6no7fNnbpCqXqXda-3bG_buvSxVaMNLGqkdorGxnvUH7am39KQdeiohDRg0RZjf3JPA54UCQMvM95M1GlupAEjPG49ipBl4c4IQqFjyuU/?imgmax=800" style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="IMG_2878_picnik" width="502" /></a> You know that guy <a href="http://www.daveramsey.com/home/">Dave Ramsey</a> I keep talking about? You know how he says people who don’t have debt are WEIRD? Well, if you don’t know him…that’s what he says. “Debt is normal…be weird.” Well. As of this morning, we are officially, completely, gloriously, totally, happily WEIRD. WE’RE DEBT FREE!!! (Except the house.) Whoo, people!! WHOO!!!! It still hasn’t hit us. Surreal is an understatement. I haven’t cried yet. But I will. Buckets. :) It’s major. Like, $125,000 in just about three and a half years, MAJOR. (Yes, there were three zeros.) I told you about our debt story <a href="http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/2010/08/live-like-no-one-else.html">here</a>, (I way underestimated how much we had already paid off at that point) and for the past three years or so, we’ve been fighting, scratching, clawing at it -- taking our finances BACK. And it’s truly been a fight. We had flooring debt, school debt, hot tub debt, medical debt, clothing debt, I-have-no-clue-what-we-bought debt – you name it, we had it. We were so tired of it. It was a monkey on our backs. A large, 125,000 pound monkey. And it was exhausting carrying him around. ;) Getting rid of that monkey – exhilarating. I thought it was impossible to live without a car payment. I thought I would be paying off my student loan till I was 45. I thought I couldn’t pay for a piece of furniture unless we charged it. I was wrong. We decided to live like no one else. So now we can live like no one else. And it is rockin’ our worlds. We can live without credit cards. We can save for something and pay for it when we have the money. We can save for our future and change our children’s lives. It makes me so emotional when I think about how we are completely changing their futures. We will leave them security, not a financial mess. That makes every minute of this process worth it. Yes, we could have done this without Dave Ramsey. It’s not rocket science. It’s making a budget every month and sticking to it – and telling our money where to go. That was a biggie for me. We were never telling it where to go, we were just floating along. La dee da, la dee da. But Dave Ramsey inspired us. His conviction and enthusiasm is absolutely contagious. You want to attack your debt like a raging BEAR after you listen to him for five minutes. And today, I clicked the button that sent the payment to my student loan – our very last debt. It’s all gone – forever and ever and EVER. It’s the first time in our adult lives we’ve been debt free. We’ve both had debt since we were 18 years old. I have never been an adult and NOT had debt. Till today. I feel like I could float away, it feels so good. We are SO WEIRD!!!! And if being weird is wrong, I don’t want to be right. I wanted to take a minute and thank you so much for sharing this journey with us! I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your comments and emails about our story. It absolutely makes me smile every time. One thing I know for sure – if we can do it, YOU CAN DO IT. It may take you longer, it may take you less. I know you will be so proud of yourself. It made us more mature, it bonded us, it changed our marriage, in a really great way. It is one of the best things we have done in entire lives. And I’ll say it again – WHOOOOOO!!!!  :) **And yes…we will be calling in to the radio show to scream. But now we want to take a trip down to Nashville and scream it in his lobby. It’s a big deal, and we want to celebrate it.  :) ***I’m quite sure my Google ads will go crazy with credit companies after this post – I don’t personally endorse any of them. Just sayin’.

Well, it’s official. We’re WEIRD.

You know that guy Dave Ramsey I keep talking about? You know how he says people who don’t have debt are WEIRD ? Well, if you don’t kno...

8:55 PM

Live like no one else

<img height="405" src="http://andrewalma.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/dave.jpg" width="328" /> Let me introduce you to my <strike>nemesis</strike> <strike>best friend</strike> debt free inspiration…<a href="http://www.daveramsey.com/">Dave Ramsey</a>. I’ve mentioned him a lot lately, and many have you responded, wanting to know our “debt” story. I’m sharing it with you because hearing the stories of others is what inspired us to become debt free. My hope is that those of you who are drowning in debt right this very second will be inspired as well. I hope that you will see a light at the end of the tunnel. Ours was a long, long, very dark tunnel. :) We are not debt free…yet. We’ve been working on it for about three years. The start of our massive debt started almost exactly sixteen years ago – the month I started my first year of college. I went to school that fall not knowing exactly how I was going to pay for it. I had some help from the government in the form of grants, and I had a part time job that made a little, but those together were not nearly enough to cover everything. My mother had no money. My father had no money. (My parents were divorced.) My home life was not good – and I had done all of the prep for college on my own – registration, picking out classes, applying for financial aid, etc. I had NO idea what I was doing and really didn’t give much thought as to how I would pay for the THOUSANDS I was supposed to shell out that first year. ;) All I knew is I was going to college. It was a dark time in my life and I needed control of my life, needed to control my own destiny -- and getting that education simply had to happen. At the time, I very much felt like my life depended on it. (Dramatic, but true.) If you’ve been on a college campus in the first few months of the school year, you’ve seen the credit card companies out en masse – promising free money in the form of a shiny new credit card to kids who make little to no money. I figured I would use it for back up – it would only be a few hundred bucks at most, right? So I applied for one card, got it. Another one. Got it. Another? Got it. And I got a free t-shirt each time! Or, even better, a two liter of Pepsi! WHO, I ask, could resist that?  ;) Now, when I look back, I am thankful for those credit cards, because when the first bursar’s bill came due, I went to the ATM and withdrew from each card. Enough to pay my college bill…and I did it every few months for ten months. After that first year, the balances were growing out of control, and I realized I couldn’t keep up. So I applied for school loans and got them. But by then, I had been living with credit cards for a year, and was HOOKED. Remember -- I was young. No one had taught me how to handle money. No one had talked to me about debt. We had NO money at home for such a long time, and these little cards were magic to me. I could spend, and then only pay $15 a month and all was just fine. I didn’t go crazy – but when my school loans ran out each semester, and the part time job money was gone, I went to the cards. It became an addiction. I truly believe I was addicted to credit cards. And then the you-know-what hit the fan and the calls started. Suddenly I didn’t have enough to pay the minimum  payment on all of my cards. So I paid one, and not the others. And the others called. Then I’d pay those, and not the other, and the other called. I was late on all of them, above my balance on all of them, and it was a very scary time in my life. The credit card companies would call and harass me, all day long. They yelled at me and mocked me when I cried and said, NO, I had no one I could go to for the money. (I hear they’ve changed the laws on what they can say and how often they can call.) They threatened, and I was scared out of my wits. Finally one day I realized I had do something. I went to a credit counseling service while I was still in college, and it was one of the best days of my life. They sat with me, went through all of my bills, and set up a payment I could deal with. (One payment that was dispersed to all of my cards.) The service called my cards and got my interest rates lowered, late fees frozen, and I started to get control of my life again. Let me clarify one thing – this service was FREE. There are credit services that charge for this service and I’ve not heard good things about them. The people I worked with were a not-for-profit agency and they helped me more than I can even express to you. Fast forward years from that time, and I was still paying off those cards. It was slow, but I was doing it. One day I decided to get my credit report, to see my progress. Then I saw something that helped to turn things around even more -- I found a department store card I had applied for and had forgotten about. It was the ONE card I had left that I could still use – my credit was so bad I couldn’t get any new cards, and the current cards I had were frozen. So I called that store, got a new card and went and charged twenty dollars on it. And paid it off. Did it again, paid it off. For months. My credit got better and better. Then, I had student loans I was paying off as well. So I paid those on time. And it helped. I actually was able to get a car loan (with a crazy high interest rate, but it was a loan!) and I paid it on time. Slowly, I was repairing my credit. But did I stop using it? Nope. I don’t know why I hadn’t learned any better. Maybe it’s because I was making a decent living and living comfortably? Maybe it’s because I was still addicted to credit and had the mindset of someone who is addicted – it’s not that bad, I can control it, blah blah BLAH. Enter my future hubby, who had created a ton of debt on his own. He had done it over time, even longer than me. And we continued to live like that for years. Then we decided to build a house. I took a second job and we worked our butts off to save for a decent down payment – and we had a little leftover for some new furniture. ;) But as I’ve mentioned before, we moved into a house with lots of rooms and very little furniture. And I kept getting the itch to fill each space…some of it was big stuff, like the dining room furniture. Some of it was small, like a file cabinet from Bombay Company. But it all added up. I had learned nothing. Nothing. Years of harassing calls, years of crying, years of growing debt (again), years of not knowing how to tell myself NO. I guess I should say “we” – both my hubby and I were equally to blame. About five years ago, while traveling through the state for my job, I came across a radio talk show that caught my attention. (I LOVE talk radio.) People were calling into a show to talk to some guy named Dave, asking about and talking about their debit issues. And this Dave, in his southern drawl, would bring them back to reality in a hot second…calling them out and making them take responsibility for their lives and their money. I was intrigued. I went home and couldn’t stop thinking about it. So the next trip, I searched the radio again, and found it again. I was hooked. I came home and mentioned it to hubby. We talked about it, daydreamed about it, but never took any action because it was too overwhelming. We were in it SO DEEP. Then Mr. Dave’s show came to our local radio, and I listened every day. On Fridays, people would call in and tell Dave how much money they had paid off. One couple I remember in particular had paid off $168,000 dollars. (That’s THREE zeros peeps.) Some callers had paid all but their house. Some had paid everything. They had NO debt. Nothing. Utility bills and retirement were their monthly expenses. And at the end of their call, they would count down, 1…2…3…and scream “We’re debt free!!!!” And I would cry for them. Because I wanted to be them, because I was so happy for them, because I wanted to be grown up just like them. So we started. My husband was still a bit hesitant, but we bought Dave’s book and he read it within a few hours. We were hooked. We were ready. We were SO EXCITED. We’ve been at it for about three years now. We don’t follow Dave Ramsey’s plan to the T – no rice and beans, beans and rice. ;) If we did follow it exactly as he lays out, we would probably be debt free by now. But we have become more strict on ourselves with each passing month. The closer we get, the less we spend, the more we pay off. The more being debt free becomes a reality. :) Because my husband runs his own business, we may keep one credit card for those expenses after all is said and done. That will most likely be the Amex that we will have to pay off every month. But we also figure that if the rest of our debt is gone (all but the house that is), we probably won’t need it anyway. We’re not rice and beans, more like macaroni and cheese. And lots of Goodwill. ;) No more new furniture. Even if we can pay for it in cash – we put the money towards cards. No large purchases. No new cars. We rarely go on vacation. (Most trips we do take are for hubby’s work.) We are paying for my stepdaughter’s college education – NO LOANS. And the gift we are giving her by doing that is overwhelming to me. I know she appreciates it, but I know she will truly appreciate it in about 15 years.  Yes, we splurge sometimes, and that’s another way we don’t follow the Ramsey plan exactly. But we pay for our splurges. They don’t sit on a credit card for six years. And they don’t end up costing us 3.5 times more than they originally did. ;) We work on one credit card at a time, and when another one is paid off, we are like little kids. Giddy. Paying off credit is so much more fulfilling than spending money we don’t have. It is JOY. Pride. It is delayed gratification. It makes me feel like an adult. :) And it has created SO many possibilities for our family. Dave Ramsey talks about the new way of life you create for the generations of your family after you… and that is so true. When we are debt free, we will be able to save for our children, mentor them, lead by example and then one day pass along what we have saved to them. It is exhilarating. It makes me want to cry at what is possible for our family without this monkey on our backs. So how much have we paid off? In the past three years, we’ve ridded ourselves of approximately $60,000. Actually, that’s probably pretty conservative. It’s car loans, credit cards, department store cards, student loans, furniture loans, you name it. It took a long time to create it all, and it’s taking a long time to pay it all off. We still have a big chunk to go. I won’t say how much till we’re done – don’t want to jinx anything. :) But we are pretty sure we will be debt free by the end of this year, if not in a few months. The thought of it makes me so emotional. When we pay that last payment, it will be the first time in my adult life I will be debt free. It is overwhelming. And fantastic. And so worth it. I cannot even express to you how worth it it will be. And the day we make that last payment, we will call in to Dave Ramsey’s show and scream WE’RE DEBT FREE!!! And I will cry. I’ll let you know when that day comes too. ;) P.S. If you want to know more about Dave Ramsey, click <a href="http://www.daveramsey.com/">here</a>.

Live like no one else

Let me introduce you to my nemesis best friend debt free inspiration… Dave Ramsey . I’ve mentioned him a lot lately, and many have you r...

9:26 PM

Living debt free

The holidays, debt free

Debt free: Nine months later

Well, it’s official. We’re WEIRD.

Live like no one else

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