You know those times in your life when you're not doing what you should do, you know it, and your life is just a complete struggle because of it?
Well, that was from about 2005-2015 for me. I mean, life wasn't COMPLETE garbage. I met my wife, got married, had 3 great kids... but man to think of how much life would have been easier if I'd been MANAGING MY MONEY PROPERLY!!! This is also an obedience thing ya know?
God wants us to be good stewards of what he's given us. I (we) wasn't being a good steward at all.
You'd have THOUGHT I'd have learned my lesson when I had to voluntarily surrender my truck in the summer of 07. You'd have THOUGHT I'd have learned it again when they came and got my wife's car the day after Christmas that same year. You'd have THOUGHT we'd learned our lesson when we filed for bankruptcy in 2011. Then you'd have THOUGHT we'd learned our lesson when we turned right around and applied for a bunch of credit cards... then maxed them all out. Borrowed, borrowed, this payday loan, that payday loan, internet loan, pawn pawn pawn.:bang:
But it wasn't until this past September that we finally learned it.
After losing both of our vehicles in the same year back in '07, I vowed to never again finance a vehicle. The heartbreak of watching someone take something you worked hard for and loved was just horrible. I never wanted it to happen again. I decided if I couldn't pay cash for a vehicle, I didn't need it. Well, after selling our reliable buick for a larger vehicle when we found out we were pregnant with our 3rd child, we bought a 1998 Yukon... stupid. We traded it for a WJ.... smart(ish). That would have worked out fine, but then I found out that the WJ was going to need heads... terrific. Heads were about 2500 bucks with labor and everything. The jeep wasn't even worth that much. So RATHER than maybe taking out a personal loan to fix what I already had, we did what I swore we would never again do and we financed a vehicle... 'cause ya know, "our credit was better and we're in better financial shape now"... even though we weren't.
We financed a 2006 Chrysler Town and Country minivan in february of 2013. They came and got it September of this past year.
Time to wake up.
I felt lower than pond scum when my wife looked at me blankly and said, "what are we gonna do?" I knew I had to do something different. I knew that we were never going to get anywhere unless something changed. Our bank account was several hundred dollars in the negetive - which was a bi-weekly practice for us, we had no money in savings, recurring payday loans which we couldn't pay off, credit card debt, large loan payments that automatically were withdrawn from each paycheck, and a jeep that was starting to need some repairs. "What WERE we going to do?" I thought.
I had read a book by Dave Ramsey about 10 years ago called "The Total Money Makeover" (wish I would have applied its principles then). My brother-in-law went through bankruptcy not too long after us and was looking for a way to make a fresh start. I recommended the book to him because, well it would seem I'm better at giving advice than taking my own! He applied the principles immediately - you should see his portfolio now! I enlisted his help and accountability because I had screwed things up so badly that I couldn't even look at my wife (his sister) anymore.
Long story a little shorter, we've made more progress to financial health in the last 6 months than we have in the last 10 years! We've paid off most of our debt, we have a healthy savings account, and we're feeling much better now because we're doing what we know God would want us to do with our money - getting rid of debt, not acquiring MORE, building a savings, and denying "self" and putting our needs before our wants.
God dealt with us in a big way. We've certainly learned our lesson, but we're much happier now that we have!
PRAISE GOD FOR HIS DISCIPLINE!!!!
