Attack!

Does anyone else feel like they are drowning out there? SERIOUSLY -- there is just so much water falling from the heavens and raising on the ground that I feel like a drowned rat... but while the rain keeps falling, I have much to celebrate, because we have... are you ready for this...

PAID OFF SIX CREDIT CARDS!!!

I'm going to be transparent here, and my husband is probably rolling around saying, "NO, honey -- don't go there" but I just HAVE to share ... I know six credit cards sounds like a lot of debt, but it wasn't ... it was only $2,500 worth of debt, but it held us in bondage -- literally. We were slave of the lender no matter how much it was.

Not only did we pay those small credit cards off, but we have our $1,000 emergency fund fully funded, AND we have almost $1,000 to put against our final credit card debt! Praise God for the Stimulus Rebate and Tax refunds, and the discipline to put it towards our debt rather than vacation!

It feels great. It feels amazing. It feels ... LIBERATING.

And still, we move onward to obliterate all our debt -- it's small, but still -- it's debt, and needs to be wiped out, and I can't wait to get it all OBLITERATED -- that's a pretty awesome word! How about ... eliminate, eradicate, annihilate, reduce to nothing... Yeah, I'm feeling pretty motivated. We're on the attack!!! We're on the way to Financial Peace.

So step by step, we're working towards it... and it feels good!

Please -- if the Duggar's -- a family of 19 (soon to be) 20 can live totally debt free, with a newly built 7,000 square foot home, and a monthly grocery bill of $2,000 -- certainly WE can too!

God is good!

Financial Peace is a Love Language

Last night, we attended our first Financial Peace University class. To be honest, I had so many mixed feelings about it, because we had already gone through Crown Financial, AND because I'm a financial analyst and like to think I know it all. Sound familiar?

Well, one of the teachers/facilitators seems to have made it his life mission to have every person in our church attend this class. He and his wife have had such a life-changing experience with it that his passion is spilling forth and pushing everyone onward. Sometimes, that can be an annoying thing. Other times, it can be just the catalyst that you need in your life for change.

My husband finally decided to take the plunge... and folks, the one thing that keeps my husband up at night... the one thing that makes him sick to his stomach... the one thing that makes him crazy... is not having financial peace. Our instructors asked us to introduce ourselves last night and state why we decided to attend this class. Many just want to get out of debt. A good enough reason. My reason? Because financial peace is my husband's love language, and because I want to leave a good legacy for my son.

Check this out ... this is how the Free Dictionary defines legacy:

leg·a·cy (lg-s)

n. pl. leg·a·cies

1. Money or property bequeathed to another by will.

2. Something handed down from an ancestor or a predecessor or from the past: a legacy of religious freedom. See Synonyms at heritage.

So -- of course I want to bequeath money to my son when I die... but long before that, I want to hand down to him skills that will enable him to set himself up financially so he never has to worry about money, never has to worry about unforeseen emergencies, and never has to worry about living pay check to pay check. A legacy of financial freedom. I can't teach him those skills unless I have them, and as much as I'd like to think I do... right now, I don't. It doesn't matter what profession you're in -- you can always learn something new, and always do something better.

My friend Beth at Life with Two Little Vikings has gone through it, has shared transparently about her experience, and has put up on her blog a debt ticker, and a button you can click on to get a free financial checkup. Head on over and check it out... it's in her side bar towards the bottom.

For now, our efforts will be concentrated on figuring out how we'll get a $1,000 emergency fund started, and putting together a quick budget.

So......... even if you think you've got it all together, and even though you think you're where you want to be... I would highly encourage you to attend this class. Your way of thinking will totally change. I promise.