I anticipated writing this installment early in April. I knew I’d have good news to share by then and it just seemed like the perfect time to tell you the rest of the story. But…

When I left off last time, I shared that a friend had given us a suggestion that re-inspired us to dig in our heels and get excited about paying off our debt (again), specifically our van. The suggestion was to stop contributing to retirement.

This suggestion, at first, was not something I even wanted to consider. I love to have a big pile of savings somewhere hidden away, and the retirement savings is the perfect place for it. It’s hard to get to, it automatically comes out of the paycheck and there’s a penalty if you touch it. All the more reason to leave it alone and let it grow.

But, if we temporarily stopped contributing, not touching what was already in that pile, and threw that extra money at paying off the van, we figured up we could have the van paid for in 3 months.

That was such a huge incentive, we decided to do it. In fact, we decided to keep it going until the truck was paid off as well.

We started off strong. More than doubling up on our van payment was dwindling that payment down fast. It was exciting to be so close to a big payoff.

However, things began to get in the way. New glasses for the kid who’s eyes got worse, medical expenses and most recently, a $500 brake job on the van.

April came and went and we were still not quite there. I was disappointed and not feeling like writing about it.

We will make our last van payment this month. Finally.

Our church is starting the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University this month, and at first, I wasn’t sure we needed to attend. We’d read the book and were working the steps. However, I think the encouragement and accountability will be good for us.

On Dave Ramsey’s television show he often asks the callers what kept their momentum going through the hard times. Most of the time the answer is staying focused on the goal and the reward each time they pay off a debt.

By our estimation, in two years we will be debt free (except for the house). Two years isn’t that long. Staying focused on that goal helps, but having friends who are on the same journey have helped even more.

What helps keep you focused on your financial goals?

February, 2009

“I’m going to sell my truck.”

When I heard my husband say these words I knew he was finally on board with the Total Money Makeover plan. He had been reading Dave’s book on his own and we had started watching Dave’s show together.

At first the baby steps seemed a little too easy. We had our $1000 emergency fund, we did not have credit card debt and we had some extra savings in stocks.

I was ready to buckle down and throw as much money as we could toward our vehicles to get them paid for. I wasn’t expecting my husband to be so committed that he’d want to sell his new Toyota truck, and I wasn’t sure I wanted him to.

I tried to talk him out of it. I was afraid he’d sell it and regret it and get into another buy and sell cycle, but he was convinced this would move us more quickly toward our goal. Dave was right, gazelle intensity had gotten a hold of my husband.

He cleaned it up and put a for sale sign on it. After two months of many calls and lots of looking, he tried another direction and got a good offer at a dealership. They offered him more than what he was asking for, and he cashed in stock to pay the difference on what we owed. Then he bought a new Dodge truck.

To tell the truth, I was concerned. It seemed smarter to buy something used that we could pay cash for, or just live with one vehicle for a while until we could get the van paid for. But I was trying to reform the controlling, nagging wife I used to be, so I let it be his decision. It sort of seemed like this journey was going to be as much about me learning to trust my husband as the leader of our family as it was for us to be financially free.

We still had two vehicles financed, but we had a lower monthly payment on his new truck and saved $6,000 in the end.

At this point, I expected things to go smoothly. I honestly believed we would easily be able to pay off the van that year. Instead, bonus cuts and fewer weekend workdays dramatically cut our income. Looking back now, I can see the blessings that kept us afloat.

At the time of our church’s Faith Promise Giving commitment we decided to double what we’d given last year. As our preacher likes to say, “You can’t out give God.” Here’s some of the goodness we enjoyed that year:

We didn’t miss a single meal.

An unanticipated litter of eleven puppies sold at $100 each paid for Christmas.

Thanks to budgeting, we were able to pay $6,000 in out-of-pocket medical expenses.

We added a monthly payment for braces to our already tight budget.

And, in spite of it all, we did pay an extra $3,000 on the van.

 

Still, as the new year began, I was discouraged about our progress. Friends in our church who were also doing the money makeover, met with us one night for a time of fellowship and encouragement. The stories they shared of debt paid down and even one couple only a few months from being totally debt free, increased my desire to move quickly toward our goal.

Real progress toward our goal of paying off the van seemed small, and a look at our budget for the next year revealed little room for extra payments. It looked like we were never going to reach our goal. I expressed my frustration to our friends.

Then, one of our them suggested a radical idea that got our wheels turning. I looked at my husband, “Do you think we could do that?”

The gazelle intensity was back.

If you missed the previous post, start here.

He was fine. He had some abrasions from the air bag and some soreness, but thankfully, he was fine. He didn’t even go to the hospital or come home from work, just called to let me know he’d been in an accident.

His paid for truck, however, was totaled.

I joke with him now that maybe he wasn’t fine. Maybe he had a head injury from the accident that lasted for 7 years. And I’d much rather joke about what happened next than to think too deeply about it, because the truth is, I feel deep regret and still get angry over the waste of those seven years.

But let me explain.

He had a nice, used Ford truck that was just a few months paid for when the accident happened. With the insurance money he was able to buy a used truck that cost a little bit more than the check we’d gotten. We financed the rest and began making payments.

I can’t explain why and neither can he, but over the next 7 years he traded trucks on average of about one a year. Seven trucks in seven years, ending with the one he has now.

We never missed a payment, never were strapped financially during this time, but we were living paycheck to paycheck with little savings and I knew that it was sinking us deeper into a never ending cycle of debt to keep trading these vehicles and never paying them off.

I cried, I yelled, I begged and I hoped he would come to his senses, but nothing I said seemed to make any difference.

Then, I met Dave Ramsey. Not personally, but in his book, The Total Money Makeover. I got so excited reading the book. Everything I’d been trying to pound into my husband’s head was spelled out right here in a book by someone else who was saying it a lot better than I ever did.

He let me read it out loud to him on one of our trips in 2007. It felt like it was sinking in. I thought we were finally getting somewhere and reaching a turning point. It all sounded so good.

Once we got home, I shared the book with family members. I stayed on a “money-makeover high” for a while and we talked about making a budget and talked about paying off vehicles, but it turned out to be all just a bunch of talk.

In 2008, my husband came home with the most expensive truck he’d ever bought. Once again, it felt like we were right back at square one. I didn’t know what else to do. So I gave up.

A few months later, I read another book, Marsha put on Facebook:

“Submission is knowing how to duck so God can hit your husband.”

Dr. Tony Evans.

I think that’s what God was waiting on me to do: get out of the way. When I stopped trying to control everything, some really neat things started to happen.