Dave Ramsey is our homeboy!

Well... I'm not going to lie. .. I'm pretty proud of myself.. my SeCond blog in four days!  Go me!  I decided I was going to dedicate this blog to Dave Ramsey and his amazing financial smartness (I knOw it's not a word, but it's fun) and how he has changed our lives.   I figure it's a perfect time being the beginning of the year. .. maybe it will moTivate people to get out of debt that feel eXtremely overwhelmed. .. or just encourage those people that are already working the plan that feel like they are so far from the end!
   Anyways,  so the first five years of our relationship Jonathan and I racked up some debt.   We bought a brand new car, had a few credit cards, he finished up school, and had some medical bills.  Plus on top of all that we had made the decision for me to be a stay at home mom.   Hence the reason we started using credit cards.   Now we were pretty decent credit card users (if there is such a thing) we would pay them off quickly and not carry a balance for too long and if we had a big balance once we got our taxes back we would pay all the credit cards off.  That worked, but eventually we would have been in over our heads.  We had always tossed around the idea of doing the complete money makeover by Dave Ramsey. .. we believed and loved everything he said, but i think we were both just scared of the changes we were going to have to make. .. and we were really scared of the total of debt we had (we had never really added it all up) now when I say debt I mean everything minus the house.   Lots of people like to act like their out of debt yet they still owe on their car.   If you are making a monthly payment on sometHing that are not just your normal bills (utilities, phone, etc.) That is a debt.           Well a little over a year ago. .. November 2013 to be exact we were done talking about getting out of debt and ready to start working on it.  It was the kind of thing that every two weeks when we did our budget it was stressful and no fun.  We finally added up all of our debt.... and the number almost blew our socks off!  $99,118.58 to be exact.   That was car, credit cards, school, medical bills, and a new heating and air conditioner we had financed for our house the year before.   After adding it all up we did the debt snowball to figure out how long it would take us to get out off debt.   With all our calculations it would take us 16 months to get it all paid off.  Now that's not too long of a time, but we have changed a lot about how we are living right now!  The first thing we did was sell my car and buy a car for cash.   This was hard for me seeing how I was driving the car that I had dreamed of for a few years before we got and I absolutely loved it.   But we want to be out of debt so badly and to never have a car payment again that I figured I could drive a ghetto car for a year or two until we can buy my next car (which will always be a car for cash, but the budget will just keep getting Bigger haha) and by ghetto I mean eXtremely ghetto. .. and by car I mean a 15 year old mini van.  It's pretty ugly and old,  and it was everything I didn't want if I got a minivan. .. no captain seats, silver, and to top it all off. .. it's 3 doors!   But it was the best deal with eXtremely low miles and one previous owner (the back seats had never been Sat in) it was the most reliable we could Find for our price we wanted to spend.   I would be lying if I said I wasn't embarrassed by it , or that I hate pulling up to the girls school in it,  but I just keep thinking about how being out of debt will be so worth it. .. and the girls think it's the coolest car ever,  so that makes it all the better!  They named it frozen. .. Go figure!   We have been eXtremely blessed by Jonathan's job, because with his job he gets a brand new car and every 75,000 miles he gets a new one!  So that has been so helpful!   Another thing we changed was we don't eat out. .. like EVER!  Which honestly we are completely fine with.   If we do it would be for a date night, which is another thing we budget for or it doesn't happen.   Every single penny is budgeted.   If we didn't budget for it in advance we can't do it.   Last year our life group was going to a concert that was ten dollars a ticket. .. We didn't go because we didn't budget for it.   It might sound silly. .. it was only $20 but it adds up and every penny was already assigned!  Now....once we are out of debt we will be working the next steps towards financial freedom,  but we will not be living this crazy strict.   You have to be this strict while getting out of debt or you will never get there! 
    Dave Ramsey and his teachings have truly been the biggest blessings ever!  I feel so lucky that I have a husband who is completely on board with the whole plan. Anyone can work this plan!  It is so worth it and making the sacrifices!   He teaches you so much.   Now I don't even stress about the future one bit.   I feel like we are changing not only our lives, but our children's as well.   We are TeacHing them how to handle money, and I believe that is such a wonderful gift!   God is so good and all of this is because of him. .. none of this is possible without him!   I can't wait to see what the future has in store for us. ..I feel so blessed that we have been able to work this program and change our lives forever!   Hope you all have a wonderful night and rest of the weekend!