We're DEBT FREEEEEE! (Almost)

Being a Dave Ramsey fan, I kinda feel obligated to post this to our blog. I also post this for a "milestone" in our blog. Hopefully one that will shape our future, our kids' future and generations that follow.

I listen most Friday afternoons to his A.M. radio show, as people do their "We're debt freee!!!!" screams. It's inspiring to hear their stories. If you haven't heard of Dave Ramsey, check him out. He says he gives "advice like Grandma, but keeps his teeth in"... Sound and practical advice, biblically-based stuff. (He allows his radio show callers to yell "We're debt free" if they have paid-off everything but the mortgage, as well).

With Doug being out of a job for so long, we really hunkered down and didn't spend unnecessarily. We have been saving money to pay off debt (and had paid most of it off), but didn't want to pay everything off in case we needed those reserves just for daily living.

Just ask Doug, I am a spreadsheet FREAK. I have an Excel spreadsheet for just about everything you could imagine. I'm sure Doug gets tired of my "finance updates". :-)... He doesn't officially have his first paycheck in-hand since having a job with Fulton County Schools (he will be paid monthly).... But we had enough income with his freelance projects, etc, that we felt like we could finally take the plunge and get rid of debt entirely. I tweaked our finances / spreadsheet recently to SQUEEZE out everything we could, to pay off my student loan, our last pesky debt (other than mortgage).

Our last "debt" payment paid off my last student loan. It was a booger... I'm just glad to see that it is gone! We've really let the outside projects on the house go while Doug was unemployed, but are glad to be jumping back into sprucing up the place when money (and time) allows. Cutting down trees isn't cheap, neither is patching up where woodpeckers have tapped their way through a chimney, or building much-needed retaining walls.

We do still have a mortgage payment (I think it's technically 8 more years left on a 15-year mortgage), but other than that, everthing is paid for (mini-van, truck, education, etc). We're not upside down on the mortgage, either, even considering our most recent $30k decrease in tax appraisal. :( In fact, right now I think we technically own about 50% of our house, with the lower appraisal value. (Let's hope that 50% includes a bathroom. ;-) Hopefully the economy will turn around soon and home prices will rise back to normal. Once we get all other savings accounts back to normal, we hope to pay-off our existing mortgage balance early.

This is God's money, not ours. We've tried to do good things with it and not ever get in way over our heads. Now that debts are paid, I can't imagine what freedom comes with having NO mortgage payment. Of course at that point, I'm sure college savings for kidlings will be kicking into high gear. Go figure!

I know I sound like a broken record, but I can't get over how much God has blessed our family, even through 13 months of Doug not being employed. (See the "oil in the jar" post a while back). Doug got to spend so much time with the kids while not working. We never had to tap into the equity in our house, tap into 401ks, obtain new loans, etc. We turned around and paid things off, acting as if we never had the money in our hands.

I told Doug that most people might be fighting to keep their house by the end of 13 months, but we have been so blessed to still have a roof over our heads, food on the table, and above all, healthy kids. We are so thankful.

God is better than good. He is amazing. Looking back, I can now honestly laugh at the "timing". It felt like a roller coaster but His timing was perfect. Doug couldn't have worked on the Rwanda job if he was immediately chosen for the Fulton County job back in April... A month later, he is called for the Fulton County job, right after finishing up the Rwanda project. It really is unbelievable how God works.

Peace, love and big fat goose eggs ($00!),
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Note: This passage in the Bible is one that I really appreciate, and goes along with this blog. It always reminds me to be "future-oriented" and realize the lasting implications of daily choices. This blog entry is one of the stones for our "Carey Clan", to show what God has done for us (like the Israelites), and I pray will be evident for future generations. Joshua 4:1-9:

"Now when all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying, 2 “Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe, 3 and command them, saying, ‘Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet are standing firm, and carry them over with you and lay them down in the lodging place where you will lodge tonight.’” 4 So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe; 5 and Joshua said to them, “Cross again to the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel. 6 “Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7 then you shall say to them, ‘Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.”
8 Thus the sons of Israel did as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, just as the LORD spoke to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel; and they carried them over with them to the lodging place and put them down there. 9 Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, and they are there to this day."