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But the noble man devises noble plans; And by noble plans he stands. – Isaiah 32:8
Wow. I have a new life verse. The noble man devises noble plans to get out of debt. By noble plans he stands to get out of debt. Ironically, in the NASB, chapter 32 of Isaiah is titled, The Glorious Future.
So Jen and I were talking the other day in the car about Target. We have not been to Target in a month! Our modus operandi would be to weekly walk around the local Target store looking for one item we may need and then walking out spending on average between $40.00 and $50.00 on stuff we need, but stuff we did not plan to buy. I just cannot believe how the thought process of spending has changed in the past month plus.
We started this course of getting out of debt on 3/8/3008. I don’t see an end to it. Until we are out of debt.
Debt End Street is a playful take on the phrase Dead End Street. A place that leads nowhere. Debt End Street is a PF or personal finance blog that pulls a u-turn on the dead end street that is entrapment to personal consumer spending. This site is really just our shared stories in the quest to become debt free. To live within our means and act our wage. This page began near the same time that we joined a Financial Fitness class and were motivated from head knowledge to heart knowledge back to head knowledge about finance. We take no responsibility to your actions if using our advice. We take no glory or credit if you do use the advice and find yourself on the road to debt freedom. The Prince of Peace gets that credit. Enjoy!
Hey all. I have changed the name of the blog to Debt End Street. The posts were moved over. The links will grow slowly. If you clicked through looking for LIFE ON A DIET…you’ve come to the right place….only my life is not on a diet. We are packing up and moving from a Debt End Street. You can reach this blog now from www.debtendstreet.com
I made a net profit of $5.21 today on two eBay sales. I forgot how much work it was to package, print, handle, ship and fret over a sale. It felt great. Two more things out of the house. A few dollars to apply towards the snowball debt. A couple of people were shipped a couple of neat-o things. Oh, the best part was using the PayPal debit card to pay for the packing and shipping. I seeded that PayPal account with $20.00. That should be it. The account needs to be self sustainable. Like a small business that it is. I just posted a third item and looking through the house for more items to move.
Dave Ramsey says if it is not bolted down, sell it. Sell everything to where the kids believe they are next.
I took the kids to the park tonight before dinner. We returned around 6:30 p.m. and talked about what to have for dinner. Jen had that look that she was tired and wanted to get something out instead of fixing something. We took inventory of the last time we went out for dinner. None of us could remember the day we last went out. It has been that long.
We took down the DR envelope for food. We used the envelope system for the first time today as it was intended. We budgeted for dinner and enjoyed a fast-food outing. Pre-Dave Ramsey we would have eaten out of the house a couple of times a week. To honestly not remember the last time we did it spoke to the heart. We are on course.
Our weekly mower fee was $11.00 a week. Last week without warning it went to $15.00 a week. So I fired the mower and bought a lawn mower. The mower retailed for $249.99. The sale price was $209.99 and I paid no sales tax through OSH Home Improvement. Paying someone else $60.00 a month to mow the front yard only is crazy talk after diving into debt reduction.
Wow. The last time I pushed a mower was over 20 years ago as a kid. If I remember correctly, you avoid the sprinkler heads and Malibu lighting..right?
Snowflaking the $60.00 a month after the 4th month of mower ownership. That’s how it is done.
We have identified our debt. We have listed the debt smallest to largest. Our snowball debt list has 6 items list. The lowest debt identified I will call CC#1.
The amount owed is $2,550.86. Let me back up.
The previous amount owed was $2,547.90. The minimum payment was $77.00 which we paid. We made a late payment. That cost us a $39.00 late fee. The finance rate was 18.99%. The finance charge was $40.96. So….doing the math here….the late fee and finance charge combined was $79.96. We made the minimum payment of $77.00. The new amount owed is $2,550.86.
We made no new purchases. We were STUPID to pay it late. That is called STUPID TAX. Have you done the math? We made the minimum payment and the amount owed went UP! by $2.96. Incredible. Now I’m mad.
Made at myself for the STUPID TAX paid. The logo of CC#1 is now tattooed in my skull as having a target overlayed across it. I love the products that I bought from said CC#1 (logo above). Notice how I take the responsibility and not say ‘we’. Me. I opened the account. I am mad and will throw every available dollar or ’snowflake’ at the snowball that is CC#1.
Now to get creative in doing so. Hey, do you need your lawn mowed? Oh yea….I don’t have a lawn mower….but I have a pair or shears and a hungry cat.
We started this journey 30 days ago. The journey to live within our means. To spend less than we make. To act our wage. To make a budget and live with it. To stop eating out because it’s easier than laboring over the stove or grill, to create a meal at home. Honestly, I can’t remember the last time we were in a restaurant. Dave Ramsey says that while working on the snowballing your debt, the only time you should see the inside of a restaurant is if you work in one. It feels good to open the pantry to use what we have.
This past month we have canceled two credit cards that have a zero balance. We have the emergency savings aside and have completed baby step 1. We are working the plan as one to become debt free. It has been 30 days of blogging about the experience and listening to stories our countless others who have become debt free owing more and making less than us.
Now, with one foot in front of the other, we enter another 30 days to continue on this course.
We took the kids today to a stage production of “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus”. It was a small theatre. The tickets were relatively inexpensive for the memory it gave my family. You can view our Flickr slideshow if interested.
Before leaving the house, Jen and I talked realizing our past spending habits. Pre-Dave, we would not have thought twice about going to the show followed by a souvenir then lunch on the road. Jen and I decided that we would let the kids decide a souvenir OR lunch. Not both.
Ben wanted a copy of a $15.00 book. Elizabeth and I wanted lunch and to skip the book. Ben and Jen wanted the book. We walked to the lobby after the show and found the actors signing books. Elizabeth and I caved and Ben got the book. Once the book was signed, we drove home and prepared lunch from the pantry. The kids did not ask for a Slurpee as they usually do.
I just had to share this. I feel as if we are involving the kids in the decision rather than having them believe they are only affected by our money decisions.
I have been in situations before when an outside auditor shadows the business operation. Hired by the firm, the people are mission minded in their pursuit to understand what both you and the business you do in the time frame of your work day. At the end, they report to the firm their findings and recommendations. Their recommendations are adopted and so begins the change. You are always one staff meeting shy of a major disruption in the status quo.
Now take that concept into the family spending habits. You hire yourself to hyper focus on where does the money go. From sitter to mortgage. From annual renewals like AAA to monthly commitments like the four walls of the family foundation. This would be shelter, food, clothing, and transportation. That is today’s step.
Our homework assignment last week was to work on cash flow management. A scary proposition to some. I joked in calling it ‘pre-Dave’ actions. Pre-Dave is life before learning money principles taught by Dave Ramsey. Not Gordon Ramsey. The chef who rips apart food, cook, and restaurant. Dave Ramsey is the clean mouthed author and radio personality who advises people on debt reduction and building wealth.
So the idea is you hire yourself to be mission minded in the discovery of personal finance. Investigating the finance of your ‘F’ words. You know. Family, fun, frolicking, and fast food. Indulgence in discovery of the funding that we have allowed to occur in supporting the ‘F’ words. The idea is how can you know what to budget, unless you know the monthly operations of the family and their your spending habits.
