Scott Wilder - ish

So after about a month after deciding to get on Dave Ramsey's Total
Money Makeover Plan; we can say definitively that we're making
progress.

 To recap, We have over $180,000 in debt. We were going $700 further
into debt every month due to a pay cut when I lost my old job.

 We were in a situation Ramsey would call a log jam. We couldn't make
any progress on the debt because expenses far exceeded income.

 So we did a few important things to get the logs moving again. I went
out and got two part time jobs to supplement our income and Kathie
cashed in some old stocks she had.

 Cashing out the stocks allowed us to put $1,000 in the bank for
emergencies, pay off the minivan ($3,000) and pay off a few small
debts we had while even yielding a bit of a surplus that we could
apply to our debt snowball. The bad news is that our hot water heater
has sprung a leak so that surplus is now buying us a replacement. I am
not happy about it. But at least we aren't going into more debt to fix
it!!!

 Based on a little math, it looks like the two part time jobs will be
sufficient to cover the monthly minimums on our debt and then some so
we can start paying it down and getting debt free. We're already to
the point where my full time job will pay all our credit card minimums
except one. So my part time jobs need to bring in enough to buy
groceries and pay the minimum on our credit card with the largest
debt. Everything they bring in over and above that will go straight to
the debt snowball.

 The first few months of Ramsey's Total Money Makeover is where a lot
happens in short order. Our white board has been getting whiter by the
week. The trick will be to keep up the motivation when we get to the
big debts that are going to take much more time to pay off.

 Well that's it for tonight. Will keep you posted as we go along.

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Last time I posted, I told you that I'm a "fixer" by nature. I see a
problem... I fix it. One of the personal issues this brings up for me
is that not only do I go about fixing the problem. But I also tend to
FIXATE on the issue at hand. That's just the way I'm wired. When I
decide to do something, I throw myself into the task whole-heartedly.

 How this manifests itself in this debt war is that I tend to spend
much of my time at home sitting at the desk that's dedicated to
finances and staring at the white board. Where can we squeeze a few
extra dollars from? What's the next due date? Is getting a 3rd job
enough or will I need a 4th? Will it ever end? And while it may just
look like I'm sitting there lost in thought, I'm actually stuck in
this cycle of fixation that robs me of grace and peace.

 Let me try to explain. These days I don't feel much grace. Not grace
from others. People have been wonderful, helpful and supportive. I'm
talking about that self-grace. The ability to look at yourself in the
mirror and know that it's okay to let yourself off the hook for past
wrongs. Instead I look at this mountain of debt and instead of grace,
I feel things like shame, anger, self-loathing and fear. All healthy
if kept in proper perspective. But debilitating if left to grow
unrestricted.

 The peace that the bible talks about is a very abstract thing to me. I
don't know that I've ever been able to abide in that place of utter
peace for more than a few moments at a time. I do know that the more I
pursue peace, the more elusive and unknowable it seems.

 And let me remind you that I have a really blessed life. I have a
wonderful, loving and supportive family (two actually), friends I
wouldn't trade for anything, a reliable income, a roof over my head,
food on the table, lots of neat toys and most importantly a faith that
is continually remaking me.

 So this debt thing. It's not just about the flow of money and the fact
that it's not flowing anywhere useful. It's not even so much that more
of it is flowing out than is flowing in. This debt thing is about
finding our way back to grace and peace. With God, with people and
with myself.

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Dave Ramsey wants me to be 'Gazelle Intense'. In his book he uses the
idea that a gazelle will only be eaten by a cheetah 1 times out of 19
because it has a successful strategy to wear down the cheetah during
the chase. The problem is that I have no point of reference. I have
not seen the Discovery Channel show he's referencing. So this whole
gazelle thing is just kind of abstract and intellectual to me.

 But I do have a reference point of my own that is real and I can call
upon those memories to motivate me. Going to war. As a former Army
guy. I know what it is to prep for war and to be in the "thick of it".
So I'm declaring war on financial slavery. We are going to use
overwhelming force. We are not taking any prisoners. And we will be
victorious.

 So using my new reference point; there are a few important things to remember:

 1. In war there are always casualties. Every spending habit that's not
required needs to die. So that means that every purchase that used to
be considered "play money" (and even some that weren't) now goes under
scrutiny. If it doesn't hold up, it has to go.

 2. In modern warfare, it's not just enough to win the war. You must
also plan for the resulting peace. This is something that has never
gone quite right in the history of warfare (just look at our strained
relations with Iraq, North Korea and Vietnam to name a few). But for
us, it's not just enough to get out of debt. Instead, our fundamental
philosophies about what money is, what it does (more importantly what
it should never do), and how we make the best use of it needs to
change.

 3. Wars are almost always won by the side who "wants it more". Sun Tzu
writes: Now the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in
his temple ere the battle is fought. So while the credit card
companies may have size and strength on their sides; we are prepared
to do whatever is required. We have a plan and we are sticking to it.
If we can't win man to man then we'll fight guerilla style.

 4. Winning the war is all the more precious when you refuse to
relinquish the moral high-ground. Yeah, we could file bankruptcy or
just refuse to pay the creditors until they write off our accounts.
But that would just mean that we accomplish our goal by ignoring
ethics and integrity. So not only are we going to get out of debt. But
we're going to do it with our dignity intact.

 5. To the victor goes the spoils. For the first few years of his life;
our son is going to watch his mommy and daddy pass on new cars and
sexy gadgets over and over in order for nothing more than the ability
to erase numbers off the white board. He is going to process financial
slavery in his own unique way. And we will passing on a legacy of
financial responsibility to our J.J.

 6. War is never pretty. The reality is that other people are going to
see us pass on dinner outs, expensive day trips and multitudes of fund
raisers all in the name of getting debt free. They might even feel as
if we're choosing money over relationship. My hope and prayer is that
they will instead see this as the biggest effort in our lives to have
right relationship with people and with God.

 So put another way, we are crucifying financial debt so that mental,
relational and spiritual freedom might be resurrected.

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Like most Americans, Kathie and I have debt. It wasn't until recently that I finally opened my eyes to the reality of just how far in debt we are. From now on I will be documenting our journey to dig ourselves out of this hole. It's gonna take years. But we're going to do it!

Clearly, if Kathie and I were good at planning our way out of debt, we would have done it by now. So we're getting help. We will be following Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover Plan. His plan involves seven "Baby Steps." Just doing the first two are going to take us years.

1. Put together $1000 in an emergency fund immediately
2. Pay off all debt besides house
3. Finish Emergency Fund with 3 to 6 months of survival expenses
4. Start retirement savings
5. College fund
6. Pay off house
7. Build Wealth

So after talking to Kathie today, it looks like step 1 will come together. I will blog more about that once ideas become reality.

Step 2 is where things get scary. The reality of our financial situation is that our monthly debt far exceeds our income. I'll go into more details about the actual numbers in later posts. So it's going to take more than belt tightening and frugality to make this a reality. I've already started a part time job to make some extra $$$. And finding a 3rd gig is also now a "Top Priority."

Well that's it for now.

Peace out!

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