by the Provident Woman | February 8th, 2010
I’ve been thinking a great deal about finances lately. You know, I used to stress about Clint spending money. Now I can’t get him to stop talking about money. He’s been scouring the house for things to sell on e-bay and in a garage sell.
Honey, no matter how awesome it is, no one is going to come to a garage sell when it is 26 degrees outside. But I appreciate your effort for trying.
One-half of his daily commentary ends with “and Dave says…”
Here’s the problem with debt. No one really tells you how to get out of it. I mean think about it. We certainly weren’t ever guided by anyone to get out of debt. There sure is A LOT of effort put into marketing to get us into debt. Before we consolidated…which we do not recommend, it seemed that the mailbox brought a few of our friends home every month -Visa and Master Card. My husband sure seemed glad to see them.
The problem with having friends over too frequently is that they get too comfortable. One day it rains and they’re tracking mud all through your house finding their favorite seat.
Situations.
Debt is a situation. Often you don’t even realize your even in a situation until you’re wedged in a corner, thinking “How did I get here and how do I get out?” I NEED LEVERAGE!
In the Ground Level restroom of Anderson County Courthouse rests this sign…and no, I didn’t go in there and take this picture. My husband did!
Thank you for posting this. It is very interesting to me as I currently feel like I’m backed into the corner and my debt is breathing down my neck. While I have not read Dave Ramsey’s book, I do know that he emphasizes the necessities first. Tithing comes first in this home and mortgage takes care of itself (ask me if you are curious about that). Utilities are at the top of the list but grocery money tends to come last when we are like,
“Ok, we have 8 dollars to last 2 weeks.” Honestly, I’m scared that if I don’t pay the other bills first (before groceries) then there won’t be enough money left for them. (Shaking at the thought of bill collectors or turned off power or plummeting credit scores!)
I need to re-think how I do things, I guess.
I think consolidation only works if after you consolidate, you rid yourself of the items that got you to that point. I consolidated…and I cut up every single credit card I had when I did. The only thing in my wallet now is my debit card, which can be used like a credit card ~ only difference is I must have the cash available in my account. When it is stripped from your account immediately, it makes a world of difference on how you use it. I will be totally debt free (with the exception of my mortgage) in about two years….and I feel a party coming on when that happens.
Love the sign
Very precise and undemanding, yet forceful. Same with how we have to be with money.
I wish they would teach the teen course that Dave Ramsey developed in high schools. Money management and home keeping should be required courses for both girls and boys.
In college I took a family finance class (which I’m very happy I did because it was very applicable.) One book that was required for our class was called “The Wealthy Barber” and discussed how to take charge of finances. We also worked out our own budget. I was actually really lucky because I took the class the semester after I got married. To create a realistic budget, they had us track ALL our expenditures for one month (realistically you should track expenses for 3-4 months but that would have been our whole semester) and create a budget based on what we spent. Of course there are areas that you can try to cut back in after evaluating where you spend your money.
Here are some links that have great resources:
http://ocw.usu.edu/Family__Consumer____Human_Development/Family_Finance/Additional_Resources.html
http://extension.usu.edu/utah/htm/family-finance
One more tip for avoiding debt is to deduct credit card spending from your check register (as if you spend it from your checking account) that way you will not overspend. This is a good idea if you have a rewards credit card because then you can get reward without getting into debt and pay off your card every month.
I’ve been hearing a lot about this Dave Ramsey debt management and I’ve got to say I’m pretty interested in the concept. Hubby and I were pretty proud of ourselves for only having 1 credit card (for emergencies, yeah right.) Well, when that one credit card creeps up higher and higher you might as well have a bunch of little ones in your wallet. We’ve been living high on the hog for way too long now. Time to live realistically. Darnit. =)
Mindy
http://www.thesuburbanlife.com
I’m a big believe that as long as you have a plan to get out of debt and STICK to it, you’ll be okay. I agree, they don’t teach you how to get out of debt. I think it should be a required class Sr. year in high school. It should explain debt in depth. Explain what you REALLY end up paying once all the interest accrues…. Was that $5 widget you bought really worth the $19 you ended up paying for it in the end? They need to stress this stuff to teenagers before they fall down the rabbit hole….