Dave Ramsey and I

As the title of this blog indicates, we are BIG fans of Dave Ramsey and his advice regarding debt and all things financial. Jen and I took the course in 2009 (Oct. - Dec.) and are putting his advice into practice, such as:

* Living at Navarre St. in South Bend - even though it's farther away from work for me, it is yielding better rent than we can find anywhere else. This allows us to save some money towards other obligations.

* Sale shopping & coupons - we take the opportunity to look for the best deals on things (groceries, eating out, items for the apartment) and use any and all coupons we can. Sometimes that forces us to go places that we might not regularly shop, but at least it saves a bit o' cash. :)

* No new credit cards! - I was a big believer in the power of credit and it got me into nothing but TROUBLE! Are credit cards bad? I leave that to you to decide but doesn't work for me.

* Debt snowballing - this is a DR term, which just means we start paying gung-ho on the smallest debt we have until it is paid off. Then that money that was used is focused on the next smallest debt and so on. You are still paying on all your debts, but the focus is on one at a time.

These are just a few of the ways we have begun our debt-free marriage. Even our wedding was debt-free, which was (and is) such an awesome feeling! Has it been easy...not really, but it is really easy to say goodbye to having to pay a given bill or two. And yes, it has forced me to come out of my old habits and comforts to think more frugally. We are also encouraged by the recent development of Jen's brother and sister-in-law becoming completely debt-free, even paying their house off in one year!!!

Sooo....all this to say that today, Jennifer and I paid off not one, but TWO CREDIT CARDS!! It was so awesome to write that check and do that last online payment. Such a burden has been lifted!

Someday WE will get to yell "WE'RE DEBT FREE!!" What a great feeling!