Its been suggested I start blogging a bit about something I'm super passionate about.....cash basis/debt free living. I thought that was a good idea so here I am. I want to start with just a little history about my financial journey.
In 2003 I found myself pretty much flat broke. I had lost all my financial resources, including having to cash in my retirement fund simply to have money to live on. The whys of how this happened aren't really all that important. On top of that I had moved to DC and started a new job at $5K less a year than I had been making back in Cincinnati. It was definitely paycheck to paycheck for awhile. I was living the way most Americans live, on credit. I had the same collection of plastic my friends had so I must be successful......right?? By the end of 2005 I was in about $24,000 of debt. I had the $9000 in college loans. The credit card was now close to $4000. I owed someone $800 in a personal loan. And I had an $11,000 car loan. I was making more money by now, yes. But the debt was eating up any extra money and I couldn't see a way out of the hole or even a way to keep the hole from getting deeper as I had no way to pay for anything else that might come up. I knew something had to change.
Christmas 2005 a friend gave me probably the greatest gift I've ever received. They paid for me to attend Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University**. I started the journey in the end of January 2006 and using the things I learned I became 100% debt free in April 2008. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't easy. I had to make a choice, what was more important to me....continuing to buy "stuff", eat out, go places or learn how to handle my money and get out of debt. The way I looked at it I was going to have to pay the piper at some point...now or later, and I chose to do it now and have financial freedom later.
Today I am debt free with the exception of a mortgage. Yup, I was able to buy a house last year because of the choices I made before. I still struggle at times with sticking to a budget and living on a cash basis but I keep working and trying. I have a definite plan for where I want to be in life in the next 3 or so years so now I am starting to work on what I need to do financially to get there.
I'm going to start writing about what I've learned and how I got out of debt as well as share my financial work on my future plans. So stay tuned.
**For those interested, the course I took is Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. Yes, it is a Christian based program however, while Ramsey does reference Biblical principles he is very good about not cramming them down your throat or moralizing about money choices. His main focus is teaching people how to handle their money regardless of their beliefs. If you want more information about the program, feel free to ask me.
In 2003 I found myself pretty much flat broke. I had lost all my financial resources, including having to cash in my retirement fund simply to have money to live on. The whys of how this happened aren't really all that important. On top of that I had moved to DC and started a new job at $5K less a year than I had been making back in Cincinnati. It was definitely paycheck to paycheck for awhile. I was living the way most Americans live, on credit. I had the same collection of plastic my friends had so I must be successful......right?? By the end of 2005 I was in about $24,000 of debt. I had the $9000 in college loans. The credit card was now close to $4000. I owed someone $800 in a personal loan. And I had an $11,000 car loan. I was making more money by now, yes. But the debt was eating up any extra money and I couldn't see a way out of the hole or even a way to keep the hole from getting deeper as I had no way to pay for anything else that might come up. I knew something had to change.
Christmas 2005 a friend gave me probably the greatest gift I've ever received. They paid for me to attend Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University**. I started the journey in the end of January 2006 and using the things I learned I became 100% debt free in April 2008. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't easy. I had to make a choice, what was more important to me....continuing to buy "stuff", eat out, go places or learn how to handle my money and get out of debt. The way I looked at it I was going to have to pay the piper at some point...now or later, and I chose to do it now and have financial freedom later.
Today I am debt free with the exception of a mortgage. Yup, I was able to buy a house last year because of the choices I made before. I still struggle at times with sticking to a budget and living on a cash basis but I keep working and trying. I have a definite plan for where I want to be in life in the next 3 or so years so now I am starting to work on what I need to do financially to get there.
I'm going to start writing about what I've learned and how I got out of debt as well as share my financial work on my future plans. So stay tuned.
**For those interested, the course I took is Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. Yes, it is a Christian based program however, while Ramsey does reference Biblical principles he is very good about not cramming them down your throat or moralizing about money choices. His main focus is teaching people how to handle their money regardless of their beliefs. If you want more information about the program, feel free to ask me.
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