Okay, I admit it… at first glance, this subject may appear to deviate from my usual topics of wealth consciousness and positive thinking.  But hang with me for a minute, because I may convince you otherwise…..

I realize that I’m not alone when it comes to my desire to have financial freedom.  Everywhere I look, my spiritual friends are all on a quest to finding their passion AND something that will pay the bills AND EVEN BETTER.. something that will make them wealthy.

The truth of the matter is that it is somewhat challenging to get into the necessary frame of mind to attract wealth if you are still carrying a truck load of debt on your back from your past life experiences.   I have repeatedly scoured my finances for “extra” money to pay off bills, get caught up on my debt and make some breathing room in my budget.  Most of the time I just find myself back at square one, wondering how I’ll ever get ahead.

I ran across this book by a fellow named Dave Ramsey quite by accident.  My daughter wanted to go to the library one Saturday to play on the computers and pick out a book.  I really didn’t want to go, but how could I turn her down?  It’s the LIBRARY for Pete’s Sake!  How many kids these days are begging to go to the library?  (I say that with a smile…)

So while she was doing her usual stuff, I wandered over to the new release section to peruse the clean pages of the latest additions to the library shelves.  I wasn’t thinking about my finances at the time, and really thought I might find a good read on how to do something or how to make something — I’m always into that.  For some reason, however, Dave Ramsey’s book jumped out at me instead.

The name is somewhat familiar - probably because he’s been around for years and has a popular radio show.  What caught my eye was the by-line beneath the title, “PROVEN PLAN FOR FINANCIAL FITNESS”.  Now that’s what I need - I was saying to myself.  So I pulled it off the shelf and began to read.

I was a little turned off with the preface and first chapter because there was a lot of talk about “hard work” and “sacrifice”.  Now, I’m not afraid of either of those things, but I’m a big fan of the Law of Attraction, which teaches that we can attract everything we want — and it doesn’t have to be painful at all! 

This book also centers around $money$ of course - so once again, it was deviating from the teachings that tell us that money is just another form of exchange to get the stuff we want, but not the only form of exchange…

Even so, I was able to put those ideas aside so I could get to the heart of the book and see Ramsey’s promises that would finally rid me of my unhealthy debt.  After all, nothing happens by accident - my daughter led me to the library, and something else led me to the shelf where this book was perched… something bigger than me was at work that I may not understand at the moment.  (See?  I have learned something over the years about the LOA!)

The book spends a lot of time talking about debt “myths” and how they contribute to our spiraling financial condition.   While most of them I immediately agreed with, I found a few that I had embraced for so long that it took a little bit of coercion to make me think differently.  For instance, “Debt is a tool and should be used to create prosperity.”  As a teenager, my mom helped me establish credit by opening a co-signed credit card account.  I still have this card and a huge credit line for my years of faithful use (and the many dollars of interest I have paid).  Dave Ramsey explains how debt adds considerable risk, most often doesn’t bring prosperity, and isn’t used by wealthy people nearly as much as we are led to believe.  He also pointed out that 60% of people who use credit cards with the intention of paying the balance off each month fail to actually follow through.  

YIKES!  I know I have done that - promising myself that it’s just a little “loan” until payday, but guess what sometimes happens?  Another unexpected expense comes along and now you are paying high interest on your credit card debt.

He also points out that debt consolidation may appear great on the surface by combining your bills into one payment and possibly lowering your interest rate - but it can be dangerous.  There are probably a few people who have gotten in over their heads and just need some help to regroup and recover.    There’s a bigger issue here - and debt is not the problem, it is the symptom.   Debt is the symptom of overspending and under-saving.  If the behavior that caused the over-swell of debt doesn’t change, you’ll be back in bad financial shape in no time. 

Once Ramsey drives home the truth vs. myth principles, he goes to work to teach the reader how to move “past the obstacle course and up the mountain”.    He starts you out easy with “baby steps” to build up debt removal momentum.   When you develop a little more confidence and security in you ability to actually make it all work, he shifts the reader into high gear by showing them how to start what he calls a “debt snowball”.  He gives an easy to understand method of paying off debts one by one and snowballing the payment effort to  put more towards each remaining debt until it is all gone. 

It seems simple enough that you think - hey, I should of thought of this myself (and maybe you did…) but actually putting it into action takes a little persistent prodding and encouragement - and busting out some more myths. 

Take me for instance… I was sitting on an account full of cash while carrying 3 credit cards with debt.  I called my account a “savings”, but it made no interest to speak of.  My credit cards, however, charged interest every month like clockwork, and I had 3 of them hitting me with some hefty minimum payments.  Even though one of my cards was a 0% interest loan, the second was a special 3.99% and then there was the old-faithful-and-easy-to-pull-out-for-every-unexpected-expense card that charges 18.99%. 

I also had a payment plan worked out for my daughter’s school tuition.  While it was no interest and was necessary for me to be able to enroll her at the first of the school year (since I didn’t have an extra $3K laying around), it was now low enough to pay off and was just a lingering nuisance that was keeping me from making bigger payments on my interest-laden accounts.

So using the snowball method, I went to work of clearing up my debts, starting with the smallest, then combining payments for the next in line.  I took a huge, scary leap and cashed out my savings to make a massive dent in my debt (while reserving an emergency fund as described in baby step 1 of the book). 

I then got creative and pulled in money from a variety of sources including picking up some extra work doing web design for a local agency that needed temporary help.  I also sold some antiques/collectibles  through an auction house - items that were taking up space in my attic and would never be used. 

I reviewed my current bills and found that I could get a better deal on my phone service by participating in one of their new money-saving packages.  I also scoured my other accounts and found that my insurance company had failed to pay the proper amount on a medical claim, so I had them re-open the case and re-file the paperwork.   By becoming more active in my own finances, I discovered a lot of waste, errors and room for savings.

Where do I stand right now?  I have removed almost all of my consumer debt except for a small amount that remains on our farm equipment (which I should have paid off in just a few months with the snowball method) and lastly, our house mortgage.   I am shifting my focus to creating a safety net that will contain at least 6 months of income in the event of loss of employment or economic downturn.  While we never lowered our retirement investments, we did halt our college savings temporarily, so I will be using Ramsey’s advice on this topic to build a strong educational fund for my children.  When that is done, I’ll tackle the mortgage, and soon be debt free.

My husband and I feel the financial burden lifting from my shoulders and can finally see the light of day.  I’m glad my daughter wanted to go to the library on a Saturday that I wanted to just lay around the house.  She may even have money for college now… imagine that! 

Check Out This Book At Your Local Library, or buy it online at Amazon.com
The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness