I'm not going to lie to you vowing to live a debt free lifestyle is hard work. And yesterday was no exception. I threw myself a pity party. Oh, yes I did! A little background here. In April 2011, after two years of paying down debt my husband and I became debt free other than our mortgage. No credit card payments, no car loan, no student loan, nothing.Ever since becoming debt free, Murphy has decided to take up permanent residence in our house. First, a van, then a dryer, a hard drive, a recliner, a couch and most recently a grill and now MY LAPTOP. Through it all we have prevailed. For 10 months we made due with one vehicle to transport 4 kids to and from school and other activities. One vehicle to take a Daddy to work and meetings everyday. And one vehicle to take a mommy expecting baby #5 back and forth from doctor's appointments.
For months we strung up two Dollar Tree clotheslines in our basement in the middle of a Minnesota winter to dry clothes for a family of six. We made due under both of these circumstances until we managed to pay cash for a new vehicle and dryer.
That brings us to present date. We currently have no furniture in our living room, It is grilling season in our beloved Minnesota and we are forced to grill indoors on a George Foreman grill. And, I struggle to write and perform other computer tasks on a painfully slow and archaic laptop.
It would be so easy to give up and charge something on credit. Come on we deserve it, right? It's the American way. Just imagine the instant gratification it would bring (at least until the next billing cycle).
Come, on Heidi! What would going back into debt solve? It would make all those times you sacrificed sleep by staying up until 2:00 am or waking up well before the crack of dawn to answer P90X infomercial calls or enter one more magazine order for nothing. This is a marathon and not a sprint. And if I can't exercise good judgement, restraint and patience how can I expect my children to do the same? I just need to dig a little deeper and find more strength to keep the momentum moving. I may not be the fastest one in the race, but I've got determination on my side.
So Murphy I accept your challenge. I will find the the strength to overtake you. And, I will strive to model the behavior I want my children to acquire. Because as Dave Ramsey says, "I am living like no one else, so later I can live like no one else."
Wow! I commend you on this way of life. My husband and I are expecting our first baby and are hoping to pay off everything but one car payment and our mortgage before baby gets here. Unfortunately, like your experiences, badly timed expenses like both of our car's AC going out (pregnant in Florida with no AC!) within 4 days of each other has set us back. We had to charge this astronomical expense, thus erasing all the months of paying off our credit cards. Definitely hope to be in your situation some day! Thanks for the encouragement.
ReplyDeleteWay to go!!! Keep up the good work! Sometimes I feel like our pile of debt is so overwhelming that we'll never see the bottom of it- even with the snowball rolling faster and faster... Stories like this give me the oomph to keep going.
ReplyDelete