"The Kate Gosselin Effect"

If I watch “Jon & Kate +8” for more than seven minutes at a time it makes me never want to have children. While I realize that Jon seems like a responsibility shirking man-child, Kate seems to never believe that he can do anything correctly if it’s not done her way. Seriously, how many ways is there to wipe oatmeal off of a kid’s face? Just clean it.

At the beginning of our long walk to freedom from debt I knew that we would have plenty of people spewing forth negativity & all the reasons why debt cannot be conquered. But what I didn’t realize was once we began overcoming some of the debt that some people would still be negative despite our good results.

I have found out that just because we’re not doing it their way that they really believe we’re not doing it at all. This is what I call “The Kate Gosselin Effect” & I’ve been on the receiving end of it a time or two. While I don’t generally begin conversations about our debt quest, I do chime in sometimes when it’s brought up in conversation.

An instance of the Kate Gosselin Effect was when I told someone we are paying $25 extra a month on our car payment. It’s not a huge amount & there are other places I could put it. However, $25 is not such an outstanding amount that I would do serious damage with it on another bill. But if left in my pocket that same $25 could be spent each month on various items & I would likely not miss it. So I designate it. I make it work for me. I tell it where to go.

By our calculations we will have the car paid off early already. But by throwing that extra $25 a month on it, I can spare myself of four months of payments. I’m aware that this $25 does not apply towards the principle like it would if I paid it extra on the house. Car financing generally charges all of the interest up front in the loan. However, every $25 that I pay now is $25 I don’t have to pay later. I am $25 closer to being debt free.

I received blatant criticism from the person I was talking to & they declared (Not Michael Scott style declaring) that I should be paying it extra on another bill. I explained my reasoning & they continued for some time to let me know how wrong I was. I ended the conversation with, “Debt free is debt free no matter how you get there.” They had no response.

Listen, until they sit at my house & cut coupons for me to save that $25 then their opinion really doesn’t matter. When they start making their way out of debt & change their spending behavior then maybe I’ll find their advice valuable. Until then, your advice doesn’t apply to me.

For the life of me I cannot understand why people think I will lay awake at night recalling their opinions of my financial decisions. My way may not work for you but that doesn’t mean you can’t be debt free or more frugal. Because no matter which frugal way you decide to work your finances, the bottom line is that you will be more financially set than you were yesterday.

So take that financial Kate Gosselin’s! I don’t believe my method is the only way but I do know that it’s working. In the words of Dave Ramsey, “Live today like no one else & tomorrow you will live like no one else.”

You got it Dave. :)

Nevertheless ~

“Overcoming the Financial Giants"

We have had tremendous encouragement from our family & friends on our journey to become debt free in 2010. They are super supportive & are anxious to see us reach our goal. Their pats on the back & high fives have made our walk into financial freedom so much sweeter.

But for every loved one that is on our side there is also a person who can’t wait to give us their financial advice. Well, that’s what they call it anyway. ;) I frequently have people who are ready to discourage me. In previous months I’ll admit it’s worked a time or two. When I would review our bills they seemed intimidating & I looked like a grasshopper in their sight. Then I began finding ways, such as reading financial success stores, to give myself confidence so the next time Debbie Downer (insert wah-wah) came around. Along with changing my mindset towards debt, these actions caused me not to dwell in the negativity of others.

Get ready for the financial giants to rear their ugly heads & spew forth a passel of what they entitle information. This will happen immediately after you let someone know you want to be debt free & it likely won’t end until you become debt free. The cool part is when you’re debt free they aren’t able to tell you that you’ll never do it.

I had one of these experiences not long ago when someone began telling me that they have paid off some debt. We began a conversation about becoming debt free & I talked about how we were working hard to do so. Then came all the reasons why we’ll never make it. Those included having children, car payments, & the possibility that my leg could fall off from jungle rot which will shove us into a downward spiral of financial frenzy from which we will never recover. Gee, thanks.

My response wasn’t epic by any means. I replied, “We will be debt free by December 2010.” They just blinked at me. They had nothing to say. I can’t blame them. I mean, really, what do you say to the person who doesn’t believe you? What could they say after they spent 20 minutes explaining to me why my plan would never work? How are they supposed to reply to my simple statement?

The following day I listened to Dave Ramsey’s radio show. He said, “What your broke friends say about money doesn’t matter. Their plan isn’t working.” That’s the way I want to face financial giants & their negative input. I want to hit them with the facts & the facts are that their plan isn’t working but mine is. There’s no need to be arrogant or condescending. However, I have every right to be confident in our results & what God is doing in our finances. Being out of debt won’t seem so impossible next December. :)

Nevertheless ~

"What do I have to offer? Not much." ;)

This isn’t the kind of blog where you will read about my crash to the bottom of the economy & how I clawed my way back up. It’s not the blog that references Charles Schwab or lists interesting stock tips. I’m not a professional writer & my greatest fault is throwing in or removing too many commas in a sentence. I’m rarely eloquent & I tend to write exactly like I talk. In fact, I’m sure my dear friend who is an English teacher would already be circling with her red pen by now. :)

This blog is for people like me & it will contain my journey to becoming debt free. I’m sure you’ll have read everything I have to say somewhere before from people who write it or say it a lot better than I do. I’m not claiming to be a financial scholar & I am not interested in giving you my two cents on your personal debt. What I am interested in is letting others know what I’m doing & what is going right or wrong in my quest for financial freedom. As my brother said, if this blog gains no readers it will still be a success journal for me.

I read another blog once that said, “Frugality isn’t for everyone.” So I’m keeping in mind that my way isn’t going to be your exact way. Where I pinch pennies, you may splurge. Where I can’t do without an item, you may view it as an unnecessary expense. We’re different people with different goals. I may splurge or spend in one area & tighten the belt in another but if it works for me then that’s all that matters.

I’ll eventually get comfortable writing here & throw in my sense of humor into my posts. This has to be fun for me because frankly, work & school are sucking the life out of me! ;) I get tired of seriousness 24/7. It’s like being friends with a vacuum cleaner manual. So, let’s have some fun & meanwhile I’ll pay a few bills off. :)

Nevertheless ~