A few years ago we attending a Dave Ramsey seminar and began changing our approach to money. All of my professional life I have worked for Churches or camps (there is not big money in this line of work), so getting IN debt was easy and getting out was NOT!
With help from friends we began to pay down debt, but the most valuable lesson that we learned was "living with less". For about a year, our family of 5 lived on less than $25,0000/year and we took vacations, kept our TV & cell phone packages. We determined that we had 2 options.
1. Cut absolutely everything and pay off the debt as fast as possible (no Christmas, no visiting family, no TV, etc)
2. Cut down but continue to live and take longer to pay off the debt. (our choice)
Today, we live with no debt and pay off anything we charge at the end of each month. We still live simple but we are very well taken care of.
I believe that messages all over our culture tell us that we should have someone else "payoff" our debts or take care of us. Our national government is fighting this same issue each day by debating financial issues. As Americans, I believe we must individually take responsibility for our situation and move to "live with less" until things get better. Learning to say "I don't need that" or "We will wait until we have the money to buy" has been the most powerful statements we know.
This kind of practice has set us FREE instead of holding us! We are no longer under a bank or credit companies control. WE ARE IN CONTROL. It's about time that our Nation consider the above options and pay down debt, live with less and teach our citizens to do the same.
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