We interrupt our normally scheduled post for this breaking news…

I met Dave!

Yesterday I got the opportunity to volunteer at the Dave Ramsey Live Event in Phoenix. It was this same event 10 years ago that changed our lives.

Before the show Dave came around and greeted every one of the 60 or so volunteers that gave up 8 hours of their day to come and work the event.

He shook my hand and said “Thank you for helping out!”

And I wanted to laugh because really, there is NO WAY I could repay him for the difference he has made in our lives.

If I had more time I would have told him that other than God and our families, he is the one person who has had the greatest impact in our lives.

He made our marriage better.

He helped us grow in our faith.

Beginning to apply his principles was like the gentle turning of a rudder on a great big ship that is our lives. We changed our direction that year but now, 10 years later we can see the DRAMATICALLY different route our lives have taken.

I am not in any way trying to cut God out of the equation. Quite the opposite – through Dave we gained a greater understanding of what God wants from us when it comes to our money.

• He wants us to not be in debt (Prov 22:7)
• He wants us to save (Prov 21:20)
• He wants us to make a plan for our money (Prov 27:23)
• He wants us to help others (Philippians 2:3-4)
• He wants us to give cheerfully (II Cor 9:7)

To be honest when we first started the baby steps our motivation was to pay off our debt so we could build our wealth and retire early. But along the journey we discovered the extreme joy in giving. We discovered the freedom to alter our careers and pursue our God-given dreams. We discovered what REALLY matters.

For us what really matters is not the size of our 401k, or what age we’re going to be able to retire at. It’s the impact our money can have RIGHT NOW! It’s adding two children to our family through adoption. It’s helping send orphans in Uganda to school. It’s helping a church in Ethiopia care for at risk kids in their community (more on that coming soon).

All of that we owe, in large part, to Dave and the ministry God has blessed him with.

So thank you Dave, for everything!

• Part 1:  The Early Years: In Love and In Debt
• Part 2: Joining Financial Baggage
• Part 3: Driving Our Debt Around
• Part 4: The Baby Years: Baby Steps, Baby Boy
• Part 5: The “B” Word: B-U-D-G-E-T
• Part 6: The Envelope System – It Makes Your Budget Work
• Part 7: The ever-important emergency fund
• Part 8: Dumping Debt
• Part 9: Freedom to Make BIG Changes
• Part 10: Facing Setbacks – Meet Murphy

It is inevitable.

You being to make progress on a goal, or make major life changes and “Murphy” comes to visit.

Dave even mentions Murphy in his Financial Peace University.

Murphy is the guy who, right after you get your baby emergency fund done ($500-1,000), makes your car suddenly need $400 in repairs. Or lands your kid in the emergency room with hundreds of dollars in hospital bills.

I hate Murphy!

For us Murphy decided to show up BIG time within a couple months of me leaving my job and us now living on half the income we were used to.

In the span of about two months the following things happened:

• The dishwasher died – $400 to replace (deciding to invest in a good one)
• The Mazda repairs began to outweigh it’s worth; purchase new used car – $3,000 (added to the $1,500 we sold Mazda for)
• Went on paid for vacation to Hawaii during which there was an accident w/ the rental car – $1,500 (deductible plus rental agency “admin” fee)
• Dog got huge cyst on tail for the gazillioneth time, it burst, tail had to be amputated – $1,500 vet bills

If you do the math that’s a little over $6,000!!

In one of the FPU lessons Dave talks about the “security gland” women have that goes into overdrive when they start to doubt their financial security. Let me tell you, the security gland coupled with post-pregnancy hormones IS NOT PRETTY! I pretty much lost it in the parking lot of the vets office while writing a check for $1,500 for Mark to take inside.

Thankfully, after I calmed down, I realized how blessed we were that NONE of that money was going on a credit card. It was all covered by our emergency fund. Yes, it severely depleted it but at least we did not have that debt hanging over our heads.

On our smaller income it took some time to build the emergency fund back up, but once again God showed us the rewards of being faithful by providing some freelance work for me to do that helped.

So consider yourself introduced to Murphy. I hope that when (notice I didn’t say “if”) he visits you he is less brutal and that you are well prepared. Don’t be discouraged by his setback but keep plugging away.

• Part 1:  The Early Years: In Love and In Debt
• Part 2: Joining Financial Baggage
• Part 3: Driving Our Debt Around
• Part 4: The Baby Years: Baby Steps, Baby Boy
• Part 5: The “B” Word: B-U-D-G-E-T
• Part 6: The Envelope System – It Makes Your Budget Work
• Part 7: The ever-important emergency fund
• Part 8: Dumping Debt
• Part 9: Freedom to Make BIG Changes