Total Money Makeover Debt Stress Be Gone!

Have you ever woke up surrounded by mountains of bills and debt that you have no idea how you're going to pay? Have you ever looked into your own future and thought there was no way you would ever be out of debt, or buy a home, or live comfortably in your retirement? I had that moment not long ago. My life needs a total money makeover. I am 35, my husband is 37, we have 4 children, ages 15, 13, 5, and 3. We are in debt to the tune of $111,000 with student loans, medical bills, and a car loan making up the vast majority. We, unlike many Americans, have 0 credit card debt so at least that is a good thing! We don't make a ton of money our combined income is just over $42,000 a year. Upon having this realization I felt like getting out of debt will take forever, years and years making minimum payments every month.

Does this sound like you? I figured out that we needed serious action just a week or two ago. My husband had to have a pretty sudden surgery that added $20,000 in medical bills on top of our already mounting debt. Our electricity had been shut off for a day and we took out several payday loans to get it turned back on. I sat back in tears looking at the mess we made of things. Thinking that getting out of our rental universe was never going to happen. We would never be able to retire or have anything we really want with our money in such a mess. So I went on an information hunt.

I poured over information from financial gurus all over the internet and at my local library. Nothing hit home. Nothing I was finding offered the peace I was looking for. That's when Dave Ramsey appeared on the library shelf. I picked up a copy of his book The Total Money Makeover and found what I was looking for. I found understanding, simplicity, and action based steps that have lead thousands to freedom from the weight of debt and into living really amazing lives. The concepts are simple, live on less than you make, work hard to make more so debts can be paid off faster, save an emergency fund (emergencies will happen and especially happen when you are broke), invest in retirement, save for college, pay off the house, give and grow wealth. So simple right?

While it sounds simple it is hard. It is hard to face the mess that has been made. It is hard to budget and live on cash and not just buy something because we feel like we work hard and deserve it. We found out things were really worse than we thought. We were behind on several bills and didn't have a dime in the bank. So we sat down together and looked at the expenses and found things we could live without. We cut out our gym membership and my makeup subscription. We cut our grocery budget back and took out the eating outline of the budget. We will be current on the bills this month. Then we can actually begin what Dave calls the Baby Steps.

Baby Step 1: Save up $1,000 and do it fast. That $1,000 will be what stands between us and Murphy (Murphy's law: if it can happen it will happen and it will happen when you're broke) In all honesty it will be the first time that there has been anything in a savings account we are hoping to complete baby step 1 in May. Follow the journey, maybe look at your money and start a money makeover of your own. The path to financial freedom is here. You can find information on Dave Ramsey online through his website. There are also facebook communities and an app that is free to download of all his shows (he is a radio and TV personality). This man went from millionaire to broke and back to millionaire I think there is something to be learned from his experience.

I will continue to post about the journey and how well we can stick to the plan along with more information about Mr. Dave Ramsey and all the things he is teaching us. I look forward to the journey that we are making, scary as it is we are prepared to live like no one else so later we can live like no one else!