WE started getting out of debt a couple of years ago when my next door neighbor introduced me to Dave Ramsey by loaning me his book "Total Money Makeover." I love to read so I cracked it open and didn't stop until I finished it. I was surprised because I thought I was a good money manager until I read this book.
This slowdown has hit us like everyone else but we have no monthly payments (consumer debt) so we just don't eat out, drive less, and we're OK. The company I work for has been bought out and my pay was cut by 25%. My wifes job depends on the building trade and it's almost non-existent right now so our income has been slashed. The tuition for our daughter is paid up through this semester (again no debt) and I have about half of next semester in an envelope. We save money for things in separate envelopes and we don't buy anything until the money is there. Freakish huh?
We live in flyover country and the wages here are notoriously low, but gas, groceries, and housing is not equally low so we're constantly pressed to be efficient. I felt like we got a raise when we did our first budget, where we sat down and spent every dime...on paper...on purpose, before the month began. Thank God my neighbor loaned me the book two years ago.
Times are tough right now, but learning how to survive in tough times will be a blessing in the end because you can learn how to thrive when things improve. Your income is your best wealth building tool, anything you purchase and pay interest on is like inviting a parasite to attach itself to your paycheck. Even though our income has declined during this time we have managed to lay back three months of expenses in a savings account and pay off everything but our house. We're not special, and it wasn't easy, but we did it.
If the average American carried little or no consumer debt, like thirty years ago when you had to actually qualify for a loan, this slowdown...recession...depression...whatever it is, would not be happening. It's time for us as Americans to COWBOY UP BABY!! Share ideas, encourage each other, expect more from ourselves.....you know....all the things that made us the greatest nation ever in the history of the planet. Let's put our houses in order and then demand the same from our leaders. Let's shrug off the thinking that got us here and look to tried and true, self reliant, personal responsibility to guide our lives. Let's stop whining for the government to give us things and just get them for ourselves. Our grandparents were right, waste not want not, save for a rainy day, if you don't have the money...don't buy it. So be of good cheer, your circumstances don't determine who you are, your decisions do.
