Meet Dave. Dave is Chad's new hero.. ha ha ha. Okay, I kinda like him too. This is Dave Ramsey, a financial guru. Let me start by saying that Chad and I have always had debt. We got married with debt and as much as we were able to pay down something, we would find some other way to get back into debt. Well, a few months back one of Chad's coworkers mentioned Dave Ramsey, and Chad decided to do some more research on him. I admit that when Chad started to tell me he wanted to attend one of Dave's seminars or buy some books of his I really didn't think that he would do it. But I guess I was wrong. The next thing I know a big box arrived at the house with 2 of his books, a couple of his DVD's and an envelope system. Click here to see what we got. After reading the books, and watching the DVD's, Chad and I were sold. We have been doing Dave's system for about 6 weeks now and can not even tell you all the difference it has made in our finances and in our marriage.
In a nutshell, this is what we are doing: Chad gets paid every week. So, on the way home from work on payday Chad stops by the ATM and pulls out our allotted cash, which is what we both have agreed we can get by on every week. Included in Dave's kit was this handy envelope system. It has all of these pockets that we have named Grocery, Gas, Restaurants, Entertainment, Clothing, Babysitting, etc. We simply fund the envelopes with the cash. I can not tell you the last time I used my debit card. I am on cash only. Research shows that when you buy with a card, you spend more. It hurts to pay cash, and see that money go and so you are tighter with it. I can attest to that in these last 6 weeks. :) I take these envelopes when I buy anything, and leave all cards, even my debit, at home. I pay in cash and when it is gone, it is gone... period. You could easy look at this system and think that it is binding and really mean of Chad to make me live like this, but it has been very freeing. For example, no more do I have to be afraid of getting in trouble for shopping. This last week I had 60 dollars in my clothing envelope and my sisters invited me to go shopping, so I went, guilt free! I don't know if anyone else does, but every time I would go shopping for groceries or whatever, I would get to the register and have a moment of panic that it was going to be a big bill and I would be in trouble with Chad when I got home. I hated that feeling!! Never again.
The best part is that no more do Chad and I argue about money. Whenever we talk about money it is usually how excited we are that we have paid off yet another debt or credit card. Six weeks ago Chad and I put our credit cards away, so we would not be tempted to use them. This morning Chad got them down and went to town on a little "plastic surgery." By sticking to using our cash and using all the money we can every paycheck towards our debt, we have already paid off quite a few and we now have more money in our savings account then we have ever had. I have been very proud of Chad, and his determination to make this happen. His goal is to be debt free except our house in 18 months, and I would wager that we will make that. Trust me, I will make a big post about it when we do make that! I would never have imagined it, but this envelope system has been a huge blessing. It feels like we have truly turned a leaf in our marriage for the better. We have also started teaching our kids about work and money, by using Dave's books that I am really excited about. But that will have to be for another post...
6 comments:
Sara Yea so proud of you both! Getting away from credit cards is the best feeling! When Jon & I got married we decided to only have one card each with a small limit as to not get in over our heads, when he was laid off we put those two cards in a file drawer and left them there. It is the most freeing experience to know you are not chained to a credit card bill every month.
I love Dave Ramsey. Listen to his show all the time. Have heard awesome things about his program. Keep us posted on your progress.
Missed you last month. Hope you are doing well.
Sara how exciting. My friends do his program and few years back and she said it was the greatest feeling EVER to be out of debt.
I think I married a cousin of "Dave", not to mention my dad is a financial advisor so I have been surrounded by money gurus. It's not always the easiest life to live, at first, but then realize they had so much more than you ever needed.
I can't wait to hear about your success post.
I've heard of a lot of people that really like the envelope system. We had someone give a fireside in our ward about finances and he advocated Dave Ramsey's program. Glad it is doing wonders for you guys!!
Dave is ringing in the air lately! We are just in the starting phases of putting his plan together in our lives & getting all of our debt paid off that we accumulated through our whole investment home situation. I am really excited about having a plan and seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, where before the tunnel seemed to never have an end. I can't wait to see the post saying that you are debt free! We may be making some SERIOUSLY HUGE changes in the next few months to be able to reach the goal of having everything paid off before 2 years (I want to set the goal of having everything paid off before our 10 year anniversary which is March 2012). So extreme measures may have to be taken!
Good Job Chad and Sara!!!
I think its so true, I know when I have my card I spend more. Its so easy to just swipe it over and over. I know I save more when I'm using cash, because I see what I'm losing. I don't have too many expenses yet, but sounds like such a great system. Maybe I will start using cash more often!
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