DEBT
We purchased a home in May of 2019. It is a nice house and we really enjoy it. Hardwood floors and tile, no carpet, it was freshly painted. We just moved in.
Let me give you a little history.
In 2004 we were in really bad shape, financially. I made a good living, but we had over $250,000.00 in debt. Business, house, cars, credit cards, etc. In 2006, we lost everything. We had to start over….
In 2007 we were invited to attend Financial Peace University hosted at a local church. We attended, we followed the program, and we started our journey. It was not easy, It was not fun, but we were making progress. Through a job loss, Laura had major medical issues, homeschooling 4 kids, and having a mother with major medical issues. Life was hard.
By 2013 we made it, we became debt free. At that time I knew at some point I wanted to become a Dave Ramsey Financial Coach. In 2021, I became a Ramsey Financial Coach.
Today we are debt free except for our house. It is a choice. My choice is not to go into debt.
Car needs tires. ? Charge it or save $ and purchase them with cash. It took 3 months hoping the tires would last, but they did. I ended up getting good tires with a great warranty $600.00 +. I have never paid that much for 4 tires, but I paid cash. I CHOSE NO DEBT.
Dishwasher… died. ? Charge it or save $ and purchase it with cash. I looked at all my options. The appliance store had 0% interest for 12 months. The bank would loan me the money. DEBT. So we chose to was dishes, by hand. That was in June 2021. Still haven’t replaced it because the tires were first priority and now the washer.
The washer died. ? Charge it or save $ and purchase it with cash. This one really hurt. We had purchased a new dryer last year, for cash. But the washer is a major thing. I looked at all my options again. We just purchased our washer in 2018. Supposed to have a 10 year warranty. NOT. It is dead the the repairman said not worth fixing. I talked to a few friends and asked about their washers and I did research online to see what the best makes and models were. We found a commercial unit with a 5 year parts and labor warranty and they had one in stock. We could have put together the $ to go and buy it immediately, but that would have depleted our EMERGENCY fund and we don’t want to do that. So we looked at our budget, figured out how much we need to buy the washer, projected our upcoming income, and Laura and I decided that we can purchase the washer within 30 days. Yes that means we have to wash some things out by hand, go to the Laundromat and wash some clothes, but we have a new dryer so we can bring them home and dry them. All this is a choice NOT to go into DEBT.
If you are ready to make some future plans, get out of debt, and make some CHOICES, contact me today and let’s talk.
God bless you!
Lowell Lane 