Financial Pieces

Friends have recently gotten me reading and listening to the advice of financial counselor Dave Ramsey. Essentially, his philosophy is that debt is bad...GET OUT OF IT AND STAY OUT OF IT. It shouldn't have been anything all that shocking but reading his book, Financial Peace Revisited, and regularly listening to his radio show over the past couple weeks has been an eye opening experience. His reasoning is financially sound as well as Biblical and, like the Bible, his teaching is honest and challenging but always, at its core, loving and compassionate.

Anyway, I think we've been aware that we needed to review our finances for some time. Having recently added a family member and subtracted an income, the need for such financial review has grown all the more clear. We're not broke and we're not necessarily going broke but we certainly do not have financial peace. What to do about it? Well, that's a great question?

The good news is that I believe we've already made the needed changes to our mindset. As for actions, we're strongly considering a move to a smaller, more affordable home. I wouldn't mind selling my car, buying something cheaper, and using the proceeds for said home and/or investment. We could stick it out in our current home but it would be 5 years of pretty dramatic skimping and saving to get out of two cars and a home equity loan and, honestly, I'm not sure we love our house that much. Plus, that puts us 5 years behind in saving for Jesse's college, 5 years behind in more intense retirement planning, 5 years behind in vacations and other "fun" money spending, 5 years deeper in commitment the paycheck from a career I don't necessarily love, and 5 more years of worrying about "the next big expense" whether it be some home repair, medical bills, or even child #2.

We have been continually praying for God's guidance in our finances and we're confident He will guide us. He has already blessed us greatly and I hope we can use those blessings wisely.