WWDD?

What would Dave do? Dave Ramsey that is. He is the financial guru who has taught millions of people how to get out of debt using his books, seminars, and radio show. As many of you know, Bethany and I jumped on Dave's debt elimination bandwagon two years ago and have made some significant progress. Since I physically cut up our last credit card this week, I thought now would be a good time to give a status report on our progress.

Since April, 2004 we have paid off:

• Lowe's credit card...................$300
• My student loan......................$5342
• Discover/Visa cards................$11,000
• Truck loan................................$16,000
• Bethany's student loan...........$5000 of $9400 April '04 balance (remainder will be paid off by November)
• House........................................$10,000 of the April '04 balance

• Total of $48,000 of debt paid down!!!!!!!!!!!!

In that period of time we have managed to pay cash for the following without incurring any debt:

• 1999 Dodge Grand Caravan...........$5800
• 1996 Ford Crown Victoria..............$1800
• New transmission for van...............$1300
• Repairs on car..................................$1100
• Tires for van.....................................$500
• Trip to Orlando...............................$1300
• Trip to Cancun................................$2300

How did we do it? By living off a tight budget and using cash only- no financing, no credit cards, no buy now- pay later. If we don't have the money, we don't buy it. We did 95% of this while we only had one income. A family of three can pay down $48,000 in debt, own two cars outright, and still afford two family vacations on less than $50,000 per year of income-all in a little more than two years.

Our remaining financial goals:

• Pay off Bethany's student loan in November. (Then we'll be debt free except for the house!)
• Save up for adopting a child. (We have decided to pursue adopting a Chinese baby-with special thanks to fellow blogger Howdy and his wife for their help.)
• Pay off the house by the time I turn 40. (With the adoption, this goal may take an extra year, but I'm sure Dave wouldn't mind.)

Why am I telling you all of this? Am I bragging? Maybe a little. But my true intent is to show you that anyone can get out of debt once they put their mind to it. We have accomplished most of this while I stayed at home with Alex not earning a penny. Oh yeah, did I mention we have been saving money for Alex's college and have started saving and investing for our retirement, too? Can you imagine being 100% debt free, owning your own home and two cars, having a college fund for your kids, having a retirement fund for yourself, and still being young enough to enjoy it?! We are doing it and you can too. It doesn't matter how old you are. Start eliminating debt. Start saving and investing. The average mutual fund earns at least a 10% return per year over the course of 10 years. Dave's course is called "Financial Peace." Without this peace, we would still feel stressed out by money. Money problems are one of the biggest killers of marriages. Bethany and I were nearly $200,000 in debt a few years after getting married. We bought furniture, TV's, cars and trucks, and anything else we wanted. We never really thought about how we would pay it all off. Making minimum monthly payments on that mountain of debt would have kept us broke and at the mercy of creditors until the day we died. How can you retire living that way? How can you really enjoy life that way? How can you achieve financial peace that way? You can't. But thanks to Dave Ramsey, we are discovering that peace of mind so many of us dream about.

Now cut up those cards, set up a budget, pay off those debts, and start living!