Sidebar: I just was distracted by watching Chena bury some item of great value (at least to her) in the folds of a towel on the floor. But it’s cool, she’s a dog. It’s what she does. Still, kinda funny.

Anyway, despite my little online explosion the other day, I just wanted to let everyone know that I’m really doing pretty well – this especially for those of you who don’t see me all that often and might not know what to think when I don’t post for weeks and then suddenly come out with a message like I did on Monday.

But I’m good. I’m busy, I’m happy, I love my dog, I’m healthy, I have hardwood floors, I have a new patio door, I’m getting a new patio to go with it next week, and I’m employed. I’ve been thinking it over the past couple of days and decided that, despite any guy thing (or lack thereof) I’m not about to be bullied by happiness.

I should probably explain that last statement.

Dave Ramsey says in one of our FPU lessons (and he may have been quoting someone else, I don’t know) that if you’re not careful, happiness can become a “bully in a schoolyard”. Always drawing a line in the sand, but as soon as you step over that line – as soon as you obtain what you’re after – it moves. But happiness is not really the greener grass on the other side of the fence. Happiness is where you are right now, regardless of incidentals.

I think I started to learn this lesson somewhat when I was in England. I was frustrated with being in the UK – especially being so far out in the middle of nowhere. But I also knew that it was a good time in my life…something I would look back on and appreciate – although there were many times when I couldn’t wait to be “looking back” on it instead of living it! Still, I knew that this was the case, so I made a concerted effort to find things that I loved and appreciated about Leamington, Warwickshire, and the UK in general. Even now, I think back on that time and remember fondly my fabulous flat on Clarendon Square, the amazing Irish butter, Muellers Crumble Corners, riding my bike to work, walking everywhere, taking weekend trips into Europe, being so close to Stratford that I had a membership with the Royal Shakespeare Company at a “locals” rate… I could go on and on. So despite the fact that it was rough year (and I know I complained a lot), I still could appreciate it and still do. So much so that I’d go back for the right opportunity.

That whole concept of completing the phrase, “Happiness is [fill in the blank]” is really kinda difficult to do. Happiness is…uh…what? How can you define happiness if it’s a moving target? And there’s the rub.

Happiness isn’t that thing just out of reach. It’s not the marriage and kids you don’t have. It’s not the job you wished you’d gotten. It’s not the car you drive (or wish you drove). Neither is happiness a particular thing that happens once or many times over. Happiness is now. Happiness just IS.

If we don’t stop tying our happiness to the having or attaining of specific things, we’ll always be bullied by it and we’ll never find true contentment.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that sure, I’m missing some stuff from my life that I’d like to have, but ultimately, those missing items don’t necessarily detract from my ability to still see and enjoy and love and find happiness in where I am right now.

Paul said it like this in Philippians 4:11 – “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”

Rock on Paul. That’s what I’m talking about.

Therein lies my dilemma.

The gazelle in me says “Make Dave Ramsey proud – throw it at the debt!”  But then there’s the other part of me that looks at a chunk of unfinished items that also need to be addressed in my home and wonders if I shouldn’t siphon off some of that money to cover a few of them.

This is really tough for me because all I really want to do is pay off those stupid credit cards… Then again, some of these things aren’t exactly luxuries.  Sigh.

I’ll be having my monthly budget meeting with Shanna in a few weeks, but in the meantime as I’m thinking through this stuff, I thought some of you might be willing to give me your two cents.

The open items requiring money are:

• Downstairs Baseboards ($?) – These were left undone after my wood floors were put in and need to be completed.
• Bed ($600…?) – I hate my bed.  I’ve suffered with it for 2 years and don’t think I can really take much more.
• Kitchen floor ($?) – Also left undone after the wood floors were installed.  Needs to be tiled and sealed.
• Patio door ($1,000+) – This is an issue because the current patio door is leaking in heavy rain which seeps in at the foundation and will ruin my wood floors if not corrected.
• Upstairs bathroom ($?) – Disgusting.  I’ve dealt with it for 3 years, but it has a mildewy smell and needs to be gutted.
• Landscaping/patio installation ($3,000) – I’ll get into this more in a minute, but essentially it’s extra living space and a chance to clean up someone else’s terrible mess that I inherited when I bought the place.

In thinking through the priority of said items, I think for me it goes something like this:

1. Kitchen floor
2. Patio door
3. Downstairs Baseboards
4. Bed
5. Landscaping
6. Upstairs bathroom

Now I know that the landscaping thing is the most expensive by far except for the bathroom, probably, but it would be so great to have that done.

In order to understand why this is a priority for me, you’d have to know that today both my backyard & front yard are an absolute mess.  There are 6-foot tall weeds growing along the side of my back fence which I have been unable to get rid of.  The rest of the “planting boxes” (for lack of a better way to describe the crummy brick boarder around the yard) are full of jungle-like vegetation during the warmer months of the year that all but threaten to overthrow the yard itself and displace me from my home.  The yard itself floods easily which makes for a real swamp in the rain.  There’s nowhere to sit or do anything outside right now which is something I really love when the weather’s nice.  The front of the house has a large, barren garden with 2 dying bushes in it.  The fence on the front porch is rotten.  There is a built-up garden area to one side of the porch which has rotten railroad ties which are falling down.  In short, it’s just awful.  I would love to have a place where I could sit in the front or the back.  In a small townhouse like I have, any extra living space is a big deal, and my yards are the only additional living space options I have.

Basically, I know I could spend away all of the extra funds I’ll be seeing in the next couple of months if I’m not careful, but I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad idea to use that money to cover even a few of these things.  Say, maybe items 1-5.  Part of what makes it difficult is that I don’t know exactly how much most of those things will cost, although I suspect the kitchen floor will only be a few hundred, and the baseboards will not be that much either.

So I can either pay off my remaining credit cards completely, or get some items in my home completed and I have no idea what to do.  Of course it also doesn’t help that I don’t know how much my bonus will be yet either – we’ll find that out closer to the end of this month.  This will certainly have an impact on my decision here as well.

Thoughts anyone?  The lines are open.

In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.
- Benjamin Franklin

In our present society, one might almost think that this famous quote by one of my favorite founding fathers could be reworded to replace “death” with “debt”.  It is staggering how in such a relatively short amount of time, we have managed to rearrange our finances and priorities into a place where our economy relies so heavily on debt that if everyone were to stop using it, our economy would essentially collapse.  Yikes.  Of course that would never happen – there are way too many people and way too many credit cards, but it’s still a frightening reality when you think about it in those terms.

However, if we all were to get on board with the likes of Dave Ramsey (and others) and slowly migrated ourselves out of debt and instead focused on building wealth and giving, our economy would be way stronger than it is now.  Imagine a world where there are no credit cards, no interest payments, no fees & penalties, no foreclosures, no repossessions…  Well, maybe someday.  I am, however, beginning to be able to imagine my own life in those terms.

I’m coming up on a year since starting my Dave Ramsey plan, cut up my credit cards, and began a whole new way of financial living.  Have I missed my credit cards?  Not once.  My starter emergency fund has been more than sufficient to carry me through a few minor unexpected expenses which have come up over the course of the year.  I have made sacrifices, changed habits, and have been the subject of a lot of teasing – not by my friends, but mostly by my coworkers.  It seems that many people believe that the only reason the whole budget-thing works for me is because I’m single with no kids (although I do have a dog and while I’m sure she’s not as costly as a kid, she still isn’t cheap  by any means!)  “It’s totally different when you have a wife and family,” one of my colleagues had said.  I didn’t respond since it was clear he didn’t “get it” and I didn’t want to get into a debate, but what I wanted to point out to him is that solid financial principles and teaching are only solid if they work across the board for everyone, regardless of your marital status or family-size.  I know my fellow debt-free crusaders understand me on this point – there’s quite a few of you out there with blogs that tell of your respective journeys…most of whom, might I add, are married with kids:  Debt Free 2009, My Personal Debt Free Journal, and many of the blogs off of the Snowflake Revolution web site to name a few.  I’m just saying.

Moving right along…

Now that we’re past Christmas and New Years, the next thing that begins to occupy my thoughts is tax season.  Tax time begins rearing its ugly head in January and the insanity usually builds until we hit April 15th.  April 15th also happens to be one of my cousin Aubrynn’s birthday.  Poor kid.  Thankfully she’s still too young to know what a stressful deadline date that is for most people, but hopefully the fact that it’s her birthday will serve to add some joy to that otherwise annoying day.

Anyhow, in general I have not minded tax season because it usually means money in my pocket.  I’ve often been told that I must be doing something wrong if I’m always getting money back after paying thousands into the hands of the IRS all year, but I do my best to estimate out my “real” tax liability for the year and so keep more money in my paychecks while still giving the IRS what I should.

Last year I failed miserably at this and ended up with a $8K+ refund.  Oops.  This year I’ve been dreading doing my taxes because I was CERTAIN I was going to owe.  Big.  Like $4K or so at least which made me nervous…not because I can’t pay it (budgeting works, I’m tellin’ ya!) but because I just would far rather use that money for good (pay off debt) than evil (give it to the IRS).   So why the liability?  Earlier in 2008, I had converted a traditional IRA to a Roth.  What I didn’t do was consider the tax implications of this.  Later I realized that I may have just thrown myself directly into the path of an oncoming tax bill.  Major oops.

In my great journey to become debt free, any extra money I bring in serves to bring me closer to that goal.  The thought of having to use some (or even all) of my bonus check to cover a stupid tax liability absolutely burned me up.  And then to add massive insult to critical injury, the market tanked AFTER the conversion so if I had converted in December, let’s say, my tax liability would have been less than half of that estimated $4K.  Fabulous.

The good news is I think I may have found a way to fix it…

As I began my yearly TurboTax Online interview, I did a little investigating and discovered that my mistake is not without recourse.  I can actually undo this.  It’s called a “recharacterization” and I as long as I submit the paperwork and complete the recharacterization before April 15, it’ll be like the conversion never happened!  30 days after that, if I want to reconvert it, I can but with the much much much lower account value.  Score…although I’m not sure I’ll bother.  This has been such a hassle and the IRA isn’t really worth that much so I might be better off just leaving it alone.

Anyway, so if I do all this and erase my tax liability, this also means that I’ll be getting back at least a couple grand which I can throw back at the debt!  (This is also great because it might help to make up for the decrease in bonus I’ll most likely be looking at for this year).

Oh, and on that note, I should mention that I managed to pay off another credit card yesterday!  This is a HUGE deal for me since it’s the first debt payoff I’ve been able to make happen in 6 months, so I’m pretty excited.  Party on Wayne.  This was my Best Buy card which I had used under a 0% for 2 years interest deal to purchase my fridge & dishwasher.  The 0% interest promotion was good though mid-April and by paying it off now, I saved myself from having to contend with $858 in deferred finance charges!  Exciting stuff…and yes, I probably do need to get out more.

So I’m now down to only 2 credit cards with balances left – one with no interest until August, and the other with 10.99%.  I should have the interest-bearing one paid off easily with the tax refund I’ll now be getting and/or bonus (whichever comes in first).  And who knows, if my bonus is hefty enough, I may even be able to kill off the other one by the end of March leaving me to tackle my car loan next…and, might I add, WAY ahead of schedule!

Part of my excitement in all this is that since I’ve not been able to actually pay anything off in awhile, I am feeling a lot of renewed vigor with all these potential upcoming wins which serve to bring me that much closer to my ultimate goals…and will give me more flexibility to move as God leads.  I’m still probably looking at another 24 months before I can call Dave Ramsey and scream over the radio, but it’s all about those baby steps!

2009 looks to be off to a running start…and away we go!

It’s that time of year again…  Time for cookies, trees, gifts, snow (if you’re lucky), songs, mistletoe, ornaments, lights, and joy at celebrating the birth of Jesus.  It’s also time for yearly updates.  Every year I receive tons of letters from my friends telling me all about the seemingly endless amounts of awesome things their kids accomplished – Johnny took his first steps, Billy said his first word, Jane walked on the moon, Susie found the cure for cancer…  And each year as I sit and read through these letters, I’m struck by just how much I have NOT done.

Or at least, the past few years have been like that.

Prior to 2005, I typically felt like I had a lot to say come December.  I was moving to or living in or traveling through amazing places – Alaska, Europe, Asia, New York City…  But then I moved back to Bucks County – not far from where I grew up – and the excitement seems to have ceased.

I debated as to whether or not to even write something for this year having felt outdone by just about everyone else out there…after all, how can you beat out someone taking their first steps?  But after some thought on the matter, I decided that perhaps it was more important do go through this exercise for 2008 because it would help me focus on finding the things that were worth mentioning.

So in the name of hoping 2008 was worth it, I give you…

2008: Year of the Rat

(I’m not making that up – check the Chinese calendar if you don’t believe me)

Let’s begin with 10 “stills” in my life (because it would be more depressing to end there – not that they’re all negatives or anything, but you know what I mean):

1. I’m still in Pennsylvania
2. I’m still single
3. I still live in the same townhouse
4. I still have the same fabulous roommate
5. I still have Chena the Amazing Dog & Brighton the Great Bird – Chena turned 2 this year and Brighton turned 10
6. I still work for the same company
7. I still have the same job…or in this environment, perhaps it’s most meaningful to say I still HAVE a job
8. I still have debt
9. I still love coffee
10. I still hate raw tomatoes

Below is a summary of 2008…such as it was:

January

I went to Atlanta to visit my family while Jo & Josh were there. I also found Dave Ramsey and decided set New Years Resolutions to lose weight, start living on a budget, and begin a plan to pay off my debt.

February

I started my budget.  I also found out that my foot which I broke in Vermont in 2005 was, in fact, still broken so I was going to have to treat it by wearing this weird bone stimulator (no, it’s not like that – get your mind out of the gutter)  10 hours/day for 6 months.  Yay.

March

Gas prices really started soaring, but I still managed to budget in a trip up to Boston to visit Esther & the girls for a long weekend over my birthday.

April

I started attending a Financial Peace University class that was being held locally and I found an amazing church…FINALLY.

May & June

Absolutely nothing of note took place.  Nothing.  May & June were a total waste this year.

July

I discovered I had a nest of yellowjackets my attic.  That was it.

August

Like its predecessors of May & June, August failed to contribute anything of interest for 2008.  I think I saw a movie.

September

The most exciting month all year!  I went to Seattle to visit Jel & Co.  A blast, as always, made even better by the fact that we had a full week to relax & hang.

October

Not as fun as September, but pretty.  Great foliage this year.  I also had new hardwood floors installed on the ground floor of my home. Oh, and I handed out candy to a lot of princesses & vampires with a few Harry Potter’s thrown in.

November

The removal of all the election paraphernalia from yards & TV was a highlight of my month, second only to the birth of my first nephew – Ronan Powell Rogers.  Yay!  And then of course there was Thanksgiving.  Yum.

December

I calculated that by the end of this year, I’ll have paid off 52% of my unsecured debt (36% of my overall debt) thanks to my budget, Dave Ramsey, and God.  I’ve lost 20 pounds of the untold amount I put on after moving out of NYC – still some to go, but I’m on the right track!  I got a Wii & a Wii Fit.

I really can’t underscore the importance of this task.  It’s huge and has required a lot of sacrifice which, in turn, has made for a relatively boring 2008.  And perhaps I should go ahead and warn everyone now that 2009 & 2010 will be going up against 2008 on that front.  In 2011, I’ll be sure to give the title of Most Boring Year to one of these 3 contenders because, let’s face it, until I get my debt paid off, I may not being doing much else between now and then…although I do foresee a trip to North Dakota to see my nephew this coming year and perhaps a smaller getaway or two if I can manage it – we’ll see if that budget will allow me that!  I became a moderator in December of last year for the GAP Adventures travel forum called The Watering Hole which, while a technically a volunteer position, carries with it some other nice perks like credit towards GAP trips which I might be able to leverage towards this end.

In closing, I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  I sincerely hope your 2008 was more interesting than mine…  But now look out 2009 – here we come!

What this sometimes translates into is my having to say “no” to myself… I’m okay with this most of the time, but every so often, there’s something that comes along which I have a really hard time saying “no” to.

Right now, I want a Wii.

I’ve never been a particularly big video game player. Growing up, the only video games available were the giant man-sized consoles in the arcades sporting Pac-Man or Space Invaders. Eventually we started seeing Atari show up in my friends homes. Then Nintendo came out with their original gaming system. Everyone was playing groundbreaking games like Frogger, Q-bert, and Tetris. Once Mario Bros hit the scene, it was the birth of a whole new addiction for us GenX-ers and life would never be the same for any future generations.

I never had Atari, but we did get a Nintendo system when I was in high school. I enjoyed playing some of the games, but it never turned into an all-out love affair like I’ve seen happen with friends (particularly guys) over the years.

But this was before the Wii.

From the time the Wii was introduced, I was intrigued. The fact that there was a system where more than just your thumbs would be involved in the action looked like fun. Add to that, the Wii Fit. Can’t find time to go to the gym? Can’t afford the gym? Hate workout to tapes? Enter the Wii Fit! You can practice balance, take yoga, do aerobics, or even go skiing…all with the Wii Fit. How fabulous. I really want one. Bad.

Here’s how my inner circular dialogue on this subject is going:

“Can I get one?” I hear the inner-me asking. “Please please PLEASE?!”
“No. It’s not in the budget.”
“Well, can we PUT it in the budget? Please?”
“No…not right now.”
“But winter’s coming… We need to workout. We need to have some sort of activity…”
“I know…”
“So the Wii would be perfect – it’s way cheaper than joining a gym, and we can play with it regardless of the weather…”
“I know…”
“So why can’t we get one?”
“Because it’s not in the budget.”
“Well, can we PUT it in the budget?…”

And so it goes.

I’m actually debating trying to get one off of Craig’s List used…I’ve put out a few feelers on this.  If I could find a good enough deal, I think I’d give in to myself and pick it up.  Maybe.  The fact is I was going to try and budget a gym membership back in because I really am feeling the need to get more exercise than I currently do. The Wii would cost more upfront, but would be less over the long-run so from that standpoint, it makes sense.

Then again, it’s still about $300 I don’t really “need” to spend right now. ARG!

This past month has been a rough one for the budget. I’ve blown it pretty much all over the place and now am assessing the carnage. Things have also been tougher at work… While we’re not laying anyone off, we’ve been working hard to find ways to scale back on spending. Corporate travel is at a minimum. Hiring has been put on hold. Bonuses may be looking a bit malnourished compared to last year. And who knows if we’ll even be seeing raises.

Compounded with increased costs at home, this all translates into less money in my debt avalanche to throw at my mountain. Sigh.

Since I’m trying really hard to find other ways to save money, the idea of shelling out a few hundred extra in one shot does not appeal to me. I need to prioritize. I need to figure out what’s important and then focus on that.

From Dave Ramsey’s perspective, top priorities are easy:

1. Food
2. Shelter
3. Clothing

Well, I have plenty of food, I’m not living in a box or in a van down by the river, and I’m not naked so that’s good.

Next on the list would be things like utilities, etc. That’s one area I’m working on shaving some off of. Not electricity or water, but cable/internet and cell phone. Collectively those items are costing me $200/month which seems absolutely insane to me…and that’s with a deal on the Internet right now where I’m only paying $19.99/month. I called Comcast and they basically told me that if I dropped myself down to a basic package, I’d still be paying $92+tax for JUST cable with my current internet deal. Are they insane? I mean really – is this what people are paying these days? How on earth does anyone afford it? Tack onto that my cell phone bill which is averaging about $80/month. Granted, it’s my only phone, but I still think that’s nuts. I could switch to the much ballyhooed “Comcast Triple Play” but that would still end up being close to $150/month (with tax) for cable, internet, and phone with the additional boxes. So much for the advertised $114.95/month pricing which would seem misleading at best.

Apologies – I didn’t mean to get onto such a long cable plan tangent, but just trying to voice my frustration at trying to make the best budgetary decisions. Sometimes it’s an easy call (e.g. should I go out to dinner or not?) but other times the many facets of an issue can make it way difficult (e.g. should I get a Wii, a gym membership, or just buy fat-pants?)

Anyway, all this is to say that the budget is about balance…and trying to find it. What I’m discovering that this is a lot easier said than done.

So the question remains: Is there a future Wii for me?

I just don’t know.

The fact that I did begin functioning on a budget, living on less than I make, and throwing as many hand grenades of cash at my debt as I can find has given me an alarming amount of peace during even these trouble financial/economic times.

As we all know, the government has been busy bailing out the mortgage industry and Wall Street (something which pisses me off to no end).  I, on the other  hand, would rather the mortgage industry and Wall Street clean up their own messes and leave our hard earned, taxpayer money out of it.  I have to clean up my own mess, why shoudn’t they?  Then again, we’ve managed to breed a society that in general doesn’t like to take personal responsibility for their actions.  They’d rather get a divorce, file for bankruptcy, or just run away.  When the going gets tough, the tough all turn into pansies.

I think that taking ownership of your mistakes and missteps is one of the things that grows you.  Turns you into a stronger person.  Humbles you.  And, in my Christian world view perspective, teaches you to lean more on God.

I kicked off 2008 annoyed, which really was the best place to be.  I find I can only really affect change in my life when I get to a point where I’m just ready to go ape on something.  I had been examining my financial state only to find that, after paying off debt with my bonus from the previous year, I had just managed to wrack it up again over the course of the previous 12 months…and this wasn’t the first time.  I’d had enough.

Today, I am happy to report that, although my 401(k) is struggling and I may be looking at a decrease in bonus for the coming year, I (with the help of Dave Ramsey) have broken the vicious financial cycle I’ve been more or less stuck churning in.  I may begin 2009 with a lower net worth due to my retirement accounts, but I am anticipating that my overall debt will be down at least 40% from where it was at the start of the year.  Yay!

So my personal bailout plan?

• Be on a written budget (”on paper, on purpose before the month begins”)
• Live on SIGNIFICANTLY less than I make
• Maintain my $1,000 starter emergency fund
• Continue my Debt Snowball until it becomes an avalanche
• Be debt free by the end of 2010 (WAHOO!)
• Build up my fully-funded emergency fund of 6-months of expenses
• Breathe easier!

Naturally it goes further than that (see Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps), but for now, this is what I’m focusing on.  More than anything, I want to dig myself out of this mountain of debt I’ve managed to all-but-bury myself in…but I don’t need (or want) the government to bail me out.  I can work.  I can budget.  I’ve got Dave Ramsey as a coach.

I got myself into this mess, and now I’ve got God helping me get out.  I’m pretty sure we can handle it.

But that’s a topic for another post.  This post is about flooring.

If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you’ll be familiar with some of the drama that I’ve had to face being a homeowner.  This has included a rogue washing machine, appliance issues, and a suicidal heat pump.  Owning an older home typically also includes a vast wish list of improvements, enhancements, changes, or other adjustments either to make the home your own, or to at least bring it into the current decade.

My townhouse was built in 1987 when Cindi Lauper, Def Leppard, and sheet linoleum were all the rage.  Since moving in, I have repainted every wall (and I mean EVERY wall) of the house, I have put up new closet shelving, replaced appliances and the roof.  I painted the kitchen cabinets, put in a pantry, and even added built-in shelves (that I made myself, I might add) to the bathroom.  Still, these are all very minor compared to some of the items I still have on my to-do.

One of my dreams for my little space is to replace the floors.  As I discussed in my original Hopelessly Devoted to Hardwood post, replacing the pre-Deb carpet in the downstairs with hardwood was certainly at the top of my list and I am most happy to report that this week it has actually happened!

That’s right – hardwood floors now abound throughout my downstairs.  No more hidden dirt and grime.  No more haven for dust mites.  No more fearing what might lie in wait between the fibers of the nasty-ass carpet.  Swiffer is my new best friend.  The new floor starts at the door and carries through the powder room, entryway, and back through the dining & living rooms.  It looks fabulous.  It makes the whole downstairs feel bigger and lighter.  I couldn’t concentrate on the debate last night because I was so distracted by my floor’s beauty…and I can’t wait to get home tonight just to look at it some more.

Of course the staircase and the second floor are still carpeted, but that’s okay – it’s going to be replaced with better, clean, safer carpet.  Carpet that I wouldn’t be afraid to lie down on.

Naturally I’ll take pictures (or better yet, a video!) and post on here, but in the meantime I just wanted to share the joy.  The only thing outstanding now is the kitchen…  The floor was ripped up in there as well because it ran into the hallway, but is now just a mess of paper backing from the original linoleum.  It’s weird and rough and messy and smells funny.  I’m not sure I’ll be able to make it past the weekend with it like that…

Anyone interested in helping me tile?

Later that same day…

Look at my shiny new floors!

This is my world, and on this day where the Dow dropped 678 points, I just felt the need to vent a little, so here it is.

I have been in financial services for just over 11 years.  Not terribly long in the great scheme of things, but certainly it’s long enough.  Long enough to know what’s going on.  Long enough to be saddened by it.  Long enough to know that we’re headed into really dangerous waters…especially if the government keeps sticking its big, fat nose into places it doesn’t belong in the name of trying to “fix” it.  The fact is that government intervention is not the way out of this mess.  The government is not some sort of beacon in the night.  They are not – and cannot – be our savior although it seems they believe they’re up to the challenge.  Did I say “dangerous waters” before?  Perhaps “shark-infested” would be more appropriate.

So we have a market acting like it has bipolar disorder, an underlying real estate fall-out with unreal foreclosure rates and the banking industry has turned cannibalistic in order to avoid total failure.  In the past few weeks we have seen the collapse of companies with century-long track records and household names come crashing down (Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and Merrill Lynch to name a few).  In my life and my 10 years at Merrill, I would never have expected that to happen…but who would?  Then again, we know this kind of thing can happen (can you say “Enron”?) so perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised, but I tend towards optimism.

Then as if all of this wasn’t enough, we have a presidential election in less than a month.  I don’t think they could have planned a worse time to be listening to politicians make empty promises.  While we’re trying to work through a major financial crisis, I come home to find my mailbox stuffed with direct mail campaign pieces (for Obama mostly) which surely couldn’t have been free to produce.  Is all that really necessary?  Even in watching the debate this week, I found myself getting frustrated.  At one point I wanted to scream at them, “Could you two just stop your pissing contest for two seconds and freakin’ LISTEN!”  Sorry – I don’t like politicians much…can you tell?  (As a sidenote on the election and politics, I found a really cool website resource called OpenSecrets.org – check it out).

Anyway, so there’s a lot going on.  It can seem overwhelming.  In fact, I’m sure it IS overwhelming for a lot of people.  A lot of people don’t really understand everything that’s happening in the markets – all they know is that their 401(k) is going down in value like a rock right now.  The sad thing is that ignorance is the mother of fear and fear’s best friend is rashness, and when money (or the loss thereof) is the reason for the fear, I think it shoots people into a whole ‘nother orbit of emotion.  I was watching Fox Business News tonight and they had a panel of financial experts with phone lines open.  One woman called in and said she had gotten so scared she sold all of her mutual funds today.  I cringed.  While I don’t want to be cavalier about people’s fear because it’s certainly real enough, if I’ve learned nothing else on Wall Street, it’s that when it comes to your investments, emotion has no place in your decision-making process.  Emotion will cloud your judgment and make you do things like sell all your investments at the bottom (or near bottom) of an already bad market.  I felt so sorry for that woman because I honestly believe selling everything was the wrong move.  Suffice it to say, I’m leaving my 401(k) alone.

In any case, there are lessons to be learned here for everyone – from John Doe to Congress.  Good ‘ol Johnny boy needs to learn how to better manage his personal finances (hey, maybe that Dave Ramsey guy knows what he’s talking about…go figure!)  And Congress?  Well, Congress needs to stop trying to act like a bunch of socialists…and that goes for our future president too – whoever he may be.

So that’s 2008…and it’s not over yet.  I’m not sure this is quite the way we would have WANTED to have the year remembered, but there it is.  The media is screaming (because that’s what they do) and the sky indeed may seem like it’s falling, but I’m not worried because at the end of the day, I know the One who is holding it up.

For now, I’m praying.  Praying for our government, for the election, and the economy.  Praying for sanity and for opportunities.  Most of all, I’ll be praying that one of the things we’ll all see is how unstable the world really is at its core, and therefore how foolish it is to put trust in it. Instead, we need to put our faith and trust on something solid, steady, and unchanging. We need to build our metaphorical houses on the Rock because there it doesn’t matter what winds may blow (or what markets may fall) – the Rock doesn’t move. And I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in this storm.

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” (Matthew 7:23-25)

Some of my control freak tendencies as a younger me stemmed from trying to figure out how to survive in the “real world”.  Prior to leaving my parents house, there wasn’t much I had to worry about, so I think I had more time and energy to spend being controlling about stupid things in life like the organization of my CDs.

Once I got out on my own, suddenly there were more real concerns…and these were concerns I had to face not as part of a newly married couple (as so many of my friends were), but as a single 22-year-old with no clue.  I was plagued with questions like: How do I get my utilities turned on for my new apartment?  Where’s the nearest laundromat?  What do you cook with when you have no money to buy pots & pans?  Can the human body truly subsist on mac & cheese alone?

Initially, I was also still concerned with the mundane issues like having my CDs in alphabetical order by artist, but the more busy I got with attending to the bigger picture, the more those cares and tendencies towards trying to control the little things slip away.  Today, my CDs are still more-or-less arranged by artist, but are not alphabetical and are spread across at least 5 different locations in my home so if you’re looking for a particular CD, good luck because unless it’s U2, I probably can’t tell you where it is.

I think if I were a true Type-A individual (which, as we all know is just a nice way of saying “control freak”), something like coming over and messing with my kitchen drawers or cabinets, would totally rock my world.  However, I can say with a pretty high degree of confidence that you could go ahead and do this and I wouldn’t really care.  This is not to say that I don’t try to keep my kitchen organized – I do, but not because I feel the need to be in control of my kitchen.  Rather, I just think it’s easier when all the pots, plates, glasses, and bowls are with more of their own kind.  Call me crazy, but I like not having to hunt for lids to my Tupperware. I’m also somewhat limited in cabinet space, so things have to remain somewhat organized or else it wouldn’t all fit.  Actually, the more I write about this, the more I realize that my kitchen may not really be the best illustration.

Let’s try the pantry instead.

My pantry is a crazy, assorted array of dry food and spices.  There is pasta, cans of soup, cereal, boxes of 100 Calorie packs, pudding, taco seasoning packets, and God-knows-what-else. The only things remotely organized about it are that the spices are all together on a rack and I think that the cereal is more or less on the same shelf.  That’s it.  My pantry is definitely NOT the pantry of a control freak.  Monica Geller would probably need to be hospitalized if she saw it.  My pantry is more representative of my approach to life than any other part of my house:  As long as I can find things and nothing is in danger of falling off the shelf, I’m good.

The problem with this approach to life is that it may work for my pantry, but doesn’t really fly when you’re trying to do things like a budget.  Until I started the Dave Ramsey plan in February, I’d go literally years without balancing my checkbook.  My sister would say she couldn’t understand how I could NOT balance my checkbook and I would try to explain to her how it was just one of those things I found tiresome and tedious and really not all that important.  I realize now that, while still tiresome and tedious, the balancing of the checkbook is actually very important.  Essential even.  Being on a budget and along the path to becoming debt free has forced me into a behavior pattern that does not come naturally to me – surprisingly I’m pretty good at it, but that doesn’t make it easy.  Needless to say, this has been a difficult albeit necessary shift for me.

Dave Ramsey calls people like me a “Free Spirit” (read: non-control freak) which is essentially the antithesis of what he calls a “Nerd” (read: control freak).  Marriages, he says, are generally made up with one of each.  As a Free Spirit single, having to take on Nerd activities is a real challenge for sure, but where I’m finding myself struggle the most these days is in keeping up my motivation. 9-months into my debt-free path, my interest is waning.  It was easy enough when I first started out and kicked some major debt-ass with my year-end bonus and tax refund, but the day-to-day grind is what’s bringing me down.  My monthly committee meetings with my budget accountability partner (Shanna) is a great help.  She gives me some much needed “Atta-girls” and reminds me to look at how far I’ve come since the starting point, not get caught up in how far away the finish line feels (”Are we there yet, Papa Smurf?”)

So Shanna helps.  Reading through old posts from when I first started my budget also helps.  But what I’m really getting excited about is what the next few months hold.  There are some things coming up which I feel will give me a much-needed ‘Matt Foley‘ motivational speech…and not a moment too soon.

First is a one-day seminar on Personal Finance we’re holding at The Well in November followed by a full run of Financial Peace University which we’re starting in February 2009.  In general I find there is nothing like feeding off the inspiration that comes from being surrounded by others on the same journey…

Additionally I know that as I get more involved in this area, I will be able to help encourage and support others which I think is the best form of motivation there is…  Well, that and not waiting to end up living in a van down by the river.

Saturday was the day.  We were originally shooting for September 13th, but the weather had called for rain and so rather than risk it, we postponed a week.  Weather-wise, it was worth the wait.  We had a beautiful day – the kind where you want nothing more than to be outside, so what could be better than being outside while making a few bucks off your junk?

I was up at 5am, out the door by 5:30.  After a quick stop at Dunkin’ Donuts for a veritable jug of coffee and a dozen donuts, I made it to Shanna’s in time to start unloading the car and setting out the boxes and boxes of things I had managed to pull out of my attic and identify as unused, unwanted, and undeniably ugly…well, some of it anyway.
What I also found funny was how Es’s article really hit on what is so bizarre-yet-true about yard sales (and eBay, for that matter):  The things people will (and won’t) buy.  It makes no sense.  At all.  There were things I pulled out of my attic and stuck little pre-priced stickers on I thought would be snatched up within the first half-hour while other items I considered to be grotesque would surely sit as unwanted on the yard as they had in my attic.

Not so.

Instead, cute little candlesticks I picked up ages ago and have never used were barely glanced at while people were purchasing things I couldn’t imagine a possible use for outside of a gag-gift or cruel joke.  Among the hideous items were these repulsive ceramic cat figurines I used to adore as a child (okay, so I didn’t exactly have great taste at 7 – does anyone?)  Nor am I clear on why exactly I liked them at all.

To start with, I’m allergic to cats.  Strike one.  And these in particular looked like they had been crafted by people in China who may have never actually seen a cat.  Strike two.  Then adding insult in injury, they were painted with the most putrid shade of brown.  Strike three.

It definitely makes me wonder why anyone would have given them to me in the first place, not to mention why I’ve kept them so long after I came to my senses and stopped displaying them.  The best excuse I can come up with is that they had just been forgotten in their bubblewrapped existence packed away in the rafters with more of the same.

Still, thanks to someone else’s odd taste in collectibles, it was nice that all these years later these ugly cats actually managed to put a dollar in my pocket.  Collectively, my odd and unwanted items didn’t exactly bring me wealth, but a little over $80 which is more than they were giving me sitting in my attic.

I also did sell some good stuff that I hoped I would.  My giant, wire mesh drawer unit was hauled away for $5.  I also had someone offer me $15 for all of the CDs I had out.  The binoculars with a built-in digital camera which I had gotten from work walked away for $15.  And then of course there were things I had no intention of selling whatsoever that people still asked me about (”Hey, how much for the puppy?”)

Like Esther, sold or not, I refused to take anything home.  I wanted it ALL gone…even the cute little candlesticks.  So what remained ended up getting shuttled over to Good Will where I hope someone finds my candlesticks cute too and gives them a nice home.

As for the cats, considering how quickly they sold just off the yard, it does make one wonder if I could have made more off them on eBay, but I don’t really care.  After all, a bird in the hand, right?

So, how do you sell an ugly cat?  It’s not hard – if you set it out on your lawn, apparently it will draw buyers in all on its own with little-to-no effort.  Just be careful what else you set out there or you might end up accidentally selling your dog or kid…unless, of course, you want to.

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” – Jeremiah 29:11

The saying that “hindsight is always 20/20” is an interesting one because people typically use it when referring to things they think they should have done like, “Oh, if I had only invested in Microsoft when it first went public…” However, I think it’s also something that applies at times to understanding God’s providence and protection of us.

Sometimes things happen and we have absolutely no clue as to why – for instance, you miss a plane and end up taking another flight, but unless the plane you were supposed to be on doesn’t go down in flames, there doesn’t seem to be any obvious reason as to why you missed that one particular flight. Other times, I think we’re shown reasons why something happens the way that it does – like God gives us a little peek into His plan and, while there may be thousands (or even millions) of reasons why something happens the way that it does, we are shown one or two of those reasons that perhaps impact only us.

I am having one of those moments.

This has so far been one of the craziest most historical weeks I have known since I started working in financial services. As the sub-prime mortgage market continues to wreak havoc on the industry, we are all watching the decimation of companies like Lehman Brothers while Merrill Lynch is consumed by Bank of America. AIG is next on the chopping block if someone doesn’t step in to save the day by helping them raise the capital they need to stay afloat. There’s something really sad about watching companies of 100+ years disappear…even sadder when you realize that it could have been avoided if not for the over-leveraging of debt. Hm…perhaps Dave Ramsey is right – perhaps too much debt and risk is not wise! I see “leverage” in reference to debt as fast becoming a dirty word in financial circles. For a taste of the impact this is having, consider that Merrill Lynch stock closed yesterday at $16.59. Lehman Brothers was at $0.18. Imagine if you worked there and your retirement account consisted of mostly company stock. Can you say, “Enron”? Scary, sad stuff.

That’s what’s happening now, but let me take you back to 2006…

Merrill was trading around $80. I had moved out of NYC to take another role with ML in Princeton in October 2005. I had been with the company for almost 10 years, but due to circumstances beyond my control, I ended up leaving the company. It was a tough decision – I had been with ML a long time and had a lot of connections and loyalty there, but after much thought and prayer, I knew it was the right thing to do. As a result of my changing companies, I transferred my 401(k) out of the company which forced me to sell the bulk of my stock holding and purchase mutual funds instead. In an effort to also have a stake in my new company, I sold about half of what little ML stock I had left and purchased shares of the new company (since this is a public post, I’m not going to say where I work now, but most of those reading this already know).

From where I stand now, I look back on the series of events that after a decade moved me away from Merrill Lynch only a year before things started to fall apart. Merrill began their write-down’s from the sub-prime fallout in late 2007 and has been struggling as a company ever since. There have been layoffs, salary freezes, and bonus cuts. It has not been an easy time over there – every time I go to look up one of my friends, I can never be sure whether they’re still employed.

By the end of 2007, Merrill was trading at $58. By August of this year, their stock was hovering in the $20’s. Meanwhile, because of the company change, I ended up getting out of almost all my Merrill holdings (which included about half of my 401(k)) at $84. Wow.

Again, I don’t want to go into details about my current company, but suffice it to say that we are standing strong. Even in this environment, we are hiring. Last year we saw raises and increased bonuses. We have stood out as one of the true industry leaders. We have been (and will continue to be from what I can tell) part of the solution and not the problem. Where my friends and colleagues from other firms are worried about their jobs, I have security I would have never imagined in an industry environment like this.

I could have never predicted this, but that’s where I see the hand of God. He knew that this was coming down the road. By moving me out of Merrill Lynch when He did He knew that I would be secured in a way I could have never foreseen or even imagined. I’m not at all trying to say that if I was still with Merrill that He wouldn’t have had a purpose in that – His sovereignty oversees all situations and circumstances – but the fact is that He didn’t leave me there.

I also find that these moments where I get to see 20/20 increases my ability to trust Him through the times where things might not turn out so obviously well. I praise Him when they do (e.g. saving me from Merrill), but also when they don’t (e.g. still single at 34 – what the heck?). I guess you could say it all helps keep things in perspective.

So when I find myself in a situation that doesn’t make sense or that seems like the world is crashing down around me, I can pull from what I know to be true about God and His love and rest in the fact that His ultimate purpose and plan for me will not “leave me out to dry” eternally. He will come through (Rom. 8:28). He is always there (Matt. 28:20). He loves us beyond measure (John 3:16). What more could you ask for?

God rocks.

Dave Ramsey talks about K.I.S.S. the most when discussing budgets, but I’ve personally taken it a step further across all aspects of my personal money management, especially while I’m in the throes of Baby Step 2 – Debt Snowball, or as I like to think of it, my Debt Avalanche.

Having started my BS2 in February, I am nearing the end of my 7th month. So far, so good. I’ve paid off roughly 30% of my total debt and, despite Murphy’s best efforts, I am still on track to be debt free by sometime in 2010.

K.I.S.S.-ing works for me, so when something happens to make things more complicated, I naturally resist. I like keeping it simple. I like not having to look at all of my financial spreadsheets every day. I like not having to worry about multiple files and accounts. I like not having too many envelopes. I like doing things with actual, physical cash. I can do the details, but I don’t enjoy them. I hate balancing my checkbook – in fact I went for years without doing it until my sister found out and scolded me for it. And so one might easily see how keeping it simple would be a very appealing idea to me.

When I got my bonus check in February, I was able to knock off a lot of my credit card debt. This was a major help in getting things simple because it made for fewer accounts I had keep track of. Some I closed completely, others I’ve left open just to let them build some zero balance history before I shut them down. Regardless, I only have 2 credit cards left that I’ve been working on.

One of the cards is no big deal and has 0% interest through April 2009. The other one is a nasty little bugger (Bank of America) with a 10.99% interest rate and a $8,500 balance. I get annoyed every month when the bill comes and I see the $75+ in stupid tax…er, I mean interest charges…that gets tacked onto the balance so that a $150 payment to the card only actually brings the balance down by about $75 making progress on this one seem snail-like.

Yesterday I got an offer from one of my other credit cards which had been paid off since March – 0% APR for 12 months on balance transfers. Hm. I read the fine print which outlined that there would be a maximum charge of $75 for each transfer, but that was it fee-wise. I wouldn’t be able to transfer the full balance because the card with the offer has a limit of $5,000 but transferring $5K off of an $8K card would certainly drop the interest charges down significantly.

I thought it over. I only had 2 cards left to pay off, but now I would have 3. I calculated it out. The thought of putting a balance back on one of my other cards made me cringe and be completely against my whole keeping-it-simple strategy…but the savings! I figured out that I would actually save myself almost $700 in interest payments and shave an entire month off of my debt-free target date. That’s no small thing.

Of course it came down to a WWDS (What Would Dave Say) moment. While I don’t know him personally, one good thing about the guy is that he’s pretty predictable. If you listen to him enough, you can pretty much intuit what his answer would be. So I ran the scenario through my Ramsey Filter. Dave is a numbers guy, but he doesn’t usually counsel people to act based on the math of a situation because he’s more concerned with behavior modification. On this matter, I think he would see that my behavior has already been altered. My way of viewing my personal finances has undergone a complete paradigm shift, so I don’t think he would have a problem with my doing the balance transfer. If there were any concern that this could lead to a slow-down of my Debt Avalanche, he would probably say don’t do it. But it wouldn’t. I know it wouldn’t because I’m so freaking mad about the whole debt thing, I can’t rid myself of it fast enough. Transferring this partial balance would be just one more way to speed this along.

And so while keeping it simple is still a priority for me and something I know I need, I do feel that this one little “complication” of adding another card payment to the mix will actually do more for me in the long run. Besides, the other card which will now have a lower balance should be paid off by March and then I’ll be back to 2 credit cards again. Then a year from now, I’ll pay off my last credit card and only have loans and things to throw my money at.

In summary, I am a big advocate of K.I.S.S.-ing. I K.I.S.S. everything I can – my money, my budget, my debt snowball… It would be great if this wasn’t the only action I’m getting since I wouldn’t mind having a guy to kiss too, but maybe one will slide in here at some point…and I hope the simpler everything else is in my life, maybe the more likely I’ll be to notice him!

Somebody told me it was frightening how much topsoil we are losing each year, but I told that story around the campfire and nobody got scared. – Jack Handey

For those who were not fortunate enough to be with the New Life Presbyterian Church Youth Group camping trip to Cornerstone ’90, the title of this post will mean very little. However, for those who have at least been camping or have slept in a tent at some point in life, you will probably understand what a “bungee” is and why it might be necessary to grab it during a torrential downpour with gale-force winds beating your tent into the ground and then attempting to turn it into a kite.

This weekend I went camping with about 20 people from The Well. Thankfully it was not Monsoon season in French Creek State Park, so I do not have any tales like that of the Perfect Storm that hit our camp at Cornerstone, but there were still some wild times and laughs had I thought I’d share.

Friday I decided to take a half-day. Worked from home in the morning and then knocked off around 1:00 to pack and run errands which included taking Chena to the groomers for her first trim. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of her at the moment, but I really should take some now. She lost about 2 inches of fuzz all over making her look a lot thinner (which is a good thing because everyone seemed to think she was fat before). The catalyst for this visit being that I was afraid taking her camping with her previous coat would be too hot for her. I mean seriously, how would you like to go camping in the hot, humid August of the East Coast while wearing your woolliest winter ski coat? And then what if your woolliest winter ski coat was actually GROWING on you? Not sounding very fun, is it? And so I had Chena’s coat trimmed down a bit.

After getting Chena and making a stop at the store, I picked up Gary (we were carpooling) and we took off for the hills.

French Creek State Park is located about 60 miles away from where I live (heading out towards Reading), so it’s an easy drive and a really nice state park compared to Tyler. I’m not busting on Tyler, but it is pretty small as far as state parks go, and doesn’t have nearly the activities available that French Creek does…but I’m getting ahead of myself.

After most everyone else showed up on Friday, we set up and got everything situated for the weekend. More stragglers joined us periodically up until about 11 o’clock when Mark and Beth finally found us (as you might imagine, it gets increasing difficult to find one’s way in the woods after dark – even, or especially, when driving). Friday night consisted of dinner, campfire, s’mores, laughter, and finally sleep.

Saturday morning, Chena woke up growling because it seemed she had trouble telling the difference between other members of our group looking for breakfast and rabid animals looking for fresh meat. Being an early riser anyway, I didn’t mind so we got up and made a b-line for the coffee.

After breakfast, everyone sort of grouped together and went off to tackle different activities. I ended up with a handful of people who wanted to go down to one of the lakes and see about renting a boat. Located next to the biggest pool any of us had ever seen in their lives, the boat rental dock is right on the shore of Hopewell Lake which was beautiful (this included Mark & Beth who had brought their dog, Ollie – a perfect friend for Chena). Unfortunately we weren’t there more than 10 minutes when the threatening thunder we had been hearing in the distance all morning decided to blow our way and put on a rather impressive show. The storm didn’t last long, but after it had finished, we decided instead to head back up to the campsite after detouring to pick up more ice for the coolers.

Chena and I both ended up lazing for the rest of the afternoon with a few others who stayed at camp, finally rounding out the day with dinner, more s’mores (is it just me, or does that sound redundant?), and of course laughter. A little later Saturday night, Ryan and Michelle broke out a nifty camping tool which looks somewhat like the precursor to the Panini press. Two iron squares which fit together neatly hold buttered bread and filling of choice (cheese, meat, pie filling…but not all at once) held into the fire for a few minutes cooks up a tasty treat. There was a name for them, but I’m blanking on what it was…and no, it’s not “sandwich”.

I’m sorry to report that I don’t remember much of Sunday. The morning was fine and I remember that well. Chena growled, we got up, I decided to take a shower which ended up sparking a high-speed chase through the campground (Chena running up to the showers to find me, Mark running after her, Ollie running after him, Chena running back to the campsite, Ollie taking off in a different direction, Mark running after Ollie, leaving everyone back at camp wondering where Mark & Ollie were once Chena showed back up).

It was only after breakfast that I started noticing a headache coming on. Within a couple of hours, it had progressed into a full-blown migraine – the likes of which I haven’t had in a pretty great while. Somehow I managed to pack up my stuff, but was struggling with how I was going to manage the drive home when another couple from our group (Davis & Denise) offered to help. Denise drove my car with me and her husband followed. I don’t really remember the drive, just the pain. Once home, I collapsed on the sofa with a large ice pack covering my head and there I stayed until about 8pm when it finally began to subside. Ug. The best part is, I think I did it to myself. Sadly, one of my migraine triggers is chocolate and I’d had a lot of that this weekend. Not all in one sitting, but over the course of 24 hours, I’d had a lot more than I’m used to and I feel fairly confident that this is what did it. Way to go, Deb. I’m just thankful it didn’t hit we were getting ready to head out anyway, otherwise what a bummer that would have been.

All-in-all, it was a great few days with a lot of valuable takeaways:

• Chena is a fantastic camping dog
• Gary is an excellent human Poison Ivy detector
• French Creek = good PA camping
• Campfires are great no matter what time of year it is
• Those little iron things make great camping treats (despite the fact I can’t remember what they’re called)
• There are still new friends to be had in the Philly suburbs.

On that last point, I really was thrilled to have the opportunity to make some more friends (as well as get to know some of my newer friends better) – something I would have not thought I would have been doing a year ago. In fact, it was a year ago that Kim was coming down from NYC to help me avoid The Zoid. Wow. What a difference a year makes.

God is full of surprises.

Second, I think that going through this whole deal as a single person has some definite perks (e.g. I don’t have to worry about getting and keeping someone else “on board”) but it also has its pitfalls. For one, if I start to falter in my motivation to keep running this race, there’s no one around to keep me from just sitting down on the bench and calling it a day.

Paying off that additional credit card (the first I’ve paid off since February, I might add) helped renew my energy for sure, but now I’m looking at probably 7 or 8 more months before I’m able to check another off. Upon this realization, I felt the vigor induced by my recent win start to fade. So in an effort to keep it alive, I decided to go back and try to figure out how I got to the place where I now have so much to pay off of this one last major card (I think the balance currently stands around $8,600 and was pushing $10,000 when I started). I mean seriously, what on earth did I buy for that much money? I mean, it’s not like I went hog-wild and upgraded my entire living situation. I didn’t revamp my wardrobe. I don’t have any shoes worth more than $80. I didn’t install some super-fab surround-sound home theater system. Nor did I put in the hardwood floors and tile I want so badly. And my backyard still sits patio-less. So honestly, where did all this credit card money I spent last year go?

Just to get some perspective around this, you have to understand that I started out 2008 with a total of almost $27,000 in credit card debt. Yikes. Makes me sick to even type that. This year to-date, I have paid off roughly $17,000 of that, most of which was done when my bonus/tax refund hit in February.

So for kicks, I went back and grabbed all of my credit cards’ year-end statement summaries where they kindly provide all of my transactions for the year and even categorize them for me. Of course I didn’t agree with some of the categorizations, so I consolidated them all into one Excel spreadsheet and then re-categorized them myself so they would fall more inline with the way I categorize my spending today. The sums of which resulted in a major “holy freaking cow” moment.

And so where did all my money for last year go? Apparently I ate a good chunk of it – like $500/month worth. Another decent portion went to travel (no surprise there). And then there were a lot of bits and pieces along the way which by their lonesome weren’t much, but added up over time. Would you believe over $100/month of the charges on the cards collectively were in fees?? Finance charges, balance transfers, cash advances, etc. Total, utter insanity and further evidence of my growing conviction that credit cards are, indeed, pure evil.

My “budget” (and I use that term VERY loosely) for 2007 was a total joke…and a bad joke at that. Granted, I had a lot of fun – one might argue maybe a little too much fun – but in looking back and weighing the cost, I have to admit that it really wasn’t worth it.

This year, I am THRILLED to say, is looking just a tad different. To give you some apples-to-apples, my average food spending so far this year is in the $200/month range (really closer to $150 except for the last two months were I kinda blew it) – that’s 40% of what it was last year. Travel is also averaging at about 0.03% of 2007’s total spending.

2008 is half over which means I’m now a quarter of my way to becoming debt free. Yes, I know when I first started blogging about this I thought I’d be there by next June, but after doing some more careful evaluating of my current debt, I discovered that I have more than I thought I did and so it will really be taking me through 2010 to kill it all

2011 and forward will be fun for sure (I still have an Antarctica trip to reschedule, after all) so it’s that debt-free side of the fence I’m trying to keep my focus on. But – and here’s the rub – in order to get there, I need to remain motivated to live like no one else (beans-and-rice, rice-and-beans) so that later I can live like no one else (wine-and-cheese, cheese-and-wine).

So pass the beans, please.

The culprit:  Food

And when I say “Food” this encompasses anything I buy at the grocery store so trash bags, etc. also fall into this category.  I know to some that will seem crazy, but trust me – I am NOT a detail person.  I can handle the details, but I hate them, so I try to stay in line with what I’ve heard Dave Ramsey say time and time again and I “KISS” everything I can (Keep It Simple Stupid).  My feeling is that I have enough balls in the air, so the more of them I can consolidate, the better.

Anyway, the question has been WHY.  Why has my food budget gone so terribly wrong these last 2 months when I was able to keep to it so well February through April?  True, it could be in part to the increase in cost of some food items due to rising gas prices, but I suspect it’s actually more simple than that.  I think this is because May was when I stopped paying for my groceries in cash and instead started using my debit card again.  In fact, May is when I moved all of my “cash” items back to the bank and was aiming to only use my debit card.

The studies done by Dunn & Bradstreet as well as Citigroup indicate that consumers spend 18-20% more when using plastic than when using cash.  That paying for things with actual cold, hard cash registers as pain in your brain receptors, but using a plastic card registers nothing.  Apparently using a debit card does register a little pain, but apparently not enough to cut down on the amount you spend.  Hm.

So, just for kicks I’m moving back to the cash envelope system for this month with items like Food and will just see what happens.  I’m still not finished June so I need to try and get creative for the rest of the month.  I wonder what cardboard tastes like…

Anyhow, so I picked up on from the library that I’ve heard him talk about quite a bit on the radio and even heard him mention it during my most recent FPU class – 48 Days To The Work You Love by Dan Miller. Now I’m not at all thinking of changing careers or even jobs in the next 48 days, but In trying to think more long-term, I do want to begin evaluating where I really want to be, what I really want to do, and how to ultimately get there.

So as I work through this book, there are questions at the end of each chapter. I thought what I might do is try to answer them here and would welcome feedback and input – especially from my close friends & family – as to whether or not I’m on the right track. Naturally I value the opinion of those who know me best in this since there’s a forest full of trees and I may not see all of them when looking at myself.

That said, here are the first chapter’s questions and my answers:

1. Who gave you your first job? What kind of job was it? How much money did you make?
I think my first job was probably a babysitting job, but as for a “real” job, I did have a job working the summer of my freshman year in high school for a family who sold and shipped Amway products. I had to open the store, take in orders and do inventory, ship the incoming orders out, and keep records of everything. I was largely on my own – the family hardly ever checked on me, so I had the place to myself and just had to complete the work I was asked. I don’t remember how much I got paid, but I remember enjoying the responsibility and self-management it provided.

2. From looking at your work life so far, what as been of the greatest value or worth?
I think I’d have to say the broad range of experiences and types of work it has provided me.

3. If your job changes, does your purpose change?
I might answer that differently if I felt I truly knew what my purpose is, but that’s a question I’m really struggling with right now, so I’m not sure. I guess I’d say that no, my purpose wouldn’t change because, even once I identify what that purpose is, I don’t believe a job change would (or should) impact that.

4. Do you think your current job will exist five years form now?
Definitely.

5. What would be the key characteristics of an ideal job or career?
Fun, adventure, ability to define ones own path, self-management, no glass ceiling, personal fulfillment.

6. When you daydream, what do you see yourself doing?
Running my own business and traveling as often as possible. As far as what that business is that I see myself running, it honestly changes with almost every daydream, but I do have a basic pool I pick from that I could see myself doing.

7. What have been the happiest, most fulfilling moments in your life?
Moments when I feel I managed something of great worth or personal growth. Moving to Alaska (and surviving), for example. Living overseas. Each step up in my career path so far. Purchasing my first home. Completing personal projects (home renovations, DAR application and approval, etc.)

8. If nothing changed in your life in the next 5 years, would that be OK?
Absolutely not. If nothing else, I know I need change in my life. I know a lot of people are scared of it, but I find I tend to thrive on it – even when it brings stress. So, if I was told that nothing in my life would change for the next 5 years, I think I would feel some life drain out of me.

First, it started with my having to get new tires for my car. While this would have been no big event had I been on the Dave Ramsey plan for several months, I was just starting out and therefore had very little built up in my Car Service envelope to cover such a major expense. I say “major” partly because my car apparently has performance tires on it meaning that I couldn’t replace them with just any ol’ tire. Rather, they needed to either have two new “full” performance tires (read: exactly what came on the car). These tires would have run me nearly $200 each. The second (and far more appealing) option was to replace all 4 tires with less-pricey, all-weather tires of a slightly different size. The job still ended up running me about $400 total with installation, etc. but caused me to dip into my starter emergency fund to make up the difference between what I had and what I needed and kicked Murphy out.

But like I said, he’s persistent.

No sooner had I gotten my emergency fund replenished than I started having leaking issues with my 21-year-old roof. Again, not something that would have been a problem had I enough time on the DR plan to fully save up for the roof replacement, but the leaks caused me to have the roof replaced sooner…MUCH sooner…than expected. The job was completed this past weekend which thrilled me since we had some serious rain yesterday, still it’s not only an expense I’m having to tackle sooner than my budget allowed. I haven’t gotten the final bill yet, but due to additional plywood replacements that they hadn’t originally thought they’d have to do, it may completely wipe out my emergency fund and then some… Murphy strikes again.

I know that once I have my fully funded emergency fund (3-6 months of expenses), Murphy will be almost completely repelled – it’s just this interim time where I feel like he’s sitting on my front porch that gets discouraging.

I know he’ll be gone eventually – I just need to stick with the plan. If only I could sic Chena on him in the meantime.

I should probably also mention that, although having to dip into and subsequently replenish my emergency fund, while annoying, has been a key part of my staying on-track and on-plan.  In my pre-Dave Ramsey life, I would have reached for the credit cards faster than you could say, “stupid tax.”  In other words, the emergency fund – while still only in the starter stages – is doing its job, and doing it well.

First off, I’m still following it. Second, it really has been life-changing.

I once heard someone talk about what they referred to as “spiritual mathematics” meaning that, when it comes to money, somehow God enables you to do more with less when you’re following His guidelines and principles. In other words, being a good steward or “manager” of what we’re given.

I am here to tell you that this is absolutely true…not only that, but I’ve found similar stories out there as well which helps to keep me from feeling like I must be crazy.

I’m still not exactly sure HOW this works, but since I have been following the budgeting principles, etc. as taught by God (via Dave Ramsey), I have watched this happen…and it’s been a little bizarre to say the least. Certainly the fact that I’m spending less has something to do with it, but it’s more than that. I may be spending less, but I’m also giving more, yet seem to always end up with more as well. One of the happy effects of this is that I’m paying down my debt faster than I would have originally thought possible.

Just to try and put this in some quantifiable terms… To date, I have paid off roughly 30% of the outstanding debt I started off with in January, and yet my net worth (which I’m calculating monthly as a way to help me see the progress I’m making) has increased by 102% in that same amount of time. What the…?! How the…?! It makes no sense.

It makes even less sense when you consider that I put a hault on all savings plans when I kicked my debt snowball into gear. So how on earth has my net worth more than doubled when I haven’t even been doing anything to make that happen? On top of which, the stock markets have been doing pretty poorly this year as well, so it’s not like the mutual funds in my 401(k) are just rocketing my account values up – in fact, it’s pretty much the opposite.

Would someone care to explain that to me?

Aside from all this, I find myself continuing to revisit what the Bible says about money. God talked about money a lot. I mean a LOT a lot – to the tune of more than 800 references. And when God talks, I listen…especially when He has something to say in an area where I haven’t always made the best decisions. As it turns out, God’s smarter than I am. Go figure!

Anyway, I just wanted to take a second and check-in and throw that encouragement out there for anyone doing FPU or following a budget but who might be getting tired or discouraged. Hang in there – it’s worth it! God’s principles for managing money are the only ones worth applying. And take it from me – although I couldn’t begin to explain the math of it to you, I know they work.

It’s called The Well (http://www.thewellpa.com) and it is very artsy and young and similar in “feel” to The Haven. They meet in a warehouse that they bought and refinished.

How did this happen? Well, in a fit of Providence, I heard about it through someone who was a part of that Meetup.com group I had started. I had decided to cancel the Meetup as it hadn’t yielded much and I didn’t feel like paying for another year to keep the group going. So instead anyone who was interested was added to a new Google Group I created so we could still send out messages for events and things without the cost of the Meetup. After I sent out a message to the Google Group as an intro, I got a message back from someone who turned out to be one of the pastors at The Well saying that he thought I sounded like I might like it and should come check it out.

That was about 3 weeks ago. Unfortunately, I had just started the Dave Ramsey class at another church from 8:30-10:30 on Sunday mornings (The Well’s service starts at 10:30) so I didn’t go to visit until just yesterday because I didn’t think I’d have time to do both.

So over the last few weeks I instead floated around on their website, listened to a couple of the sermons, and had pretty much decided that I loved it – all that was left was to visit. If I liked it in person as much as I thought I would, I knew that my search would be over. I couldn’t stand the thought of having to wait another 10 weeks to go in person (which is how much longer the Financial Peace University class will last) so I instead ducked out of my class a few minutes early yesterday and drove over to The Well – turns out it’s only a couple of miles down the road.

I loved it. Clearly. One of the things I really saw on the website and in the sermons I heard online (and yesterday) was the emphasis on community – building it, living it, serving it. As a single chick in the suburbs, community becomes not just important, but essential – a lifeline, if you will. Not to mention that their being so community-minded echos also what Redeemer and The Haven, for that matter, were all about.

So I’m thrilled. I can’t wait to find out more about it and start getting involved. Praise God for such a direct answer to prayer! Wahoo!

My official plasectomy* took place on February 15, but I had stopped using them on January 27. My full-out budget started around the same time I made confetti out of my credit cards, and as I’ve indicated previously, right now my budget is a pretty fluid concept, but is becoming more solid with each passing paycheck. The first 2-3 weeks, I think I was tweaking it almost daily. It has now dropped to a weekly tweak. I’m hoping that in another month I’ll be down to only checking it out when I deposit funds!

I’m also trying to find as many ways to bring in extra cash as possible. This is proving to be more difficult than I would like… Dave’s answer would be to start delivering pizzas or bar-tending. I’m not against those things, but my job is such that I cannot always guarantee being available for that kind of work. Additionally, I can’t be on my feet too much right now thanks to my still-broken foot. I have started selling a bunch of stuff on Half.com which so far has yielded about $100. I’ve also applied to become a Secret Shopper, but haven’t heard back on that yet. Anyone else have extra-money suggestions??

I want to just take a moment to indicate just a few ways in which I feel my life has changed in just these few short weeks…

1. I’m relaxed. Not that I was particularly uptight before, but I can just feel myself relaxing on a deeper level than I feel I previously have. I’m not checking my bank account each day and breaking out in a sweat out for fear that something might be coming through throwing my entire account into a state of confusion and chaos.
2. I feel in control. This may sound like an odd thing to say because one might think that, since I’m single, I’ve therefore always had control…and I think that before now, I would have agreed with you. However now I can see how much I was NOT in control. It’s like the quote that I heard Dave give during one of the FPU sessions – “Either you will learn to manage money, or the lack of it will always manage you.” Prior to January 27th, I would definitely say it was latter.
3. I have hope. Again, it’s not like I felt hopeless before or that there wasn’t a light at the end of my proverbial tunnel, but I definitely didn’t see such a bright light! Nor do I think I realized what might be sitting at the end of the tunnel quite like I think I do now.

I’ve actually gotten to a point right now where I feel I’m no longer questioning some of Dave’s positions as I initially did. I’ve been listening to him so much and heard him explain his position so many times over these past few weeks, the “why’s” of what he teaches are becoming clearer to me. In some ways I feel like George in that episode of Seinfeld where he decides that nothing in his life has worked out for him so going forward he decides that he’s going to just “do the opposite” of whatever his natural instinct tells him to do. If he normally would say no, then he says yes. If he normally wouldn’t ask a woman out, he does it anyway. If he normally gets tuna, he’ll order chicken. I’ve not been so stupid that I haven’t done ANYTHING right in the past, but I did get to the point where I felt that clearly my way of managing my finances has not led me to the place I want to be and so departing from my standard behavior might be just the thing to course correct.

So there you have it… My first month up. Not missing my credit cards one bit and am actually enjoying telling myself “no” to things I want to do but don’t have the cash for.

This is getting fun…

*Plasectomy – a permanent removal of credit cards (or plastic) from the wallet and life of an individual.