10 long years, but finally???.Debt Free!!!

Ten years ago in 2005, my husband Jim and I began a journey to become debt-free. It was not Dave Ramsey???s plan, because we had not heard of him. I remember the shock at the beginning of 2005 when I sat down and added up all our consumer debt. A whopping $55,774.91, consisting of credit card and car loan debt. How did we get to such a large number without realizing the full extent of our debt? Because we did what many other people do; it was always about whether or not we could afford the ???monthly payment???. After about six months of following a different get out of debt plan, a Pastor friend mentioned FPU. His church had just finished the 12 week course. I hadn???t heard of FPU or Dave Ramsey but I went to the website and started listening to Dave. I would download the podcast to my iPod and listen every chance I got. At first I thought Dave was a little over the top but as I listened and listened and listened, all the things he said made sense. I ordered the total money makeover book and continued to listen to the show sometimes on my iPod, sometimes on my computer. My husband was still somewhat skeptical but after we completed our Baby step 1 and then we began to pay off one debt after another, he began to take notice that we were making progress. Sometimes I would listen to the Dave Ramsey show in our home office with the volume turned low, and people on the show would be doing their debt-free scream. I didn???t think my husband was listening, but one day he asked me to turn up the volume because he wanted to hear someone scream their debt-free scream. From that time on, he was more committed although because I am the nerd in the family, I mainly took care of the finances. We also ordered the FPU home study course and watched the teaching videos. The one thing this program has done for us is to help us be on the same page. Having a set amount of blow money has also been very freeing for both of us. Once we finished with Baby step 2 (it took us about 3 years), we were able to make good headway with Baby steps 3 and 4. We were able to skip Baby step 5 and go on to Baby step 6 (owing $303K at the time) that consisted of our mortgage and a HEL loan that was more than half of our income because we had bought some land in 2004, and the plan was that we would build our own home on our land within a few years. In 2007 we tried to sell our home and it didn???t sell. Then the market took a downturn and there we were with a mortgage and a line of credit for the land. By this time with both of us working, we were living on one income and using my income to pay debt off. I changed jobs in 2007 and took a hefty pay cut. Two years later I changed jobs again and was able to regain what I had lost and then some. That was the perfect timing because about that time my husband???s work took a downturn that has persisted. He???s in a construction related field and his work is project based. We???ve had some challenges along the way: There have been times of unemployment, health issues, car repairs, and even helping with funeral expenses for a grand-child. I only mention this because in the past we did not have savings and would not have been able to meet this need. I also went back to school and finished up my bachelor???s degree, a life-long desire. I was able to do this while working full-time and we cash flowed the expenses with a little help by means of tuition reimbursement from my employer. Last year we took a cruise to Alaska to celebrate my graduation. The trip was paid for with cash, of course. We???ve also been able to help our children when challenges have come their way. Last year, our daughter was hit head-on by a driver. By the grace of God, she is ok. Her car was totaled and we were able to replace her car with a paid for used vehicle. We finished paying off the HEL loan last year and have been paying extra on the mortgage. I have to say that after all these years, it does get tiring some times and it???s hard to continue to be intense. We finally made the tough decision to sell our land. It would enable us to pay off our mortgage and be debt free once and for all. I???ve heard Dave say over the years not to buy land for retirement ahead of time, that there will always be land available. Well Dave is right. Although we owned our land for 11 years, it did not appreciate in value and it cost us money to sell it. The good news is that our home is now paid for. Finally, we are at Baby step 7 at the age of 56 and 62. The Lord has been gracious to us and we give Him the glory for enabling us to reach this goal. We can see his hand guiding us and thank Him for providing the guidance that we so desperately needed. Thank you Dave Ramsey for inspiring us to believe that we could actually get out of debt, and for providing the tools with which to accomplish this goal. The Baby Steps work if you work them. ???Freedom??? Jim and Maggie in California