My parents were excellent money managers! My Dad never made big wages working at Townsend Company. I remember coming home from Kentucky about a year after we were married. Excitedly, I told my Dad that UPS had settled their strike and I would be making $4.70 and hour as a result (part-time - unloading trucks). He didn't express much joy regarding my good news, so I later questioned him about it. It was then that he told me that he had never made $4.70 an hour. I was humbled.
Unfortunately, my parents never sat down and talked about their finances with me. They modeled a frugal lifestyle and were content with what they had! However, the instruction of how to manage money was never really discussed.
In our first year of marriage, we received a credit card in the mail! It was exciting! We had a $500 limit! So we used it! That began our sad story. More credit cards arrived in those early years of our marriage. Seminary bills stacked up. Then children started coming. When I began my full-time ministry at the Jeannette Free Methodist Church, I received $100 per week. We easily qualified for WIC.
You know the story from there:
- cars
- repairs
- taxes
- clothes
- Christmas
- vacations
- finishing my MDiv at Pittsburgh Theological
- going on for a MA Counseling
- etc., etc. ad infinitum
At one point, I added up the facts. We were over $60,000 in debt - without a house! Financial stress was a daily reality! I was juggling payments to try to keep everyone happy. It drove a chronic depression in my life! I faced the inevitable reality: we would never get out of debt! Several indicated that we were prime candidates for filing bankruptcy, however, we never considered that a viable option.
I began to pray about the problem for the first time. As a result of my prayers, God brought three men to my side.
Pete Muschweck was the Oakland FMC treasurer. He had a lot of wisdom regarding finances from his business experience. He began to counsel me.
Ron Kelly was a parishoner at Oakland who freely shared his biblical wisdom with me. For the first time in my life, I realized that God had a LOT to say about finances. Ron helped me to grow in understanding these principles and applying them in my life!
Larry Burkett was a radio teacher (in Heaven now). I began listening to his show every day! I bought some of his materials and began to use them to plan our finances.
Later, we attended Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University to reinforce the principles we already knew!
We used the common 'debt snowball' approach. Our snowball at first was $20. As we payed off a debt, the amount of that payment was added to our 'snowball' and applied to the next debt on our "knock-off list". It gradually grew - very slow at first. By the end of the process it had grown to $700. Our last debt fell in several months due to this extra-large payment boost!
Our goal had been to eliminate our debt in seven years. It actually took us eleven (the extra four years is a story for another time).
I cannot express the joy that we experienced! This was something that I had considered impossible! I had surrendered to the fact that we would never be out of debt! But, with the help of friends and the wisdom of God's Word - WE MADE IT!
Debt is our enemy! As counseled by our teachers, we declared WAR on debt! We planned and sacrificed to achieve our goal! HALLELUJAH!
And guess what?
If we did it - anyone can do it! Ha ha ha ha - isn't that good news?
Today, we enjoy a freedom that we did not know when we were younger. We can do things that we couldn't do then. We practice generosity regularly and have discovered the true joy of giving! I am no longer driven to depression by our finances,
If you're reading this and you're where we used to be - TAKE HOPE!
Pay the small fee and sign-up for Financial Peace University. It's actually fun! It's a short term commitment that's always available somewhere - usually at churches. Contact Crown Financial Ministries (the organization that Larry Burkett founded). Get their resources and apply them. Both of these organizations believe that the majority of families can be debt-free in seven years! GET STARTED!
PS - I always lamented the poor example that we were for our children. However, thanks be to God, He seems to have used the situation to wake them up to the hardships that come with debt. To the best of my knowledge, our kids are practicing good financial management! Woo Hoo! And thanks be to God!
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