In November 2004 we were introduced to others “borrowing” the CD’s and anything of value from our car. We later learned this was something to get used to while living in our apartment. I did not handle financial stress well at this time in my life. And while this didn’t set us back any more than replacing a window, it left me feeling defeated and under spiritual attack. Feeling like the enemy of my God was trying to tear me down in order to hurt Him. I remember journaling that “Satan can have all of my stuff, but he can’t have me.” This statement was put to the test.
Move ahead to December 19. Justin and I were driving in front of Easton when we met the rear end of a Jetta. Well, I say we, but I’ve never actually been the cause of an accident. You do the math. Right before our cars kissed Justin looked over at me and said, “I’m gonna hit them.” I said, “OK,” as if I saying, “I’d rather not” would have made a difference. I wish I could have seen us having that quick conversation. It makes me laugh to picture the scene. This brought the life of our lovely Chevrolet Cavalier to an end. The air bags deployed which ended up totaling the car. Let the car shopping begin…but not so fast. We had no money to put down, and ended up with a few months of car payments after insurance paid us for what the Cavalier was worth. Flub. After borrowing a friend’s car, and using my Christmas bonus towards what was left on our payments, we let the car shopping begin, again.
In January 2005 Ebay brought us to a deal that was too good to be true. So like any responsible 22 year olds, we went for it. Looking back there were so many red flags it’s embarrassing. But we didn’t know about these sorts of scams and so, borrowed $8000 from a friend. We went the friend route rather than the bank route because of said “good deal,” thinking we would sell the car, make money, pay back our friend and come out ahead. Oh how wrong we were. The listing was all forged, the links were fake and the money wired was never held in Ebay Square Trade, but rather went right into the hands of one fine individual whom we yet have had the privilege to meet. This left us $8000 in debt to our friend, in need of a car, and still with no cash for a down payment. We ended up buying the Corolla we just recently laid to rest. We set up a payment plan with our more than gracious friend. And we were given the opportunity to stand up under the test of having our stuff taken, yet not giving ourselves over to the enemy in self-despair.
Through this, and a friend of ours, we found out about Dave Ramsey and the idea of becoming debt free. Though we crawled through the beginning of his baby steps, 6 years later we were able to buy our “new to us” car with cash. It may be old, and have some miles on it, but it is 100% ours. I don’t say this to make us sound better than. I say this because we started with nothing. And if with nothing we could make 3 car payments for 2 cars, drag ourselves (almost) out of debt (not including the mortgage), and manage to save, anyone can. Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover clearly and encouragingly lays out the common sense plan for getting out of debt, and finally telling your money (no matter how much you have) what to do. In a world of excess and instant gratification, this hard work strategy is refreshing, and always pays off. You have my guarantee, or your time back for reading this blog.
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