Why You're Still In Debt

I call it a 3 a.m. moment. It's the instant you realize that you need to do something about your debt. Maybe it doesn't happen at 3 a.m. necessarily. Maybe it happens when you look at the next credit card bill, or when you go to write that massive check for an unexpected car repair. It's like waking up in the middle of the night with the horrible realization that you forgot to do that very important thing.

So you decide to make a change. You even get a little angry about it. That "3 a.m." moment made you determined to get out of debt for good!

Buuuuut it didn't take. After a while, your conviction waned and now, sadly, you're still in debt.

What keeps people from getting out of debt? Why would someone want to stay in chains instead of living in freedom? Sadly, there are all sorts of reasons people choose MasterCard over being free from debt, but here are a few:

1. They want to keep up appearances.

This is what realty TV has got us trained to do—keeping up with the Joneses, or, to many, the Kardashians. But most people who appear to have it all really have a steep mortgage on that million dollar home, and a lease on that expensive car, and a Visa card that's maxed out. These are some of the most broke people in your neighborhood! Trying to keep up appearances with anyone is nothing but your ego taking a stroll on the uneasy side and it will lead to bankruptcy if you're not careful.

2. They are unwilling to sacrifice.

When Danielle and I got married, I couldn't fathom not going out to eat at least once a week. But it was a sacrifice I eventually made. Now we go out to eat once every few months. If that. And you know what? It's not as dreadful as I imagined it would be. We have since come to sacrifice many other things in order to get ahead—cable TV, high-speed internet, Netflix, vacations. This doesn't mean we have to do without these things forever, but the savings we've accumulated over the last two years is precisely why we are currently debt free! It’s about priorities. Here’s the question: What are you willing to sacrifice?

3. They’re addicted to stuff.

During my time as a UPS driver I had two stops on my route to women who were full-blown shopaholics. It was a rare day that I didn't stop at their houses with multiple packages from amazon.com. A love of stuff isn't that hard to understand, really. I mean, who doesn't like stuff? Heck, I LOVE stuff! And learning not to impulsively purchase everything we want isn't easy, because, for some reason, the more we have, the more confident and powerful we feel. But it's all a fraud! Eventually, stuff just weighs us down.

4. They don’t know how. 

A lot of people get those "3 a.m." moments and want to kick their debt to the curb, but they just don't know how to do it. Our culture, with its mentality of immediate gratification, has trained people to look at their mountain of debt and see it as something too big to bother with. Quick and easy, that's what people want. Hard work? Forget about it! But hard work and discipline is exactly what it takes to get your debt under control. That, and a plan. Thankfully there are plenty of solid, reliable budgeting programs to help you out—be it Crown Financial or Dave Ramsey, for example. You may have to plunk down some cash to get the program or take the course, but it's well worth the investment.

5. They’re lazy.

Some people know what to do. Maybe they know about the debt snowball and they sorta, kinda want to get out of debt. They know how debt can negatively affect their marriage, their stress levels, their relationships, and their future; they know that buying expensive coffees and cable TV packages and newer, more expensive cars and clothes isn't a wise move, but they just aren’t motivated to make a change. And that's... well, embarrassing. Especially if you've got kids. It's now not only your life you're ruining but theirs because they're going to learn their financial habits from you.

Every day, people are making the decision to get out of debt and change their lives. They’re ready to sacrifice and get rid of their fear of change or their addiction to stuff. If you're ready to take that leap, we can't recommend Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University enough. It saved our finances and our marriage.

If a lazy, stuff-lovin' bum like me can make this change, then anyone can!

Keep pinchin' :-)

Taking Vacations With the Baby Steps

Jake and Danielle on vacation in Maui.

If you're like most people, you can only work, eat, sleep, and play through your weekly grind before the itch to "get away" starts making your insides raw.

But how do you take a vacation and have a good time when you're working your way through Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps to financial peace? I mean, the Baby Steps aren't exactly the best place to be when you want to blow $5,000 on a tropical getaway. Well, here's the good news: you're a fool if you sound like this *in a nasally tone* "We can't go on vacation. We need to save our money. Dave Ramsey says so."

Chill, bro. Or sis. Whoever you are. Vacations are not NOT possible. They CAN happen no matter what baby step you're in. But here's the tough news: you're going to have work at it.

Obviously, the decision to take a vacation is dependent on where you're at financially. If you’re on Baby Step 1 or 2, you’re either building a $1,000 emergency fund or paying off your debt with the debt snowball. In other words, your budget is probably tight—especially if you’re paying off debt aggressively, which you should be. In this case, your options might be limited, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a fun, relaxing vacation. For now it might have to be a staycation, or an inexpensive camping trip, but it's not impossible. Get creative!

If you can manage—and budget for—a short weekend getaway, then go for it. Just remember, the beach and the mountains and all the fancy resorts can wait until you’re out of debt. They’ll still be there, and they will be an awesome reward for busting it and getting out of debt. The main thing is that you don't incur MORE debt by going on vacation.

If you're into Baby Step 3, you’re out of debt and starting to save your big emergency fund, which is three to six months of expenses. Now you can take a little bit of a breath. You’re still saving aggressively and putting all that money you were using to pay off debt toward the emergency fund. But you are also in a good situation where you can take a little bit of that and go on a vacation paid for with CASH. No credit cards here. Woot-woot!

It's important to not go too crazy though. Give yourself a budget, and keep yourself within that budget.

By the time you're into Baby steps 4 through 6, you're in an awesome spot! You’re out of debt, and you’ve saved up a large emergency fund. You’ve started the process of investing 15% of your household income retirement and you've begun saving for your kids' college funds. An annual summer vacation shouldn't be a problem. Just put it in the budget and set a little money aside every week. Even if it's just $100, that's $5,200! Pack up the van and take the kids to Disney!

Your income will determine what’s reasonable for you to do when it comes to vacation spending. Higher earners will obviously be able to afford pricier vacations, but the point here is to go somewhere and remain debt free. Say it with me now: No. More. Debt.

When you've made it all the way through the Baby Steps, don't forget to be generous. Take some family or friends with you on some of your vacations. Be an encourager and a motivator to people who haven’t reached this point in their journey yet. Be generous with your money and even more generous in your spirit. Everyone’s journey will be different. Some people are able to go through the Baby Steps quickly, while it takes much longer for others.

Keep that dream vacation in mind and use it to motivate you to work through the Baby Steps. Remember, getting out of debt and learning to live debt free won't take you forever. This is just a phase of life. The good times will come. You just need the dedication and a little patience to get there.

Keep pinchin :-)

How To Refocus Your Finances

Hi. Remember us?

Yeah, we sort of lost track of our blog about three months ago when it fell into the abyss between Mt. Busy and Mt. Really Busy; they're two peaks in northern Vermont on the road to Overwhelmington, overlooking lakes Where-Has-Our-Life-Gone and It's-February-Already. (Yes, those are real lakes.)

These past wintry months have brought a lot of exciting changes into our lives. Right now, we're a week into sub-zero temperatures and I feel sort of like our life was put into a little snow globe and had the daylights shook out of it. Except what's falling down around us isn't fake plastic snow, it's a crazily scary, busy, fun, weird, roller-coaster ride of uncertainty. Our home is almost sold. Neither of us have full-time jobs. It was 30 below on Tuesday.

Whether we like it or not, a financial refocusing is what we have to do right now, and with Christmas having come and gone and New Year's resolutions in full-swing it's likely that's where you're at too. Getting back into the habit of budgeting and financial planning may sound daunting, even overwhelming, but here's the truth: it's easier the second time around.

If your financial focus has fallen by the wayside, the only thing that makes it seem difficult to start back up again is your memory of how difficult it was the first time. Do you remember the first time? I do. It was six brutal months of weekly budget meetings between me, a money spender, and my wife, a money hoarder, butting heads, bickering, crying, until we finally figured out how to do this "budgeting thing" together.

But the second time around isn't like the first. We know the drill. We know what we have to do. Thankfully, Danielle and I never really quit doing our budget meetings, we just have them once a month now instead of once a week. Still, with the major upheaval our life has undergone these last few months, it's time to sit down and figure out what our financial priorities are. This isn't a bad practice to do every once in a while. So...

Think Small

Refocusing your financial goals needs to be broad in scope, but small in steps. One of the reasons people veer off course is because they set their goals too far ahead. Their goals become too unobtainable. They get discouraged. They quit. This is why Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University approaches budgeting with the "Baby Steps." The first step—get $1,000 of emergency money in the bank—is obtainable within a month for most people. Seeing progress that quickly is encouraging and helps you to realize that, yes, this budgeting process can work!

So as you refocus your finances, make your goals realistic. Maybe your broad goal is to pay off the house in the next ten years, but for this month make it a goal to put an extra $100 down on the mortgage, or $1,000 in six months. The way we handle money is tied to our emotions, and our emotions are motivated when we see progress, so set obtainable "baby steps."

Keep Those Meetings Coming

You and your spouse need to be making your financial plans together. Maybe, if you really love crunching numbers and your spouse doesn't, you can handle it on your own, but you need to at least make an effort to include your spouse in what's going on. Danielle and I talk about our finances a lot. We help keep each other focused and motivated. Knowing what financial dreams are on her mind are important to me, and, frankly, I couldn't do all this math crap without her.

Pray

No financial plan should begin without consulting the One who owns it all anyway. "Everything comes from You, and we have given You only what comes from Your hand," 1 Chronicles 29:14. God knows your future far better than you do. He knows what storms are coming your way and how He's going to provide for your every need. You and your spouse—or financial accountability partner if you're single—need to keep God on the front lines of your financial goals.

So start there. Pray. Think small. Keep those budget meetings in the pipeline. Let us know what you're struggling with so we can pray for you and learn more about this stuff alongside you.

Keep pinchin' :)

How Financial Stress Can Lead To The "D" Word

Jake and I were recently talking about how hard our first two years of marriage were, specifically the first year. We have publicly stated before that had we not taken Financial Peace University, we may not be married today. That statement is not something I am proud of, but it is also not much of an exaggeration!

Debt, finances, and no real money-management plan can cause a lot of stress on a relationship, and when that relationship is fairly new that stress can be hard to bear!

I remember there were times when we would just walk away from an argument and not speak because frustration, misunderstandings, and hurt had caused both of us real pain that we didn't know how to communicate.

Even after we started budgeting there were times that our financial meetings ended with me in tears and the hubby frustrated that we still weren't on the same page or that our money didn't seem to be doing what we wanted it to.

We had made a promise to each other to never mention divorce, not even jokingly. It is a word we just don't want in our vocabulary. Still, in the midst of those first couple years, we both contemplated how we were ever going to make this marriage work, and whether or not we even wanted to.

Fast forward to where we are now.

This summer has been amazing, not that our marriage still hasn't had its challenges, but because we've become more united in our goals. We've begun to cement as a team with a single vision of where we want to go with our finances, our family, with God.

When we decided to sell our house it was a huge relief to both of us. After living there for almost two years we realized that it was way more house than we needed, more work than we could handle, and really not in the location we wanted to be in. So, a few weeks ago, we packed up our bags and moved in with Jake's beautiful grandmother, one of the sweetest ladies you'll ever meet. The situation is mutually beneficial for all of us because having us there at the house helps Grandma and also gives us some time to save some money and invest a little more time in finding our dream home.

Some may consider moving in with family a step back, but for us it has been freeing. I don't completely regret buying our big old homestead because while we were living there we learned a lot about what we really want in a home, what we really need, and where we want to be.

The weirdest part about all of this, however, is that even though we're probably facing more stress than ever right now—with trying to sell the house, with Jake possibly losing his job soon—we're dealing with it much better than we would have a couple years ago. Instead of all this stress driving a wedge between us it has become something we can come together about, praying and trusting that God has a plan in it all, and being thankful that we do have that 3-6 months savings set aside for these uncertain moments in life.

I think the reason we are both so passionate about Financial Peace University is because of how it helped not only our finances but our marriage.

If you're facing marital problems, won't you let us pray for you? Click the contact button above. And if you'd like more information about Financial Peace University, ask us!

Keep pinchin'

Getting Back To Basics When Life Throws You Off Course

We were so busy in the month of August that I didn't even have time to realize that our days in what once was our "forever home" were numbered. Then one day I got home from work and was half-way out of my car when it dawned on me, "This is our last night in our house."

Dani and I have decided to move in with my Grandmother for the time being as we continue our attempts to sell our house. By doing so we hope to save on some heating costs this winter while giving Grandma some much-needed helping hands around her home.

With this change in our living arrangements our financial situation has changed some too. It will likely change again once the house sells and we're out from under the burden of homeownership, and it will change again in a year or so when we find a new house... or apartment... or something.

All of this means we need to take a "back to basics" approach to our budget, which, when you think about it, isn't a bad thing to do every now and then anyway.

Since leading Financial Peace University, Dani and I have kept in touch with some of the people who attended. Some are doing well. Others have backslidden. One lady approached me last week and said, "I hope you're not planning another FPU reunion because my husband and I have made no progress with our finances at all!"

People in that kind of a situation think I'm going to be mad at them or disappointed, but there's no way I can fault them for their mistakes when I make plenty of my own. The more important thing is no matter how many times our financial mistakes trip us up that we dust ourselves off and get back up. Sometimes that may involve a budget "Reset," especially if you haven't been keeping track of your income and expenses.

We live in a society of perfectionism, where one mistake by a political leader or celebrity earns them a lifetime of public shunning, unforgiveness, and hatred. Anyone remember actor Mel Gibson's drunken anti semitic outrage back in 2006? Of course you do. Because despite his numerous attempts to publicly apologize for the incident and seek forgiveness from the jewish community, Gibson is still far more hated in America today than he is loved. Why? Because we found out he wasn't as cool and collected and heroic as the characters he portrays in film? Because we found out that he's a real human being with real problems?

Our culture, while admittedly imperfect, demands perfection. The moment someone doesn't live up to our expectations we diminish them.

Instinctively we apply this type of thinking to ourselves far too often. When we're faced with a project we can't complete perfectly, we quit. When stuck in a marriage that doesn't reach our standards, we divorce. When we're unable to follow a financial plan, we ignore it.

We know we're imperfect.

We say we're not striving for perfection.

Yet we fault ourselves, and others, when perfection is not obtained.

I don't know about you, but the word "absurd" comes to mind.

Perfectionism isn't really about being meticulous and perfect anyway. Essentially, it's about fear. We fear failure. We fear making mistakes. We fear disappointing others. Which is why people act so ashamed when they admit to me that their falling short on their financial budget.

Look, it's no surprise to me that you've fallen short. What would surprise me is if you said the budget is working great, that you've never screwed up, that you follow it to a T, you love it, because at that point I would just assume you're lying!

Maybe it's time to get back to some basics. Don't let the latest mistake keep you down. Revisit that budget, find out where you went wrong, and get back on track. Cut the fat. Mind the frivolous spending. Start putting money into savings again. Don't give up just because you've messed up.

Dani and I are going to be making lots of changes to our budget in the months ahead because our financial plan, as we laid it out years ago, has not become what we wanted it to be. Some of that's because of mistakes. Some of it's just plain the result of life interjecting the proverbial monkey wrenches. But all of that doesn't matter as long as we don't throw in the towel.

So, bear with us as we continue to figure it all out. And, while you're at it, pick up that budget, dust it off, and dive back in!

Keep pinchin' :-)

What Strawberries and Finances Have In Common

Remember those lovely little strawberry plants that I thought I had killed in my fridge? (You can catch up here in case you missed it).

Well, I'm happy to report that not only are they thriving in their new garden home—in fact, they're basically the only thing thriving in my garden—but they are also delicious! Take a look at those beautiful red rubies. I get to pick about this much almost every day.

If you ever consider growing strawberries consider planting everbearing ones. While you typically don't get a harvest of strawberries the first year you plant them, with everbearing plants you do. Why? Because after you pluck off all the first flowers that arrive—this helps the plant focus on growing—the everbearing plants continue to flower and produce strawberries. For someone that likes to be rewarded for their hard work right away, this is the way to go!

As I was picking strawberries the other day, my thoughts turned to our finances.

I know. Radical subject change. But bear with me here.

You might be thinking it's too late to start on your journey to financial freedom. Living debt free or creating a retirement plan may seem so impossible that it's not worth striving for, BUT THAT'S NOT TRUE! It's never to late!

Just like my strawberries that lived in the fridge for three weeks and nearly froze to death, you can still see fruit from your hard work even if you're only just beginning. Some of your hard work may pay off right away, like my everbearing strawberries. You may pay off a credit card or a small loan. It may not be much, but it's a start.

You should've seen the first strawberries I picked. They were so tiny they looked like chokeberries. My husband chuckled at them. But it was only the beginning! The strawberries we're seeing now are big and bright and delicious!

Creating a good financial base and climbing out of debt takes time, and it's never too late to start. So don't believe the lie that you missed the train. Hop on board and decide today that you want to live differently. Create a budget. Maybe check out a Financial Peace University class and start working your way to your financial goals.

Otherwise, if you sit in the fridge any longer, you probably will freeze.

Keep pinchin' :-)

Breaking Free Part 5: The Art Of Sustainable Sacrifice

It's been two years since Danielle and I started down this road toward debt-free living. It's been a challenge, a fun ride, a ministry, and a blessing, all rolled into one adventure. This week we'd like to look back on our journey, share some of the intricacies of how and why we do it, and hopefully encourage you to gain some ground in your financial battle.

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Saying that I don't complicate things is like saying a full moon doesn't throw a monkey wrench into the Wolf Man's daily grind.

I have a tendency to immediately over-think and over-complicate things, but when Danielle and I first started budgeting I forced myself to be intentional about keeping it simple. In fact that's one of Dave Ramsey's key points in Financial Peace University. He calls it KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid.

So, first, we followed the plan. Simple.

Then we wrote our entire budget out on paper to make it easier to work with. I even used a pencil instead of a pen. Simple.

When we compiled our budgetary needs we put them into a small number of categories. For example: instead of having budget lines for cleaning supplies, tools, and home repair, we have one line item called Home Needs. See? Simple.

We found that a successful budget needs three main things in those first few months:

1. Discipline. You've got to keep at it. You've got to do the work. You've got to set it up and make your money work for you.


2. Realistic expectations. Unplanned expenses are going to happen, and the money to cover them has to come from somewhere.


3. Flexibility. A budget is rarely going to work properly from the get-go. It will need adjustment.

After about six months we had the budgeting thing down to a science.

Spend Less, Earn More

When it comes to paying off debt, Dave Ramsey points out that the two things that contribute the most to attacking debt are spending less and earning more. I'll give Danielle the most credit when it comes to earning more. That girl can work like a dog when she's got a goal. She took a lot of extra jobs on top of her full time job to earn extra money.

And when it came to spending less we both made a lot of sacrifices. We didn't cut out restaurants and movies at first, but over time we cut back at these things more and more with the understanding that we couldn't give them up forever.

That's what sustainable sacrifice is all about—sacrificing unnecessary expenses to accelerate progress for a period of time. The idea is to stay motivated as you see your sacrifice enabling you to get ahead in other areas financially. If you can get debt free in one year by sacrificing deeply, go for it! Otherwise, take a good look at your budget and determine what expenditures you can cut back and for how long.

In our case, we knew we'd have to sacrifice for about five years at least, and we made decisions based on what we thought we could handle for that amount of time. Had we gone into it without a determined timeframe we—mostly I—would've gotten too discouraged and probably given up.

I Gotta Have My Cookies

Sustainable sacrifice isn't about depriving yourself of everything you enjoy. It means being intentional about telling your money where to go. If you want to spend some of it at Dunkin Donuts, that's fine, just make sure you plan for it. Otherwise you get fat.

Oh, wait. Wrong topic. Well, it still sort of applies. See, now that my wifey is into being a Beachbody coach, and now that I've seen the tremendous success she's had with eating right, I've decided to work on adding a better dietary plan to my workout routines. But, like my personal spending money, if I don't have some junk food to look forward to I'm going to get real discouraged real fast.

So I prepared an entire batch of chocolate chip cookies and divided them up into little freezer bags of three. Every Saturday I know I have that beautiful, chocolaty sweetness to look forward to. If i didn't have that, I wouldn't keep track of what I was eating. A candy bar here. A brownie there. I wouldn't know from one week to the next how much junk food I was eating.

Knowing I've got cookies coming on Saturday makes the sacrifice during the week sustainable.

Sustainable sacrifice.

Now, just as a quick side note, the types of sacrifices that move the debt needle the fastest are monthly sacrifices like cable TV, subscriptions services, and the like. Maybe for this summer you decide not to purchase a golf membership. (I know, heresy!) Or if cutting out television entirely isn't an option, maybe a cheaper package with fewer channels is the way to go for the next year.

Making sustainable sacrifices will help you make progress, which will help keep you motivated to make more sacrifices to keep on keeping on.

What sacrifices have you made to dump debt?

Other posts in this series:
Part 1: My Personal Wake-Up Call
Part 2: How To See Some Hope
Part 3: Overcoming The Comparison Trap
Part 4: The Things We Didn't Give Up

Breaking Free Part 3: Overcoming The Comparison Trap

It's been two years since Danielle and I started down this road toward debt-free living. It's been a challenge, a fun ride, a ministry, and a blessing, all rolled into one adventure. This week we'd like to look back on our journey, share some of the intricacies of how and why we do it, and hopefully encourage you to gain some ground in your financial battle.

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It's so easy to fall prey to comparison.

"Bob and Mary have a nice house. They're the same age as us. We should have the standard of living they do!"

"My wife and I have a bunch of kids to feed, but neither of us can get a job. We must not be as good as John and Jane who are both doing quite well."

"My two best friends have both gotten new cars in the last three years. I must be a loser if I don't get a new car soon."

"Mary is so beautiful. If I looked like her I wouldn't feel so insecure."

The examples above may seem ridiculous at face value, but they're actually not that far off from the kind of thinking we all experience from time to time.

Jacey, over at The Balanced Wife, has a wonderful article on comparison. Regarding her financial situation, she writes: "It wasn’t jealousy or bitterness I was feeling, but something more like shame. I felt behind, like a new bar had been set for what people my age were supposed to have, and I didn’t measure up."

Money management wizard Dave Ramsey talks about this feeling in Financial Peace University. He says, as adults, we try to recreate the standard of living we had as a child, or, for those less fortunate, we try to create what we always thought was the ideal.

My wife admitted once that this was the case for her. After we got married, she wanted a house. A big house. A house to raise a family in. She wanted to cook dinner like her mom always did and expected me to keep up the property like her father. Imagine her disappointment when, over time, she realized that married life wasn't going to be all that she saw growing up. She doesn't have the time to cook meals all week. I'm not the Mr. Fix-It that her father was.

We both had expectations that were dashed pretty early on in our marriage.

Breaking Free from Comparison

Theodore Roosevelt said, "Comparison is the thief of joy."

Comparing ourselves to other people is one of the first major obstacles we have to overcome to find financial peace. And I do mean "peace." Because you can find financial freedom without overcoming comparison, but the road there will be longer, more stressful, and more irritating, because as you continually compare yourself to others you'll be unhappy and you're likely to make those around you miserable. Financial peace is a much more rewarding road.

The comparison trap is a dangerous one, because comparison, by nature, is always negative, unfairly putting the worst of ourselves up against the perceived best of others. Comparison usually ignores facts, and often accepts too many broad assumptions. Comparison is inaccurate. It wastes time. It fails to realize that everyone is unique and that nothing in life is a "one size fits all."

When the Apostle Paul wrote "godliness with contentment is great gain," he wasn't just speaking philosophically. He had learned the secret to contentment in every circumstance in life. While that secret eludes most people, it need not elude any true believer.

Here are six practical steps to overcoming comparison.

• Learn to give thanks

Not just for good things, but for all things. Thankfulness is a matter of simple obedience to God, but it is also evidence of a Spirit-filled believer. Not feeling thankful? That's ok. You don't always have to FEEL thankful. Just give thanks anyway. God won't ignore your obedience. (1 Thess. 5:18; Eph. 5:18-20).

• Learn to rest in God's providence

God is always unfolding His purpose in our lives, a purpose that is for His glory and our gain. So when bad things come our way, who are we to shake our fist at the sky or grumble and complain when, in the long run, God is only doing what is best for us. (Rom. 8:28; 1 Pet. 4:12-13).

• Learn to be satisfied with little

Paul learned to make this choice. And that's exactly what it is: a choice. You can choose to be content just like you can choose to smile at the clerk at the checkout line, or choose to have a good attitude toward those you don't necessarily enjoy being around. (1 Tim. 6:6)

• Learn to live above your circumstances

Life happens. And if I am to be truly honest, life can really suck sometimes. No one knows this better than the apostle Paul—abused, imprisoned, tortured. He didn't take pleasure in the pain itself, but in the power of Christ manifested in him. Clinging to Christ when life gets hard is so crucial to truly being content. (2 Cor. 12:9-10)

• Learn to rely on God's provision

Danielle and I took a major step of faith when we decided to sign up for Christian Healthcare Ministries as an alternative to Obamacare. It means our trust isn't in an insurance company, but in the hands of God, who, through thousands of other believers, will help us cover the cost of our medical expenses. I have faith in this, because Jesus promised that he will never leave us and that he will supply all our needs. (Heb. 13:5, Matt. 6:26)

• Learn to care for others

Really practice this one, because as we focus on meeting the needs of others, an amazing thing happens: comparison takes a back seat. Focusing on others means learning about them, and as we learn about them we can find empathy and understanding. Loving others rubs out the assumption-based aspects of comparison and replaces it with facts. (Phil. 2:3-4)

Associations are powerful, and the company we keep can influence our decisions in many ways, even without us realizing it. When people around us start buying houses and going on vacations, we feel like we deserve the same. But once you choose not to be swayed by this kind of thinking, there is immediate freedom from comparison.

While Danielle and I feel strongly about debt, we don't shove our beliefs on others, nor do we look down on friends and family who spend more money than we do or take out loans. Their choices don't threaten ours, and when you don't feel threatened you're in a much better position to love people where they are without judging them.

(Adapted from What Is The Secret to Contentment?, by John MacArthur.)

Other posts in this series

Part 1: My Personal Wake-Up Call
Part 2: How To See Some Hope
Part 4: The Things We Didn't Give Up

Breaking Free Part 2: How To See Some Hope

It's been two years since Danielle and I started down this road toward debt-free living. It's been a challenge, a fun ride, a ministry, and a blessing, all rolled into one adventure. This week we'd like to look back on our journey, share some of the intricacies of how and why we do it, and hopefully encourage you to gain some ground in your financial battle.

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Danielle made a comment recently that I'm pretty sure would've proven true had our lives taken different paths two years ago. She said, "If it weren't for our financial plan we probably wouldn't be together."

And I think she's right. Just a few months after getting married we found ourselves locked in a purgatory of money disagreements (we don't like the word "fights") and bad financial habits. She's a saver. I'm a spender. And neither of us had really considered the impact our individual approaches to money would have on our relationship.

In the fall of 2012, just four months after we got married, we took Financial Peace University by financial guru Dave Ramsey. I know there's a lot of Dave Ramsey detractors out there, but a lot of it is simple misunderstanding. I've noticed two groups of Dave-haters. First, there's people of the world who think debt is normal, who think our country's national debt is no big deal, and therefore don't understand why Dave Ramsey is on a crusade against it. Many of them—the biggest haters—also know he's a Christian, and that, in and of itself, paints a big shiny target on his bald dome.

Then there's other Dave Ramsey hate that comes from people—mainly Christians—who simply misunderstand his message. Sure, he can be a little too dogmatic about some things, but if you listen to his story you'll understand why. Dave doesn't claim to have all the answers, but he's built a massive empire around his business that's loaded with people who work their butts off every day to find the answers.

Dave's money management program stems from his own personal experience of having wealth, going bankrupt, finding a renewed faith in God, and having wealth again—lots of wealth! He's currently worth millions. His home in Tennessee—which he paid for with cash—is worth $4.9 million. Some Christians have a problem with this. They think Dave is unbiblical for living in such a way. But I fail to recall any Scripture that says having money is evil, or that when God blesses you in one particular area because of your obedient faithfulness that you need to turn the blessing away.

Their feelings on the matter leave me vexed. Terribly vexed.

Anyway, Dave's plan for achieving financial peace has one major design flaw: it doesn't work if you don't do it!

Ok, ok. That was a little too emphatic. Sorry.

Danielle and I aren't the Dave Ramsey worshippers that many others are, but we do appreciate his method because it has worked amazingly well for us. We also understand that everyone is different and that different plans work for different people. We encourage people who are in serious financial straightjackets to consider Crown Financial Ministries or another biblical-based money management program.

The Time When We Saw Hope

Danielle and I faithfully worked through the small-group version of Financial Peace University in the fall of 2012. I didn't want to do it. I didn't think it would work. But both Danielle and I needed to change the way we felt about money, and, more importantly, we needed to find mutual ground upon which we could start building a budget to get us out of debt.

Dave Ramsey's Baby Step #1 wasn't that hard for us—get $1,000 emergency savings in the bank. During our time leading FPU we met some people who struggled with this, so, trust me, we know how hard it can be, but we were just married and we didn't have any children, so finding $1,000 to put in an account was no biggie.

But then came Baby Step #2—pay off all non-mortgage debt using the debt snowball. This took some time, but we doggedly tracked down every spare dollar we could and eventually paid off the credit card. Then we took the money from the credit card payment and added it to a vehicle payment and we paid off that vehicle a year early.

And then our eyes opened.

Then we took the combined payments of the credit card and the vehicle and added it to another vehicle, and that one was paid off six months early.

And our eyes opened a little wider.

The plan was working, and, most importantly, it was changing the way we felt about money. Seeing progress was making the change happen within us. We began to see the value of cutting back on how much we spent on eating out. So we cut back some more. As our debt went down and our savings went up we saw the value of canceling nonessential monthly bills, like our Netflix account. We even decided not to budget for vacations for a while.

As time went on our vision for our financial future came together. Gone was the fear and desperation that my wife had felt before. Gone was my frustration at her for being so tight-fisted with money. We had learned each other's "money language," and there was newfound respect and empathy.

Our friend, Jacey, over at The Balanced Wife, puts it well: "Taking the first step takes so much more energy than staying in motion."

The great thing about Financial Peace University is that it allows you to see hope in a short amount of time. Usually within 1-to-3 months you'll see that $1,000 emergency fund in the bank. After 3-to-6 months you'll see that debt snowball working wonders. You'll start to feel more in control of your money, instead of feeling like you're money is controlling you.

You might even start to see that maybe Dave Ramsey is really onto something after all.

Other posts in this series:
Part 1: My Personal Wake-Up Call
Part 3: Overcoming The Comparison Trap
Part 4: The Things We Didn't Give Up

Breaking Free Part 1: My Personal Wake-Up Call

It's been two years since Danielle and I started down this road toward debt-free living. It's been a challenge, a fun ride, a ministry, and a blessing, all rolled into one adventure. This week we'd like to look back on our journey, share some of the intricacies of how and why we do it, and hopefully encourage you to gain some ground in your financial battle.

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I can't name a date and time when it happened, but it was shortly after Danielle and I were married, and when it happened it was like a train pulling into the station, towing with it freight car after freight car of realizations and harsh realities.

I realized I couldn't eat out whenever I wanted.

I realized I couldn't spend every weekend at the movies.

I realized my collection of Batman action figures wasn't going to be growing anytime soon.

I realized that I suddenly had a mortgage and a bunch of other financial responsibilities that took priority.

Most importantly, I realized that I had a wife who had this innate need within her to feel cared for, and my going around spending our money all willy-nilly style was going to make her feel insecure. I realized that I needed to step up to the plate of manhood and aim for the bleachers.

I'm glad this all dawned on me when it did, but I just wish it had happened sooner. I tell you guys, you men, if you're not developing good money habits right now the struggle to keep your head above the financial waters is going to multiply when you get married, buy a house, and start a family. If you've got boys you're raising you need to start preparing them for this because the early years of married life are nothing but a time bomb waiting to happen for someone who is completely unprepared to handle the larger financial responsibilities of life.

Thankfully, the Lord put it on my heart to take Financial Peace University about three months after Danielle and I were married, after we had been through three tumultuous months of arguing over money matters, wondering if our differences in this area were going to drive us apart.

Dave said two things that really made sense to me.

Saving money is about emotion

Dave says, "Personal finance is 80% behavior and only 20% head knowledge." If you want to improve your financial situation, you need to change the way you FEEL about money. If you want your sons and daughters to grow up with a responsible approach to handling finances, you need to make sure they develop healthy feelings about it.

There are different ways of doing this, but it begins with getting out of the "credit card" mindset that permeates today's culture. When you pay cash for something, you FEEL the money leaving you. This is not true with credit cards. Paying with plastic develops a disconnect between people and money.

Saving money is about contentment

"Saving money is about emotion and contentment," says Dave. "When you aren't overspending to impress others, you can win."

Comparison is a dangerous trap. It kills contentment, and if you can't model contentment in your life then your kids will never learn it either.

Dave says, "Being content is the spiritual state of not needing something else to feel whole. When you're content, you're not motivated to buy stuff... Don't get sucked into the illusion that you'll be happy when you have that new car, that new home, or $1 million in the bank. Stuff does not equal happiness."

We'll talk more about contentment on Wednesday in "Overcoming the Comparison Trap."

But, for now I'll just say that learning about how Danielle felt about money, understanding how I felt about money, how to be content and less concerned with keeping up with the Joneses was a real eye-opener for me.

What it really boiled down to was choice. Choosing to be content is immediately freeing. You can choose in any given moment to be content or not. Choosing to not concern yourself with what others think about you or your spending habits is a huge leap toward finding true financial peace.

Other posts in this series:
Part 2: How To See Some Hope
Part 3: Overcoming The Comparison Trap
Part 4: The Things We Didn't Give Up

Make Your Goals Specific And Measurable... Like Batman

Batman is the quintessential problem solver. Since his inception in 1939 he has always been, first and foremost, a detective. A costumed Sherlock Holmes. More than his martial arts skills, his money, or his gadgets Batman's intellect has always proven to be his most valued asset.

Though the movies have often failed to demonstrate this aspect of the Caped Crusader, there's a great scene in "The Dark Knight Rises" that shows Batman's intellect and how victory can be achieved when you first break down your problems and tackle them one step at a time.

First, you've got to understand, that in "The Dark Knight Rises" Batman had spent the majority of the movie getting beaten to a pulp. He had grown too cocky, over-confident, and had lost his edge. As a result, when he finally comes face-to-face with the physically superior villain Bane, Batman gets pulverized and tossed into a third world dungeon with a broken back.

As his body heals, Batman considers what he did wrong, and when he finally returns to Gotham City he approaches Bane like a surgeon, dissecting the threat before they come to blows. First he recruits some allies. Then he gathers his equipment. Then he spreads hope to the citizens of Gotham and fear to the followers of Bane by announcing his return in dramatic fashion. Finally, after months of planning, Batman springs his trap and defeats the bad guy.

With a little planning, determination, and some allies, nothing is impossible to overcome.

• Don't try to tackle your problems all at the same time. No matter how much craziness you've got going on in your life, it's wise to break the issues down and take them on one by one. This is what makes Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University so effective—it breaks down the budgeting process into easily achievable goals, goals that you can't help but reach as long as you keep moving forward.


• As Batman so clearly demonstrates in "The Dark Knight Rises," your goals must be specific and measurable. When he returned to Gotham City to face Bane again, he had a detailed plan that included the use of specific allies and certain equipment. It's an example of the obvious—if your goals are too vague they are just dreams.


• Long-term thinkers are the ones who win. Batman knew that defeating Bane was essential to the survival of Gotham City. His plan took months to form, but it was for a far-reaching purpose. Today's culture doesn't think like this. We're all about immediacy and convenience, and rarely do we think beyond our needs for the day, week, or maybe even the month. But when we keep our eyes on the future instead of our immediate circumstances, the possibility of reaching our goals becomes more and more inevitable.

This is a simple formula that can be applied to any tricky life situation:

1. break your problem down into smaller goals
2. make your goals specific and measurable
3. plan around those goals with a far-reaching future in mind

You may find yourself beaten at times. You may find that there are some Banes out there who are going to catch you off guard, knock you down, and thwart all of your efforts, but you can't let your circumstances overwhelm you.

Are there any specific and measurable goals that you're currently chipping away at? Or have you been thwarted?

Keep pinchin' :-)

Short-Circuiting Self-Sabotage To Win At Financial Recovery

To me, the hands-down best episodes of the hit sitcom Seinfeld are the ones where Jerry and George get to make a TV sitcom for NBC, and fail in spectacular fashion—though ultimately the failure is not their fault.

True to form, it's the slow-witted George Costanza—who believes that God will never allow him to be successful—and his self-sabotaging antics that nearly ruin their chances at fame. First he tries negotiating with the network for more money, which results in him and Jerry actually getting less. Then he gets involved in a romantic relationship with one of the show's producers, whom he ends up despising, but he's too afraid of losing their sitcom to he breaks up with her. Then he begins irritating the cast members. Then he has that "white discoloration" on his lip that he's convinced is terminal cancer. All of his nervousness over the possibility of success make almost incapable of actually becoming successful. In fact, he is pretty much the quintessential example of a hopeless, self-sabotaging individual.

Self-sabotage happens a lot with financial recovery. After a few months of disciplined budgeting and careful spending, some people start to miss the excitement of shopping, swiping credit cards, eating out, or entertainment. So they find themselves wandering the aisles of the mall "just to look," but in actuality they're feeding the growing urges to spend. Or they might start borrowing money from one area, like grocery money, to splurge in another.

Over time these little decisions short-circuit the entire budget, cause the person to get discouraged, and throw in the towel because they "just can't do it."

If you can’t break your addiction to financial excitement, you’re never going to achieve the kind of financial life that gives you peace.

True, spending money is exciting, and, yes, it's true that getting out of debt can be a total bore, but nothing good ever came from lazy behavior. Words like "discipline," "steadfastness," and "structure," are words that successful people are very familiar with. You want to loose weight? Discipline! You want to change your lifestyle? Steadfastness! You want to be rich some day? Get structured!

Here's another word: routine.

When it comes to getting in better physical shape, for example, I've noticed that the people who actually succeed at doing this have established routines. They don't work out every single day because they feel like—although sometimes they may feel like—they just do it.

How should paying off debt and building wealth be any different? How do you create more routine with money, and, most importantly, how do you stay on track when you're feeling bored or resistant.

Here are some ideas:

• Like Dave Ramsey always says, make a list. Even if the first item on your list says, "Make list," at least it will help you feel like you've accomplished something. Try listing your smallest debts first—credit card, car, house. Make a list of weekly budget-related tasks—Get groceries: $100, Get cleaning supplies: $20. Until you give yourself structure, you won't have any at all.


• Hold regular budget meetings. For the first year after FPU Dani and I met faithfully every week to go over our budget. Once we felt more confident in the process, we started meeting every couple of weeks. The point is, we meet and go over the budget together on a regular basis because there is no "one size fits all" budget. It has to be revisited every month, or seasonally at least.


• Dani and I have learned that we make better progress when we have hard and fast goals. We got more work done on the upstairs renovation in three days than we had in a month because we found out the realtor was coming to show our house on the weekend. And, in the past, whenever we have been adamantly focused on paying off a debt we have succeeded more quickly than we anticipated. Having goals works!


• Having fun is key to staying sane throughout this whole process. So what can you do to have fun that doesn't involve spending money? Dani loves to go to the beach. I like to chill in my hammock and read a book or write on my laptop. During the holidays we like to go look at Christmas lights. Museums. Parks. Parades. There's lots of fun, affordable entertainment to find if you look for it.

It can be hard to shift your mindset from over-spending to something as mundane as list-making and budgeting, but you have to believe that this is what will have the biggest impact on your level of financial peace. The more routine you establish, the better your chances of nipping those self-sabotaging behaviors in the bud.

Keep pinchin' :-)

First FPU Reunion Shows Just How Well... Or Bad... We're All Doing

For our first reunion of Financial Peace University graduates, we decided to have a potluck (because we're true Baptists). It's only been about three months, but we've found a reunion is helpful, if not essential, in keeping people motivated to stick to their budgets.

Of a class that averaged about 35 regular attendees, we had about 20 show up for the reunion, which isn't bad considering it's graduation season. But, then again, there WAS food.

We found that the main thing people seem to have in common was bad decision-making over small matters. Whether it's borrowing cash from one envelope to purchase something different, or going out to eat when they shouldn't; it was these kinds of decisions that had piled up, ruined budgets, and made some people discouraged.

The perfectionist in me can TOTALLY relate to this. I'm not as bad anymore, but in my younger years if I couldn't do something perfectly I wouldn't do it all. Even today I find that little mistakes here and there can bring me to a place where I conclude that it's just not worth it. But failures can not be an excuse to throw it all out the window, and I think that's what some people subconsciously hope for.

There's a psychological term for this called "self-sabotage." As ridiculous as it sounds, it's exactly what some people do when they KNOW they need to succeed at something, but find too many self-gratifying reasons to postpone their long-term goals. Some of the most common self-sabotaging behaviors are procrastination, self-medication with drugs or alcohol, comfort eating in the face of weight concerns, or in the case of sticking to a financial budget it can be any number of material things—new shoes, restaurants, entertainment.

This is why it's so helpful to work through Dave Ramsey's baby steps with a spouse, friend, or accountability partner. When one person starts to make poor, potentially self-sabotaging decisions, the other can step in and say, "Whoa!"

We were encouraged though to see that many had also experienced a lot of victories. One couple had doubled their savings in the three months since FPU, and there two other couples who had opened savings accounts for the first time in their lives. One man spoke about finding little ways to save by finding a cheaper telephone service provider, while another said he and his wife have been steadily working with their debt snowball and anticipated being debt free in another three or four months.

As for Dani and I, well, we finally have health insurance!

It's a blessing to be a part of such an honest, communicative, and willing group of participants. Knowing that you're not alone in this struggle is sometimes all the encouragement you need.

Keep pinchin' :-)

PS. Check out some of these inspirational clips from people on Dave Ramsey's show doing their triumphant "debt free screams."

Ryan and Micha - Debt Free Scream

Craig and Lisa - Debt Free Scream

Rob and Marisa - Debt Free Scream

Anderson and Kerri - Debt Free Scream

New Year's Resolutions 4 Months Down

Can you believe it's already May? While I have longed for the warmer weather, time seems to be going by faster than ever. I haven't checked in on my New Year's Resolutions in a couple of months, but that doesn't mean I have forgotten them, so here's my latest update.


Faithfulness in our finances. The end of March brought the end of our first time of leading Financial Peace University. It was so fun to go through the class again, and celebrate all the successes our group had throughout the process. In our own finances we have faced many unplanned bills with my car, the furnace, and our escrow account being adjusted up by several hundred dollars. However, God has been faithful to continue to give both of us extra work, so none of these costs have forced us to dip into our emergency savings. We also looked into our car and house insurance and just changed policies that gave us better coverage with a savings of over $300 a year!

Faithfulness in living a healthy lifestyle. My family decided to commence the Belyea Biggest Loser competition last week, which will go through the end of the year, and though I had already started runningI've found that this little competition is making me want to be more faithful. With the warmer weather I am also trying to be more active outside.

Faithfulness in my spiritual life. I am continuing to do the Word of Life Quiet Time online. We have been in 1 Thessalonians recently which I've really enjoyed. This past week I have begun to look into Scripture about our words, and am working on my own little devotional about that, which is fun and good for me. 

Faithfulness in being good stewards of the homestead God has blessed us with. We have continued to host a Faith Group in our home every other week, which we enjoy a lot! Our apple tree, blueberry bushes, and strawberry plants arrived a couple of weeks ago and are in the ground now. I also planted some peas last weekend, and hope to plant lettuce, carrots and more peas in the next week. We are also hoping to start renovating our upstairs into a vacation rental—we don't really use the upstairs space at the moment and we could use the extra income.

Faithfulness in being the wife my husband needs me to be. I am working on turning my sarcasm into encouragement, hence my study on words. That is the biggest area that I can currently see that needs work because I so often forget how damaging my words can be, and how much he really needs me to be his cheerleader.

How are you doing with your New Year's Resolutions? If some have fallen by the wayside, it's never too late to pick them back up again!

Keep pinchin' :-)

How Being Ambassadors for FPU Just Sorta Kinda Fell Into Our Laps

Dani and I visited a church this winter to talk about Financial Peace University. We presented our testimony, talked about the upcoming FPU class at our church and why we believed so strongly in the program. After the service a man came up to me and said, "That's quite a ministry the Lord has given to you!"

I was sort of taken aback because until that moment it had never occurred to me that what we were doing was a ministry. Dani and I are just a Mr. and Mrs. Schmo who took a class and liked it enough to tell others about it. We're not professionals. We don't have all the answers. We sort of just fell into this.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. It's been great. We have a lot of fun when we visit a church and talk about FPU. We usually show our video, "The Penny Pinching Rap," to garner some laughs after we've talked about how Dave Ramsey's biblical-based money management program helped our marriage.

What's interesting to me is to look back over the last couple years of our marriage and see that being the ambassadors of FPU that we've become is actually an answer to prayer.

When we first got married, we decided to spend the first year of our marriage staying clear of any ministry opportunities or extra work that would occupy large quantities of our time. It's actually suggested in Scripture that couples do this.

If a man has recently married, he must not be sent to war

or have any other duty laid on him. For one year he is to be free

to stay at home and bring happiness to the wife he has married.

—Deuteronomy 24:5

I knew marriage was going to be hard, especially for two people like us who come from fiercely independent lifestyles. So I thought it was wise for us to step back from any extra-curricular activities we were involved in and just focus on our new life together.

And then our first year together came to a close and we began looking at how we could serve our church. I enjoy helping out at church meals, and setting up/taking down after events. I'm skilled with video equipment so helping with our church's video ministry was something I wanted to be a part of. As for Dani, she really enjoys being with children, teaching Sunday School and helping out in the nursery. There was lots of stuff we were drawn to do as individuals, but nothing that we could really do as a couple.

We prayed about it a few times, asking God to reveal to us what we could do together, and, amazingly, he dropped Financial Peace University in our laps. Doing it together has given us something else to talk about with each other, and it gives us shared experiences that we can enjoy. We have yet to see how God is going to fully use us in this area, but it's amazing to look back and see how he has answered our prayer and given us a ministry that we can both be a part of.

Something I try to remember when we visit churches and talk about FPU is that this isn't about us. It's not about me. It's not about Dani. It's about God. I mean, yes, we're there to tell our story and give some details about the class, but it's more important that we give God the glory for all that FPU has accomplished in our lives. I try to always remember to say that Dave Ramsey's program works because it is based on God's Word, that God is the reason why it works, and that the only reason it has helped us so much is because we have prayerfully turned our finances over to the Lord.

Making this plan work for you isn't about budgeting and saving money and following steps—although those are a part of it. What it's really about is recognizing that everything we have comes from God. The more that we, as Christians, recognize that and act on that, the more God blesses.

It's been a fun ride thus far, and it's exciting to think about where God is going to take us next.

Keep pinchin' :-)

Why Dave Ramsey Should Hire Us

Sometimes I feel like we pretty much work for Dave Ramsey, minus the fact that he doesn't pay us, of course!

Why do I feel like this? Maybe because since the start of this year Jake and I have spoken in four different churches, sharing with them about our experience with Financial Peace University and encouraging everyone to take this course. On top of that we just completed leading the nine week course at our home church!

I can't recall in my lifetime ever advocating for something specific like this in such an extreme way. I mean, how many people travel to other churches to encourage people to take a class when the compensation for their time will be $0 and it's someone else's class? I don't know if this poll has ever been taken, but I have a pretty good feeling that statistically not many.

It could be easy to become bitter, tired or frustrated that our "ministry" is to basically sell a class to people when financially we gain nothing. Ok, hold on, I said "it could be."

And it's not. We don't expect compensation. We don't share about this class in hopes of gaining something or because we think Dave will hire us. We do it because we believe in it, and have first-hand experienced that Dave's plan works. Not because it's Dave's plan, but because it's really God's plan. Dave just breaks it down for people in an easy to follow seven step process.

We desire for Christians especially to get their finances straightened out. We have come to realize that as long as believers have debt they have something hindering them from being easily used by God. When you don't have debt, and you have a bit of wealth, you can not only offer to pray for others with financial needs but you can help those needs too. That family that is trying to adopt, you can give toward the cost. The single mom whose electricity is about to be shut off, you can pay the bill. And if God calls you to the mission field, you don't have to wait to get your debt paid off before you can go.

Financial freedom isn't just about building wealth and living your dream life, it's about being a good steward in every aspect of your life so that God can use His resources the way He intends them to be used THROUGH YOU!

So, even though being "Dave Ramsey Spokespeople" isn't a paid position, we will continue to share in the hopes of helping others become better stewards of what they have on loan from God.

Keep pinchin' :-)

Jake's Take: Hoosiers - Just Start Shooting

Deriving financial insights from today's blockbusters and yesteryear's classics.

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My wife will be the first to tell you that her husband is very weird. There’s two things about me that are fairly odd that, frankly, not even I understand.

1. I hate professional sports, which is strange because I grew up in a family of people who were always rooting for someone—Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics. Even my sister likes sports more than me.


2. But I love sports movies. I find them to be some of the most feel-good and inspiring movies around—A League of Their Own, The Rookie, Major League.

So, yeah. Hate sports. Love sports movies. Weird. I know.

It’s kind of a paradox then that I would derive any kind of insight about anything from a movie like Hoosiers, but, let’s face it, Hoosiers is one of the best sports movies ever made, and it contains a great life lesson. It's an oldie, but it's worth seeing if you've never seen it.

In the film, Coach Norman Dale, played by Gene Hackman, coaches a small Indiana high school basketball team all the way to the state championships against all odds. At the finals he walks his team into the gymnasium where they’re going to play the final game. The new gym is huge. A basketball palace, far bigger and more impressive than any gym the tiny high school team has ever seen. It’s not what they’re used to. It’s intimidating.

Coach Dale pulls out a tape measure and has the boys measure the height of the basket and the distance to the foul line, and points out that it is precisely the same as back home. Don’t worry about the size of the gym, he says, just play your game.

Dani and I led a Financial Peace University class at our church this winter, and it has opened our eyes to the wide range of financial backgrounds that people come from. Some people have debt that they can easily pay off within six months or a year; others are facing decades of work. But it pays to remember that no matter how big and scary your situation is, the financial steps to get out of debt are the same no matter what:

• build your emergency fund
• use the debt snowball
• gazelle intensity!

And these steps never fail to help when you use them. When you employ the right practices, it won’t matter if the stadium is a basketball palace or a small Indiana high school. You’ve got the tools. Now start shooting!

Keep pinchin’ :-)

The One Lesson I Couldn't Learn from The Berenstain Bears

When I was a kid my favorite book series was The Berenstain Bears. (Can I get a high five from my '80's brothers?!) The Berenstain Bears taught us everything, didn't they—how to have good manners, how to deal with peer-pressure, how to tell time.

One of my favorites was “The Berenstain Bears Get the Gimmies.” In that one, Brother Bear and Sister Bear developed quite the anger-management issues whenever Mama Bear and Popa Bear said they couldn’t have something. The book dealt with the topics of respect, consumerism, and greed. However, as many times as my mother read that book to me, I still grew up with undeniable love of… well, stuff. I’m not proud of it, but it’s true. Sign me up for the support group right now.

The Berenstain Bears taught me all about plenty of other things, but that one lesson on “stuff” just didn’t stick.

I never realized how much of a problem this would be until I got married. My wife, Danielle, God bless her little frugal heart, didn’t quite know what to do with such an over-spender. Three months into our marriage and our diametrically opposing views on money management was the one thing that was driving us apart.

We took Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University in the fall of 2012 and it helped pull us out of our tailspin. It gave us a unified vision for our finances as well as a common language for communicating about money in a way we both could understand. But even after taking FPU, Dani and I still struggled, and a lot of that had to do with my love of buying things.

Impulse spending should be considered it’s own addiction, shouldn’t it? They should make a public service announcement featuring a man standing at a checkout line waiting to cash out.

NARRATOR: This is your brain.

The man spots a pair of night vision goggles on clearance just an arm’s-length away. His eyes go wide as saucers. The urge to splurge is building within him. He can't help himself. He shoves past an old lady to grab the goggles and whips out the credit card.

NARRATOR: This is your brain on “the gimmies.”

It's not such a problem when you're a single person, unless you're a single person who plans on getting married some day. Then it becomes a whole new ball game. Then you've got to remind yourself that there's another person who is going to be impacted by your purchasing decisions. That person may have a deep need to feel financially secure, and when you splurge all your money away it shakes them up emotionally. At some point you have to ask yourself how much you care about the way you make them feel.

For me, getting free of wanting more began by recognizing three things:

1. Recognize that I don't need everything right now. Even the things I really love—in my case, movies. A little patience never hurt anybody (another lesson I learned from those lovable anthropomorphic bears). Nowadays I more carefully consider what movies I want to buy, and this has led me to being more careful in general of the purchases I make.


2. Recognize that saving works. When we first started FPU I was skeptical. It took about three months of following Dave's plan, of budgeting with his principles in mind, for me to see that where this plan was taking us was actually working. After about six months we had paid off my car six months early. We had paid off my motorcycle a whole year early. All that's left now is our mortgage, and we've been attacking that like a couple of crazy people.


3. Recognize that my spouse is more important to me than stuff. Now, she'll probably tell you, and I'll freely admit, that I still have my moments. The 2013 Ford Mustang convertible that we rented for our honeymoon road trip was a beauty that I was embarrassingly reluctant to let go of. To this day there is hardly a Mustang I see that doesn't cause that little impulse spender in my brain to get excited. But as fun as it is to dream about owning things like that, I occasionally have to remind myself of the bigger picture here and the financial plan that my wife and I have set before us.

Truth be told, I still want more stuff, but it's becoming a different kind of stuff that I want. I want more for my wife, our children (which are merely intentions at the moment), more of a future that doesn't involve paying off debt until I'm 90. I want more freedom, more joy, more peace from consumerism.

And maybe some day I'll be able to look back on "The Berenstain Bears Get the Gimmies" and say, "Ah-ha! I finally learned that lesson, too!"

Keep pinchin' :-)

Get Educated About Money and Change Your Life

One of the reasons Dani and I are such proponents for Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University is the Depression-era lows of evangelical giving.

Let's face it, our government has really messed things up, and they're not getting any better. Very few people in political office today know how to properly manage money. The only language they speak is debt. Unfortunately this has many Americans feeling very tight-fisted with their money. The recession, rising fuel and food costs, and a political system that appears to be falling apart one seam at a time, has many Christians hesitant to give to their churches.

News reports over the last few years about the percentage of Christians tithing have been scary.

"Giving has declined for four consecutive years," according Empty Tomb, a Christian research group.
"The only other period of prolonged decline in giving per member was from 1928 through 1934, almost entirely during the Great Depression."(Click here to read the report.)

The percentage of evangelicals tithing to their local churches is 2.3%.

Whoa.

I believe there are two reasons for this.

1. Fear. As mentioned above, many Americans are losing faith in Uncle Sam's ability to take care of them, so they're clinging to their money more than ever before. I don't blame them.


2. Many Christians—not all, but many—just don't know how to handle money. Our American culture breeds a mind-set that is all about buying more, having more, getting the next best newest shiniest thing on the market, and doing so with credit cards, not hard-earned cash. Americans have become financially stupid. We just don't know how to handle money.

Fortunately it's not all bleak and grim. A 2013 report by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) reveals that charitable giving to more than 1,600 of its accredited organizations has actually increased in the last year—by 6.4 percent, in fact. It's not much, but, hey, it's something.

All of this should bring into sharp focus the need for us to become better stewards of our money. If we get better, and raise children who are better, the next generation of parents, teachers, and political officials will be better. But it has to start now. It has to start with us. You can't wait for a stimulus handout from Uncle Sam. You can't expect to win the lottery. Changing your finances is about changing your behavior, and that starts with getting the right education, be it through Dave Ramsey's course or Crown Financial or any of the other programs that are out there.

The choice starts with you.

Keep pinchin' :-)

How to Give Like No One Else

Tuesday night was our final session of Financial Peace University. Dani and I began facilitating the class back in January with almost 60 attendees. During that time it's been very exciting to watch people go through some of the same realizations about money that we had, have new realizations, and commit to life changes that, prior to the class, they never would have considered.

The final lesson was Dave Ramsey's most potent one yet. It was all about giving, a concept that doesn't really make sense some times when your main goal is to save. It feels like you need to hang on to your money even tighter if you want to keep it, but Dave says just the opposite.

"You can do everything we teach you and you will prosper, but if you don't understand this lesson you will never have financial peace," he says.

The "great misunderstanding," Dave calls it, is the mistaken belief that the way to have more is to hold on tightly. But he says you need to learn to manage money with an open hand. This is the method that God demonstrates in his word, a selfless, servant-minded nature of giving that puts others before yourself. The Bible talks about money more often than it talks about love and grace. That alone should make it pretty obvious to us that the way we handle our money is extremely important to God.

So how do we give? These are some guidelines that Dave suggests, that I've found extremely helpful.

• A tithe is a tenth of your increase. People will argue over whether or not it's from your net increase or your gross increase, to which I say, "Does it really matter?" I mean, think about it: less than 4% of church-going Christians give to their church. According to recent statistics, evangelical giving is the lowest it's been since the Great Depression. So who cares if it's the net or the gross? Just give! But if you're curious about what the Bible has to say on the topic, Proverbs 3:9 says to give from your "first fruits." Not after the government has taken its share. Not after you've paid your debts. The very first earnings you get, give a tenth to God.


• Offerings are different than tithing. Offerings are giving above and beyond that initial 10%, and should be given from any surplus income you have.


• Give cheerfully, not expecting anything in return. Give 10%. Give 20% Whatever. But don't expect God to give you a bigger pat on the back because you gave more than the other guy. Understand that giving is a form of worship. It's not a break between the singing and the sermon at your church. It's not intermission. Giving should be done as a way of praising and thanking our Lord and Savior for his many blessings.

Keep pinchin' :-)