A Call to Action

The other day I was reminded of one of the best life lessons that exists. I would go so far as to say that this story might be what Curly was talking about. You know Curly. The old, wrinkled cowboy in City Slickers that scared the everlovin'-bejesus out of Billy Crystal's character. During one scene Curly shared with Billy that he knows 'this', and he holds up his pointer finger: 'the one thing', 'the secret of life.' We never find out what Curly thinks is the secret of life, but I like to think that this story I just re-read is what he was talking about. What is it you might ask? The Tortoise and the Hare. For those of you not so familiar with the story, here it is (as quoted from ChildhoodReading.com)


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The Tortoise and the Hare - One of Aesop's Fables

Once upon a time there was a hare who, boasting how he could run faster than anyone else, was forever teasing tortoise for its slowness. Then one day, the irate tortoise answered back: "Who do you think you are? There's no denying you're swift, but even you can be beaten!" The hare squealed with laughter.

"Beaten in a race? By whom? Not you, surely! I bet there's nobody in the world that can win against me, I'm so speedy. Now, why don't you try?"

Annoyed by such bragging, the tortoise accepted the challenge. A course was planned, and the next day at dawn they stood at the starting line. The hare yawned sleepily as the meek tortoise trudged slowly off. When the hare saw how painfully slow his rival was, he decided, half asleep on his feet, to have a quick nap. "Take your time!" he said. "I'll have forty winks and catch up with you in a minute."

The hare woke with a start from a fitful sleep and gazed round, looking for the tortoise. But the creature was only a short distance away, having barely covered a third of the course. Breathing a sigh of relief, the hare decided he might as well have breakfast too, and off he went to munch some cabbages he had noticed in a nearby field. But the heavy meal and the hot sun made his eyelids droop. With a careless glance at the tortoise, now halfway along the course, he decided to have another snooze before flashing past the winning post. And smiling at the thought of the look on the tortoise's face when it saw the hare speed by, he fell fast asleep and was soon snoring happily. The sun started to sink, below the horizon, and the tortoise, who had been plodding towards the winning post since morning, was scarcely a yard from the finish. At that very point, the hare woke with a jolt. He could see the tortoise a speck in the distance and away he dashed. He leapt and bounded at a great rate, his tongue lolling, and gasping for breath. Just a little more and he'd be first at the finish. But the hare's last leap was just too late, for the tortoise had beaten him to the winning post. Poor hare! Tired and in disgrace, he slumped down beside the tortoise who was silently smiling at him.

"Slowly does it every time!" he said.
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The moral of the story? Slow and steady wins the race. I've already shared my 'slow and steady' story: getting debt free. Stuart and I worked our tails off for 3 years to achieve a goal that many said was unattainable, but we stayed focused on the finish line and accomplished our goal. We beat the hare.

A Call to Action:

What is your 'slow and steady' story? What have you done in your life that makes you the tortoise? Or, if you haven't done such a thing, what have you done that makes you the hare? Submit your full stories, regardless of length, and I will post them as 'guest bloggers'. One of my favorite blogs (Fatherhoody) has guest bloggers all the time and I love the idea. If you know me and know my email you can submit your story that way as well.

Fits of Rage!

Yesterday the new credit card restrictions took effect so, of course, the AP is buzzing with news on how the credit cards have reacted and what the effect will be on America. Doom-gloom, awfulness, end of the world type stuff. The more I read, the more upset I get over many different things:

• How can people be so awful to one another for money?
  
• How come it took the government so long to put this regulations on them?
• Why I am I wondering why the government took so long to regulate them? It's the government.
  
• How did America as a whole become so dependent on the use of credit?
• Why do people think that have to suffer this foolishness?
  

One of the members of the Financial Peace class that my husband and I teach sent me an AP article that was meant to sum up the new changes/regulations, and as I read it I was astounded that an educated individual would believe some of what they wrote (I'm talking about the journalist, not my class member). Here is the article: My Way News - Mixed blessing: credit card reform may shock some.

The article does a good job of discussing the new law, explaining how the card companies are reacting, and giving background on the situation as a whole, but when I got to the part that talks about "subprime borrowers" my hackles went up. The author writes, "for a good portion (subprime borrowers), options may be limited to alternatives like PayPal and other electronic services, prepaid cards, and payday lenders." Payday lenders!!! Seriously?!? Don't these individuals that no longer qualify for credit have another option? PAY CASH!!! Stop depending on a credit card company to cover you. If you don't have the cash, don't buy it. Plan ahead and save money. In the case of an emergency (which there will always be) have an emergency fund and use that. Don't have enough cash flow to save? Read, learn, and apply yourself towards a better life. There is always a way.

As quoted in the article, Roger C. Hochschild, COO of Discover Financial Services says, "Not everyone either deserves or should have an open-ended credit card." I wholeheartedly agree with his words, but not his intention. No one deserves a credit card. No one deserves to pay a company 24-26% interest. No one deserves to pay an annual fee for the privilege of owing money. No one deserves to be a slave to these corporate giants with no soul. It is just not worth it.

As of yesterday, my husband and I are debt free. We have worked for 3 years to pay off the $73,000 in consumer debt that we blindly walked into, and we most definitely did not blindly walk out of it. We were passionate and driven, and my biggest wish is that all of America could see how green this side of the fence is. I find it ironic that our debt ended on the day that these regulations took effect, and I am so thankful that we don't have to mess with this nightmare anymore, but we work daily with individuals still battling with these all too real demons.

If you, or any one you know needs help with their financial situation, read all you can about these new laws and how they might effect you. Here are some resources that I have found and I will continue to post more as I find them. If any of you find any good resources, send them my way and I'll get them up.

Resources on new CARD law:
SmartMoney Magazine - article giving some detail on the changes in the regulations.
Consumer's Union - Nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports detailing new protections.
Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 - .pdf of the act

Resources for credit card abuse and fraud:
Federal Trade Commmission - become informed or report abuse from credit card companies and collectors.
Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act - .pdf of the act

The Start That Stuck

Less than 40 days until my life is irreversibly altered forever. Noah was on the stinky, stuffy ark longer! Less than 40 days until an almost 3 year goal is met. Blood, sweat, and tears have been poured into an unbelievable feat, and in just over one month we will have achieved the unachievable (at least in the eyes of most of North America). 39 all too short days until a paradigm has been effectively shifted. What is all this fuss about about, you ask? At the end of February 2010, my husband and I will be DEBT FREE! That's right. No car payments, no more student loans, no credit cards (they've all been cut to pieces in a rather effective plasectomy), no consumer debt whatsoever. Visa eat your heart out!

This all began as one of my many beginnings and my husband Stuart and I had no idea this would be such a life altering process. Back in March of 2007, we were gifted tickets to a 5 hour talk on personal finance. Bleagh! Who would want to sit through that? Stuart's Aunt and Uncle asked us to join them, and since they had already bought the tickets, we decided not to turn them down. Instead of the drudgery we expected, we saw the most motivating, entertaining, and informative live event that either of us had ever attended: Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover Live. We watched and learned a new way of living.

After the event, Stuart and I went home and took a look at our finances for the first time. We were 23 years old, less than 6 months from getting married, working hourly retail jobs, and we were $73,000 in debt! We were appalled. We had never run the numbers, and we couldn't believe it. $10,000 on a credit card (because who doesn't have a credit card), $5,000 & $9,000 on two cars (because who doesn't have a car payment), $40,000+ in student loans (because who pays cash for school anymore), an over $4,000 in loans to family. And the sad thing was that this was the normal way our generation lives.

Item	Total Payoff
Haley's Private Loan	4366.00
Haley's Car	5000.00
Stuart's Car	9410.00
Credit Card	10000.00
Stuart's Student Loans	22365.57
Haley's Student Loans	17984.95
Debt to Mom	4200.00
TOTAL	73326.52

We said, "NO MORE!!!"

Within a week, we had cut up and canceled our credit card. The next week we pared down our budget as much as we could: no cable, no eating out, no movies, no unlimited phone plans. Within a month we sold our cars, and walked off the sales lot with two beaters with no payments. We said goodbye to almost $750 a month in car payments! We were on our way.

Over the next 3 years we focused all our energy on paying off debt. We worked extra jobs, we sold every expensive thing we owned, we had garage sales, we almost never went out for fun (it was a very boring 3 years). But it was worth every bit of it. We learned how to communicate with each other, how to live on a budget, how to plan ahead, and how to live with our families telling us we were crazy (even though they were still full of love and support)!

Looking back I don't think either one of us truly believed we could do it (at least I didn't), but we tried it and it stuck. Now we even volunteer our time at our church to bring this message of freedom to other families struggling with the need and desire to be free of debt. The mere thought of debt freedom brings tears to my eyes every time I try and wrap my head around it. I choke up knowing that my children will never know what it's like to have debt or to be a slave to payments. We will be debt free and we will be weird!

I dedicate this post to Stuart's Aunt & Uncle who unknowingly changed our family tree. Without their invite we would still be normal. Thank you also to my parents and Stuart's parents for being patient with us (most of the time) as we worked the process. Finally, thank you to Fr. Ram and the people of St. George Church for giving us the opportunity to pass along our story and all that we have learned on this journey. It is truly amazing to try something new and have it be such a blessing. Here to finally finishing a new beginning!