Hey all you crazies:)
Today marks a great day in the Total Money Makeover road Trip. Before I tell you why it's a great day, Allow me list out the 7 baby steps for you, so you can get a drift on what we are dealing with here:
Baby Step #1: Start a $1000 emergency Fund
Baby Step #2: Pay off all debt (excluding your house) using the debt snowball
Baby Step #3: Put 3-6 Months of expenses into savings- this will assist incase of a job loss or tragedy.
Baby Step #4: Invest 15% of household income into roth IRA's and pre-tax retirement
Baby Step #5: College funding for children
Baby Step #6: Pay off the house early!
Baby Step #7: Build wealth and give!
Ok, so those are the overwhelming baby steps. Dave got the idea from the bill murray's movie, "What about Bob" Where Bob suffers from various phobias. He takes "baby steps" to move him along in his life. That's the same principle here. The plan is daunting- overwhelming. But, by taking baby step after baby step, it's actually doable and not so scary. I remember hearing about a girl who climbed mt Everest. She said when you get up past a certain altitude, you can only take 3 steps and then you HAVE to rest because you are so oxygen deprived and exhausted. She said that she would focus on something like a rock that was close-by- if she could just make it that far, she would be satisfied. And then once she reached the rock, she would make a new goal. She climbed Mt. Everest step by step. I submit that Bills, credit cards, and student loans combined is our mount everest. Maybe it's yours too. It CAN be climbed.
So why is today so special in the lives of Shawn and Jaclyn? We completed baby step #1 for the 2nd time in our married lives!! The 1st time our car engine blew up. So, the fund was depleted. But now, Can you say $1000 in savings??? WOW. I know for some of you folks, that doesn't sound like a big deal. Maybe you've been financially responsible your whole lives. But this hasn't been my case. It has taken hard work and discipline to achieve this baby step.
Already, I can feel the stress lifting off of my shoulders. I know that God is sovereign over the things that happen, but we must be responsible at the same time. I know that if something should happen to my car now, that we have been responsible enough to save a little money to take care it:)
Praise God for His provision in our lives!!
My hope is that you will get in on this success. Get sick and tired of being sick and tired. Get mad! If you're young, why don't you do this now?! Change the rest of your life. If you're old? Why don't you do this now?! Value the time that you have left! The rest of your life doesn't have to be spent being a SLAVE. imagine mel Gibson as he shouts, "FFRREEEDDDDOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!!!!" on braveheart. that's what i want. that's what you want. What's standing in your way? hopefully you have spiritual freedom in Christ. We are not meant to live our Christian lives in slavery. fight for freedom.
