HerbLady

At some point in our lives most of us go into debt. It starts simply enough, for most people as that card they offer to us while we are in college. Just thinking of all the free travel you could do with those points you earned started all sorts of dreams of exotic locations. Maybe the debt starts later, you need to build a credit rating so you can buy a house or car. Short term loans or a credit card is exactly what you need. As long as you pay it off on time you are getting free money and the side benefits. It is a winning situation for you, right? Then life and reality set in. You can't make that payment on time and the debt is building. You open another card and shuffle the debt around. Before you know it your freedom has eroded and your life consists of being a wage earner for the bank. Welcome to modern slavery.

Several years ago we spent $99 on a program called Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey. I don't like spending that much money on anything but we'd heard his radio program and needed a kick in the pants. My husband agreed that Dave Ramsey was teaching what we needed. We have followed the program and we are free! I don't own a credit card, I don't give a hoot about my credit score, and I the only thing I owe money on is the house, which we are purchasing from a relative at 0% interest.

Like all challenging goals the best way to achieve them is to break them into simple, measurable, and attainable steps. Using this as our guide, my family is at Step 4.

Baby Steps

Here is a link to the Dave Ramsey web site. There are free budget tools and a simple search by zip code if you wan't to look for a class in your area. In addition to the Financial University there are materials available for helping teens and children understand how to put their money to work, instead of the other way around.