Changing Lives… One Dollar at a Time

This morning I got to do something I love doing.  I volunteered to help this guy  teach ReThink Money at our church.  He does the hard part, teaching from the stage, and then I and others get to sit with couples and individuals and walk them through the steps: 1) Develop a Financial Plan (a plan not a portfolio), 2) How to write a monthly spending plan (aka Budget) 3) Planning for emergencies 4) Develop a plan for eliminating debt.  From there you have the financial freedom to live out your dreams…  Fund your retirement, fund your children’s college, be the generous give God intended us to be.  Whatever the dream is, it easier to attain once you have a clear Written Financial Plan, living off a Written Monthly Spending Plan, and living Debt FREE!

The thing I love most about volunteering with Casey, is watching people’s faces. Before, I see faces that have lost Hope… After I see smiles return, Hope has returned.  The truth is most people know what they need to do.  Much like losing weight.  Most of us know that if we eat less, exercise more, we will lose weight.  Easier said than done, I know, believe me I know.  The same is true with winning with our finances….. Spend less, Save more.  Easy, right?  Well much like physical fitness, it can be with a little coaching and guidance.  In fact it can become second nature, a way of life.  And here is the cool part, you can pass on this way of life to your children and their children.

The principals the Casey teaches are not new.  This country used to be a country that valued economic indepedance.  No longer.  We are now a country of “Have it now, Pay for it later”.  This mentality of ”Buy Now, Pay Later” adds up until you’ve built yourself a nice Cage of Debt.  Most people don’t even realize it’s happening until its walls are so big, so strong, you see no escape possible.  That is what Casey does so well.  He gives people the Hope and the tools to break free of their bondage. 

 

The rich rule over the poor,
       and the borrower is slave to the lender.

Proverbs 22:7

 

 

I know that some may say “Yeah right. That might work for some, but it would never work for me”.  Well, I am living proof that it does work and can work for anybody.  Two years ago my wife and I were like most Americans:  We spent every dime we made, we had no savings, and used our credit cards for any emergencies that came up, like… Christmas, birthdays, vacation.  And we were slowly building ourselves a nice little prison.  We were one paycheck away from disaster.  Then disaster happened.  I began suffering from Degenerative Disc Disease in my lower back.  It was causing me numerous problems and interfering with my work, not to mention quality of life.  This went on for month’s….  doctor’s visits, physical therapy appointments, copay after copay, sick day after sick day.  Then finally surgery.   The problem was I had used up all of my PTO (Paid Time Off) in the prior months with the doc visits and PT sessions.  I was supposed to have a six to eight week recovery.  I convinced my doctor to let me go back to work after 2 1/2 weeks… I couldn’t afford to miss any more time.   I couldn’t afford to miss the 2 1/2 weeks I had already missed.  Our finances spiraled out of control.  We had to use credit cards to pay for utilities.  It took months for us to recover from one missed paycheck.  When I say recover I mean, we didn’t have to use our credit card to pay for groceries anymore.  I knew something had to change, but I didn’t know how to change it.  Around that time I was introduced to a new radio show in town by Dave Ramsey.  I began to develop the mindset of wanting to be debt free and have enough money to cover the emergencies in life and not rely on credit cards anymore.  Around the same time our church began offering a budgeting course taught by some “kid” named Casey.  We bit the bullet and went.  That has been one of the best decisions we have ever made.  I would like to say it was easy. But really the first 3 months were really tough.  We didn’t know what we were doing.  But we were learning.  And with some help and guidance from Casey we have done it.  We are debt free except for our house (which I will tackle eventually).  We fully funded an emergency fund – 6 months expenses (which has come in handy with the current job situation),  we have paid for things like Christmas, vacation, car repairs and not put one dime on credit.  I’m still learning and we’re still in the process of becoming Financially Free.  But I hate to think what life would be like for us right now if we had not made the decision be different, to ReThink our money situation.

 

If this sounds like something you would benefit from, I would encourage you to contact Casey.  No matter where you are.  He is developing a network across the country and is traveling and teaching all the time.  He just may be coming to your town soon.

 

Casey Graham cgraham@rethinkmoney.org

 

 

Later,

Brad