Tim's brother and sister in-law sent us Dave Ramsey's book The Total Money Makeover. For those of you who have never picked up one of his books, Dave Ramsey is THE guru of personal finances. The Total Money Makeover is a no nonsense program that encourages people to eliminate all of their debt in order to live a cash-only lifestyle and achieve wealth and financial freedom.
No, this blog posting is not sponsored by Dave Ramsey.
I started reading The Total Money Makeover three days ago, and in that time I have begun a complete transformation of my personal finances. I will be out of debt in 12 months. That's right folks, 12 months.
In the last three days I have managed to ...cut $600 out of my annual budget,
save $1,000 for an Emergency Fund (Baby Step #1 of the Total Money Makeover),
schedule a garage sale,
sell books to a local bookstore,
and put some old unused china up on eBay.
To top it all, Tim and I have decided to begin the hunt for a cheaper apartment that we can stand to live in for a year. Shaving $250 off of our rent each month would save us upwards of $3,000 each year.
In what ways would you "downsize" for 12 months in order to get yourself out of debt?
Over the next 12 months I will attempt to transform myself into a lean, mean, budgeting machine! I need all of the support and encouragement I can get--and some creative brainstorming about how to live EVEN lovelier on EVEN less!I am grateful to Michael and Heather for extending a random act of kindness our way, sending us this modest looking hardback black book. Who knew a book of less than 250 pages would transform my perspective of my own wealth potential, AND give me such hope?
Following in Michael and Heather's generous footsteps, I have passed the book on to a dear friend of mine. I hope it provides she and her family with the same hope it provided me.
