SPEND IT ALL…SPEND IT NOW!!!
When my husband or I get paid I often think about what it would be like to take the check to the bank, deposit it, and then spend it on whatever I wanted. No bills, no debts, just fun… It would be like winning the lottery. I could put big bucks in my daughter’s education fund, invest, buy a new car—for cash.

We could travel—last March we went to see the Sequoias. It was a peaceful and truly awesome experience. We hugged the biggest tree in the world and I never wanted to let go. I sat on our hotel cabin’s deck with my coffee in the morning, trying to drink in the mountains so that I would always have them with me. My husband, daughter and I sat on that deck in the evening and watched the sunset. The mountains turned an unbelievable purple. We picked our own oranges. We had avocados the size of cantaloupe.

I want to travel more. I want more amazing moments.

WE MADE THIS BED AND BOY IS IT LUMPY!
But right now my family is working to get out of debt. We have been using credit cards for years as another paycheck. Not enough money for groceries, gas, clothes, medicine, the movies…? We just charged it. Like it was endless money. It made us feel better at that moment.

In the past we have re-financed our house twice to pay off debt, increasing and extending our mortgage and just ending up in debt again.

Quicksand.

“YOU’RE MY VERY BEST FRIEND”
The credit card companies treated us well. They’d increase our credit limit without us ever asking. My husband would groan, I would be silently overjoyed. More money to spend. More of a feeling of security, false security of course. I remember calling Lowes one day and asking if I could have an increase in my limit. I never spoke to a human being. Within a few seconds an automated voice came on and said that I was approved for $10,000. A jump from $2,000 to $10,000 just like that. Easy peasy.

POOKA FUNDRAISING .COM AND TWO PENNY CAT .COM
Then a couple of years ago we started a business. We had no money for it. I thought we would just spend a little here and a little there and it would start producing. It didn’t. We started charging to buy product, pay for advertising, pay for consulting.

Then one horrific day I realized that every credit card we had was maxed out. The total amount of debt was staggering. I had known it but I hadn’t known it. I cried. I felt sick inside, sick all the way down to my soul.

I FAILED, I FELT SO DEFEATED…
We decided to go with a debt consolidation company. It was hard for me. It was like admitting I was a failure. But we agreed, and now we have a plan to pay those credit cards off. We kept one card out of the consolidation (which the company recommended) for travel and that sort of thing.

WE’RE OFF TO SEE THE WIZARD…
We are now going on a new journey, living debt free. We are reading ebooks and books on how to do it. We’ve learned lots of tips which I will share with you here. And we’re making it.

Someday I will take that paycheck and go to the bank…and have a ball.

NOW HERE’S ONE OF MY FAVORITE FUNNIES:

One Sunday morning, the pastor noticed little Alex standing in the foyer of the church staring up at a large plaque. It was covered with names and small American flags mounted on either side of it.

The six-year old had been staring at the plaque for some time, so the pastor walked up, stood beside the little boy, and said quietly, ‘Good morning Alex.’

‘Good morning Pastor,’ he replied, still focused on the plaque. ‘Pastor, what is this?’

The pastor said, ‘Well son, it’s a memorial to all the young men and women who died in the service.’ Soberly, they just stood together, staring at the large plaque.

Finally, little Alex’s voice, barely audible and trembling with fear asked, ‘Which service, the 8:30 or the 10:45?’