No, we're not getting rid of our car; we actually paid off my car and now own both of our cars. It's so exciting. We just got the title in the mail today, and I'd show you a picture of it, but my camera and I are at war over close-up pictures.
Thanks to what we learned in Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, we've been able to develop a budget and stick to it. It's been a challenging lesson in self-control this year, and there have been many times where we haven't wanted to follow our budget along with times where we have strayed from out budget (ie. the anniversary trip to Boise that we haven't posted about yet), but in the long run we know it's best for our fiscal health if we have a budget and stick to it.
Part of our budget development was to see if we could live off of Scott's salary alone. And when it comes down to a barebones budget (ie. no eating out, no lattes, no books, no new clothes, no winery visits, etc.) we learned that we can squeak by on his salary. After those experiments, we decided to take most of my salary each month and use it for extra payments toward the car, extra money into our emergency fund, more tithing for church, etc.
With determination, we were able to pay off my car 2 years early! Can you believe it? We hardly can. It did help that my car is a Hyundai (think: lower manufacturer price), but what a great feeling to be debt-free except for our mortgage.
This is the first time in our married life that we haven't had a car payment, and I hope we never go back to having one. Sadly, I think Scott's junker (my affectionate term for his car, not his term) will require a replacement within the next year or two, but we are trying to be proactive and make "car payments" to our savings account now. For now though, we're enjoying a nearly debt-free life...ah the financial peace.
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4 comments:
Good job! Way to be frugal.
Yes, it feels good to be frugal.
Congrats! You must not have really looked at my car when you were here if you're calling Scott's car a junker. Or is there a lower level?
Can you tithe more? Isn't tithe-ing (can't decide how to spell that correctly) something you either do or don't do? It's sort of a set number and if you don't meet it, it's not titheing, but if you go over, it's just titheing plus giving more, right? This is nitpicking and it's quite possible I'm wrong, but it stuck in my mind.
I checked a Ramsey book out of the library, but haven't read it yet. It is at least effort, if it can even be classified as effort.
My loving term for Scott's car comes from the fact the check engine light is now constantly on, the brake check light was on until he fixed that, the engine revs in idle, his tires were nearly bald, and now his car is leaking oil all over the garage. Can your car beat that? I don't remember. I guess I compare his car to mine too, which has had no problems.
I'm not the expert on tithing, but here's my o.o2 worth. In my mind, tithing is giving your "first fruits" to God. In other words, giving Him the best. I think there's always been the idea that tithing is 10% of your income, but if someone cheerfully gives 2% or 5% of their income, I would consider that tithing. I think it goes back to Old Testament times where the people had to give a certain %.
Now you have me thinking. I'll ask the expert to comment when he gets back.
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