Apparently we live pretty differently than the rest of the world.  We have lived debt free and without credit cards for so long now I forgot we are “weird”.  The average American a.k.a “normal person” is carrying roughly $25,000 worth of debt not including their mortgage…I’m glad I’m weird. 

It wasn’t always that way…

When my husband and I were engaged he heard about Dave Ramsey.  It was PERFECT timing for us to get on board with a PLAN for our money so I was all for it.  We got the book total money makeover.  And we were hooked! 

Our marriage started with about $20,000 dollars worth of debt between a car loan and 2 school loans.  We decided to live off of the smaller of our two incomes and put everything else toward getting rid of debt. 

That meant NOT buying a home when we first got married like everyone else I knew. That meant NOT eating out much, NOT buying clothes (that we didn’t need anyway) and living as if the larger of our two salaries didn’t even exist.  We were “weird” we lived in a little duplex for two years when people with less money were buying big beautiful brick homes.  We lived like “no one else, so later we can live like no one else”

Although I had house fever I am FOREVER grateful for my husbands patience reminding me it will all be worth it in due time. 

In almost exactly two years of living solely off of our smaller income we:

Paid off ALL $20,000 worth of debt
Saved up a fully funded emergency fund (3-6 months worth of expenses)
Saved up a large enough down payment for a home that we were able to avoid the PMI loan

It wasn’t long after we bought our home we found out we were having a baby.  I worked throughout the pregnancy and until the baby was about 6 months old.  That gave us time to pay for a few household projects and save for the job I always wanted, to stay at home with our children.

If not for a PLAN for our finances, Dave Ramsey’s principles, and my husbands patience, this dream would have never been able to come true. 

Getting used to living off one income from the beginning of our marriage made it no big deal when we REALLY were living off just one income.  I am working a little on the side doing promotional items (if you need your logo on shirts, pens, hats, cups etc. email me) but for the most part I am able to be at home with our two children. 

Are we Rockefeller’s?  Hardly but we have learned how to make our money work for us.  Instead of living paycheck to paycheck. 

I’ll be talking more about money this week so come back as we discuss how to better manage our finances.

I’d love to hear your comments!  Do you carry debt?