My first true test on our quest to kill our debt came three days ago when I ventured out to find a new pair of shoes. My dirty old shoes were still comfy, but as age does to the body, it also does to the sole. It was time to move on.
As far back as I can remember, I have always been a bit of a shoe snob. I'll wear a $5 Tee shirt but you can rest assured that I'd paid a pretty penny for some good quality shoes. So as you can imagine, having just read 3/4 of The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, this trip to buy some new shoes was going to be unlike any I had ever taken before. I went out with a $30 budget, 1/3 to 1/2 of what I would normally expect to pay for a pair of shoes. I knew this was going to take a lot of self control and a lot of telling myself no. At the bottom of every page of Dave's book is a quote that I am struggling to learn how to live by. "If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else." I kept repeating that to myself as I walked by the shoes that I really wanted to buy. If I make sacrifices now, later it will be well worth it. MAN THIS IS TOUGH!
5 stores, 1 emotional breakdown, and 4 disgruntled texts to "The Boss," later, I found a pair of shoes that I actually kind of like. $30! I didn't think it was possible, and you know what? It actually felt pretty good.
This program to get us out of debt and living on cash and not credit is going to take us about two years to get through. This was just one small hurdle that I had to jump on my own. Volume 3 is going to reveal a much tougher sacrifice that we have decided to make. One that will take a toll on the whole family for a short while.
In my last post, I called Dave Ramsey a Hellraiser. This is not to say that I think he is demonic in any way or that he is a bad man. I called him a Hellraiser because after reading two chapters of his book, my life was turned completely upside down. I don't like having my life turned completely upside down. I don't like to admit that I have made horrible decisions with my loot. I hate to admit that I bought a house that I had no business buying in the first place. Whatever. I can't change that now. What I can do is make much wiser decisions from this point forward. And so that is what we are going to do. $30 shoes and all.
You're getting in the groove.
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