When I started this blog, it was mainly for the purpose to help me remember things about raising our family because I never write things down and I easily forget what just happened an hour ago:). So many times in my life, God will show me something or teach me a lesson about something, and a month later, I no longer think about it, and before long I don’t even remember it. Gabe and I have committed to remembering ways God has continually provided financially for us throughout our lives together. We feel it is important to remember these times because it increases our faith and helps us not be hesitant to follow whatever we know He is calling us to.
I have been hesitant to share the details of this because it includes our personal financial information, but I feel like I should share it to help us remember, and to maybe encourage other people in their journey. So, here goes.
September 2010- Debt free!!!
What we have paid off since January 2008:
Gabe student loans $10000
Allyson student loans $25000
Nissan mini-van $12500
Flat screen $700
Total: $48,200
When I see that total, I truly cannot believe it. How did that happen? When we moved to Nashville in 2004, I started listening to Dave Ramsey on the radio every afternoon and hearing stories of people who were now debt free and how they did it. Gabe started listening as well, and we started talking about what that would feel like. Both of us felt that while that would be great, it was impossible because that is just a little less than what we made in an entire year. Also, we had a new baby and we wanted me to work as less as possible so I could be with Neely the majority of the time. So, we agreed that we would not accrue any more debt and we would pay off as much as we could as fast as we could, but our debt didn’t go down.
Two years later, Ansley Jane entered our lives and we feel so blessed to be her parents. At about the same time, we felt God leading us to launch Connect, but wondering how that would work with our desire to pay our bills and get out of debt. Somehow Gabe leaving his comfy job at Lifeway to launch a non-profit with no salary for the first year did not make sense to us, but we knew it was the right thing to do. We also knew this meant me going back to work full-time, which even me working full-time, my salary was only about 65% of what Gabe had been making.
Even with all those things, we are debt free. I don’t write this to pat ourselves on the back or say, hey look at us, we are debt free. I am writing this so I can remember how God took a completely crazy scenario, and made it happen. He guided us to make good decisions and helped us stay disciplined when we wanted to splurge on something. The weird thing is, I don’t feel like we have had to just eat beans and rice. We have had to say no to ourselves at times when we wanted to go on a big vacation or get Gabe a car that doesn’t smell like rotten milk, but to me, those things are extras and not necessary to living a happy life. At the same time, we have had lots of fun times over the past two years, and experienced a lot of great things.
We committed to pouring every extra bit of money we made toward our debt and we put ourselves on a cash system budget. I will admit is has been a pain at times, but overall, very much worth it. We now live in a nice house, which we felt comfortable buying because it is the only debt we have. I am working different little jobs to make some extra spending money each month, and while we are by no means wealthy (not even close), we feel it is worth it to continue living tightly while our girls are so young so I can continue to be with them the majority of the time. It is going by so fast.
So, I am proud that we have accomplished our goal of being debt free besides our house. But mostly, I don’t want to forget what a miracle it is and God’s involvement in it. This blog entry will be like a monument I am building to help me remember. Hopefully we can start saving more, giving more, and enjoying some extra fun things like a vacation to the beach this summer:)






Fun pictures from the past couple of weeks. It’s been a fun time and it has flown by. I can’t believe we are in November! Gabe and I feel very blessed to have such great friends. We are so thankful that our girls will have such great friends to grow up with.


My Minnie Mouse















