Cheetah!
This month, my wife and I celebrated a long awaited milestone. With our tax return, we paid off the mini-van we bought before the second little girl was born. For the first time in our adult lives, we are debt free. We are financing a house next month, but, for a few weeks, we are completely unbound.
When I graduated from law school, I owed over $100,000 in student loans. When we got married, we were carrying about $12,000 in credit card debt between us. Straight out of school, of course, we bought two brand-new VW’s, because I was a lawyer and lawyers are supposed to get new cars when they graduate. We then traded one of those in on the mini-van.
We started a rigorous program of budgeting and discipline, guided by the very useful Dave Ramsey and Financial Peace ministries. God has blessed us richly with resources and opportunities. I praise my wife for her budgetary prowess and for teaching me much about the beauty of conservative spending, creative and free entertainment and for being a non-material girl.
Almost five years to the month after we began in earnest, we just finished retiring about $187,000 in principle, not counting payments on two houses in the meantime. That accounts for all the student loans, three cars, four credit cards and a loan from the parents.
Years ago, when we were in the throes of debt service, we fantasized about this moment. We imagined a grand trip to Europe on one month’s debt service. We imagined a gala party for family and friends. We imagined a furniture spending-spree to replace the college couches and hand-me-down stuff on which we still live. Instead, we hugged and kissed, prayed grateful prayers and sat down with our babies for a supper of left-overs, thrilled to be free.
The greatest effect of this rich and extravagant blessing is being able to take a pay cut to practice law for poor people, to bill no more time and to revel in Spring Break, Christmas Break and, lo and behold as I live and breathe, Summer Break.
Rejoice with us friends. Hallelujah.
When I graduated from law school, I owed over $100,000 in student loans. When we got married, we were carrying about $12,000 in credit card debt between us. Straight out of school, of course, we bought two brand-new VW’s, because I was a lawyer and lawyers are supposed to get new cars when they graduate. We then traded one of those in on the mini-van.
We started a rigorous program of budgeting and discipline, guided by the very useful Dave Ramsey and Financial Peace ministries. God has blessed us richly with resources and opportunities. I praise my wife for her budgetary prowess and for teaching me much about the beauty of conservative spending, creative and free entertainment and for being a non-material girl.
Almost five years to the month after we began in earnest, we just finished retiring about $187,000 in principle, not counting payments on two houses in the meantime. That accounts for all the student loans, three cars, four credit cards and a loan from the parents.
Years ago, when we were in the throes of debt service, we fantasized about this moment. We imagined a grand trip to Europe on one month’s debt service. We imagined a gala party for family and friends. We imagined a furniture spending-spree to replace the college couches and hand-me-down stuff on which we still live. Instead, we hugged and kissed, prayed grateful prayers and sat down with our babies for a supper of left-overs, thrilled to be free.
The greatest effect of this rich and extravagant blessing is being able to take a pay cut to practice law for poor people, to bill no more time and to revel in Spring Break, Christmas Break and, lo and behold as I live and breathe, Summer Break.
Rejoice with us friends. Hallelujah.
posted by JRB at 9:29 PM
5 Comments:
How sweet it is.
My wife and I, on the other hand, were debt free for much of our marriage, then went into debt to finance our move to work for a small Christian university in central Arkansas, located in a town which rhymes with Percy, and are still paying that off. Even with her conservative spending habits and all that, we managed to go the wrong way. (And I don't even get the time off you academics do!) However, we are in the middle of a similar program to retire that, and look forward to it, as well. Your news is good news, and an inspiration, indeed.
On another note, I met with a couple of attorneys in Indianapolis this week who were contemporaries of yours here at this small Christian university. They were interested in your move from the courtroom to the classroom, and envious, I believe.
Well, way to go.
Bravo! There are many who need to hear your story. Perhaps you'll get the chance to tell it to an even wider audience.
I told it to 17 captive law students in class this week and have had several ask for individual consultations. This is a compeling and universal problem. All but one of the students in that class are graduating with debt to pay.
Love the title of this post. My husband and I are in the cheetah intense mode right now but I think it will be few years till we pay off our debts. I have a blog dedicated to our debt freedom journey > Time To Budget
Good job!
That is a huge accomplishment! Congratulations.
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