Our Cars Have Houses

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I don’t remember where I heard that… might have been church or the radio… but I heard it nonetheless. Most of us not only have homes to live in, but we also have houses that our cars live in. As of late, when I drive around town, all I can see are garages.

I am the stereotypical person with champagne taste living on a beer budget. I like name brand things and I like to own lots of stuff. In spite of that, my husband and I have slowly been chipping away at our debt for years. We’ve been motivated to get out of debt primarily for selfish reasons: wanting a house were our kids can have their own rooms; having a retirement fund; wanting to take the kids to Disney World; etc. 

But in the last 48 hours, something major has shifted in my thinking. Yesterday, there was a boy in my son’s kindergarten class who couldn’t concentrate because he was so hungry that his belly hurt. Somehow he had missed the free breakfast at school and the teachers told him to hang tight because snack time was quickly approaching. We soon found out that the kid who was supposed to bring the snack yesterday did not. Thankfully the teacher thought to bring a box of crackers from home which she shared with the class. I told her I would bring a back up snack today so she had something on hand. She felt terrible because she didn’t want me to feel obligated to bring something. Seriously? These babies are hungry. There is no reason why we can’t help out.

The PTO is fundraising because we need playground supplies. My son’s class has ancient computers. They need new headphones and they can’t put them on the school supply list because too many families can’t afford the $15. There are kids who can’t identify the letters in their names and there aren’t enough people to give them the one-on-one help they need. And I’m sure there are needs that I haven’t been made aware of yet.

But most of the cars in this town have their very own houses.

All I keep thinking is if my family didn’t have this debt, we could do so much more to help these kids. And we could help relieve some of the burden from the teachers. UGH! So I’m returning the sweater & scarf I bought for our family pictures because we found something I owned that will work. We are returning the new vacuum because my husband “fixed” the one we have and we can use it until it can’t be “fixed” any more. And now, more than ever, I am going to commit to break free from the insane debt load we carry.

It’s time that I stop living beyond my means so that I can do more to help meet the basic needs of others. The funny thing is that we will probably get to reach our personal goals faster too.

Something Uncomfortable: Day 89

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In 2008, my husband did a restoration on a home that had a pretty severe fire. The couple involved seemed nice, but something felt funny about the situation. (Not like they set the house on fire funny…more like we aren’t going to get paid funny.) My feeling was right. It’s been over four years and they still owe us $2,200 plus interest. And every time I see their file, I get angry.

I’m working on the books for our construction company right now. Guess what I came across? Yep, their file. Through the years, we have listened to their sob story and subsequently have not pursued legal action… but I’m angry. They owe us and I want to get paid.

But then I started thinking… I owed God for all of my sob story mistakes. And instead of pursuing legal action and remaining angry, He sent His Son to pay my debt for me. Hmmm. 

So today, although it is uncomfortable, I am taking their files out of my drawer and putting them away. These aren’t bad people. Like me and you, they are good people who have made some bad choices. It’s not my job to be angry and hound them until they pay. It is my job to extend the same grace and love that Christ extended to me.

Maybe someday, they will get their act together and pay their bill. Maybe they won’t. But as of this moment, I am not going to pursue it. I am NOT going to be angry any more. And I am going to continue to trust that God will take care of us financially, just like He always has.

Are you holding a grudge and remaining angry? Whose file do you need to put away? Who do you need to extend some love and grace to?

Something Uncomfortable: Day 71

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Yesterday was just a big uncomfortable mess. Today around noon, I realized I had really not been uncomfortable yet. The break was nice, but I figured I had better get cracking. So I decided to tackle our TV situation.

We have an embarrassing amount of debt. We've been slowly picking away at it for years. Every time we seem to be making progress, life happens. We own a small construction company that does fairly well. But not well enough for me to stay home with the kids AND eliminate our debt. So we have been trying to figure out where we can cut back.

I was shocked when my husband said he was ready to give up the satellite TV. Went went years with nothing more than basic cable. Sure we missed some things, but we managed. I think it's amazing that he is willing to give up the sports stations again.

When we made the decision to cancel DirecTV, I questioned my Facebook friends to see how any of them survive without paid TV. I was shocked at the amazing options out there. Frankly, I think we've been wasting our money for far too long. Here's our new plan:

• Get an HD antennae - I think this is the one we are going to get.
• Get Hulu+
• We bought a Roku 2 bundle from Sam's for the bedroom (which was on sale & came with 2 free months of Hulu+ - Awesome!) 
• We are going to continue our Netflix subscription... for now. We plan to evaluate whether we need it or not after we try Hulu for a while.
• We can use our Wii to watch Netflix & Hulu in the family room.

So my bit of uncomfortable today was to call DirecTV and cancel our account. I originally told Adam he should do it and had several reasons why he should be the one to call. But let's be honest, there is no reason why I couldn't call. So I did... and I survived.

It's actually pretty amazing to hear the many ways DTV will try to keep your business. It kind of made me wonder why they can't charge such low rates all the time, but whatever. I did find out that we can suspend our service for 6 months at no charge. That way we would have the option to reinstate the service without having to start a new contract. I can't imagine we will reinstate it, but on the off chance we win the lottery (which we don't play) and can't find something better to spend our money on, we won't have to sign a contract to turn it back on.

What task have you "delegated" to a loved one to do so you don't have to be uncomfortable? What are you wasting money on that you can get rid of?