I was listening to the Dave Ramsey Show today and it was announced that in October Dave will have a show on a new channel - Fox Business. The ‘yet to be named’ show will air sometime during prime time. The tv show will be in addition to the current radio show.

The reason I’m stoked is because I’m a certified Dave-a-holic. I think I can count the times I have missed his show this year on one hand. I can usually answer a caller’s question before hearing the response. We’ve watched several of his Financial Peace University DVD’s and been to a Live Event. Amanda and I shaved our heads and drank the kool-aid (well at least I shaved my head).

It all started a little over two years ago when Amanda and I had a V8 moment: we added up the money we made from our salaries and realized we had nothing to show for it. We made over six figures but were living paycheck-to-paycheck. Worse yet, we were moving in the wrong direction as far as money was concerned. At that time we were having discussions about buying a house, starting a family, and our goals for the future. Our desire was for Amanda to stay home to care for our children, but with the amount of debt we were carrying (around $75,000) that was a difficult proposition. I remember asking God for wisdom about money.

After looking through my bookshelf I remembered a book my Uncle Albert had given me for a college graduation/engagement gift: “Financial Peace, Revisited” by Dave Ramsey. I thought, “Financial Peace, I could use a little bit of that.” So I started reading. The book struck a chord inside me. I finished that one and quickly got another Dave book, The Total Money Makeover, from the library. Dave describes Financial Peace as “What to do” and TTMM as “How to do it.” We both devoured this book. We read the book aloud to each other on a drive back to San Antonio from STIM in Tehuacana, TX. Sections like “Denial” and “Money Myths” read like our married life thus far, but then we got to chapters like “The Debt Snowball” and “Finish the Emergency Fund: Kick Murphy Out” and we started to have hope. As Dave says: “There was a light at the end of the tunnel that wasn’t an oncoming train.” We now had a plan.

We both agreed, we had to stop being financial nit wits and start to “live like no one else” if we ever wanted to “live like no one else.”

Working through TTMM has not been easy, but we know it will be worth it. There have been lows: two house floods, partial replacement of our a/c unit, succumbing to house fever. And highs: haven’t used a credit card in two years, two paid-for cars, paying cash for that a/c replacement, getting the number of companies we owe money to down to two.
Although there has been sacrifice we are resolute in our decision to no longer use debt and to clean up the mess we had made. We knew all too well that the borrower is slave to the lender (Prov. 22:7).

There has also been much fruit in our lives as a result of this process. We have seen communication in our marriage skyrocket as we come together monthly (usually even more often) to discuss that month’s budget and also to discuss long term goals. We don’t fight about money. We have been able to give with an open hand. We bought a house. And Amanda is now able to stay home and care for Annabelle.

We’re not totally out of debt yet, but we have Financial Peace. Thanks Dave. I can’t wait to see your new show.