Half the price? Really? If you remember the phrase, “There is no free lunch” you will go far. Whether it’s that “free” TV you get for going to see a condo, airline miles, brownie points, or whatever it is, nothing is free.

The same is true with the iPhone. Although the entry point for the 3G is $199 where the first-gen iPhone was $399, there is no pricing renaissance happening here. As Gizmodo points out, the new iPhone is really more expensive than it’s predecessor:

For us, we would have to go with the cheapest family plan, which would raise our monthly mobile phone budget from $100 per month, to $160 per month! Plus, we would loose our unlimited text messaging. Where did all that savings go?

The Joy of Tech came out with a humorous yet thought provoking comic about this topic (click to see it):

The financial adviser in the comic points out the power of compound interest and the effect that seemingly small amounts of money have over time. The numbers in the comic are a little far fetched, but the message is still solid.

The point of all of this isn’t to bash the iPhone. (Our contract with T-Mobile is up in a month, and we will consider switching when we have our August budget meeting.)

The point is that we shouldn’t get caught up in marketing hype or gadget envy. Your thing may not be tech gadgets, but what about clothes, housewares, or things with a motor?

Before making big purchases we should not think “how much a month”, but we should think “how much”.

There, I said it.

How many times in the last couple of weeks have you heard someone, on television, radio or your front porch, start or end a sentence with “…because of the rising cost of gas prices…”?

For perspective, some people like to juxtapose the ppg of gas to other liquids like water (around $20 per gallon) and Starbucks coffee (around $40 per gallon). Although I chuckle along with those comparisons I do understand that there is a certain priority on gas since we are a very car-centric culture.

The reason I am tired of hearing this statement is because it flows from an attitude of not being in control of your own destiny. “Well, I can’t do that because Big Oil is taking all my money, and since they ask for it I have to give it to them, and there’s just nothing you can do about it.” Gee, how’s the weather over there Eeyore?

Newsflash: You have a choice.

You are in control of you. Not Big Oil. Not Big Coffee. Not Obama. Not McCain. You!

Don’t like paying so much at the pump? Ride the bus. Get a bike. Buy a different car Tahoe breath.

Don’t like the cost of food? Eat less. Start a garden co-op in your neighborhood, you may even loose some weight (I should take this advice).

Don’t have enough money at the end of the month? Get a second job, better yet, learn something new and get a better job.

The reason I’m saying this is because when you realize you have a choice, then you have the ability to shy off the negative “news” that we are bombarded with daily and have a positive outlook.

By the way the media spins it, you’d think the sky is falling and the culprit is an oil-and-food powered sky falling machine. But you know what, my neighbor’s son Rob just quit his job and started his own business. What is he doing!?!?! Doesn’t he know we’re in a recession?  Doesn’t he know that gas just went over $4 a gallon?   I think he does know that. I think he also knows that he has a choice when it comes to providing for his wife and daughter. I think he’s in control, not his employer and not the government.  He’s in charge of his destiny and where he’s gonna be a year from now. I think I know where he’ll be – winning.

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.