"I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes. Love is all around me..." - some song from Love Acually that my husband HATES.

Side note: I feel like every blog needs to have a ridiculous song for its title.

I feel like my blog is leaning towards “The Griffis family money situation blog”. I try to steer away from the subject of money but I’m always led back here. I started thinking about it and have realized that I have no idea why. Why are people so weird to talk about their money situation? I am not using it to boast or say, “Wow, we are so awesome with our money.” The truth is, we are stupid with our money. We have been bad stewards and we’re working extremely hard to get on the right track. So if it bothers you that I’m comfortable talking about this, I do apologize. Please realize that I’m not trying to rub anything in anyone’s face or anything people say they feel when money is brought up. I am merely talking about what our life is about and right now, its money. I think it will be nice to look back one day and see where we've been and how we got out.

We’re focusing really hard on staying on our written budget and using all “extra money” we can get our hands on to pay down debt so that we can be debt free and really experience financial freedom. So far we’re doing really well. We've gotten our two credit cards paid off and are working on a small loan and our car (which I have buyer’s remorse about even though I’m in love with my cube.) If we work really hard then we’ll be debt free by June 2012. That sounds like forever away but when looking at the big picture you realize it’s not. We bought our car on a 4 year note in July 10, so to think that we’ll pay it off in less than two years is an awesome feeling.

We got to see this on Saturday and it was amazing.

I am so thankful for being introduced to not just this financial plan but this new way of life and thinking. By working through Dave Ramsey’s program our entire life has shifted. I even believe that our marriage has grown. This whole process has opened up so many doors of communication that we didn't even realize were closed! When money is the number one cause for divorce, being on the same page entirely is so extremely important. The biggest change for me has definitely been my perception of everything around me. I see what I spend money on. I see how I spend money. It’s not just that I see it. I feel it. It angers me. I can’t justify spending money anymore… especially on entertainment. If it’s not free; we’re not doing it. And that’s okay. When our finances are no longer in the hands of someone else and we've worked our way to financial freedom, we will have the freedom to do as many as those things we want. (Although, I don’t see myself being able to spend money easily even when I am happy with my finances. My mind is not the same anymore.)

“I don’t want to walk across hot coals because it is fun, but if I can be shown how a short, painful walk will do away with the lifetime of worry, frustration, stress, and fear that being constantly broke brings me, then bring on the hot coals."

Dave often asks listeners what kind of feedback they've gotten back from people while they’re going on this journey. When I first starting listening, I really didn't understand why he asked this. I very much do now.

The first thing someone said to me when we started all of this was somewhere along the lines of “all he does is teach greed”. This statement baffled me especially coming from the lips of a young single mom. Does she not want the best for her child, for her whole family, for herself? Ryan and I are doing this because we want our families to be taken care of. We don’t want to leave a mess behind that someone else has to sort through and clean up. We want everything to be taken care of and all they have to worry about is moving on. I want my kids to go to college and not have to worry about the money of it. I want my kids to learn the value of money and how to manage it so that they can take care of their kids. I want to change our family tree. Neither of us grew up wealthy… or even close to it. We both remember the stress of a home that worries about money. I remember searching furniture to buy a gallon of milk. I remember hearing my mother cry because bills were due. We don’t blame our parents. Our parents did what they knew to do. Our parents were following society. We choose not to. We choose to live like no one else. We choose to put our foot down and say no to the lenders and the companies that hold us captive. We’re not being greedy. We’re loving our families. We’re giving. And we’re prospering. There is nothing wrong with this.

Now I’d like to apologize to those of you who are annoyed with my love for Dave Ramsey. I know that everyone is sick of hearing about him but I can’t help it.