I Have a Debt-Free Plan

I am certain that few Americans can say, "I have a plan to be debt free", but we can.  The plan involves building an emergency fund, cutting spending, and applying what we can to our debt until it is paid.  Sounds simple?  The plan is, but life really isn't simple.  What about investments, college funds, my 401k, home improvements, having kids, that new shiny car, 0% financing, 1% cash-back offers, market changes, unemployment, insurance policies, going back to school, debt consolidation, wills, prenuptial agreement, etc., etc., etc.?

Luckily we found Dave Ramsey's advice to be refreshing, practical, and just what we needed.  We listen to him on the radio and borrowed his book from the library.  Total investment: $0.  Total benefit: Amazing.  

I guess that is why I feel like I need to endorse him here.  The book is called The Total Money Makeover and it will put an entirely new light on what you used to think it meant to live within your means.  I used to think as long as I was able to pay each bill each month, then I was living within my means.  I was way off.  I was running into a brick wall and didn't even know it.

About 5 years ago I struggled to determine if my month-to-month situation was improving.  I started calculating my net worth, and then recalculated it every month to see if there was any progress.  We are now effectively tracking our spending and, thanks to Dave, we have a plan.

We were like 99.999% of Americans; we spent too much on stuff we didn't even want.  We were addicted to shiny, new things.  Debt-free is king.  Read Dave's book.  Cut the credit cards.