Still… ours is the best. Even though we’re anonymous. But hot. But you can’t see that. So nevermind. Anyway…!

I want to share some awesome inspiration with you as well as a chance to actually win real prizes from Brad at Enemy of Debt. I guess that would make this my first “link love” post.

The details are Brad Chaffee over at Enemy of Debt is challenging his readers to become more active in managing their money. The Manage Your Money Challenge starts on March 1st, go check it out. He is giving away tons of free prizes for participation.

He’s a really good dude and wants nothing more than to see you succeed in becoming debt free. In fact he’s kind of a freak about it.

So go to it, folks, and reap your rewards.

Race you to the finish line,
the Dad

© the Dad, Climbing Out, 2010. | 2 comments

Wow — already?!

I can hardly believe it has been a year since we started on the road to financial peace. First, a thank you to all of you who follow our journey and offer encouragement. To those of you doing it with us, HIGH FIVE!

So how are we doing? It’s been 12 months since we started this journey and this blog.

For 12 months we have

• Lived on less than we make
• Maintained a small emergency fund
• Operated our finances on a budget
• Borrowed NOTHING
• Paid down our debt

Looking at our debt chart we have paid down about 38% of our total debt or around $18,000. If you’ve been following us for a while you know that’s around 20% shy of where I wanted us to be. Nonetheless, we are on our way to debt freedom.

I have some observations after a year of following Dave Ramsey’s advice; some surprise me.

• Making a budget every month has become easy, but still takes about the same amount of time.
  I mean, it’s downright SIMPLE now. The mechanics of filling out the line items, adding in the unusual things for the month, chatting about it, and printing the final budget to hang on the fridge are second nature. Still, it takes about an hour each month.
• Emergency budget committee meetings still happen almost every month.
  This one surprises me and maybe it’s because we’re getting complacent, but nearly every month we have to get together at least once to cover a screw-up or unexpected event.
• Homemade bread is awesome.
  The Wife is out of control in the kitchen. Homemade meals every day. Homemade bread, yogurt and granola. She even made our own almond milk.
• Kids’ commissions need their own line item and can really add up.
  Okay, listen to me. Don’t underestimate this one. It’s all great teaching the kids to be Dave Ramsey fanatics like us, but those commission payments can get pricey! Budget them in.
• It gets BORING.
  Seriously. The months when we can send two thousand dollars to our debt are awesome, but when it’s only three or four hundred for a couple months in a row I start to lose interest (pun not intended).

This year I am down right antsy. Antsy, I say! I want out and I want out now. The freelance work I picked up recently is in high gear and should be done in about two weeks. The pizza delivery work is surprisingly hard to come by, but applications are in. The kids start full-time school in the Fall and The Wife should be able to double her hours.

It’s a marathon, you say? Not a sprint? Well, staying the course for the long haul is really… long! Nonetheless, it’s the only option. Getting out of debt ain’t easy. It’s just worth it.

Or so I hear.

Thanks again for sticking with us, everyone.
the Dad

© the Dad, Climbing Out, 2010. | 7 comments

This whole get-out-of-debt nonsense has really screwed me up, you know that? I mean, really. When was the last time someone handed you $2,000 and you said, “no, thanks”?

Not long ago I mentioned some freelance work coming up. It’s a fun, challenging project, but one for which there has been little time lately.

It is for a dear friend and is not on a strict deadline. Nonetheless, I want to get it done sooner rather than later. I am shooting for the end of February. It should net around $3,000 toward our debt and I look forward to making that payment.

But the bulk of the work remains to be done. Like, 90% of it. So, although I have been keeping track of my hours we are in Happy Meal land on the balance sheet, you know what I’m saying?

Imagine my surprise when my friend hands me $2,000 a couple weeks ago.

“I need the expenses for 2009.”

Whoa. But, dude, I don’t borrow money.

“You’re not borrowing money, it’s for the project.”

Yeah, but it kinda feels like a loan, you know? So we put it aside it its own account where it sits untouched until the job is done. In fact, it will be the start of moving our finances to a new bank, but that’s another post that has nothing to do with this loan / pre-payment / friendship-risker.

I am trying to decide if it has taken on a weird connotation now; a strange specter of debt. I understand that it was business money that does not affect my friend in anyway, but my emotional connection to money, loans, debt and the interplay with relationships has changed so drastically that I feel a certain discomfort with the situation.

That is leading to lots of clear communication with my friend that, in the worst case, will end in me simply handing his cash back. I’m not sure I’m handling it right, but that will just make me get the project done even quicker. I wonder what you all think of it.

Plus the hole in my pocket is starting to stink.

the Dad

© the Dad, Climbing Out, 2010. | 11 comments

I’ve been using Gillette Fusion blades since they came out and the Mach 3s before that. Why? Because they sent me a free handle, unsolicited, when they first produced the dang things.

I think they came with one or two cartridges too. However, at $25 per refill package they had become a painful slice of the weekly budget. I was done.

A quick Google search led to a post on the Art of Manliness that gave me the guts to order a Merkur Razor for $35 and 10 blades for 25 cents each.

Twenty-five cents! Let me tell you: I haven’t looked back since.

This morning as I was shaving I realized how much a wet shave with a safety razor is like baby step 2, getting out of debt.

Compared to the old Gillette, shaving with the Merkur is harder, takes longer, and requires paying attention. Although second nature now, at first just learning to hold the thing was weird, getting the angle right to my face, getting used to the mechanics of changing the blade and working up a lather…

Like getting out of debt, it was a new way of operating. Like living on a budget, paying cash and spending less than we make.

It has another thing in common with becoming debt-free. It is worth it. Not just the cost savings (which are substantial), but the quality of shave.

Sometimes we stumble and need our emergency fund (like when I nicked my philtrum the other day), but at the end I expect everything will be…

wait for it…

smooth.

the Dad

© the Dad, Climbing Out, 2010. | 22 comments

If it were tangible, is this what momentum would feel like? In my soul 2010 already tastes like a great year.

It’s hard to put my finger on why, but after starting 2009 at the bottom and watching our lives turn around, 2010 seems to stretch ahead of us full of promise and I’m excited.

This year I want to connect with The Wife even more, be a better friend and colleague, and pay off debt. Those are quite general goals, but the specifics are posts unto themselves. Instead of elaborating, I want to pass on some of my inspiration.

Today I share with you three blog posts that helped get me in the mood to embrace this year.

Don’t be an intolerant doofus

First, from One Writer’s World: A New Year, A New Goal.

This really hit home with me as I found myself becoming less and less tolerant of others instead of more accepting. Less tolerant of stupidity which really is just another way of saying less tolerant of people who do not think and act the way I believe is right — or, don’t think and act like me.

I have made a conscious effort to allow myself to enjoy people’s views, statements and differences. It has already made me not only happier, but a better friend, colleague and, perhaps, person.

Go to bed with your wife even if it’s ridiculously early

Rachel at Small Notebook hit home with something I’ve been struggling with since getting married: How a Night Owl Became an Early Bird and Liked It.

That is SO me. The Wife has, more than once, berated me for not coming to bed with her for days or weeks while I stay up late working or, more often than not, working until 9:30 then needing to “wind down” with a 2-hour long movie.

Most recently she told me she wanted a husband, not a roommate. Needless to say, I took Rachel’s post to heart. It will be a tough (and some weeks, impossible) change, but I’ve had roommates before and never really liked ‘em. Plus, The Wife is really hot.

Debt is dumber than ever

Lastly I thoroughly enjoyed How Debt Fools People from Phillip Brewer.

I love his excellent succinct treatise which, at its core, speaks to the opportunity cost of taking on debt and the danger of not calculating risk when lured by a low monthly payment.

So today I am energized and excited. I feel like we spent 2009 pushing back on a huge boulder that is now rolling in earnest. It is moving with a force that is bumping into other aspects of our lives and its momentum is infectious.

Cheers, 2010, you don’t scare me. In fact I couldn’t be happier to meet you.

the Dad

© the Dad, Climbing Out, 2010. | 7 comments

Last night I realized that with a $48k debt snowball, like a hostage situation, Stockholm syndrome eventually sets in.

We have become comfortable with our method, level of focus and debt-reduction. Yes, we have three debts left, but we are making steady progress and have a plan. Mechanically, the system has found a groove: income is earned, payments are made, debt goes down.

In a way, when you have gotten used to living on a budget and spending less than you make, you can buckle down, do the work and forget the “whys” of getting away from credit card companies.

Then they remind you.

Last night I received a statement for our largest debt. Usually I barely look at them, but the “minimum due” caught my eye right away. It has been the same for ages, but had been raised quite a bit!

“They raised our rate when I closed the account to new charges!”, I thought. Even though I specifically asked if closing the account would affect our rate at all. Paging down the statement, sure enough, our APR had gone from 16% to 23%. This is in addition to the rate increase of last October on our third largest debt.

I took a breath, grabbed the phone and waited on hold ready to uncork on whoever answered.

Of course, it wasn’t worth my time in the end. The rate increase was across the board, I was told, and had nothing to do with closing the account. There was no opt-ing out or reversing it. That’s just they way it is. Although they did offer us a personal loan at 18% instead which I declined.

My dislike for the credit industry is matched now only by my apathy for their business methodology.

Nonetheless, with our plummeting FICO score in hand (I think we’re at 680 now, via: creditkarma), I will try to get a lower interest rate personal loan from our local credit union or regional bank and move our business there.

I’m not sure it will be worth it, but as it stands now 63% of the payment to that card will go to interest this month. That change will extend our debt snowball by nearly four months and even a small fee would be worth paying to stay on track, I think.

Did I mention I applied at a Pizza joint to be a driver? Seriously. I’ll let you know how that goes.

In the mean time, thanks for the reminder, Wells Fargo. I hate you too.

the Dad

© the Dad, Climbing Out, 2010. | 11 comments

Isn’t it interesting how we attach significance to some numbers? Turning 40 is over the hill. $99 is a much better deal than $100. 5 miles over the speed limit is okay.

As this decade ends today I find myself weighed down with the importance of looking back ten years at where I was, what I did and, maybe more importantly, what I didn’t know.

Certainly nothing makes this ten year span more important than any other, but what the heck. Let’s just decide to attach significance to it anyway, shall we?

Ten years ago I

• just bought my first house. 4br, 3b, 1,800ft2, $129,000
• had known The Wife for 8 months
• smoked
• had never heard of intra-uterine insemination
• had about $2,000 in consumer debt
• worked in the exact same building & job, but the company name was different
• weighed 30 pounds less
• had just brewed my first batch of beer – it was awful
• hosted a New Year’s party at my new house with friends I will not see tonight. Most because they moved away, some because we are no longer friends.
• drove a paid-for pickup with 60k miles
• wish I had heard of Dave Ramsey

Kind of interesting to look back.

What were you like 10 years ago?

the Dad

© the Dad, Climbing Out, 2009. | 8 comments

While I truly hope you all had as lovely a Christmas as I did, I cannot imagine that’s possible. My condolences.

It has been a stunningly wonderful holiday season. And not only was it all done with cash, we even paid down another thousand dollars of our debt.

At The Wife’s insistence we had a Christmas sinking fund and spent it on the kids; $100 each. That may not seem like much, but it was enough and generous grandparents from both sides of the aisle made for lots of love and plenty of presents to unwrap.

Ice-cold weather. Lots of good food, candies and baked things. All-day fires roaring in the fireplace. My parents visiting to enjoy their grandkids’ fifth Christmas. And me with all of last week off.

It was absolutely fantastic.

Yesterday was my thirty-eighth birthday. Before getting on the road to work I opened a card left behind by my dear folks. It had a generous cash gift; enough to take the whole family out for a fun lunch. So The Wife and Kids drove into town and we had a fabulous lunch together.

In a restaurant.

And none of us work there!

These are good moments, people.

Remember turning the Christmas lights off? Well, that played out too. The kids totally got it. We are getting out of debt and daddy sold the light controllers. No fuss. No complaints at all about the static lights I hung around the eves.

However, I was not prepared for the countless cars who stopped by only to leave disappointed. Several caught me with the garage open, rolled down their windows and asked where the light show was. I told the briefest version of our story I could. They all said how our show had become a tradition for them and one fellow offered to donate cash. It is ironic that I was the one bolstered by my kids’ easy acceptance when chatting with the crest fallen passers-by.

All of it, of course, strengthened and solidified our resolve to become debt-free. The best Christmas we’ve ever had full of joy, laughter and wonderful memories. I wouldn’t change a thing.

I hope you feel the same and wish you all a wonderful New Year.

the Dad

© the Dad, Climbing Out, 2009. | 9 comments

Every so often on Climbing Out we will post a great reader email that might touch others’ lives or provide a chance to open discussion.

This touching note came in from a dear reader:

…I want to build up savings faster while my partner is actually already happy that we are not in debt and we are earning enough to pay for a comfortable life. I find myself fending him off from buying a new phone or a new bag or charging up plane tickets for a vacation. We can afford all of those but that would mean living on zero savings. He likes having extra money saved up as well but he has for so long lived on negative (I helped him pay off his debts when we moved in together) that even a little extra money is a big enough accomplishment for him.

I on the other hand have always had the little extra all my life until the time we moved in together and we decided to pay off his debts. Our present status is what I always had and I still want more to make me feel secure.

This is our only redundant fight. It should be finished in a month or two since the bonuses are coming and the big check I have been waiting for is coming.

In a way, I envy my partner. The way he is already happy with what we have (moneywise). I love him because of the simple dreams and the fact that the only thing that matters to him is that our family is safe, provided for, and happy. A girl shouldn’t ask for more than that.

There are a few things that come right to mind reading this before I give you The Wife’s and my response.

…or charging up plane tickets for a vacation.

We’re just going to assume I read that wrong. Being debt-free I cannot believe you would “charge” a plane ticket. Let’s pretend you mean he uses the debit card.

I on the other hand have always had the little extra all my life until the time we moved in together and we decided to pay off his debts. Our present status is what I always had and I still want more to make me feel secure.

This could be a whole post unto itself (and it may be in the future). Before we met both The Wife and I lived with boy-/girlfriends and we have formed strong opinions on why it was not right for us. Still, this dear reader was debt-free, then moved in and took on her partner’s debt-load. Now that it’s gone and they are back to her square one he is more than content. The way I see it, the battle is won as far as he is concerned.

A girl shouldn’t ask for more than that.

And here comes the part where I go ballistic…

But first, The Wife’s response:

Two things: 3-6 months emergency fund and the movie “Fireproof” come to mind.

She doesn’t need to “envy him”. His happiness isn’t and shouldn’t be more important or more easily had. She gets to feel happy with their status and progress too. She says “A girl shouldn’t ask for more than that” as if she should short-change her dreams and wants because his are simpler?! Seriously? A girl should ask for whatever she wants! You don’t get what you don’t ask for. Doesn’t make it easy, but you should always ask. I’m not always good about this either, but I am learning.

The women’s perspective of security at home and in the relationship cannot be understated.

The Dad replies:

…I want to shake your boyfriend until the little boy inside him falls out.

I envy your attitude. Trust your instincts. You are right.

Cheers,
the Dad
Climbing Out

© the Dad, Climbing Out, 2009. | 3 comments

Oh. My. God.

After ten months (TEN MONTHS!) of financial responsibility… no, financial PERFECTION, today I screwed the pooch.

Actually, I screwed the pooch more than a week ago when I ignored our budget and decided things were going even better than I thought they were… and gave away the farm.

October was a rollercoaster of events and by the time November rolled around I was really ready for a calm month and a nice fat snowball payment. No little extras popped up and The Wife even brought home a fatter check that we had budgeted for.

So when the end of the month rolled around and I prepared to make our snowball payment, I found more than expected in our checking account.

“Well, of course, it was a pretty good month, wasn’t it!”

So I sent nearly the whole thing off to our debt. Um. Enthusiastic, yes. Smart? Well, I left no buffer in our account and today we paid dearly for that.

Seven, count ‘em seven, items posted to our account before today’s paycheck went through. Seven overdrafts. Seven overdraft fees.

Overdraft fees.

We haven’t seen those in nearly a year. Had I stuck to our original snowball amount we would have been fine. What does Dave Ramsey say? “Children do what feels good. Adults devise a plan and stick to it.”

I went with my emotion, my excitement in paying off debt, instead of analyzing a situation that had obviously changed. For that we are paying dearly. Overdrafts at Wells Fargo go for $35 each.

The Wife was brave enough to go to the bank, apologize for her idiot husband and get them to reverse some of the overdraft fees, but not all. What a trooper.

There are some fundamental questions this debacle raises. Where was the communication between The Wife and the Dad? Why had the extra money not been addressed together in a budget committee meeting? Were the seven items this morning expected and if not, why not?

We will sit down together this weekend, hold hands and answer those questions, shore up our financial defenses and I will keep my debt-paying in-check. Seeing a negative balance, a negative balance, in our checking account today triggers a visceral response that nearly brings me to tears.

Today, I stand before you a humbled man. There is always tomorrow. Another month. Another budget. Another chance to get it right.

the Dad

© the Dad, Climbing Out, 2009. | 12 comments