FREEDOM! Dave Ramsey Style

This past week Nate told me some GREAT news (which he said he didn't mind me posting on my blog). He paid off his Citi Bank credit card and he is now officially DEBT FREE!!! I'm so proud of him. Two years ago he moved to the Tri-Cities from Boston with almost $30,000 in debt between student loans, a 401k loan, and credit cards. He started chipping away at the debt before he met me, but once he realized how important being debt free was to me he made it an effort. The funny part is that once the student loans and the 401k loan had been paid off we talked and decided that we'd rather move forward on 'us' things (me: engagement ring, him: house) sooner rather than later and so made the decision that we'd pay off the last of his debt after we got married. I had no idea that he was scrimping and saving even more than he was mentioning to me with the thought that he'd still pay off debt prior to getting married. What a great suprise! Now, this means that going into marriage we'll be debt free! I know that this doesn't guarantee a happily ever after life, but considering that the majority of couples fight over finances I'm very happy to know that we've beaten one battle before it even got started.

As a side note - I was encouraged by my parents to see a financial advisor to talk about my finances and he recommended to take Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University class to get a better handle on my budget and debt. I started Dave's class in January 2007 with $11,000 in debt and by April 2008 I was officially debt free with a fully funded emergency fund of six months of expenses. It's such a great feeling knowing that all your money (well, that which isn't immediately taken by the government) is for your own use, whatever that may be. If you're interested, check out www.daveramsey.com and type in your zip code to find a Financial Peace Univerity class in your area. I HIGHLY recommend it!