A moment with:

Can You Smell What The One Is Cookin?

Oh yeah, he “inherited” the deficit.

Can you say “pants on fire”?

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Wednesday, March 25, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Financials

Many of you may already know that the Mrs. and I are taking a Dave Ramsey “Financially Peace University” class to help us eliminate debt. We want to eliminate debt so we can do more good with our money; give to church, sponsor children in Africa, help feed the hungry here in town, etc. We also are tired of being slaves, so to speak, to banks and creditors to whom we owe money and the weight of having so much debt.

Dave Ramsey’s program can be outlined in 7 Baby Steps:

$1,000 to start an Emergency Fund

Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball

3 to 6 months of expenses in savings

Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement

College funding for children

Pay off home early

Build wealth and give! Invest in mutual funds and real estate

Sounds easy, right?

Well, when you are TENS of thousands of dollars in debt, and your income is very close to how much you pay out every month, it is difficult.

I am pleased to announce, however, that the Mrs. And I have completed Baby Step #1. We can directly thank poker, poker blogging and Full Tilt for help in completing it.

April 1 is our start date for Baby Step #2; our budgets and spending plans will be completed over the next 2 weeks. In April, we will start spending using an old-fashioned envelope system where we will set aside budgeted cash in envelopes marked “food”, “gas”, and “blow”. (Not hookers and blow, just fun money.) It will be fun and challenging. Maybe not so fun, we’ll see.

Next up is our debt snowball, where we’ll be paying all of our credit cards off. I’ll explain another time about how it works. This step will take a couple of years. I hope that you will ride along with us and track our progress.

Thanks for all of your nice comments last post. Very cool.

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Wednesday, March 18, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

The Time Has Come

It’s one of those weird moments in a person’s life. It creeps up on you like a bad cold. You know you are getting it; it’s just a matter of time.

I am talking about one of those life moments when you realize that your monthly income is less than your monthly bills. It’s our own fault, to a point. Of course, the case can be made that politicians have helped create this environment. It’s easy to blame someone else. It is also easy for you to blame us only. The truth is, everyone is to blame some, but it’s mostly our own fault.

We bought a big house. It’s 1800SF+, 3 bedrooms, 2½ baths. It’s not our dream home, but it’s very, very, nice. We don’t have any kids. We’re dinks; dual income, no kids. We’re in our early 40s. It’s been a good time.

The economy has tanked. The Mrs. has had her hours cut. It’s been getting tougher all of the time. But something good has happened during all of this, something spectacular. It’s a life moment that trumps not having enough money to pay your bills. Can you even guess what that might be?

Jesus has come into our life. He has revealed Himself to us. We started going to church in November of last year and the Spirit has been working at our hearts since. I’m now walking the Walk. Am I perfect? Hah. Not even close! Have I changed much? Sure, but in nothing but good ways. I wish I could convey how good I feel these days.

Look, I’m not preaching to you. I expect nothing from you, although if you are happy for me, I’d appreciate you saying so. I am sure that some of the readers of this blog have been Christians for a long time. If that is the case, I feel fortunate to have survived this long to become one of you.

This blog will continue to exist. I still play poker (I need the money), and if Jerry Yang can be a man of God and play poker, than so can I.

Thanks for listening, friends. And, as always, thanks for being there. If you ever need me, I am there for you.

The bill collectors? They can wait.

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Monday, March 16, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)

On the way to Canby

Stopped in Gates for milk duds. Also eating fish jerky and chocolate
chip cookies in the car.
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Friday, March 06, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)