Just like the vast majority of America we are in the grips of debt. It is a sticky, painful and life sucking grip. However, because of God’s amazing grace {that is such an understatement} we are paying down and marking off many debts. From credit cards to school loans to vehicle loans. We give all the glory to God. Without Him my husband wouldn’t have the work that he does. Yahweh has been so gracious to us and is teaching us how to be good stewards of what He has given us.
Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, (Proverbs 1:5 ESV)
Neither my husband nor I were taught how to handle money. Thankfully there’s Papa Ramsey who is doing a fine job of teaching all of America how to handle finances. In a Biblical way, no less. My husband took the Dave Ramsey class and I looked over the notes he took. This may come off as egotistical but I am great with numbers. I’ve taken on our debt as a game or hobby. I enjoy watching the numbers go down. I seriously love when we get bills in the mail. Paying a bill is a mini highlight of my day. It’s sick, I know. But I wanted to share with you how we’re going about paying our debt off. God provides the money and we are on-our-knees thankful! We then grab paper and markers and set up our monthly list.
I decided to use the large post-it tablets because I wanted our debt to be in our faces. I wanted us to see it every day. If it’s tucked away on a website or in a little notebook then we easily forget about what bills need to be paid. This system has proven to work for us. I used to write our bills/debts in notebooks. Then I’d lose them. Though I admit it is fun whenever I happen upon one of the notebooks from years ago.
You can use any large sized paper. We happened to have some large post-it pads from some classes my husband had taught. They can be pricey but, in my opinion, it’s worth it. You’ll only be using one page per month so they last for over two years.
First thing first, I write the month in the middle at the top of the paper. Next I use a yard stick and draw lines all down the sheet. Along the left hand side I write the day of the month each bill is due. Next to that I right down the name of each bill/debt. Next I write out the amount due. So three simple columns: Date / Bill / Amount. Lastly, it is hung on a wall where we will see it every day.
{no need to explain why I blurred all the numbers and names out}
Every morning I check to see if there are any bills that need paid. I then go online and pay what needs taken care of. Once that is done I use a red marker to slash through the amount number – proclaiming that it has been paid!
These tablets are huge. We leave the current month up and stick the previous month on the wall next to it. It’s rather encouraging knowing that we’re getting closer to our goal. Once our debts are paid I imagine I’ll keep all the finance information in my Filofax. There’s a difference between paying bills and paying debts.
We also have a paper that we printed off from What’s the Cost? It contains a list of our debts in snowball form. That paper right there is sooooo encouraging! To mark off entire debts is like new life is being breathed into our family!
Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. (Romans 13:8 ESV)
We don’t want to hide this from our children. They love seeing the debt being paid off. We are so thankful that they are learning how to be good stewards now as they see their parents struggling through mistakes that could have been avoided.
I have had friends come over and I’ve wanted to rip those papers off the wall. But I usually forget to. Humbleness is a good thing, right? Thankfully most of us are going through this together but hopefully we can raise this next generation to not take the same foolish steps we did.
We’ve also hung up pictures, next to the charts, of dreams we’ve had to let go of because of our debt. It’s a good reminder to think through monetary decisions. It’s heartbreaking to see but we brought it on ourselves. We are very much loving watching Yahweh working in our lives now, though. With ears and eyes opened we are learning and striving to get out from beneath this nasty debt.
The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender. (Proverbs 22:7 ESV)
I hope this helps you if you, too, are in the grips of debt. There is a way out! Put your trust in Christ and follow Him. There’s a lot you’ll have to say no to now so that you won’t have to later. Own the mistakes you made and ask Him to guide your future steps. It’s His money anyhow. Ask Him how He wants you to handle it.
Blessings!
