Getting Back on Track!

Today is a good day! We made a $1000 payment towards our debt and we are excited about getting back on track. It’s pretty amazing to realize how quickly we could pull together that money. Honestly, it’s a little scary because that could be money we put towards savings, but in the end, we need to commit to paying off our debt before we commit to saving up for a house or something else we can wait on.

We also decided to make some pretty extreme cuts in our budget to allow us to shovel more money towards out debt. We have even talked about getting rid of our budgeting app and using more of an envelope system. For us, it’s just too easy to stop using the app halfway through the month or not put everything we buy into the app so we don’t feel as guilty about going over our budget. At least with the envelope system, we could see our money being spent. That’s just us though, we aren’t as disciplined as some of you out there!

Anyways, just wanted to give a quick update! Thank you for your encouragement and when we pay off this debt, we will have a big party to celebrate!

- Brian

Blogging is still a thing?

I hate this blog, I really do. We started out the process of paying off our debt with so much energy and hope! We wanted to pay off all our debt in about 3 years, if not less. Well, here we are 3 years later and we have only made a small dent. That is an incredibly discouraging and frustrating realization as I go through the posts and see the tiny steps we have taken. It almost make us want to give up and do what every other person does; make the minimum payment for the next 30 years and just live with it. It’s really hard to live below your means and use money that you would like to spend on food or vacations and instead use it to pay down the debt that feels so insurmountable. Well, last night, we talked to a married couple who made us feel incredibly guilty about our debt.

We went to a friend’s wedding and, like most weddings the older you get, we ran into friends who we hadn’t seen or talked to in a while. That’s the fun thing about weddings, you get to reconnect with people who you don’t normally see. Well, this particular couple told us they had read this little blog in the past and went on to tell us how encouraging it was and helped them pay off their debt. That is NOT what I wanted to hear. I mean, it’s great that this has helped them pay off their debt, but I felt like such a hypocrite. Here we are, being lazy in our budget and debt paying, listening to someone tell us that we helped them pay off their debt. Thanks for the guilt trip!

I was so excited for these 2 people, who we haven’t seen in a very long time, tell us that we encouraged them and played a very small part in their journey to pay off their debt. But I also felt like God was telling me, “Remember how motivated you guys were to pay off your debt? Well, it’s time to get back on that”. Steph and I had a long talk about our finances after the wedding and how we have been so blessed to have the jobs we have now and be in a situation where we can actually pay off debt.

I was curious though to see exactly how much money we have spent on eating out and other things we shouldn’t. I almost vomited when I added everything up. Yes, we have a budget, but we are very good and “forgetting” to put in certain items so we never really see how much we spend on stuff. We LOVE food and we live in a part of town that has incredible places to eat within walking distance. So, instead of making food with stuff we have, we get take out… a lot. I would tell you how much we have spent in the last month on eating out, but you would probably hate us and not want to be our friends anymore.

All that to say, we are getting back on the horse, as it were. We have lived on so little for so long that we went a little crazy when we started making more money. It’s easy to say you won’t do that, but it’s so hard to spend less than you make. Eating out and going on a vacation is a lot more fun than paying off debt. We will be making a large payment on our debt this week and start that snowball again. It will be incredibly difficult, but hopefully we can stay this course this time around.

Thank you for reading.

-          Brian

Slow and Steady

We started this blog a LONG time ago. We wanted to keep track of our debt payoff progress to help keep ourselves motivated and to hopefully inspire others to pay off their own debt. We started out strong and thought we would have everything paid off within a few years. Well, a few years has passed and we are still a long way from completing our goal. We have moved, changed jobs, and then moved and changed jobs some more. Paying off debt is hard when you don't make enough to actually pay off that debt. We are finally at a place where we can start chopping at that debt and it feels pretty good.

Today, we paid off another $1000!

That's a lot of money. Unfortunately, we have another 37ish of those payments remaining to get rid of it completely. I want to encourage those of you out there to keep pushing forward. Whether you are trying to pay off debt or stuck in a place in life you aren't thrilled about, keep moving. If I have learned anything over the past few years it's that you can't stop moving forward. Even if you just make really small progress, that's great. Something is better than nothing.

God Never Gives Me what I Want

Have you ever thought about what your life would be like if you got everything you wanted? If you haven't, now is your chance. Think about everything you want RIGHT NOW. Maybe you want a new car, house, more money, or all of the above. Maybe you want a better spouse, kids who actually obey you, or a job you love. Maybe you want a brand new life. To just hit the "restart" button so you can make all the right decisions and never feel that heartache again.

Maybe you are very content with your life and you don't want anything. If that's the case, maybe you should want honesty because you are a big fat liar.

Life would be pretty great if you had all those things, right? I mean, is it TOO much to ask of God to give you just a few things to make life a little bit easier and a little more comfortable. How does He expect you to have "joy without ceasing" when you have had so much pain in your life? You pray and pray, but nothing. All  you can hear is your voice bouncing off the walls and echoing back to you, reminding you that your life sucks and nothing you ask for is given. Isn't God supposed to give you the "desires of your heart"? What's the point of being a Christian if your whole life is full of struggle and pain?

I have realized something lately. Now, this may not be true for you, but it sure is true of me. If God were to actually give me everything I asked Him for, I'm not even sure what my life would look like. I know, for a fact, I would have the attitude of a spoiled little kid who's parent's never say no to him. Right? We never look at parents and say, "Oh, you should give that kid EVERYTHING HE WANTS because he is 8 and knows exactly what is best for him." If you have ever said that, well, you will be a terrible parent.

All I can see is this exact moment and the moments that have passed. I can't see into the future at all. I am standing in front of a few trees saying, "This is what the other side of the forest looks like!" When, in reality, I have no idea. However, I pray like I can see the future. "God, please give me this job. This job is PERFECT for me and Steph." How crazy is that of me to pray? I don't know anything! I have prayed for about 10 different jobs in the past year (seriously) and, thankfully, He only said, "yes" to one of those jobs. And the "yes" He did give me, the job is NOT what I thought it would be. When will I learn, that what I think I want the most in life, is usually wrong and I should be constantly thanking Him for not giving me what I want.

For some reason, I have been thinking a lot about Paul recently. He mentions having a "thorn in his side" that God won't remove. Paul prays a couple times, but God only says, "My grace is sufficient for you". Paul was an awesome guy who loved Jesus a whole lot and changed the world. God allows this "thorn" to stay with Paul to keep Him humble. I think it is safe to say we all have at least one "thorn" that God does not remove from our sides.

Maybe you have a crappy job. Maybe you have a spouse who can't seem to figure it out. Maybe you have cancer. Maybe you have a ton of debt that you can't seem to get out of. Maybe you can't have kids. Maybe you don't have a job and can't seem to find one. Maybe you have a million little things that have added up.

Maybe you should stop praying for God to fix your life and realize He is all you need. That wanting an easy life is a stupid expectation and not realistic.

I'm not saying you should never pray for anything. What I am saying is that we need to stop the thought that if God were to give us this or take away that, our life would be perfect and wonderful. That is just not true. Our reason for approaching God with wants and desires should not be to make life easier because is just not possible.

This world is not our home. God does not promise an easy life. The verse, "God will never give you more than you can handle" is misinterpreted ALL the time. God will give you a lot more than you can handle. In fact, He will only give you stuff that is beyond what you are capable of handling. Get used to it. People don't change and grow through the easy. We don't pray the most when life is the best. God wants every bit of your life and the only way that can happen is by Him stripping away the things we rely on instead of Him.

God's grace is sufficient for you.

There is one prayer that God will answer. There is a prayer that God will always say, "YES" to. It's the prayer of asking God for more of Him. If you think God never answers you, start praying for more of Him and see what happens. I can't promise it will a bunch of awesome, easy things (it most definitely won't be), but I can promise He will say yes.

The Next Step

I just finished doing our taxes for 2014. It wasn't very hard, really. When you make as little as we did, doing your taxes can be done in about 20 minutes because there aren't a lot of numbers to take into account. However, there were quite a few W-2's for me to input. Six, to be exact. Six W-2's means that in 2014 we worked six different jobs. Actually, we worked more than six jobs but only six gave us W-2's. As I was putting in all the information I couldn't help but laugh at all this income! Not the total amount of income mind you (although that is also comical) but at the different sources of that income.

I started the year working at Stewardship Mortgage. I was a Mortgage Loan Originator (or MLO) and was sure I would be at that job for a long time. I loved the company, my boss, and my coworkers. I loved the relational aspect of the business and the overall vision. However, there was one thing I didn't love. The actual job. It's not that the job was terrible or anything, I just wasn't good at it. For a few reasons, I wasn't good at being an MLO. I tried to be. I tried every day to get better and learn the business, but I just didn't. I remember telling my then boss of my decision to leave Stewardship Mortgage and he was very encouraging about it. He agreed that this job wasn't for me and I would never be happy doing something I wasn't good at. As a man, that's a very hard pill to swallow. You want to believe that if you try your hardest and put your heart into something, you will succeed. Not true. Sometimes, you just aren't good enough and it's time to move on.

Stephanie was working at Hobby Lobby AND Starbucks at the beginning of the year. After many conversations, we decided that her working 60 hours a week was stupid and that she should leave Hobby Lobby. She started working mornings at Starbucks and that was fine for a time. However, it's hard waking up at 4 AM 5 days a week. It takes it's toll on you after a while. We are super thankful for Starbucks and what it allowed us to do, but that isn't a job you stay at forever. At least it wasn't for her. To help make money she babysat, watched dogs, and did whatever job she could find. My wife is a trooper. I love her dearly for all the sacrifices she has made.

After I left Stewardship, I didn't work for a few months. That was also hard. I took a part-time internship at Scottsdale Bible and started working part-time at Starbucks. I love high school students and wanted to see if I had a future in youth ministry. Working these part-time jobs allowed me to coach basketball which was a huge deal for me. My wonderful wife deserves an incredible amount of praise for letting me do these things. I love coaching and in order for me to still coach, we had to sacrifice. Really, she had to sacrifice. She could have easily said, "I want you to make more money" but she didn't. She let me do something I love.

I applied to probably 15 different churches looking for a youth pastor gig. Not ONE called or emailed me back. Ouch. That sucked. We felt incredibly discouraged because we didn't know what the next step was. I mean, we couldn't work part-time forever. At some point, I had to get a big boy job. It wasn't about the money as much as it was about letting my wife, who sacrificed so much, quit a job she didn't want to be at anymore. Again, waking up at 4 AM is tough. We prayed and prayed. Silence. Like I said in a previous post, we knew God heard us but His response was not being heard by us.

Finally, a job opened up. That job is at Grand Canyon University. This past week my basketball season ended and we both had our last day at Starbucks. I can't tell you the joy and relief we both feel. Budgeting is hard when you barely make enough to pay the bills. You can't save or do anything "fun" with your money. Each month is a struggle. You look at your bank account and see a number that gives you a sick feeling wondering how you will make it to the next month. It's those moments that I prayed the most. I can't remember a time in my life where I prayed more. In fact, praying doesn't quite encapsulate it. I was pleading, begging for God to show up.

I tell you all of this so you can get a glimpse into what our lives have been like and so you can praise God with us. To some, a job at Grand Canyon University doesn't seem like THAT big of a deal. However, to us, it is something we will never forget. Not only that, but to see Him moving in our marriage over the past year has been incredible. He not only showed up in providing this job, but every time we didn't know where the rent would come from. I am excited to have this blog. Hopefully we can look back and read some of these posts and remind ourselves of the faithfulness of God the next time life gets hard.

Soon enough, we will be able to post about our progress in killing our debt! Until then, we will keep sharing how God has showed up in our marriage. Hopefully that's okay!

I'm Back!

This past year has not been easy for Stephanie and I. I quit a job I thought I would be at for a LONG time, which was very hard. I have been working part-time at Starbucks and Scottsdale Bible Church along with coaching basketball. Stephanie has been working close to full-time at Starbucks while working part-time at Mama's Cold Brew. We have done house-sitting, dog watching, and anything else we can think of to make a few more bucks. There was a couple months mixed in where we weren't 100% sure how the rent was going to get paid. That was hard. Being the husband, I felt very guilty and had a difficult time being okay with not making very much. In fact, from May 19th to August 1st of 2014, I didn't work. I did some coaching but that only paid about a dollar. Every month though, no matter what, God provided. We would get calls out of the blue from someone needing someone to watch their dog or sit their house. It was incredible to watch God's faithfulness time after time.

The whole point of this blog was to document our lives as we paid off my student loan debt. Unfortunately, when you make what we made last year, paying off debt is not much of an option. However, we were able to pay off about $2200 in credit card debt, which is nothing short of incredible. I don't know how we did it, but we did. This past year has shown us that you don't need to make a whole lot to get by. If you budget, follow that budget at least semi-carefully, you should be fine.

I can't tell you how many job applications we have filled out, how many tears have been shed, and how many times we thought God was not listening to our prayers. It gets very discouraging praying and praying with, seemingly, no response. However, we knew God was hearing us even when it felt like He wasn't. We pleaded for Him to provide certain jobs that, looking back, we are SO thankful He didn't. It's pretty amazing how often the thing we want the most, is not at all what God wants for us. Thankfully, God put friends and family around us to keep encouraging us as I looked for a real, full-time job.

Well, God finally gave us a resounding YES to our prayers. As of today, I have accepted a job offer to work at Grand Canyon University! Some of you may be thinking, "Wait, didn't he work there before?" Yes, I did work there before. I love talking with people face to face. I love building relationships with people. This time, I will have the chance to do just that. In addition to it being a great job, I will be able to go back to school and pursue a Master's degree in counseling which is something I have been wanting to do for years.

I can't even begin to tell you the joy I had when I told my wonderful wife that I got this job. I have been praying for about a year now that God would provide a job that would allow Stephanie to quit the job she had. We can begin to pay off debt, save up for a house, and do things we haven't been able too.

It's hard to express the joy we have about this job. For some people, it wouldn't seem like that big of a deal. I mean, I'm gonna make good money, but it's not like we will be millionaire's. This is more than a job and an income to us. This is an answer to a prayer we have prayed a thousand times. We know there will be struggles ahead and that this job doesn't make like perfect. However, to sense God's presence in the answering of this prayer and to see His hand moving through this whole thing brings an amount of joy I haven't felt in a long time.

There will be a LOT more updates coming as we being to kill this debt and hopefully this can be an encouragement to you that God does listen and He has everything figured out.