On The HomeStretch - Internet Radio Guest - Mona Weathers

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So, I did it. I had my first internet radio interview. I was an experience I will never forget. I was extremely nervous and not sure I made a whole lot of sense but at least it’s done and over with ;o).
Debbie Alan, is a great host and I appreciate her having such a novice on the show. Though I prepared for the show for weeks, my nerves got the best of me. So when you listen to the broadcast understand that there are things I wish I could have said differently or not at all.
There are a few things I wish I had mentioned. I wish I had mentioned the co-authors of HerProBlog.COM because they are really a vital part of the site. I also wish I had elaborated more on the purpose of HerProBlog.COM. It’s a great site and I don’t think I did it justice by my explanation.
Overall, I think the interview was an experience I can learn from. I now have the opportunity to improve myself. Public speaking is definitely one of my weaknesses. The interview experience has motivated me to develop better public speaking skills.
A friend of mine, Stacy, gave me some advice on public speaking and interviewing before the show. If it were not for her things would have gone much differently in the interview. Stacy coached me and gave me a few mock interviews that were extremely helpful.

So what have I taken away from this experience?

  1. Like with anything, there must be a first time. It’s important to learn from your first experiences and improve yourself.
  2. Think of mistakes as opportunities for improvement. No one becomes an expert overnight. Mistakes can teach us if we allow them to.


August 29, 2008 | Filed Under Just Whatever | Leave a Comment 

Credit Card Challenge: Using Cash Instead of Plastic

I wanted to share a story from ABC’s Good Morning America did on a family who used cash instead of plastic for 30 days.  J and I have been using cash instead of our debit card since starting FPU.  I don’t know precisely how much we’ve saved, but I’d say that it is at least the 24% reported in this story.   Our experience is a little different since we didn’t have credit cards, but our debit card was a source of overspending. The few instances I have not been able to resist the temptation and spend it’s been online- Amazon saves my debit card information and paypal is directly linked, so if you’re a big online spender like me, be aware of your “virtual” overspending.    The use of a budget and Dave Ramsey’s envelope system eliminates the inconvenience of running to the ATM several times during the month identified in this story.   J goes to the ATM twice monthly after each payday and withdraws what we’ve budgeted for gas, groceries, and household purchases, and that’s what we spend.


Can you go one month without using plastic?

~Manda

August 24, 2008 | Filed Under Credit Card Use, Dave Ramsey Financial Freedom, Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University (FPU) | Leave a Comment 

Financial Peace Communism: Dumping Debt, De-bunking Myths, and Living our Wage

In chapter 8 of Financial Peace, Dave explains the American perspective of how un-American it is to be debt free. In the “Dumping Debt” lesson of Financial Peace University, Dave sets out to de-bunk some myths. One being that “Car payments are a way of life, and you’ll always have one”. I believed it, did you? Most of us do. Have you ever sat down to compare the cost of a new car to the cost of a home? Considering that our cars are basically disposable after we’ve finished paying them off, it’s laughable.

Google Dave Ramsey and new car you’ll soon see that everyone has an opinion. Some claim Dave is a clown and make the case that going in debt to drive a vehicle is a smart, or a good deal.  Through our experience with FPU, J and I have differentiated the definition of “affording it”. To the poor it means that the money can be found to make payments. To the rich it means that you pay cash. As Dave says, if you want to be rich, do what rich people do. Don’t do what poor people do. I’m really loving the idea that once we’re finished paying off our debt- once we are debt free, that our money will get to stay our money instead of going elsewhere straight away.

The cost of my new vehicle was over 50% of our yearly income. Wow. It almost hurts to type it out. I emphasized was because I sold my van on Sunday. I got Kelley Blue Book Value for it, which was about 5k less than I owed on it, but I figure the 18 months I drove it is probably worth that. The $550 car payment we no longer have to make is DEFINITELY worth it. Dave says that he can change the name of his radio talk show to “sell the car”. It’s pathetic really when a problem such as debt caused by buying cars we can’t afford can be applicable to a large percentage of situations. If we were to call Dave and ask him for advice, I’m sure he would say “sell the car”.

Prior to FPU J and I drove cars that we paid banks  $750 a month to drive and $134 dollars a month to the insurance company. J downsized his nice Ford F-150 for a dinged up, older model Chevy Silverado that has no payments.  We’ve recently sold the van and gone to just liability for just $60 a month until we can get another vehicle- this time without payments.  We’ve cheated- slightly- and have rolled the funding for the car over into the personal loan we had to get to make up for the negative equity in the van.   But with all the money we are now “saving”, that loan will be paid off in no time. I doubt Dave would approve, but I hope that he’d be a little proud that we have dumped some significant debt in these few weeks since starting FPU, about 40k.

We still have a ways to go. J is resistant to change, which is a typical for most people. A paper copy of a bill hasn’t been sent to our home in years. J checks everything on line and if he happens to remember to pay it, it gets paid. Or it is set up to come out automatically, and if we’ve overspent, there is NSF fees to pay, because we don’t keep track. We didn’t even have an idea of how much money we were spending. It’s a financially irresponsible and immature way to live. There has never been a balanced check book on our bank account. Someone could steal our debit card and we’d never know it. We could be overcharged for some service, and we’d never know it. We rely on the bank to tell us how much money we have. Hello?!?

The solution has been to start a new bank account and close the old one. In our digital society, this is more time involved and difficult than one might think. Direct deposits need to be changed, most all bills come out automatically, so all that information needs to be updated. Hopefully, this process will be punishment enough for us to grow up and start keeping some records.

So, where do we stand with FPU? We’ve excelled at dumping our debt. We’ve got our emergency fund re-funded. We’re fighting so much we’re certainly relating to money. Our quickie budget is still working for us, but we haven’t graduated to our cash-flow plan. Sure, we have it on paper, and we’re working from it, but the record keeping aspect is still lacking. Our debt snowball should be getting bigger with our new found wealth. After the vehicles are gone we have an 8k debt and an 11k debt. The larger has the highest interest rate, and although Dave says to pay off the smaller first, we’re going for the higher interest rate.

J and I are both excited about looking for a new[to us] vehicle. Since starting FPU, we’ve been serious about not occurring additional debt, and have cut out non-essential spending. It’ll be nice to buy something after a drought of non-spending. We’re putting much more thought to our “Dave Car” than we ever did for our van that was more than half our salary, because the definition of “affording it” has new meaning to us, and we’ve dumped our debt, are de-bunking the myth that car loans are just a way of life, and are choosing the financially responsible path of living our wage.

~Manda

August 21, 2008 | Filed Under Dave Ramsey Financial Freedom, Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University (FPU), Financial Freedom Journey Pep Talk | Leave a Comment 

I’m Going To Be A Guest On “On The HomeStretch” Internet Radio Show!

I am very excited and nervous about being asked to be a guest on the On The Homestretch show with Debbie Alan.

On The HomeStretch is an internet radio show featuring issues that impact women over the age of 35. I was asked to talk on the show about the benefits of blogging. The show’s host is Debbie Alan, not be be confused with Debbie Allen the 1989 “Fame” star.

Debbie Alan, the “radio show host” was also the host of the internationally syndicated, “America’s Dumbest Criminals” TV show and was also the original host of New Channel 5’s “Talk of the Town” show in Nashville, Tennessee.

This is a new chapter in my online experience. This will be my very first radio interview. I am very honored to have been asked to be on the show and now I just pray I won’t screw up ;o) .

The show is on August 20th @ 10:45 CT

August 18, 2008 | Filed Under Just Whatever | Leave a Comment 

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  • Budgeting Works!

    To gain financial freedom you must take control of your money, plan for the future and Stop Borrowing Money!
    Two families striving to gain financial freedom share their experiences.
    Blog Author Mona Weathers (monawea)


    Co-author, Manda C.

  • Time To Budget News!

    Manda C. is our new contributing author. Welcome Manda!