my passion.

There are a few things in life that get me totally excited and that I am completely passionate for. I could talk for hours about these things if the subject comes up and they all are things that are incoorporated in our lives daily in one way or another.

One of those things is helping people create a budget and get out of debt.

Some of you may know our story, some of you not. Here it is in a nut-shell.

After going through lay-offs, job losses, trying to pay 2 mortgages, car loans, student loans, etc all while trying to provide for a growing family, we knew there had to be a better way to be doing things. We participated in Dave Ramsey's "Financial Peace University" in 2004 and loved what we heard. (Which I would recommend to anyone in a heartbeat! & his book "The Total Money Makeover") It took awhile to "sink-in" and since we didn't have any accountablity, we didn't follow what we were taught.

In 2007, Nathan was laid off for the winter and not called back in the spring. It was then he got the opportunity to take his first "on the road" job a few hours away from home. We decided to go for it and within 3 days he was working. We moved with him 4 days after that. It was at this first apartment that everything changed....

....Dave Ramsey's radio program was on the radio.

It was the first time we were able to listen to his show since it wasn't available on radio where we lived before. (We now know you can listen where ever you are right from his website....). After a few days of listening to him at work (Nathan was driving truck), Nathan came home and said "Take all of our money in savings (we had a few thousand in "special" accounts...vacation, etc) besides a $1000 emergency fund and put it all towards our debt." It took me a few minutes to comprehend what he wanted me to do since I liked the "security" of some money in the bank. But I listened to him and that's when it started. We became what Dave calls "gazelle intense".

We wrote down goals. We created a budget. We got rid of all of our credit cards. We started knocking down the debt. And let me tell you, once you start seeing those numbers go down, it's addicting! We wanted to keep at it! We were so tired of being "slave to the lender" (prov. 22:7) and wanted to live differently. (We really should probably get Dave's bumper sticker that says "Debt is normal, be weird!" :) Our house finally sold in Dec of 2007 (it had been on the market for over a year), and even though we lost about $30,000 on it, we got some money back that we had put down on it. In January 2008, we used that money to finishing paying off our debt and we fully-funded our emergency fund!! (step 3 of Dave's 7 step plan).

We were officially debt-free!!!

And we've never looked back!

Actually, we have. But only for it to be a lesson at what not to do and for it to be an example for others to see that we've "been there, done that" and like it this way better!

You don't have to let debt control your life or work day in and day out just to send all your money to someone else in the form of a payment. THERE IS HOPE!!!

I have had the privelige to sit down with 3 different people/families lately, look at their budget, payments and spending, and create a personalized budget for them so they can see how easy it is with just a few small changes to have money left over for getting rid of debt! One of them is even getting "gazelle intense" and I'm so excited! They are already starting to reap the benefits of being in control of their finances and telling their money where to go instead of the other way around!!

So here it is....this is my passion...one day I want to travel to Brentwood Tennessee and get trained by the "head honchos" of Dave's Team on how to counsel people with setting up a budget and getting out of debt!!!!! Some may ask (like my husband) "Why wait? Why not book your flight and do it now?" Well, you see...I have these 4 little people who live with me that have no one to watch them during the day while Nathan is working. That is why I think my dream of being trained by Dave's staff will have to wait until Grandma and Grandpa are a little bit closer :) Plus, I want to take Nathan with me, so finding someone who wants to watch 4 kids for a week isn't exactly an easy task :)

But let me tell you, it WILL happen. And I WILL get more training so I can help more people. And it WILL be so rewarding! I CAN'T WAIT!!!

So I leave you with this quote "Live like no one else so later you can live like no one else" --Dave Ramsey.


p.s. If you want help setting up a budget or even have questions on getting out of debt, please email me at dawnlegatt@msn.com and I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to help! I want to help so much that I am thinking about making this a part-time business! eek!...I LOVE IT! (or dave's site has lots of info too!)