Finances -part 1 of the Dave & Dave plan

OK I know, it is funny to have a big picture of Dave Ramsey on my blog which tends to be very spiritual, airy, and poetic. A big pic of Dave is kind of hysterical. In fact his pic was a little bit too big and I had to shrink it a bit, Vyk suggested making it flat!

Vyk & I are followers of Dave Ramsey. We admit it.
When you are looking for advice on radically changing your finances, Dave Ramsey is a good place to start. And although he has been getting on my nerves a bit lately about the election... specifically his ideas about what will happen when / if Obama wins... generally, the man makes a lot of sense.

We have been living the Dave Ramsey plan for financial peace since we took his course when I was pregnant with Gus. His basic tenants are stop borrowing & live on what you have. Meaning cash only purchases and no debt. You use an envelope to section off the money you have and when you do not have $ for say a new shirt... you just do not buy it... or maybe you wait (I know it is an amazing concept). It has helped us do better with what we have.

But now... better, is not what we are going for. Best, radical, upside down living. Or as Dave says "Live like no one else so you can live like no one else".

So what does all of this really mean in cold hard numbers.
Here are the goals of this move and "Flat Living" in general for our finances:
1. Pay off car (13% interest rate)- We are achieving this goal by throwing money at the car.
Meaning when we have extra $ esp the 2nd week of the month, we add it to the car payment.
2. Savings- starting with an emergency fund and ending with a goal of saving between 7-10 thousand dollars in a year!
3. Debt free- the car being paid off gets us there.. no new debt, etc.
4. Follow the baby steps that Dave sets out. He has common sense about $ and we sometimes do not. So when all else fails follow Dave.
5. To give! 10% tithe and giving extra to people, causes, etc that we believe in and follow.