Better than we deserve

When I think back over the last 12 months of life, I'm amazed at all that has happened. A year ago, I was in my first trimester of pregnancy, and I honestly have little to no recollection of March 2011. I slept through the entire 31 days.

The major changes we've gone through are nothing we've been to shy about sharing - we quit our jobs in a major metropolitan area, moved 1/2 way across the country, Chase got a new job, we had a baby, I started working part time again, and we live in a little house in a little town where sitting through a red light more than once (at one of the 3 stop lights in town) is considered "bad traffic." Life is different. And if anyone asks us how we are doing, we can confidently say that we are definitely better than we deserve to be.

Next year when I look back 12 months, there's another thing that's going to be different. (NO! We are NOT pregnant! Sheesh. Give me a little while to enjoy this baby!) We have decided to drink the koolaid. We are attacking our mess - going after the big hole with our little shovel. We are changing our family tree. We are sick and tired of being sick and tired. We are doing a Total Money Makeover the Dave Ramsey way. (Those are all "Dave-isms" for those who didn't catch that...)

Dave Ramsey is a financial counselor, and if you've heard his radio show, you know that we'll be taking "baby steps" to work our way out from under our debt. I suppose by "average" standards, we don't have a lot of debt, but with the way our income has changed in the last 12 months, it sure feels like a lot! On Dave Ramsey's radio show, people who have recently paid off their last debt call in and he will ask them what kept them motivated to stick to the plan. As I listened to the show today, I decided that I wanted to put into print, (or at least state for the record to the blogosphere) exactly what is going to keep me motivated to stick to our plan. It's simple: Lily.

What made me want to "drink Dave's koolaid" was when I realized that if we did things our way, we'd be paying on our school debt for the next 15 years - almost until Liliana Jo graduates from high school. If we do things Dave's way, we'll be debt free about the time she starts kindergarten. I don't want my baby to remember days when we couldn't go to her ball games because gas was too expensive, or worse yet, when we couldn't afford for her to go out for basketball at all (obviously she'll be a starter, and we don't want to miss that!) because it was just too expensive. There are so many things that we don't want to finance... or miss entirely... prom dresses, soccer uniforms, piano lessons, vacations, birthday parties.

I may be exaggerating a little, but seriously, what motivates me is the vision of my baby walking off to kindergarten with her little lunch box, and her having no idea that our money is starting her college fund at that time RATHER THAN her walking across the graduation stage facing taking on student loan debt for college because we just finished paying off ours and never made saving for her a priority.

So things are going to be a little different around our house. Chase and I shut off the cable - at least until football season rolls around again (then we'll see how things are going). Chase is packing a lunch to take to work. I'm planning out shopping trips much more carefully, and I'm going much less frequently. I'm not quite at the extreme couponing level, but I'm getting better! And I'm menu planning.

Tangibly speaking, we're trying to make sacrifices with things that don't matter now so that later we won't have to sacrifice the things that do matter. Or as Dave would say, right now we're gonna "live like no one else, so that later we can live like no one else."

I feel like I need to add the caveat that our parents taught us well. We both have frugal parents who taught us to shop for sales, buy with coupons when possible, not go into debt, and save for the future. We learned from them how to live on less than we make. But we decided to make some exceptions to that rule to finance getting through graduate school. Now it's time to pay for it... literally.

So yesterday, after I got home from work, here is what I did:

That, my friends, is Bacon Cheddar Quiche, and it was delicious! Also, it was budget friendly and easy to make. Who knew? I always thought quiche was this really decadent thing that was super complicated. Nope. Five ingredients + the crust. Super easy. Scrumdiddlyumptios. And after tasting it, I realized there are all kinds of variations I could make to it depending on my mood!

If you want to try it, here's the recipe:

1 pie crust (I made my own, but if you hate making pie crusts, just get a refrigerated one from the store)

5 eggs

8 oz heavy whipping cream (probably the ingredient that makes it so yummy)

4 oz cooked, chopped bacon

1 cup cheddar cheese

1/2 tsp salt

Put crust in pie pan. Sprinkle cheese and bacon into uncooked crust. Whisk together eggs, whipping cream, and salt. Pour into crust over bacon and cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes (depending on what size of pie pan you use) - until knife inserted into center comes out clean.

Next time I make it, I think I'll probably saute some green peppers and onions to go in it too. Or maybe I'll steam some broccoli to add. Or maybe I'll use sausage instead of bacon... The possibilities are endless!!!

And someday, the possibilities for our family will be endless too. Someday our debt will be gone. Someday our kids will learn how to live without debt, because we not only taught them, but showed them from our experience. Someday Lily (and any siblings she has) will move her tassel to the other side of her graduation cap knowing that her parents made her future a priority.

I'm really looking forward to that someday.