So what happened after we paid off our house the first time?

In the 5 years following us reaching Baby Step 7…

-We saved a lot.

-We gave a lot.

-We lived a little more, and I’m so glad we did!  (Because I can tell you one thing: it was HARD those first 5 years living on such a tight budget! We were ready to eat out a little more and take a few vacations!)

-We also experienced life with a new lens: We became parents.

And in the midst of learning to provide for 2 tiny humans, Will had two job changes - both which required hustle from the ground up (meaning: he didn’t make money at first but needed to build his work over months and months to create a sustainable income.)

We did not stray from Dave Ramsey’s plan, and we certainly didn’t go into debt. But we weren’t able to save quite as much as we had hoped, because life happened.

Looking back, I have absolutely no regrets! Will is in a job he LOVES now, and that required some sacrifice, trusting God’s voice and navigating through seasons of waiting and building - especially in regards to our finances. That’s what marriage is about. He was the breadwinner while I built my business, and for a season, I was the breadwinner while he built his. Now we both are so grateful for work we love.

But we still lived in the tiny townhouse we paid off 5 years ago… with 2 kids, a giant dog, and a team of 3 employees and a nanny that came to work every day. We both worked from home, and we knew it was time to find more space for our family and our work.

(Bless Will’s heart - he worked out of the tiny guest bedroom for years!!)

So last year when we began looking, we knew we could pay cash for another house if we sold our house for $200,000 and bought a house for $300-$350,000. The market was hot - houses were being sold FAST! So we began to look.

2 beloved houses that we were ready to make offers on went under contract before we ever could make an offer. It was a long process of waiting. So when we found a foreclosure for $499,000, we thought we’d take a look just for fun.

Long story short - we loved it. It sat empty for over 1.5 years, and needed some WORK. But it had a separate studio space, an acre of land, and almost the exact layout we were looking for.

I had some work that needed to be done in my heart though. I was so prideful about going back into debt - I told Will we couldn’t do it. I cried and cried about it. I was fearful of what other people would think, and I didn’t want to live with a house payment again. I honestly felt like a fraud because we had “preached” debt freedom so often.

I prayed and asked God to make a way if this was it for us. My specific prayer was that we would get the house for under $450,000 in an impossible market. After much negotiating, we did! I also knew it wouldn’t be $100,000 of debt, but also an additional $60,000 because of the renovations that would need to be done. It was so humbling for me to feel like we were, in a sense, starting over.

Thankfully, God kept saying “I have something good for you! Accept it!” I also knew this was Him reminding me that my identity is NOT in a finish line or an accomplishment, but my identity is His daughter. Debt or no debt, I’m still His.

And in all of this, we still plan to pay it off fast! We are giving ourselves a bit more grace with 3 little ones, but the plan is to hopefully pay it off by the end of 2020.

We are also saving for colleges, two weddings, and a few last home renovations in the meantime too. (Life is dang expensive!)

I share all of this for a few reasons, and I hope this didn’t make you feel awk because if I’m honest I totally feel that way typing out all these numbers and my fears and where we are today. But in all of this, I hope you are encouraged by a few things:

1. Our identity is not linked to our financial status / successes / failures.

2. You can give yourself permission to change your financial plan and that is OKAY. LIfe happens!

3. Dave’s Baby Steps really do work and are a great guide for healthy finances. We are still following his plan! We just bumped back from Baby Step 7 to Baby Step 6 for a few years, but are excited to be back on Baby Step 7 soon enough.

Do you follow Dave’s Baby Steps? If so, what step are you on so I can cheer you on?!

If you’ve followed our financial journey in the past, you know a few important things about me and my husband Will:

• We enrolled in Financial Peace University when we were engaged and it CHANGED OUR MARRIAGE.

• We followed Dave’s Ramsey’s 7 Baby Steps to a T!

• We lived on a tight budget for 5 years, then paid off our first house at ages 25 & 26.

I’m a numbers girl, and since you are probably wondering “how the heck did they pay off their house that young?” Imma tell you how:

$160,000 : Home Value

$60,000 : Our Down Payment

$110,000 : Balance of our loan

We lived on Will’s salary as a youth pastor, which was tiiight.  Everything I made in Nancy Ray Photography, we set aside and put onto the house. Usually it was a pretty large lump sum at the end of the year. This is how we paid it off in 2.5 years. Notice we were not making the big bucks… we were just living on one income and making it work!

$35,000 : Year One

$45,000 : Year Two

$30,000 : Year Three (half my income)

=

$110,000 Paid Off in 2.5 Years!

After we paid off our house, we flew to Nashville and screamed “We’re debt freeee!” on the Dave Ramsey show. It was amazing and I’ll never forget that sweet experience.

I KNEW THAT I KNEW we would NEVER go into debt again.

But God has a way of humbling me, and so I humbly and honestly tell you that we have another mortgage we are paying off as fast as we can…

Come back tomorrow to read about how we got to this point, and to learn about our new financial goals!

I want to fully trust my kids when I give them their inheritance one day
I want to have incredible experiences throughout this beautiful earth
I want my family to know deeply that the best things in life cannot be bought
I want to live detached from stuff and attached to eternity
I want to give generously
I want to host my friends and my family in a beautiful, paid for home, with quality heirloom pieces, full of the Holy Spirit
I don’t want my kids to have college debt
I want my kids to know that life and work is more than earning money
I want to anonymously sponsor missions trips, Christmas mornings for single moms, and the electric bill for someone making ends meet
I want to share our (future) vacation home freely with young couples and ministries for rest and respite at no cost
I want my last days to be comfortable, free of worry and stress regarding the proper medical care
I want the local church to be supported by the Ray household

I want money to flow through my hands to all the right, responsible, honorable places, like a river. I never want my grip to be tight.

All of this is directly tied to how I am handling my money today.

Our Journey
Will and I have been on quite the journey together in regards to our finances. I grew up living a very wealthy lifestyle. I was homeschooled, I traveled all over the world as a kid, I would buy anything I wanted at any point. Private school, Clothes, Summer Camps and Horesback riding, my own horse, College, Prom Dresses, you name it – it was all paid for.

Will grew up with two hard working parents. They lived below their means, sacrificing to send their 3 kids to a private Christian school (where we met!). Will knew the value of hard work, he had to pay for his own gas and meals out, and he valued each dollar he made.

Y’all. We were a DISASTER.

Well, almost. We were almost a disaster. When we were engaged, we were introduced to Financial Peace University – Dave Ramsey’s amazing 9 week financial class – that CHANGED our lives and our marriage forever.

Fast forward to 2012: We freaking PAID OFF OUR HOUSE! We had lived in an apartment together for 2 years with no AC, no dishwasher, no washer and dryer, terrible neighbors, and mice. After saving up a lot for a down payment, we moved into our first home in 2010. We lived on nothing but a tight budget for 2.5 years, and we paid off our home!!

Be sure to read this post and listen to Our Debt Free Scream on the Dave Ramsey Show!

I’m going to share with you the tools we use to organize our money, but I want you to know something very important:

It’s about your heart, not these tools.

Money will reveal your heart more than you know. Living on a budget and denying myself of so many “wants” (after a childhood getting everything I wanted at any moment), illuminated some icky sides of myself. But goodness I am SO grateful for the journey.

As Dave Ramsey says, the problem with your money is the person looking at you in the mirror! It all has to do with your emotions, your dedication to reaching goals, your heart.

But if you can allow it to shape you into a responsible, generous person – goodness, it’s worth it.

With that said, here are 6 ways we have stayed organized in our finances throughout the years:

1. Financial Peace University – We took financial peace university as an engaged couple (highly recommend!), and we’ve taught it 4 times since then at our church. There’s nothing out there like it. It’s only once a week for 9 weeks, it’s comprehensive AND funny, it hits all the major important things you need to know regarding your finances – including investing and insurance. It literally changed the course of our lives and marriage.

2. Eliminate all debt (yes: even your house!) – Reaching for massive goals together as a husband and wife has really unified us more than we realized. Eliminating debt is a huge goal! Living without debt allows us to breathe easy, not be stressed or angry when a car breaks down or an emergency happens, and allows us to dream big when it comes to the future. I can’t recommend a debt free life enough. It’s so freeing!

3. Our budgeting system – We use two tools for our budget: Everydollar.com and our cash envelope system. Several of our budget items are accounted for as we make the purchase (for instance, I enter the amount of every single grocery receipt as soon as it happens), but some of our items are stored only in cash in our envelopes (like clothing and gifts, for example). Early on, we used cash for EVERYTHING and it helped us so, so much. There were times when I’d ask the grocery clerk to take back 10 items because there wasn’t enough cash in my envelope. Do you think I’d be that hard core with a card? Not a chance!

4. Regular financial meetings – We have a budget committee meeting every month, before the month begins. We have ad hoc meetings when big financial moves are in the works (Christmas, buying a car, looking for a new home). We have an annual meeting with our financial advisor to make sure we are reaching our investing goals as well.

5. $1000 – $5000 in the bank at all times – I’m talking about our checking account here – NOT our emergency fund. Our emergency fund is kept in a separate savings account, and it accounts for 6 months of expenses. In addition to that, we keep anywhere between $1000 and $5000 in our checking account. This is the account that we do LIFE out of! It’s nice to know we can cover what comes our way without stressing out, and it eliminates any need for a credit card.

6. Setting big goals – Yes, this keeps us organized. If we didn’t have goals to reach toward, we wouldn’t be intentional with our spending and saving. I wouldn’t be as motivate to make my business healthy and profitable. We set personal financial goals, as well as giving goals.

Don’t forget to read Emily’s “How we do it” post on finances today, too!