Several years ago, I attended Financial Peace University offered by our church. It rocked my world. The next Fall, my wife attended FPU and I was invited to Nashville to attend Dave's EntreLeadership Master Series - a week long event limited to a select group of entrepreneurs, leaders, and small business-type people. That week further rocked my world, because during that week in Nashville God planted two seeds deep within that have continued to affect my life. Needless to say, my wife, Sharon, and I are huge Dave fans! We began budgeting, paying off our debts as fast as we could and that same year that I was honored to go to Nashville, we took our very first EVER paid-for and cash vacation. The coolest thing was that when we returned home, no creditors came home with us! We even had cash left over and Sharon asked, "That was so cool, do you think we could do it again?" And we have. Every vacation from that time on has been completely paid for up front and cash only.
The first seed planted during that week in Nashville was the creation of a global media website to distribute Bible study materials worldwide. That site has been up and functional for almost 5 years, now. And it's primarily serving the Church in Central and South America.
A few months ago, I had the privilege of emailing Dave the latest part of our story - we are now 100% debt free! No car payments, no credit card payments, and NO HOUSE PAYMENTS! With the passing of my father-in-law, we were left with 5 vehicles! We gave one to our daughter and her family who lost everything in last year's wildfires in Texas. We heard of a single mom with two children, trying to get by without a car. She has a job and is going to the local Jr. College to better herself, so we were able to give another car away.
A few days ago, with Sharon out of town and my Saturday chores finished I decided to check the local Toyota dealer to see if they had any new Prius's on the lot. We have wanted one since they first came out in 1999, but the sticker price of a new Prius was more than we wanted to pay. So, as I was talking to the Daniel, the sales guy, I asked if they had any used Prius's on the lot. "It just so happens, we do," Daniel said and walked me out to see a 2008 model with average mileage. When Sharon returned home that afternoon, I told her what I had been up to and she went to test-drive the car. Before she returned home, I had taken our 2007 car to them to see what I could get as a trade-in. They were willing to give $500 more than online sites said it was worth. And when we sat down to do the deal, they offered us $400 more on top of that! The whole time I was telling Sharon, "We don't have to do the deal. We can walk away." But the numbers were right so we paid cash for the remainder of the deal and drove home with our first Dave Ramsey car - our 2008 Toyota Prius!
Thanks Dave!
The first seed planted during that week in Nashville was the creation of a global media website to distribute Bible study materials worldwide. That site has been up and functional for almost 5 years, now. And it's primarily serving the Church in Central and South America.
A few months ago, I had the privilege of emailing Dave the latest part of our story - we are now 100% debt free! No car payments, no credit card payments, and NO HOUSE PAYMENTS! With the passing of my father-in-law, we were left with 5 vehicles! We gave one to our daughter and her family who lost everything in last year's wildfires in Texas. We heard of a single mom with two children, trying to get by without a car. She has a job and is going to the local Jr. College to better herself, so we were able to give another car away.
A few days ago, with Sharon out of town and my Saturday chores finished I decided to check the local Toyota dealer to see if they had any new Prius's on the lot. We have wanted one since they first came out in 1999, but the sticker price of a new Prius was more than we wanted to pay. So, as I was talking to the Daniel, the sales guy, I asked if they had any used Prius's on the lot. "It just so happens, we do," Daniel said and walked me out to see a 2008 model with average mileage. When Sharon returned home that afternoon, I told her what I had been up to and she went to test-drive the car. Before she returned home, I had taken our 2007 car to them to see what I could get as a trade-in. They were willing to give $500 more than online sites said it was worth. And when we sat down to do the deal, they offered us $400 more on top of that! The whole time I was telling Sharon, "We don't have to do the deal. We can walk away." But the numbers were right so we paid cash for the remainder of the deal and drove home with our first Dave Ramsey car - our 2008 Toyota Prius!
Thanks Dave!
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