Jun 11, 20183 min read

Ants in My Pants

My parents started Dave Ramsey’s financial peace program in 2001. They cut up all their credit cards and began the “debt snowball”. I never hated any human being more than I hated Dave Ramsey. He traded my name brands for thrifters, my vacations had to wait until they were paid for, and worst of all, my Mexican restaurants were exchanged for PB&J.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Financial Peace program, as an adult with bills, the man knows what he’s doing. Now, yes, I hear all the time, “He’s making money off of you buying the program”, but if I’m making money as well, then so be it. The Financial Peace motto is “Live like no one else now so that you can live like no else later.” Ben and I have been participating in the debt snowball ever since we graduated college. The way it works is you pay off the thing with the highest interest (usually credit cards), then whatever you were paying on that you add to the next smallest bill once it’s paid for. Then when that item is paid for, you add both of those payments onto the next lowest, etc. etc. until you’re debt free.

Ben and I were deciding between our usual Orange Beach vacation or Disney this summer, until we checked out snowball and discovered if nothing breaks (knock on wood), we will be debt free all but our house next Christmas. If you are in that position or better, you know we chose to pass on the vacation this year.

Instead, we made it a priority not to jip our kids of an incredible summer. So tonight, we headed out to McFarland Park for some #Bradfordbunch family time.

We got some Miami Ice and sat in the grass just enjoying each other’s company. All of a sudden, Ellie asked, “Mom, why are you dancing?” Sure enough, my family had plopped down in an ant bed. I literally had ants in my pants. I stood up to do the awkward “shake” and go to thinking about those ants.

“Go to the ant, O sluggard. Consider her ways and be wise.” -Proverbs 6:6

The ant is one of the hardest working insects. Not only does she work hard, but she works at a steady pace making sure her job is done correctly. The reason we racked up the debt that we have is wanting things immediately. Things we can’t take with us anyway.

Money is the number one cause of relationship stress, and Ben and I decided straight up that we weren’t about that path. I want my kids to remember good times and a stress free home than lavish vacations and returning to reality all anxious and stressed. Our time is coming. We don’t live like everyone else now so that we won’t live like everyone else later. If you’ve never broken down your budget to see how soon you could actually have all of your bills paid for, you should. It’s a lot sooner than you imagine.

Some other fun things we indulged in today: Ellie helped me with our week’s center piece. Did God show out with the hydrangeas this year, or what?