MY TMMO....

If you clicked on this post, there's probably one of three reasons...#1 You are my friend and just want to read whatever I write (thank you!). #2 You recognized the acronym "TMMO" or #3 you don't recognize the acronym "TMMO" and you're curious (well, you'll find out!).

TMMO is an acronym for Total Money Makeover, which is the name of Dave Ramsey's best selling financial book.  Before we get into MY TMMO, I want to explain the journey that I went on to get to this place.

In December, my little brother, Kevin, who blogs over at The Next Successful Farmer emailed me and told me that he thought I'd enjoy Dan Miller's 48 Days Radio podcast.  So I began listening to Dan, and REALLY enjoyed it!  In the process of listening to it, Dan mentioned Dave Ramsey's Entreleadership podcast, so I started listening to that.  After listening to that for a few months, I finally took the host, Chris LoCurto's advice, and began following him on Twitter (@ChrisLoCurto).  The day after I followed him on Twitter, I was VERY surprised to get a direct message from Chris himself!  That type of personal interaction really solidfied my dedication to the podcast and Chris, and I started following his blog at www.ChrisLoCurto.com.  As a side note, while there, I made several new friends as we have chatted in the comments of Chris' blogs (isn't technology great?)! 

Anyways, back on track.  Since I was now listening to Entreleadership, as well as following and reading the blog of one of Dave's VP's (Chris), I had opportunity to learn more about Dave and get to "know" him.  I decided one day to download the Dave Ramsey Show podcast.  I LOVED it! 

Now, I'm not saying that we're in the worst financial shape in the world, because we arent...but we've definitely got more debt that we'd like to have (of course, $500 would be more than I want to have!). 

So after listening to Dave for 3 of 4 days, I decided to go buy The Total Money Makeover. 

This is a book I would recommend to everyone! Basically, it is a roadmap to getting out, and staying out of debt.  It is a great book.  It outlines the myths that we all have been taught to believe in our culture and then shows you a very doable plan to get out of debt and build wealth.

I'm not going to outline the whole book for you here...you've gotta read it to really get it.  But I will tell you that it is broke up into "Baby Steps" that make the process bearable and allows you to focus your efforts on one thing at a time.

We are currently working on Baby Step 1.  Saving $1000 for an Emergency Fund.  This allows you to take care of any emergencies that come up while you are working on the other baby steps.

The greatest blessing so far has been getting on a written budget.  How to do this alone, is worth the price of the book!

Bottom line, just having a plan laid out to get out of debt, gives hope!  It helps you to see the end of the race, and that keeps you going when you get discouraged and think you'll never be able to get out of debt. 

It is that plan and that hope that has given me the assurance to sell my 1979 Camaro that I love dearly.  I've thought about selling it several times before, but never wanted it to be sold just to have the money used for something stupid.  With a plan in place to pay off our debts and become financially stable, selling my baby (the car, not really my baby ;)) is bearable, it means something. 

Besides, I've already decided, once we are debt free I'm going to start saving up to buy a 1969 Camaro RS/SS with cash :)


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On Twitter: @Skropp2