Credit is fun...NOT

The weekend I proposed to my beautiful wife, we decided that we NEEDED a wedding ring set, even though we had no money. So, off to the jewelry store in the mall to buy our wedding ring set.

Well, obviously, I didn't have the money or the "credit score" to finance the rings, so Sonya financed the rings in here name on a jewelry store credit card.

Now we are on a roll. We moved to Memphis and in order to do that, Sonya sold or gave away everything from her condo that wouldn't fit in her small car, so when we get to our new apartment, we didn't have any furniture. We slept on an air mattress and used bean bags. Instead of looking in the classifieds for used furniture we went to the nearest furniture store to buy furniture on, you guessed it, credit. Sonya and I had to compromise on the furniture...
She got to pick out the furniture, but I then got to buy a home stereo, because I had always wanted a home stereo and now I had the "opportunity."

So, in the span of 6 weeks, we went from 4 credit cards (I had 2 before we got married, and Sonya had 2) to about 10 or 11 with more to come. At one point our finances were so bad, that we would make a payment on our maxed out Discover card and then as soon as that payment was credited we would go out to eat on the Discover card.

Looking back, not only were we stupid with credit, but we didn't know how to do a budget. We would get paid on the first but go hog-wild shopping, and then wonder why on the 7th or 8th of the month we didn't have the money to pay our bills. If only we had known about Dave Ramsey back then.

In the next few weeks I will introduce you to the man who developed a plan that probably saved our marriage. That man is Dave Ramsey, but for know I leave you with this...

If you can't afford to pay cash for something, then you can't afford it, because; as Dave Ramsey says, "There's no such thing as EASY payments!"

'Til we meet again, I am...

Tim, your Tour Guide