My wife and I have always believed that America IS the land of opportunity.  We believe that our life is what we make out of it.  However, after we both finished graduate school the total debt we owed sucked the life right out of our hopes of ever being financially successful.  That is until we heard Dave Ramsey.  A good friend invited me to The Total Money Makeover Live last year. I was already a huge Dave fan, but being there really set me on fire.  I went home and tried to get started working the plan.  In September, we went through Financial Peace University.  In January, The Spahn Law Firm sent me to Financial Counselor Training so I that can help bring hope to others who are struggling financially.  Spending a week with Dave’s Team was amazing.  I was able to see firsthand the passion that Dave and his team have to change the lives of hurting people.

For us, learning about God’s plan for managing money has opened a whole new world.  No longer do we have to use our future to pay for our past.  While we are nowhere near being completely out of debt, we have a plan and get excited every time we pay off something else. With each debt paid we gain more traction and get more excited.  We have also been blessed to travel in the last few months and it is great to pay for the trip before you leave, and not have the bills follow you home.  In the past, we would spend several months paying off a trip.  Now, we are able to fly, book hotels, rent a car and do anything else we need to without a credit card.  It is great to feel the chains of credit bondage lift away link by link.  Today We Will Live Like No One Else So That Later We Can Live Like No One Else.

photo credit, flickrfavorites

The Background:  My husband and I are recent law school graduates, we both have student loans, and we’re newlyweds.  We both accumulated a fair amount of credit card debt during law school.  To top it off, my husband is a JAG Officer and we live abroad, which has severely restricted my income.  That being said, when my husband got his assignment, we knew we had to get serious about paying down debt.  The question was how to get our finances under control.

We had about six months to get a good start on our finances before we moved abroad.  As we already had a small savings account that grew with each paycheck, we decided to create a budget and focus on the credit card debt.  Enter a complication—since my husband and I would be living separately while he was in training, we needed two household budgets!  One is hard enough, but two!!

So, we got creative and figured out where to make cuts.  This didn’t mean that we only ate ramen, but we’re not perfect.  When we seriously looked at our expenses, we were able to identify several areas that we could cut back without drastic changes.  For example, one area where I spent a lot of money was books.  I discovered that I could sell the thousands of books (I’m not exaggerating!) that were cluttering shelves and go to the library.  Another big part of our plan was that we consolidated all our non-student loan debt into a 2% interest, fixed payment loan through our bank.  This means that we pay less each month, and most of our payment pays principal, so the balance is rapidly shrinking!  We still have our student loans to contend with, but there is a LOT less financial pressure.  We have dwindling balances for our other debt and our savings account is growing rapidly.

Our “abroad” budget is still being determined, but at this rate we’ll be debt free in less than 5 years.  That is a great feeling!

I have not always been a Texan, but I like to say that I was quickly adopted.  One thing that has always appealed to me about Texans is the infectious independent spirit that is Texas.  Texans don’t like people telling them what they can and can’t do.  They don’t like the feeling of losing independence by giving someone else power over their lives.  This can easily be seen in political rhetoric, and it gets us stirred up when we get a whiff of outsiders telling us what to do.  While politics and government power are important and valid concerns, perhaps that fighting independent spirit could also be focused on our individual finances.

Proverbs 22:7 refers to a borrower as the slave of the lender.  That is something to think about as you look at your finances.  In my mind, financial slavery and the Texas spirit don’t mix and as we look at the landscape of our state perhaps we could focus some of our fighting spirit on destroying personal debt and regaining financial freedom.  A debt free Texan is a free and independent Texan, and an example of someone who has fully embraced the spirit of Texas!

photo credit, Brian L. Romig

With Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover live event in San Antonio  just a day away, everyone in our firm has been focusing on their own financial freedom.  We’ve all been encouraged to express this journey in the form of a blog so that we can share a bit of ourselves with you.  I’ve had a chance to read through my colleagues’ stories and I have to say, I am nowhere near any of them.  So here’s my short story to all of you out there that are still like me.

My Dad first introduced me to Dave in 2006.  I was in my second year of law school and quite frankly I could have cared less what my Dad and Dave were saying.   I had a ton of student loans from my private undergraduate education and I was racking up more student loans on my now private law school education.  I was living a life style well beyond my means and I didn’t care.

Fast forward two years.  I’m a licensed attorney looking for a job and I have debt surrounding me everywhere I turn.  For many this would be the eye opener, but no, not me.  I began to change my lifestyle, but only slightly.  I was still living beyond my means, but since it wasn’t as bad as before, I figured I was doing great.

Fast forward another two years to present date.  I’m still in debt, and I still have a long way to go.  I’m only just now getting a budget and trying to live within my means.  I know it will be long time before I am anywhere close to being debt free, but I also know that it is possible as long as I stay committed.

So for all of you out there who are just like me, let’s jump together.  We can do it!

photo credit, laurenatclemson

It was 1996, three years before I heard of Dave Ramsey.  We had 2 cars, one was paid for, and I decided I needed a truck.  Lori had just delivered our second child, fifteen months after the first.  We had my law school loans and foolish credit card debt, and we were sitting on 3 vehicles.  We had been trying to sell one of the cars, and were going to wait until we did before we purchased the truck.  But it was a good deal, so we went ahead and bought it anyway.  It was a couple months before we found a buyer for the car, but we finally sold it.

Then in 1997, we saddled ourselves with a mortgage. And I still hadn’t heard of Dave Ramsey, yet it was as if he had whispered his oft-given advice in our ears, “Sell the car.” To the chagrin of family and the disbelief of friends, we decided we didn’t need two vehicles.  We sold the truck.  Lori stayed at home with the babies and I drove to work, 60 miles away.  Her grandparents were only a few blocks away and we had both sets of parents within a few miles.  If there was an emergency they couldn’t help with, she could call 9-1-1.  Lori would put the kids in a little red wagon and haul them to the library or her grandparents.  She thought it was fun.  Her girlfriends, and everyone else in town that saw her, thought she was crazy.

You know, you’ve got to decide to live like no one else, so that one day you can live and give like no one else.  Ten years had passed, and Lori and I were reviewing our spending for 2007 when we realized we GAVE more that year than we MADE in 1997.  If you would have asked us then if that were possible, we might have said no way.  But with God, all things are possible.  This path to becoming debt free is part of a walk of faith.  With less debt comes fewer worries and more time to focus on more important things.  This journey is awesome.  Let’s finish strong.

photo credit, brettneilson

I was eighteen and packing my stuff.  College was only a five hour drive away.  I was so excited! Never before did I have so much freedom.  No one was going to be there telling me what to do or when to be home or make sure I went to class.  Unfortunately no one was there ensuring I made wise financial decisions either.  I finished my first year and excitedly began the second.  Everything was going great…except the looming balance of my Discover card. But I figured that could wait.  At that point, college was more important.  I was thinking, “I’ll pay off that card when I graduate and get a job. “

I received my undergraduate degree in December of 2006 and that balance was still there.  The interest rate was maxed out and the payments were outrageous.  With no job prospects in sight, I decided to go to law school.  I reasoned, “This will give me a few more years to get that card under control. “

My husband did not agree.  He demanded that we pay that balance immediately.  So we did.  Yes! True freedom! No more calls from Discover! But wait…now we had no savings.  And how were we going to pay our bills?  We used the credit cards again.  And the cycle continued.

In passing one day, I heard someone say that one will never get out of debt unless he or she gets sick and tired of getting sick and tired.   I finally decided I was sick and tired.  I added up the Discover card balance, the cars loans, other credit cards, student loans, furniture and so on and I came up with our grand total.  I cried.  But with a lot of effort, patience and prayer we are months away from being debt free and I’m excited again!

Photo credit, bslmmrs

I first heard of Dave Ramsey through my husband, Charlie. Then I would occasionally hear Dave on the radio when traveling in the car with Charlie.  Even though the philosophy sounded good, the subject bored me.  You guessed it…I am the free spirit.  Before long I really did not want to talk about the finances, plainly because it took too long and it overwhelmed me.  I knew we needed to get focused on our large student loan payments, but it was easier to dismiss the subject.  I really thought I was going to be stuck paying the loans until the time I retired – and I had come to accept this as a fact.  As time passed, I could see the stress mounting in my husband.  I would hurt for him, but did not know how to help.

Finally, we signed up for Financial Peace University.  After attending just the first few classes I felt hopeful again.  After three weeks we had saved our $1000, baby step one, and I could NOT believe how much it relaxed me.  Even though it was not verbalized, I felt a huge tension release in our marriage.  We are now chipping away at our debt, baby step two, and I am amazed to watch how quickly it is going.  In the past six months, we have paid off the truck and several credit cards.  It is hard to believe that with our planned budget we can be debt free in 5 years! I have been so revitalized and encouraged that I am starting to enjoy working on the budget.

Photo credit, Digital Magic Photography

Some years ago when we lived in Alabama, we heard about a guy named Dave Ramsey.  He was doing a radio show and telling people to get out of debt.   He was telling folks to live without a credit card and going so far as to say people should live on LESS than what they make, and actually save money.  I thought it sounded like the impossible, but my husband was soaking in everything Dave Ramsey said.  We had young children and what I considered a little debt.  Part of it was student loans from law school for my husband.  I read Dave’s book, but didn’t put any of it into practice, and Matt didn’t force the issue.

Fast forward a couple years and we moved to San Antonio.  Matt was blessed with a great job, and he took over the checkbook and got serious about getting debt free.  Before I knew it, the student loan (a very large one from law school, remember?) was gone in less than a year.   A couple of credit cards were the next target.  We hadn’t used them in a good while, but had simply done balance transfers from old cards to new ones in order to keep the interest rate at 0%.  Matt’s diligence wiped them out.  Next thing I knew, he was putting all the available money in the budget toward paying off the cars. When I made the phone call to have the bank’s name removed as loss payee from the auto insurance,  the carrier could hardly believe it.  I guess they don’t get those calls too frequently.

The last debt remaining is the mortgage.  I utilize the cash envelope system that Dave recommends.  Some folks that know I use this method think it is complicated and too restrictive.  On the contrary, I feel like the monthly budget I maintain gives me freedom.  I tell my money where to go.  I am not wringing my hands at the end of the month wondering where it all went.  I know that when I walk out of a store, the purchase is mine and I am not going to see a bill for it later.  If I have money in my “dining” envelope, I can have a meal out and not feel guilty about it.  Our money belongs to us, not creditors.  What could be less restrictive than that?  That’s financial peace.  That’s financial freedom.

Photo credit, irargerich

You won’t have to read very far in this post to know how we feel about timeshares here at The Spahn Law Firm.  We have seen countless numbers of people come in frustrated that they can’t get out of their timeshare.  The truth is this:  a timeshare is not an investment.  Put more bluntly, a timeshare is a bloodsucking, wealth diminishing, future corrupting, headache waiting for a place to happen.  There is only one set of people who benefit from timeshare sales: the timeshare companies!  They are able to sell people by giving them a vacation for next to nothing or some fancy dinner.  The next thing you know, you owe $13,000.00  or $30,000.00 on a piece of property that you can only visit once every other year if you schedule that trip 18 months in advance.

I understand many people will think I sound rather extreme in my beliefs regarding timeshare companies.  However, this is a result of having to deal with these vampires.  Some reading this may say, “I have a timeshare and I love it!”  Well, I am truly happy for you and hope that it stays that way and I hope you want to have it forever.  There is the rare case where an individual truly loves their timeshare for many years.  It’s only when life happens to them and they need out that it becomes a nightmare.

So, what if you have signed on and want out?  The companies love to play hardball.  They love to tell you that the property is yours and you are welcome to sell it.  Of course, no one is going to buy it from you.  So, now what?  Well, it depends on your goals and how much you can stomach.  You can start the process by calling the company and asking what a similar unit is selling for.  Be firm and explain that you are looking to sell it and just need a good idea of what its worth.  Then, in a later call, offer to sell it back to them at a discount.  Some have had success with this.  However, the companies know pretty well that the timeshare is worthless and you are not going to be able to sell it.

We have had a great deal of success having the company agree to just take it back for nothing, allowing the client to just walk away.  However, each company is different.  Every situation is unique.  If you run into a situation where the timeshare company is not playing fair, give us a call.  We are here to serve you.

Photo credit, Steve Snodgrass

Shrugging, Jacob drawls, “Well, guess old man Hawkins’ kids are sorry he died without a will.” Levi nods. “Yeah, guess so,” he answers.

Levi thinks about the Hawkins kids, now in their fifties. His own are the same age. He thinks about the good times his kids and grandkids have had climbing trees, swimming in the creek, fishing for bass and catfish, hunting, and camping with the Hawkins  family.

He squints his eyes and looks up at Jacob. “How much did they lose?” he asks. “Oh, ‘bout 500 acres I expect,” Jacob answers. Levi just shakes his head.

Later, Levi thinks about how the Hawkins’ made about $40,000 a year off their place before they died. They never cared too much about making money as long as they had their ranch to live on, work on, and raise their children to do the same. They just didn’t have the money to pay off that estate tax though. Their kids had to sell the land to pay off the government. The land was all that mattered to them and they had to sell it. Too bad.

In Texas, to be land rich and cash poor is an all too common thing. The story is usually very similar, only with different actors. A man moves from the crowded streets and suffocating cities to a place with open land that goes on for miles. Somehow the land speaks to him of peace, freedom, and an abundant life never before a reality for him. He dreams of raising his family on the land and working the land for a better purpose. He can see the stewardship of centuries building a legacy for his family. This vision for his family is woven into every grain of grass in the land that he toils to make productive. His sweat and tears are a part of the very soil. His identity is intertwined with the land. Land lives on despite several wars, people dying, and kingdoms falling. So it is in Texas.

Between wills and trusts, limited partnerships, and limited liability companies, there is virtually no reason to sell land in order to pay estate taxes. I’ve long had a passion to help people hold onto the land that means so much to them and their families. There are several legal ways to keep most, if not all of the land, with just a little bit of planning. We can help.  Give us a call.

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