Day 11

Welcome to our project of Debt Elimination. It began this year, as we talked with a couple on the 30th of December. We have been praying about reducing...and eliminating our debt as we feel called as good Stewards to do that. So what will this entail for us as a couple, and in the future, a family?

1st. Get a grip...an understanding...of what our debt looks like.
So we do the figures...and folks, it doesn't look good.
We have a mortgage which is doable...yet, for 40 years? Not so good!
We have credit card, bank line of credit debt, student loan debt, which we
brought into the marriage (some of it).

Total debt: (drum roll please)

Mortgage: 132,000
Credit C: 17,000
St Loan : 3,000
RBC Bank: 5,000
RBC Bank: 1,700

Total 158,000

We are looking to decrease our debt this year by taking drastic measures. It kinda goes contrary to what most people in our culture would put up with, but what we need to do, is not keep up with the Jones, nor do we want to do what Culture impresses on us to do. (Overspend!!!)

So what is our game plan?

1. No eating out at restaurants for a year.
2. No impulse buying. This means no going to a store on impulse..."to browse" (for a year)
3. No trips for a year (vacations that is...unless we can do free day trips, or stay with friends, and not eat out)
4. No buying name brands
5. Budget food for home
6. No concerts, or entertainment that costs for a year (we will happily exchange DVD's with friends, or find free concerts).
7. Watch each penny that leaves the home (bank). This means tracking each expense for a year...to see where our money goes.
8. Tithe...continue to give 10% our first fruits, plus, give over an above to others. Be that with our material goods, food, or $. Be generous givers.
9. Pray...and continue to ask God for provision to pay off debt.
10. No "buying" gifts for 2009. That means...creativity...!
11. Walk more, park the car. Especially in spring, summer and fall.
12. No reno's until we can afford it.
13. Cancel cable (which we did last year)
14. Grow our own vegetables (bigger garden) and can more food at harvest time.
(maybe have a canning party)

So far, that's our list.
As you can see...we will be having a rather creative 2009. We invite others to join us in our creative efforts to pay off debt. We are thinking of having an art show, in house, invite people to come and enjoy simple yet great food, and buy some art.
Enjoy some spoken word, fine music. This will probably happen when it gets a bit nicer out, so we maybe looking at spring.

We have to be extra vigilant when it comes to summer, as Paula is unemployed, she would love to do more writing. She has one writing gig at the moment (one article a month) and so she is looking to increase that.

I stumbled upon a blog by a Pastor in the States, who's desire to start getting people out of debt got him to write this blog article...

Saturday, August 25, 2007
Pray for "The Debt Elimination Project"

Have you heard of the Debt Elimination Project (DEP)? It's really quite an interesting project.

There was a gentleman who had a heart's desire to help pay off the debt of a single woman in his church who had been struggling from year to year. So much prayer had happened for her by the congregation but nothing seemed to change in her finances.

This man who was one of those who prayed for the lady but he was just frustrated as he continued to observe her financial life. He soon discovered that she was in debt because she just couldn't get her debt down because she could only pay the minimum payments on high interest rate credit cards and loans. Nothing ever seemed to change even though she was doing what she could.

The story goes on to say that the man decided that he would take things into his own hands. He decided to do something. He made it his purpose to help this lady pay off her debt. He was able to give her $30 a month. What he asked her to do was to make sure she sent the $30 as extra payment toward the principal on her highest interest credit card.

After a few months of giving $30 the man just felt like he was only helping her scratch the surface toward getting out of debt. He thought to himself, only if there were a few other people who could give a little like I'm doing. He started sharing what he was doing with a few of his close friends and they caught the vision. Five of his friends decided to do exactly what he was doing and started giving the lady $30 a month each. Now she was receiving $180 to put towards the principal of her highest interest credit card.

Long story short, the concept began to spread like wild fire. The gentleman who started the project soon had 34 people who were giving between $15 and $50 a month to help this one lady. In less than a year the lady had all her debt paid off and she was overjoyed.

Here's the clincher. After the lady had her debt paid off she said, how can I help somebody pay their debt off? She said this in the middle of the group of the 34 people who had just helped her pay off her debt. There were several people in the group who were in debt so the group chose one from among themselves and started the process over.

Now imagine this. This new person didn't receive $30 a month. They received over $1,200 a month and had their debt paid off in five months.

The group continued to grow and they continued to choose different people in the group to help pay off their debt. Some people were getting their debt paid off in less than three months. One person even got a $16,000 debt paid off on the spot!

The Debt Elimination Project got it's name based merely on what now over 700 people were committed to doing. They base their purpose for helping others get out of debt on Matthew 7:12 "Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them..."

When I heard of this project I committed to help a person I know get out of debt. I'm now in the process of talking to a few of my friends to help them get out of debt.

I'm actually seriously thinking about taking this to another level. I'm thinking about starting an official Debt Elimination Project in our church. We have plenty of single women, widows and certainly families who are in debt who desperately want to be financially free.

What you've just read is just a story I wrote to capture your attention. The gentleman in the story is me. The story is a vision of what I believe the Lord has shown me to help people in my congregation get out of debt and stay out. The other reason I wrote this story is to solicit your prayer as I pursue God's plan to help one person at a time get out of debt. I truly believe it's a whole lot easier for one person to get out of debt if 200 people are helping them.
A debt free church is a church that can be used to to it's full potential.
Stay blessed,

Ced Reynolds

So this is one of the things on our hearts, to begin a project like this. As people have commented, they have asked...very logistic questions. One of them is this "how do you suppose to get people on board?" My probably answer is "Not sure!" We will definitely be praying about this...seeking God to stir the hearts of people. We definitely believe that living Debt free can free up our community to GIVE MORE, SERVE MORE and be more AVAILABLE to do missions or support missionaries here and abroad.
It means that those getting involved may have to change their lifestyle a wee bit. That is going to be the more challenging question. Can people really change from thinking of a rather individual mentality to a community mentality. That what I buy or do will and can affect my neighbor!!

So there you have it...we are in day 11 so far and things are going okay.
We are feeling like we are going through withdrawal symptoms to over spending, but we know that we can do it. We are looking to do a daily blog at how we feel, and how things are going. Our failures, our successes, and acts of God, radical provision that we cannot explain.
Just this morning, an answer came, when I was looking at our bank account and low and behold, we had more than I thought (Paula's vacation pay over Christmas unexpectedly arrived). So we praised God, tithed, and then had a friend over for a meal. It was good. We believe this to be an answer to prayer for provision.
I think that I probably spent more on groceries than I should have...and that is something we will have to be creative about. Making a weekly menu list and sticking to it. Making our own lunches, and coffee, as opposed to buying coffee out!! I am looking at decreasing my coffee intake anyway, and drink more water.
We also hope to be more physically active, read more books and promote a healthy lifestyle.

Come journey with us.
tomorrow is Day 12.

Kenny and Paula