So Drew and I realize we are lazy bums, taking so long to get around to posting a new blog. Life has seemed to get away from us over the past month and a half. Our two jobs apiece seems to occupy most of our time, and with the time that’s left over, we kind of like to see each other. So, we apologize, but also realize you’ll get over it.

I’m sure I won’t get you up to date on everything going on in our lives as of late, but I can at least give you a glimpse into one little piece. And it will be the piece that’s been consuming most of our thoughts and energy. We recently began doing Financial Peace University with Dave Ramsey with some close friends.  We’re only a few lessons in, but are already motivated to get debt paid off and build up wealth. Today’s lesson was about the “debt snowball” and we’re getting stoked about how soon we can get those villainous credit cards paid off. I’ve been really inspired by the videos that are part of the class. Rather than boring you to death with talk of IRA’s and home equity loans, he gets you pumped up about budgeting, and makes you realize how simple the idea of not spending more than you make is. What a novel idea…

Luckily, Drew and I don’t have that much debt. In talking tonight, we realized that we will be paid off by next year if we stick with our plan, and next year’s not that far away. Pretty exciting.

To top all this off, we’re trying to buy a house to take advantage of the tax credit and cheap prices. I’m feeling a bit conflicted about this, as I want a house REALLY bad. As much as I’m thankful for the roof over my head and the mismatched painted walls around us, I want a place that I can really settle into and make into a home. The place we’re in now feels so temporary. After living out of a suitcase for three years, I’m kind of tired of temporary.

But at the same time, I wonder if buying a house is a wise idea at the time. Should we wait until debt is paid down and we have saved up some more money for a down payment? I understand that owning a home is an investment and that the rent we’re paying now might as well go toward something that will eventually be ours. But there’s that part of me… that good student part of me that says if we’re going to go through Financial Peace University, we should do all the things that the teacher says. Y’know, so we can pass that test at the end.  We’re supposed to pay off debt, and save up money for the things we want. Isn’t buying a house putting us into more debt? I’m afraid that Dave Ramsey is going to come find me if I don’t do this all the right way! Those of you that have taken Financial Peace or seen Dave Ramsey’s TV show on Fox Business know exactly what I’m talking about. He doesn’t mess around.

Luckily, I have a husband that I can talk to, and on the way home from watching the latest Financial Peace video, we talked about it. We weighed the pros and cons of buying a house. I shared my fears and confusions about this whole process. He explained some hard to understand financial words, like adjustable rate mortgage, and I almost kind of understood. We’re still talking through it, and he even suggested that maybe we should try to call Dave on his radio or TV show. That’d be kinda cool.

We’re still not very far along in the whole house buying thing. We’ve been trying a  few different places to get financing, and though we’ve had some offers, none that are going to work in our budget. One place told us they’d fund us 80%. My initial reaction was, “Great! That’s most of the money!” But then I realized how much that remaining 20% was.  So, we continue to search. We have some more options, and we’ll continue to pray and try to be as smart as we can with our money.

I can trust that God knows what’s best in this whole process.