The happenings of Dee part 1

I’ve decided, I’ll have to share this story in parts instead of one long post. It’s long, and I don’t want you to start yawning. Excuse the length, but I don’t want to spare any detail. It’s high time I share the happenings of Dee (like you care) lol..

Part of the problem is that I honestly don’t know where to start. It’s been so long. I’ve even neglected regular entries into my own personal journal and that is so unlike me. Formost, I am fine. Better than fine. I’m great. I’ve had a two month long personal inventory so to speak. My soul started stirring sometime back in Febuary when I started attending an 8 week long intensive on financial liberation at my church. Who doesn’t discuss or go through things financially. With today’s economy, please. It’s what we discuss. But yet, we are still spending. I know I amwas.

I’m your classic spender, far from a saver and, I didn’t need a class to tell me that. I did however need the class to make me face the fact that if I continued on “spending” the way I was that my children were going to be on the welfare line, literally. It’s so much deeper than I’m sure I can even describe, but during my attendance in the class, reading, studying and budgeting (I hate the word budget) something happened inside of me. God started dealing with me. I was challenged and stretched in ways I never could imagine, and in the end, I gained FREEDOM. My pastor really is a visionary. Several months ago he started preaching a series on faith and family finances. It was so intense, I saw myself in every sermon and I just knew he was talking directly to me! That series was the jump off for the class I attended titled, “I was broke, now I’m not”. Babyyy, let me tell you, it changed my life. The creator of the program, Joe Sangl is serious about debt and financial freedom. He has books, a web based program, lecture series, and a host of tools to get you started on the road to gaining control of your finances. You can look up the course online it’s called, “I was broke,now I’m not”.

The class didn’t cost me anything. Not a dime. Well, I paid $15 for the book, and $5 for the workbook. With what I gained, that was nothing. I started thinking about all those receipts sitting in that plastic container I keep, thinking about all the ways I had totally misused my money. A savings plan, forget about it. I heard a few say they have no problem saving. And I think that’s great. But for me.. Yeah, I have a savings account, one that I put money into and probably just take it out within the next few weeks. That’s not saving. But that’s how I’ve been rolling. I am not ashamed to talk about it, I don’t care who talks about it or what they think of me for discussing it. I’m trying to help somebody else get free. Savings and spending were interchangeable for me. I didn’t understand how I had gotten to this place, and I surely didn’t know I had a problem. You know it’s one of those things, you know about it, it’s there, it exist, but when it’s placed in your lap and it’s just you in the room and your forced to look at it, all of a sudden a light bulb goes off. Oh wow, is this what I’ve been doing? Ohhhh I’ve been messing up, disrespecting my money and my future. It took a while to get me to this point(debt) and it was going to take radical change to get me out. Admitting it was the first step. For the first time in my life, I started thinking about being free in my finances. I decided I wasn’t going to spend anymore for a while. No more shopping. No more useless spending. No dining out, only necessities. A financial fast. It killed me!!!!! Ok, here goes. I am a bit of a shopaholic and a spendaholic. There, I said it.
It was time for a change and day by day it became easier to stop spending, and more worth it. I was reading, studying, and saving. While the fasting part wasn’t a requirement, it taught me discipline. I learned things I never knew about me and money. Mainly how much I waste.
I gained so much from taking this class. The lessons are practical and can very effective if used properly. I never had a budget in my life, until now! I’ve justified my outrages spending by catching sales. As much as I spend, it just never dawned on me to save. I’ve been living in the moment.
At graduation, I humbly accepted my certificate of completion. I couldn’t believe how far I’d come. I couldn’t believe how much I’d accomplished. I cried and cried and cried tears of joy. Tears of freedom. The experience was one I’ll never forget.

(check back tomorrow for part 2 and links to some of the tools I used)

Peace and Blessings
Dee