Making Dave Ramsey Proud

I'm almost hesitant to share this story....this isn't a "LOOK WHAT WE GOT!" post or a "bragging moment." I hate those. I have a story to tell that I hope will encourage you who are seeking to become debt free or live a "don't spend it till you have it" lifestyle.


Kyle and I have been debt free since our first month of marriage. We can't take credit for that--God provided the money we needed to pay off Kyle's car debt and begin a savings fund for buying a home someday. We LOVE being debt free, and honestly could not be making ends completely meet should we have major payments on anything. We have a great sense of freedom in having spontaneous lunch dates, supplying our closets with the clothes we need, having a BABY, and generally living more freely because we aren't tied to payments. 


We have been discussing recently about replacing our couches in the livingroom. What's wrong with the ones we have? Technically, nothing. We have had them a year, and now that we actually have LIVED on them, we know better than to ever by faux suede, cheap couches again. We had toyed around with the idea of selling these and replacing them with genuine, durable leather. 


Kyle mentioned the possibility to a guy from his work and our current couches were instantly sold. Oops. Now we were stuck with having to replace them.


That's why we save for these things, people. 


So we went looking. Funny how when you look at furniture with a baby people start using your children to try to sell you on furniture pieces. 


"This would be sooooo durable with little guys like him!" they say.


Someday they will find that using my son as a bargaining tool isn't smart. It only makes me want them to leave me alone more. *I would NEVER be a good salesperson*


We found a set we liked at a local furniture store, and the saleswoman very generously informed us of a 25% off sale happening Sunday night should we want to come back then instead. Duh. 


When we went back we decided to indeed go for the couch we had originally found. It was mostly leather and was framed in a pretty, dark wood. We calculated the 25% off and the woman went to enter the information in the computer. As we waited, Kyle began to ponder and point out the things he didn't like about the couch. I knew we were headed for disaster. At this point I encouraged him to walk away from the deal. If the couch didn't fit him comfortably, he didn't feel confident, or was already pointing out flaws, I knew this was not a right deal to be making. 


The salesperson was stopped before we were forced to pay for it. 


We walked across the store and sat down on a genuine leather set close to the exit to visit about what we were going to do. The sales-stalker (saleswoman trying to make a sale) had come back over to be "patient" but encourage a sale of some kind. We asked to be left alone and I encouraged Kyle in the walking away. I was at peace in leaving that couch behind and looking for a better deal that he was comfortable on and genuinely liked. 


At this point we noticed that our bums were quite comfortable on the leather set we were using as our "debate" seat. We noticed how it smelled like leather....how deep and luscious it was.....how pretty the color was....and how much it was the "real deal" of furniture. It wasn't mostly leather--it was 100% genuine cowhide. *drool* 


"Wait. Do you like this set?" Kyle asked. 


"Uh...yeah, honey, I LOVE it, but we could never afford this." Trust me, it was WAY out of our price range.....like, $1,400 out of our range. 


Kyle turned to the salesperson who had creeped back over. *she did this all night*


Kyle quoted her our price and asked her if her manager would meet that. 


She left, came back, and assured us the 25% off was as low as he could go--thereby throwing our price out the door. Their price wasn't good enough for us. She tried to convince us we could only pay half and then make small payments or pay the other half in a few weeks.


"No, we don't make payments, we will pay it all at once, and we can't pay any more than this amount," we assured her. 


People truly don't understand why we won't make payments on furniture or vehicles. 


At this point the store was closed, our baby was fussy, I was tired, and we agreed to walk away, apologizing to the woman for all her trouble. 


We loaded up the baby in the truck, Kyle started the engine, and as I walked to get in I saw the woman running out to us--clipboard in hand. 


"He will come down and meet your price." she gently called....she sounded hopeful. She must work on commission, bless her heart.  


I knocked on Kyle's window and motioned to the lady who had come out...in her bare feet even. *she had taken off her shoes long before because she was pregnant and tired of the heels....*


She tried to tell us at the truck that all we would have to pay was tax. 


Kyle shook his head. 


"No, what I quoted was our best offer. That is all we can afford." 


She responded with, "I bet he will come down more."


We walked away with a gorgeous, genuine leather, honey of a couch and loveseat for a whopping 33% off the original price....and only costing us $.23 more than we planned. Yep. We paid an extra 23 cents for the couch.


We walked away winners..........and guess what.......having the cash to do it, combined with a willingness to walk away from a bad deal made a manager willing to meet our price. 


Dave Ramsey would be so proud--and we certainly were! 


I don't know what the future holds for my little family. I just know that scripture encourages followers of Christ to be debt free. 

"The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender." Proverbs 22:7

"Don’t agree to guarantee another person’s debt or put up security for someone else. If you can’t pay it,

²⁷     even your bed will be snatched from under you." Proverbs 22:26-27

I guess although I feel bad for an extravagant (and yes, expensive purchase) I can rest and nurse my son in peace on a comfortable and nice couch with the knowledge that we owe no man a cent for it. 

That is the blessing of being debt free. 

So if this encourages you any, I am so glad I shared. Our pastor is an example to us of what living debt free can do for you and your family, and we hope that we can be that example to others. 

Now, I'm off to do laundry and nurse our son......

.......again. :)