Our Story
I wanted to share my wife’s and my story so that you have an understanding of why I am qualified and capable of helping you in your situation. About two thirds of the population are living from paycheck to paycheck, and we were no different than anyone else. We each had very good jobs. My wife is a professional firefighter/paramedic and I was in engineering/management with a major auto supplier. In spite of our large combined income, we had multiple car loans, a timeshare condo, credit card debt, student loan debt and lived from paycheck to paycheck with very little savings. In early 2005, a couple at our church offered a Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University course. My wife and I decided to take the class and haven’t looked back. We learned how to live on a budget which I would say was the number one difference maker for us. Within the next two years we paid off all of our debt except our mortgage. We then built a large 3-6 months emergency fund. We have since bought several cars using cash. We had money set aside for vacations, insurance payments, property taxes and other non-monthly expenses. Life was looking great.
Then in 2009 the company I worked for began a downward spiral as part of the recession and the bankruptcy of GM and Chrysler. On July 15th of 2009, I walked out the doors of my factory for the last time after nearly 18 years of employment. The company filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy and all of our business shipped out to competitors. Thank God that He had prepared us in advance for this.
Because we now knew how to live on a budget, plus we had a large emergency fund in place and no debts other than our mortgage, we had options. Many of my co-workers did not have those same options and had to uproot their families and move to the locations that our competitors were at or be away from them for weeks at a time while they worked at those locations. Because my wife has a good secure job with benefits and a retirement package, we decided that we would stay here even though she had the lower paying job. We adjusted our budget to match our new income level, and I began looking around for other employment.
Shortly after this, Dave Ramsey hosted one of his evening Live! events which I attended. He has a very dynamic presentation and I was really fired up again. One thing that caught my attention though were ads in his handout material for a Financial Counseling course that his company offered. It was a 5 day all inclusive event at his facility in Tennessee. The thing was, the next course was coming up rapidly. I spoke with my wife about it and prayed about it. I wasn’t sure if I could actually make a business out of it, but I knew I at least wanted to be able to help people with their finances since it had made such a difference in my life even if I just did it on a volunteer basis. I had some money set aside that I had planned on using to further my education anyway, so we decided I would use that to take the course. It was an awesome experience and I learned a lot of information in a very short period of time.
Now, here I am running a business dedicated to helping others achieve their financial goals also. I have started making a difference in other people’s lives and the rewards for me personally have been awesome. There is nothing more fulfilling than helping others succeed. I’ve also met a lot of great people who also are making a go at working for themselves and helping to make a difference in the lives of others. I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for us!