Gazelle Intensity!

This past spring, my wife Sandra and I took a course by Dave Ramsey.  We heard people at church talk about him and knew of his program on Fox News (http://www.daveramsey.com).  I confess being a bit  skeptical, but we had a lot of debt and I was discouraged so I figured it wouldn't hurt to check it out.  We finally decided to dive in and take the course (Truth be know, Sandra dove in and I took my time because I was stubborn).  

Dave has people in the class begin by starting an Emergency Saving Account (ESA).  This is your parachute if you should hit a financial crash during the course.  We followed the steps, got on a budget and started to see improvement.  However, we had a good amount of debt (I am not proud to say) and we wanted to every possible to eliminate it.  

When you hit this stage of being fed up with your current financial status, Dave challenges participants to take on the intensity of a Gazelle.  If you have ever seen footage on the Discovery Channel of a Gazelle springing into action at the sight of danger, then you know what I am talking about.  This is the sort of commitment to action that is suggested if you really mean business and want to be done with debt once and for all.

Sandra and I began to discuss what this sort of commitment would look like in our situation.  We were coming to the end of our lease agreement and our owner/landlord asked us to move out so that he could put the property on the market.  It was then that we asked the question, "What would it look like if we were to become 'Gazelle Intense' about our financial situation?"  We began to ask people we knew if they needed house sitters over the summer while on vacation.  Before we knew it, word had spread and we had many people calling us and asking us to watch their homes and pets while they were away.  In fact, it worked out in such a way that we had homes to stay in for the entire summer.  Sure, it meant moving every week or two, but that allowed us to pay off unwanted debt and save more money.

We have currently continued the "Gazelle Intensity" challenge, living in a short-term situation for the fall which has allowed us to become debt free, and has made it possible to save for a house.  We are thrilled to be moving into our new home early in December and would encourage any one in financial trouble to check out Dave's course.  His teaching is not rocket science, but it is simple and straight forward,  practical financial advice that is consistent with the Bible.  Yes, I realize that I sound like an infomercial, but it did work in our situation once we meant business and became "Gazelle Intense."