Word of The Year

The Lewis Family Word of the Year for 2012: gazelle.

This one requires some explanation. Many people, us included, set New Years resolutions to cut back on spending, stick to the budget, save, etc. For Christmas this year, I asked for Dave Ramsey's "Total Money Makeover," because I knew come January 1 I would be motivated to focus again on money. After reading the entire book cover-to-cover in about 24 hours, I was more motivated than ever to pay off debt, save, and plan for our retirement. I talked about the book so much that Ryan read it, too, and now we're both pumped to, metaphorically, get lenders off our backs.

The theme of Ramsey's book is "If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else." The main point is to get out of debt ASAP and save for retirement so that you can retire with dignity. We've made our share of financial mistakes, most of which are in the realm of borrowing too much student loan money and we're ready to put those mistakes behind us and plan for our future. We also want to teach Eva through example how to be cautious with money, and taking on too much debt at too young of an age.

There are seven baby steps in the Total Money Makeover.
Step #1 - Save 1,000
Step #2 - Pay off all debt (except mortgage) using the debt snowball
Step #3 - Emergency fund
Step #4 - Retirement savings
Step #5 - College savings
Step #6 - Pay off mortgage
Step #7 - Build wealth and give

We've already completed baby step #1 and paid off our first debt in baby step #2. It feels great and we've got good momentum to keep going now. So, why gazelle? Ramsey often says in the book that to complete the Total Money Makeover you have to have to be gazelle intense, meaning you have to be willing to outrun your predators (debt, lenders) to reach your financial goals. So now whenever Ryan and I are talking about finances and spending, we often say gazelle, most of the time we're joking and being funny, but it does remind us to keep our eye on the prize -- being debt-free and planning for retirement (and saving for our children's education and lots of and lots of charitable giving).

So, our word this year is gazelle. I'm sure the word will take many forms throughout the year as my witty husband puts his own spin on things. I'm sure I'll hear gazelle-it-up, gazelle party, and let's gazelle this sucker a few times.

Through our journey, we will be reminded to be grateful for what we do have because we are truly very blessed. We have our health, our careers, our daughter, our home. We should not take these things for granted because we know at any time they can be taken away. We will also be reminded to be content with what we have, because part of getting out of debt means making huge sacrifices. We won't be able to buy a new TV, and take a vacation, but we know in the long run we will be proud of our accomplishments and make lifelong habits to keep us out of debt.

Let me end by saying, there are a lot of things that Dave Ramsey preaches that we do not agree with, but the total money makeover is good stuff and we're excited to reach our goals.

Love, Meghan