Guilt or Freedom . . . I choose freedom.

After my shameless promotion of the most recent big sale my company offered . . . which, by the way, has been EXTENDED!!! (I know I'm over-the-top when it comes to promoting things--extend grace, please! It's part of my DNA as a sapphire--I'll explain more in the next post), I strapped the kids in the car this morning and we headed to playgroup.

Well, our playgroup leader had a baby yesterday, the co-leader forgot today was Thursday and headed off to Nashville Shores, and the other Nashville mama who joins us most often had her mom in town, so the kids and I went to Kalamata's instead and picked up food for Wendy, our fearless leader and, as of yesterday morning, mother of four.

Wendy's brand new baby's name is Zivah Rain Knight. Zivah (pronounced ZEE-vah) means "radiant." And radiant she is.

I looked up Zivah on Google and remembered that a baby names website tracks the popularity of names. Interestingly enough, "Judah" wasn't even on the chart until 1999, which is the year I married James. Now it's quickly gaining popularity. In September 2000, the Lord gave me the name Judah, so I began praying for my future son (sometimes I would think the name was for some other purpose but I secretly hoped that would be the name of my son). I wonder what God is doing by suddenly increasing the number of Judahs on the earth. By the way, "Judah" means praise.

Anyway, we all piled in the car, took lunch to Wendy, and headed back to Kalamata's for our own lunch. The kids dined on lamb and rice while I enjoyed a nice salmon stuffed with feta and spinach over a Greek salad. Once we got back in the car, the "what should we do next" discussion commenced. Since Tiffany was hot and wanted to either go swimming or enjoy an air-conditioned venue, I eventually decided to head back home. On the way home, I realized that she had converted me from "I'm not going to be inside on a gorgeous day like today" to "I'm hot and tired and don't want to suffer in this humidity another second."

We pull into the driveway, get out of the car, and I hear the rumble of a lawnmower next door. It's Mr. Tidwell. He's MOWING THE LAWN in the heat. He's 93 years old! I felt like a total wuss.

After a short rest, we ended up taking Tiffany back home to her family since she hasn't seen them in approximately two weeks. On the way back to the house, I decided to stop at the downtown main library. I ended up checking out six books for the kids about pioneer life or life during the Depression era. Nearly every story tells of the normalcy of hard labor and the time-consuming, intensity of travel--without cars.

Pair this with coming back from a seminar that teaches people how to live without being a slave to materialism, how to get out of debt without increasing your income, and how to enjoy life without succumbing to the pressure of what someone else wants you to have or the way someone else wants you to do things.

On top of that, I've been doing a little proofreading for a friend who is a professional organizer. As I read her stuff, it gets in my brain. I start looking around at all the crap in my house that we wouldn't have if not for materialism, debt, and other people's opinions. What if we lived in a simple cabin in the 1930's? What if everything in my house brought a smile instead of guilt or frustration? Oooooh, speaking of guilt, JennyB wrote a fabulous post about that HERE.

This weekend, Dani Johnson said, "Options are a disease." When I shared this with my dear friend Leilani, she said, "A disease is something that invades your body and causes it to behave differently than it normally would." Exactly.

So, how do you get out of debt without increasing your income? Eliminate options.

(This is straight from the Dani Johnson seminar "First Steps to Success" this weekend. I HIGHLY recommend it!)

How many options do you have for breakfast in your pantry?
How many options do you have for breakfast in your refrigerator?
How many options do you have for breakfast in your freezer?

Do you know why you have all those options?

Because you have the money.

Now, how many options do you have for lunch in your pantry?
In your fridge?
In your freezer?

Do you know why you have all those options?

Because you have the money.

And, finally, how many options do you have for dinner in your pantry?
In your fridge?
In your freezer?

Do you know why you have all those options?

Because you have the money.

And most of you still go out to eat!

(Please, please know that this came directly from Dani Johnson and that I'm talking to myself, too. Somehow, her examples completely revolutionized how I think about money. I'm beginning to scrutinize purchases more. I'm sensing the freedom of having a budget; whereas, before it felt constraining. I'm undergoing serious change. And I'm convinced that we'll have at least non-mortgage debt paid off by the end of the year. We're already making progress!)

Dani said, "Eat what is already in your house. Look for and cut the "fat" in your budget--the excess--your empty purchases. Apply that money toward your smallest debt and pay it off. Once it's paid off, (and this is basic Dave Ramsey stuff, too) you add the "fat" amount you cut out of your budget to the amount you are already used to paying from the small debt you just eliminated, and apply that chunk of cash every month to your next smallest debt until it's paid off, and so on and so on, creating a snowball effect. She had me convinced that we could eliminate our debt even if we didn't make any additional money this year.

Dani says, "Debt is a habit. You can be the wealthiest person in the world and still be a slave to debt." So true. Even more reason to get out at your current income level!

OK, so then, on the way home from the seminar, I finished reading Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker. He laid out a simple budget plan that I got really excited about. I actually got excited about a budget! Probably for the first time in my life! Before, I felt as though we needed a budget to be our watchdog or our guard, like a policeman or soldier. Now, I'm feeling like it's our welcomed ticket to financial freedom!

If you haven't read that book, it's a MUST read. It will change you. It is truly like getting a financial sozo (translation: emotional, physical, and spiritual FREEDOM through salvation, healing, and deliverance--the word actually means ALL THREE. Do you know what JESUS means? Healing, salvation, and deliverance!).

And I'm ALL about increasing freedom!