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The summer before I started the 8th grade, I started running Cross Country with Spring Valley High School. How I got started running is really a crazy story, but I won’t go into those details here. Maybe another day. Running quickly turned into something that I loved and something that I was good at. It came naturally to me and I could easily see the progress that I was making. By my sophomore year I was the top runner on the varsity team in Cross Country and in the distance events for track. As a freshman I ran a mile in 4:48 and then as a sophmore I ran a 5k in 16:47. My junior year I had some knee problems and got more involved with church, and then I didn’t run at all as a Senior.
I learned a lot while running Cross Country. The most important thing that I learned is how to work hard to achieve a goal. I set goals to run long distances (the most I ever ran was 12 miles), to run faster, to run more often, and to be faster than anyone else on our team. I won a few races and finished top 20 in the state, and really achieved most of my goals that I set. What I loved about Cross Country is this: if you didn’t train, you didn’t do well. You literally only got out what you put in. You couldn’t just get by. You had to constantly and consistently run, run, run, run. If you didn’t train hard and push yourself to the point where you can’t push anymore, you wouldn’t improve. I loved to see the results from working hard. It’s great to be working hard and see immediate results. I honestly believe that I am who I am today because of the 4 years that I spent running Cross Country. I learned to set goals. I’ve learned to find ways to reach my goals. Unfortunately, it’s sometimes hard to see immediate results on those goals. For example, I’m saving for retirement, but I think I’m only like 1% to my goal after 2 years. But we will get there, it just takes a little more time.
On another note, I’m still trying to run, but it’s incredibly depressing. I still have knee trouble as well as problems with both of my feet going numb, but I love to run. I’m trying to take it as easy as possible so that I can get some exercise. I just clocked myself and realized that I am averaging about 9-10 minutes a mile for a 3 mile run. I can do this for 30 minutes (3 miles) and I am nowhere close to out of breath, but my feet literally give up on me. It’s extremely frustrating, but I hope to keep making progress and within the next couple of months be able to run 4 or 5 miles. I hate running so slow, but you’ve got to start somewhere, and if I don’t start now, I’ll just keep getting fatter!!
So, I encourage you to set goals. Work hard to reach them, and don’t give up in the process. There is no better feeling than setting a goal that you feel is impossible to reach and then a year or 2 later reaching that goal!
Here are some pictures from our recent trip to Brevard. Christian, Chester, and I camped for 2 nights near the fish hatchery and then spent Saturday hiking on the Art Loeb and Ivestor Gap trails. Somehow we never got wet the entire time we were hiking, but it seemed like it could rain at any minute. The temperature was in the 60’s the whole time which made for great hiking weather. We did get tons of rain, thunder, and lightning at the camp site for about an hour on Saturday night, but we survived. There is nothing like spending a weekend in the mountains in Brevard, NC. It’s as close to heaven as you can get on this earth.
America remains a nation of believers, but a new survey finds most Americans don’t feel their religion is the only way to eternal life — even if their faith tradition teaches otherwise.
That’s straight from the front of foxnews.com this morning. It comes at a great time as a follow up to yesterdays post on heaven. This article immediately reminded me of the Larry King Live interview with “pastor” motivational speaker feel good teacher Joel Osteen. Larry King asked him if Jews, Muslims, and Buddhists could get into heaven. Joel responded by saying, “I’m not sure, That’s not for me to decide.”
The gate to heaven is as clear as the light of a sunny day. There is one way. That way is Jesus. Joel Osteen could have answered that question with a 100% positive “NO.” Only believers in Jesus get into heaven. Some say that’s an arrogant position to hold. Some are afraid to be exclusive and try to include everybody. Unfortunately, if you do not believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ and His life and His death on a cross, you are excluded from spending eternity in heaven.
It’s incredibly sad that even “57 percent of evangelical church attenders said they believe many religions can lead to eternal life, in conflict with traditional evangelical teaching. In all, 70 percent of Americans with a religious affiliation shared that view, and 68 percent said there is more than one true way to interpret the teachings of their own religion.”
John 14:6: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
After yesterday’s post, I got an e-mail from someone saying, “I hope I can be as sure as you are one day that I’ll be in Heaven.”
For you, or anyone else, Jesus is THE WAY. He is the only way. I believe with everything inside of me that Jesus is the way. I believe all of his teachings. I believe that He is the son of God, yet He came to earth as man and lived a life without sin. After He was hung on a cross to die, He arose 3 days later and now sits on His throne in Heaven. These truths are what I’ve built my life upon. Believing in God is not just “fire insurance” to keep me out of hell - I truly believe that Jesus has saved me. And I am His child. That is why I’m so sure I will spend eternity in Heaven.
Have I ever doubted before? YES! Doubt is a response that many believers have dealt with. It’s one of the biggest tools that the devil has in his toolbox. The more we doubt, the less we believe, and that is the devil’s main goal. Never let doubt consume your life. God has given you the truth. God is not a God of confusion or disorder. He has made it very clear that He is the only way to Heaven. Now you just have to trust and hold on to what you know in your heart to be true.
I don’t think a lot about death, but I think that there may be some people who think about it a lot. I have no fear of death. However, I do hope to die a peaceful, pain-free death. The thought of burning to death, drowning, or dying a slow death of cancer does make me fearful. My prayer has always been, Lord, Please take me as quick as possible.
This morning as I was driving to work, I was listening to a Jars of Clay song called “All My Tears.” I’ve had the Good Monsters album since it came out (maybe a year or two?) and really didn’t like it at all at first, but it has grown on me a lot each time I listen to it. This song is amazing and you should listen to it. Here are the lyrics:
“All My Tears”
When I go, don’t cry for me In my Father’s arms I’ll be
The wounds this world left on my soul Will all be healed and I’ll be whole.
Sun and moon will be replaced With the light of Jesus’ face
And I will not be ashamed For my Savior knows my name.
Gold and silver blind the eye Temporary riches lie
Come and eat from heaven’s store, Come and drink, and thirst no more
It don’t matter where you bury me, I’ll be home and I’ll be free.
It don’t matter where I lay,All my tears be washed away
So, weep not for me my friends,When my time below does end
For my life belongs to Him Who will raise the dead again.
I’ve been thinking about this song a lot so far today. Most importantly, I’ve tried to focus on having an eternal mindset. I feel like my life would look a lot different if everyday I knew this was only a temporary part of life. I know that I don’t think about Heaven nearly enough. I really can’t put it much better than Andrew Peterson in the song “Lay Me Down.”
“Lay Me Down”
So when you lay me down to die
I’ll miss my boys, I’ll miss my girls
Lay me down and let me say goodbye to this world
You can lay me anywhere
But just remember this
When you lay me down to die
You lay me down to live
I believe in the holy shores of uncreated light
I believe there is power in the blood
And all of the death that ever was,
If you set it next to life
I believe it would barely fill a cup
‘Cause I believe there’s power in the blood
How awesome is that - “All of the death that ever was, if you set it next to life - I believe it would barely fill a cup. Cause I believe there’s power in the blood!”
Heaven is going to be an awesome place - a place where I know I will spend eternity. I know for sure without a doubt that I will meet Jesus face to face and spend eternity with Him. I know that I do not fully comprehend the word eternity. To quote the old hymn, “When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be.”
**Andrew Peterson’s album the Far Country is entirely based around this incredible truth. The music is amazing, and the lyrics are just as powerful. When I die, I think I could have the whole album played at my funeral. The album closes with a song called “More” and I’ll end this post the same way. Do yourself a favor and download the whole album of The Far Country.**
“More”
This is not the end here at this grave
This is just a hole that someone made
Every hole was made to fill
And every heart can feel it still–
Our nature hates a vacuum
This is not the hardest part of all
This is just the seed that has to fall
All our lives we till the ground
Until we lay our sorrows down
And watch the sky for rain
There is more
More than all this pain
More than all the falling down
And the getting up again
There is more
More than we can see
From our tiny vantage point
In this vast eternity
There is more
A thing resounds when it rings true
Ringing all the bells inside of you
Like a golden sky on a summer eve
Your heart is tugging at your sleeve
And you cannot say why
There must be more
There is more
More than we can stand
Standing in the glory
Of a love that never ends
There is more
More than we can guess
More and more, forever more
And not a second less
There is more than what the naked eye can see
Clothing all our days with mystery
Watching over everything
Wilder than our wildest dreams
Could ever dream to be
There is more
I have been looking forward to this weekend for over a month now. I’ll be leaving right after work to head to the beautiful Pisgah National Forest. I’ve been listening to bluegrass music all week just to prepare and I feel like I’m ready to go.
We camp right next to the Davidson River about a 1/2 mile up the trail from the Fish Hatchery. However, it seems that about 80% of the time that I go, it rains. And a couple of times, it has poured rain (once was the outer band of a hurricane and it was miserable). It may very well rain from the time we get there tonight until we leave Sunday morning, but there is still hope. Even if it rains, there will no place I’d rather be. Right now it on weather.com, it says that there is a 40% chance of rain from the time we arrive until we leave.
The current header on the top of the blog was taken on my last trip. It’s a picture of the Davidson River as the sun was rising. Morning is by far my favorite time of the day while I’m there as you can see the sunlight coming up and through the trees. It’s absolutley beautiful.
If you’ve never been up to Brevard or the surronding areas, you’ve got to go. Even if you’re not a hiker, hit the Blue Ridge Parkway and drive until you just can’t afford gas any longer (which may not be too far since gas costs $10/gallon. The Parkway is awesome though and I really could spend hours driving along. One of these days I’d like to take a week long vacation and drive along the entire parkway from start to finish camping and exploring along the way.
So, pray that we don’t drown this weekend and that we have dry pillows and clothes. I’ll have some pictures up upon our return.
Maybe I shouldn’t be a worship leader. Here’s what I read yesterday that put this idea in my mind. (Do not go any farther until you’ve read this post or the rest of this blog will make NO SENSE to you. Just make sure to come back, because that blog is really a TON more interesting than this.) Here is how I scored on the metro-sexual worship leader test.
8. Wears jeans on stage = +1
27. Has ever said some form of the phrase, “That song is so 1990s” = +1
28. Owns a Grizzly Adams red and black flannel shirt = -2 (i have multiple ones!)
38. Wife accompanies him on stage and plays tambourine = -4 (let’s change this to -2, she accompanies me on stage but doesn’t play tambourine)
40. Knows the names of all the people on the scripted MTV show, “the Hills” = +3 (only b/c my wife watches it)
So thanks to the Hills for getting me out of the negative range and helping me to score a +1 on the test. I’m sorry I don’t drink coffee, I don’t wear girl jeans, I don’t use any productin my hair, I have no tattoos or man bags, but I did have a goatee at one time. And I did own some Vans in middle school.
I really thought this was hilarious though and it just confirmed what I already knew. I’m not your stereo-typical worship leader of today’s churches/church plant.
I’ve been leading worship for some time now. I guess you could trace it all the way back to high school youth group. I really enjoy leading worship because I get to take part in 2 of my favorite things - worshipping God and playing music. It can’t get much better than that. From the time I started playing music, I always wanted to be in a band. What musician hasn’t? As time has gone on, the Big Man Upstairs God has made it clear - that just isn’t me. That sucks doesn’t it? It took me awhile to understand who God had called me to be. I feel like I have learned to be me. I am who God created me to be. He’s given me talents and ability to play music. He’s given me a love for music. With my love of music, my love for the Lord has grown as well. I love to enjoy music with others and most importantly to see it be used as a tool to bring others into a time of worship with God.
I don’t have the greatest voice and I don’t have a lot to say when I lead, but somehow God is able to use me for His kingdom and I’m thankful for that.
Hey everyone, I’ve added a new page today called Melodies. Go on over and take a look. It’s a page where I will be letting you know what music I’ve been listening to and what you should check it out. Who knows how often it will be updated, but it will at least be fun for me to write about!
When I was in college, I played at this little coffee shop called Moose Mountain on Market Street in downtown Charleston. I would play about 2-3 times a month on Friday or Saturday nights. I played for at least a full semester if not longer. I really can’t remember. This was my main source of income during college as I didn’t have a true job. Not to sound cliche, but I really viewed college as my job and spent hours in the library studying so that I could make the best grades possible. My goal was a 4.0 for every semester, so I spent most of my time studying.
Each time I played, I was paid $50 plus tips. Sometimes tips would be $100, and sometimes they would be $15. More than anything, it was a lot of fun for me, and I was able to pick up some extra change. After I came back from Christmas break my sophomore year, I called to set up more dates. I’ll never forget what the owner told me. She said, “We have received some complaints and our main customer base does not like the music you play.” I still have no idea what their main customer base was and I still don’t understand how they didn’t like the music. It still gets me fired up just thinking about it.
This was about the biggest hit I have ever taken. Nobody wants to be told that they aren’t good. I remember being on the verge of tears and also angry when I called my mom. I’ll never forget what she said to me. She said that God always opens new doors when He closes another one. I was like, yeah whatever, blah blah blah blah blah.
It was less than a week later when I got a call from FBC in Moncks Corner SC and within a month I started as a worship leader for their brand new contemporary service.
I was blown away. I was about as down as I could have been when I couldn’t get any more dates at a small little coffee shop in Charleston. But sure enough, just like mom said, God will open more doors. I will never forget this lesson I learned. I am sure that God will be closing more doors in the future, but I have learned that He will always open new ones. And He normally opens them in places where you least expect it.
My experience at Moncks Corner for my last 2 1/2 years at college was incredible. There were tons of nice folks there and I was able to serve on a church staff full of seasoned leaders and I really learned a lot from them. I was able to grow as a worship leader and gain tons of experience in different areas.
In the future, I hope that when God closes one door, I really trust that He will open one more. Too many times I doubt God’s provision, but whenever I look back on my life, I see that he has always provided above and beyond what I need.
Genesis 2:2 - so on the seventh day, He rested from all His work.
It seems like for the couple of years since I started working at the bank, I’ve rarely been able to enjoy a true “day of rest.” Life seems to be somewhat settling down now. From October until June, I was doing 5 services on Sundays plus a 40 hour work week at the 9-5 day job. Not to mention the couple nights each week that I spent preparing for Sunday. Now, I’m not complaining or asking for any sympathy. I believe that was a season in life that I was in for a reason. Most importantly, we were able to nearly eliminate all debt other than our mortgage which was our goal. That’s for another post though.
Needless to say, I never enjoyed anything close to a day of rest except for a holiday or vacation here or there. Life just seemed to be passing me by day by day. I didn’t have time for myself, my family, or for other things that I enjoy. Just ask my wife, I need more down time/alone time than the normal person. It most likely borders on being sinful laziness at times.
Today I feel like I’ve made up for lost time. I met up with my good friend Terry Friday night at 10pm to head out to Lake Wateree with hopes of landing some big catfish. Well, we never had a bite on any lines we had in the water and we stayed until nearly 3am. For the last hour, we really didn’t even care about fishing, it was just a time of great conversation and relaxation. Today I slept off and on until probably 2 in the afternoon. The only thing I have done of any significance all day is load and unload the dishwasher (and water the grass since it refuses to rain here in our neck of the woods.) I’ve really been enjoying listening to the new Jon Foreman album Summer. It’s the final release of his 4 seasonal EP’s (Winter, Spring, Summer, And Fall). You really should go check it out. Go ahead and buy all 4.
I believe in the power of a “day of rest.” It rejuvenates, renews, and enriches your spirit and attitude. It enables you to appreciate life more fully. At least it does for me. However, I couldn’t do this for another day. I think I’d be bored out of my mind. But today boredom has been the farthest thing from my mind.
I’ll leave you with some of the lyrics to the first song on the album summer
“Again”
Oh Lord God of our fathers this day let it be known
That You Lord are God of the present tense
And to me Oh Lord, Let Your people know
That you’re turning our hearts back to You, Again
Holy, Holy, You alone are true - Turn us back to You
If you pay attention to technology or even most of the internet news sites, you’ve seen the article about the new Apple iPhone. Now, I’ve only seen and messed around with one of these and it is rather awesome. It’s been dropped and still worked with a cracked screen. So, it’s definitely an impressive hand held machine phone music player GPS navigator e-mail sending piece of metal.
Here’s the news, Apple dropped the price WAY down on these little phones. It’s now $200 cheaper. Hmm, maybe I’ll go get a iPhone now that it only costs $199.00. Ooopsss…nevermind. Check this out.
It’s really more expensive. Huh? What?
Yes, the new iPhone is cheaper but the monthly plan is more expensive. It’s $10/month more which equals $240 more over the life of the 2 year mandatory contract with AT&T. So the phone is cheaper, but the plan is more. It ends up being $40 more expensive if you compare the old phone and old plan to the new phone and new plan. Plus, the back of the phone is made of plastic now instead of aluminum. Typical for these big companies - not just apple. It really drives me crazy. Consumerism in general drives me crazy. I drive myself crazy.
I always think to myself - I want, I want, I want….other people (the media, magazines, movies, and commericals,) try to communicate to me - I need, I need, I need–you really need this - you’d be cooler if you had this - you’d fit in more - you’d be hip….blah blah blah blah blah
Companies always try to find ways to encourage us to buy the newest thing. Trouble is, you can never keep up. The computer I bought (a HP by the way) a few months ago is now out of date. For what I bought my 30gb iPod for a year ago, I can now buy 80gb (and it looks cooler and has this neat scrolling function). Sorry to all of those that spent $3,000 on an HDTV 2 years ago, and it’s now only $1,000 for an even better picture.
Chances are that I’ll never have an iPhone. Mainly b/c I have Verizon and you’ve got to have AT&T. I love my iPod and when it breaks (or when I drop it in a glass of water again) I will definitely get a new one, but not until it breaks. I can’t keep up, and I never will be able to keep up - but most importantly, it doesn’t make sense to try to keep up, because you never will. Something newer is bound to come. And it will be sooner rather than later.
ps - I’m not an Apple hater. I love technology and apple rocks. I wish I had more Mac stuff. Just didn’t want you to think that this “new’ iPhone is really “cheaper.”
Edit: I read this post today and it gives you a little more detailed explanation on some of this. It’s worth a read. Click HERE.
As you may know, the midwest has been getting soaked with rain lately and the rivers and lakes have had about all they can take, creating some huge floods. One small town in Wisconsin was just about wiped out completely. I couldn’t imagine losing everything I own due to a flood, fire, tornado, or anything else, but hundreds of people have.
Check this out from msbnc.
The 267-acre lake emptied into the nearby Wisconsin River on Monday, washing out part of a highway, sweeping away three homes and tearing apart two others.
Don Kubenik, 68, burst into tears after seeing the 2,800-square-foot home he built in 2003 snapped into pieces when the lake’s embankment burst. The businessman from the Milwaukee suburb of West Allis said he spent every weekend there.
“That house had everything you can imagine and now it’s all gone,” said Kubenik, who was in West Allis when the lake overflowed. “My boat’s gone. The pier’s gone. Everything is gone.”
All I could say after reading this is WOW! I had a lot of different thoughts come through my mind (my first thought was, “well, at least you still have a house where you stay the other 5 days of the week and that’s better than the rest of your neighbors), but the main thought was this: When you die, you die! You don’t take anything with you. You leave EVERYTHING behind.
You leave the balance of your 401k, your cars and trucks, your bank accounts, your boat, your guitars, your house (even your weekend house!), etc…etc…etc…
I have to admit I have a hard time finding a healthy balance in some areas of life and this is one. I am a natural saver (maybe even a hoarder). I do believe that my habits of saving are a Godly practice. But God has also called us to be cheerful givers. He doesn’t want money or posessions to be the god of our life. You can only serve ONE master. I seem to always try to serve two.
Most importantly, I always strive to be a good steward of what God has given me. I don’t want to waste the resources He’s provided. I believe that everything I have comes from God - even the clothes on my body. It’s not mine - it’s His. One of my biggest goals is to have an eternal focus, and not a earthly focus.
This is not my home. Heaven is where I belong and I can’t take anything with me - not even my weekend house (which is the same as my monday through friday house)! Plus, there is more to life than just accumulating stuff! But that’s for another day.
Thank God for music.
I don’t know where I’d be without it. In the 7th grade, I got my first guitar - a little 6 string yamaha. It actually was a great starter guitar and I still have it today, although I haven’t touched it in years. I used to spend hours in my room in middle school and high school learning songs and techniques. 90% of the time I was learning James Taylor ( who sang the national anthem at Game 1 of NBA finals last night - it was an awesome version - much better than the normal national anthem trash). His style of playing has always been one that I wanted to imitate. Leading worship doesn’t provide many opportunities to implement his techniques and I think that I’ve gotten a little sloppy on it lately, but everytime I listen to JT, I get inspired. He really knows how to make a guitar sing like no other - pull offs, hammer on’s, and sweet fingerpicking. I vividly remember sitting in my room around the 9th or 10th grade listening to “Shower the People” and learning it note for note from start to finish. I never thought I’d be able to do it, but it finally came together.
Anyway, I’ve had some fun musical adventures lately and some coming up that I’ve got to share with you.
Wednesday my old roommate Dave called and said Sims was having a Martin guitar clinic. Basically 2 guys who work for Martin were there to take a look at your guitar and answer questions about any problems. This was great for me because my Martin D-42 has been sick lately. The “B” string just refuses to stay in tune which led to tuning in the middle of songs or in between songs as discreetly as possible. This old man took a look and seemed to really know Martin guitars inside and out. He did a little work and it sure feels nice (and he put on some new strings for free - not elixirs, but I’ll take it!). I’ve yet to see how it will stay in tune, but I have high hopes.
While I was in Sims, I made a few other purchases with a nice big gift card I’ve been holding on to for about a month. I was able to cash in with a Fender Blues Jr. Amp, and a very nice vintage Tubescreamer pedal. A volume pedal and blues drive pedal were added as well. All in all this should round out my electric set up pretty well as I already have the DL-4 for some sweet delay. I don’t play all that much electric, but this seems to be exactly what I need. It’s amazing how much sound comes out of the little amp.
Playing electric really is not my strength at all, but I’ve enjoyed growing and learning how to do different things. It’s so different from what I’m used to doing, and it’s been nice to strech myself to go beyond my comfort zone. This weekend I’ll be up at White Oak practicing and helping a group from Summersalt (a camp for SC baptist youth). We’ll be recording on Monday and I’m responsible for the electric work. I’m excited to be able to contribute to the project, but more importantly, it’s given me an avenue to perfect and strengthen my skills in the electric world.
Thank God for music.
If you’ve ever picked up a Sports Illustrated and opened to the back page, then you know Rick Reilly. Well, he doesn’t write for SI anymore as far as I know. He and Dan Patrick switched places it seems. (Patrick is with SI now and Reilly writes for ESPN).
**If you are not a sports fan, don’t stop reading, this has nothing to do with sports**
I just read Reilly’s first article with ESPN the magazine and thought it was awesome.
The article tells of the relationship between Reilly and his alcoholic father. I don’t want to spoil it for you, so please check it out. I really think that there is a lot to be learned from this article.
“Golf taught me the lessons my dad never did, including the best one: You play life where it lies. You hit it there. You play it from there. Nobody threw you a nasty curve or forgot to block the defensive end. I learned that my mistakes were mine alone…”
So my friends, play life where it lies, don’t complain…take what you’ve been given and make the best of it.
It’s been one of those months. You know, when you seem to have to spend money on everything? We’ve been tremendously blessed, so don’t think that I’m complaining - I’m just sharing it with you. If you’ve been reading my blog so far, you’ll notice that I’m big on saving money and not spending money. My motto is “Always spend way less than you earn!” It may be next to impossible for us to do that this month.
Here’s why:
1 - Our garage door quit for the second time in as many years. It seems that when lightning strikes even 10 miles away, it fries the circuit board. Last time it happened, we replaced just the circuit board. We also plugged it in to a surge protector. Well, it happened again. This repair guy (from a different company) said that we should have replaced the whole unit last time. So now we’ve got a brand new unit. Total cost - $250. This is a worthwhile luxury in my book. I lived in an apartment for 2 years and hiked up 3 flights of stairs with tons of groceries in the rain, or with 2 guitars and an amp. Because of this, I appreciate every time I punch that button and watch the door open.
2 - Car taxes. We were planning on this, but it still is no fun. $250 for a 2004 Saturn Vue? Seriously?
3 - Did I mention that I had a run in with a piece of plywood on the interstate a few weeks ago? It came from nowhere and was literally flying through the air. At 70mph, it hit me head on. One foot higher and I may have never started a blog, unless you can blog from Heaven, which I haven’t seen any of those. Total cost - $500 deductible. (probably won’t get this fixed until July)
4 - Speeding Ticket - $150. Enough said.
That’s a total of $1150 for unexpected/abnormal monthly expenses. You just can’t budget for that kind of stuff. Sure, we could pass on fixing the garage door. I could bypass getting my car fixed, but I’m not. The car is less than 2 years old. I plan on driving into the ground. I don’t want to drive a beat up car for the next 5 years. I’ve got insurance, I’ve never filed a claim, and I pay them too much every month to not use it when I need it right?
As a 26 year old married homeowner, these types of things are inevitable. There will be months where it’s hard to stay ahead. One thing we have really focused on in the past year is building up an emergency fund. The first thing we did was to build up a small $1,000 fund. After this, we paid off 2 loans way ahead of time ( the previously mentioned vue and a student loan). Now that those are paid off, our goal is to save up 3 months worth of expenses. At this point we are about 90% finished with that.
With that being said, having these unexpected expenses really stinks, but it will not hurt us. It won’t have to go on a credit card, and we won’t have to put off fixing the things that have broken. And of course we’ve got no choice on the taxes or ticket. So, plan for the unexpected and start an emergency fund. Hopefully we won’t have to even take money out of the emergency fund to cover these expenses, but we probably won’t be able to contribute anything to it this month either. And, we’ll have to cut back in some other areas for the month. Most imporantly though, it’s there if we need it.
In the future, I’ll have some more stuff about emergency funds and other things, so stay tuned.
I ran across an interesting article this morning on the internet, which reminded me of another article that I read a few weeks ago. Both are extremely interesting to me because they each show an example of extreme living. One is extremely frugal (cheap, thrifty, or whatever you want to call it) and the other spends way more than he has. Here are the links:
Here’s a quick overview if you don’t want to go to the links:
1. Basically, this guy in California buys 9 houses as investment properties in “hot markets” across the west in California, Nevada, and Arizona. He put a small percentage down payment on “negative amortization loans — in which payments do not cover the interest so that a borrower’s balance grows over time.” With these types of loans, if the value of the house doesn’t increase significantly, the balance on the mortgage is more than the property is worth. It’s never wise to put all your eggs in the same basket like this guy did, but he made it even worse by gambling that each market would keep growing at a very fast rate. He could have very easily made a ton of money, but now he stands to lose 9 houses and have his credit ruined for years to come after he files for bankruptcy. Let’s just say he’ll be using cash for everything for a long time, which isn’t such a bad thing by the way.
2. Honestly, I had never heard of dumpster divers before. These are people who live normal lives, and have normal, good paying jobs. They get furniture, appliances, art, clothes, and EVEN FOOD out of dumpsters. One lady gets 99% of her food from the dumpster. Some people treat it like a treasure hunt and find a lot of joy in it. This is a lifestlye that they have chosen to live in order to be frugal. The article goes beyond just dumpster divers and has examples of other extreme frugality. One lady will get extra napkins at a resturant and bring them home. She’s also been using the same roll of paper towels since 2006.
Frugal living has been a big buzzword lately with prices rapdily increasing on things that we use and need on a regular basis. Groceries and gas prices have gone off the charts and salaries aren’t keeping up with it (at least mine isn’t). There a tons of blogs out there that deal with how to live a frugal life.
I strive to live a “frugal life,” but not to this extreme. I like to take both ends of the spectrum and try to settle somewhere in between. I try to take some risks in investing, but I don’t put all of my eggs in the same basket. Stay diversified. Without taking some risks, you will not experience the traditional gains of the market, but don’t risk it all. Be wise about it. As far as living a frugal life, if I were to take it to the extreme, I’d lose my mind. I hate to cut coupons. It seems to take forever and it doesn’t seem to make a huge difference. I’m sure it does for some people, but they probably enjoy the whole process. I don’t enjoy it, so I don’t do it. It’s not rewarding for me. I’ve read some stories of people who reuse ziploc bags. I’m sorry, but I would NEVER do this. Yes, I could probably save $100 per year, but that’s not worth it for me, because I would lose my mind in the process. I try to make a difference in other areas.
For example, I always get water when we eat out. I used to drink about 6 cokes a day, now, it’s zero. It costs about $2 for a coke these days when you eat out, and that can add up if you eat out a lot. I also don’t eat out a lot. My wife and I go to about 1 nice resturant each month and I bring my lunch every day at work. This saves a ton of money. Yes, eating a sandwhich every day isn’t thrilling, but I don’t mind doing that (my one weakness is a weekly craving for frostys from wendy’s). Eating out for lunch will run you about $5 a day. I can eat a sandwich every day for less than $10 for the whole week.
If you know me very well, I HATE to spend money on clothes. I will wear something for as long as I can which normally means I’m way behind on the latest fashions. I also love to watch movies, but for us to go on a date to the movies will cost over $20 just for the movie and popcorn, not counting dinner before. So we don’t go to the movie theatre unless it’s a special occasion. I do subscribe to Blockbuster online though and for $12 each month we can watch as many movies as we want to. Yes this is a luxury, but I love to watch movies, and this also keeps me from buying DVD’s at the store. I have probably bought 2 or 3 DVD’s in the 3 years we’ve been married, compared to hundreds in college (not very wise back then).
Here’s the point - someone of you will disagree with what I do, and that’s fine. I will disagree with what some of you do and that’s fine. For me, I think Starbucks is the BIGGEST waste of money ever. I mean, $4 for a cup of coffee - AND you get it EVERY DAY? Seriously? But for others of you, you cut back in other places, because you love that coffee and to fix it at home would not be the same.
I want to be frugal and wise with my money. I want to save and find ways to be creative to save money, but everyone has to find what works for them. Set goals and reach them. Most importantly, ALWAYS spend less than you earn and make sure that your net worth is always growing! Could we save more than we do now? YES! We save a lot already, but we could cut out cable, internet, cell phones, and any entertainment expenses. However, we have found a happy medium and learned what works best for us.
Leave some comments on how you or your family is able to save money!
