burn, baby, burn.

thanks to dave ramsey and his addition to my growing, unwitting self-help library, we are on a "fiscal diet" and undergoing a total money makeover. most of the time i am one to balk at self-help books, especially on audiotape for some reason. it's something about the reader's voice and the expression. i don't totally buy into manifesting your dreams to come true and all the other mumbo jumbo that is often misread, misused, and taken completely out of context. so when joe suggested i listen to this one with 3 discs, i wasn't jumping up and down about it. but now i am converted, sold! dave ramsey is the smartest man in america [as far as i know] when it comes to managing your money. [although he could really use a better catch phrase*.] it is thanks to dave that we have now got our budget under control. i might even be a little obsessed with budget. [or am i "gazelle intense"?**] there's something to say about knowing exactly where every penny is going and why, it's empowering. so my spending budget is still extremely minuscule, but i have a purpose and that makes it okay somehow.

today marks an important day in our trek down total-money-makeover road. we've hit our first mile marker, our first credit card has a zero balance. paid off. goodbye to account xxxxxxxx7874. it's ca-losed, shut. down. take that B of A! just try and rip us off now. joe insisted we ritualize burning each credit card as it is paid off. i guess he's afraid it might just materialize back in our wallets against our wishes. i realize that credit cards are evil, honey, and finance charges are diabolic, but it's not like it's a ouiji board. however, it is fun...


*dave's idea of a catchy phrase: "if you'll live like no one else, later you will live like no one else."
**you're just going to have to listen to the audio cd.

disco inferno - the trammps