Just over 2 years in, and we’re still truckin along
My wife and I realized that we’re just over 2 years in to this bankruptcy. A lot of things have changed since we started this. We have made a new chart of our progress, and we’re still trucking along.
Here is a new picture of our chart:
As you can see from the chart (and the surrounding stuff) my wife and I do our best to motivate ourselves and our 2 kids with quotes that we find that are helpful, reminders of how far we’ve come (the chart, including the filled-in spaces for braces and 2 used replacement vehicles we bought), and reminders of what our family is all about (the family mission statement that we made with our kids, and the Dave Ramsey baby steps).
My favorite quote from the chart so far?
“Character is what you have left when you’ve lost everything you can lose”
-Evan Espar
Inspiration: The Farhat family
From Paper or Plastic? Family Saves With Cash:
After 30 days, the pair calculated their spending decreased 24 percent when compared to the previous month.
Inspiration: Robert and Helena
From this post at JosephSangl.com:
Yep. That’s cut-up-credit-card-goodness.
Nuff said.
(Reminds me a bit of our approach to credit cards) 
Inspiration: The Economides family
Sometimes, it’s important to remind yourself that you’re going to get through this.
You can do it.
How do I know? Because of people like the Economides family.
When you need some inspiration, just print out the article 8 Lessons I Learned From The Cheapest Family In The Nation and put it on your nightstand for repeated evening reading.
From the article:
- The family paid off their house in 9 years even as their income averaged $33,000 a year. Of course, the ease of pulling this off would depend on the original cost of their home.
- They spend $350 per month for food and disposable items covering paper goods, cleaning supplies and personal care items.
- They never use credit cards. Ever. For anything.
- Living this way means you need to plan, organize, shop wisely, communicate effectively (with the whole family), embrace teamwork, make sacrifices, prioritize frugality, and (perhaps most of all) stay determined.
