4 Walls

Walls? What?

Kristen, I thought this was about money and debt and that kinda stuff, not walls.

Before I lose you, let me explain. There's this guy, I talk about him all the time, you might've heard of him. He goes by the name Dave, last name Ramsey. Ya, he's awesome. Has completely changed our lives and he has this idea that he calls the 4 walls. Basically it's a way to prioritize things and to make sure that the essentials are taken care of.

1. Shelter. Rent or mortgage, whatever you need to pay to keep a roof over your head.
2. Food. Your family needs to eat. Sometimes that means you're eating ramen and (gag me) macaroni and cheese but what's important is that you're eating.
3. Utilities. Make sure the lights and heat are on and the water is running. That's important.
4. Transportation. Keep gas in your car and if you have a car payment stay current. Don't forget insurance either. You need to have a car to get to your job to pay your bills. Does that mean you need a $40,000 car? Uh, I'm gonna say probably not but you do need cheap, reliable transportation.

When Greg and I were out of work we had to make some tough choices. And using this 4 wall plan made it easier for us to focus on what was most important. Sometimes when you're looking at all of the bills due it can just be overwhelming. Especially if you have credit cards or other loans. After all if you miss a payment or pay late, you'll probably get hit with a fee and other penalties but you need to take a step back and take care of essentials first. It doesn't make sense to be current on your credit cards but to not have food in the house. I'm definitely not advocating ignoring your debts. Don't read that into anything I have ever said or will ever say, if you created the mess you'd better clean it up! But you do need to be wise when you have limited resources.

Take care of essentials and then work towards paying the rest. Little by little you will get things under control.

I promise.