My friend, Ruth, emailed me last night with the following. I thought some of you would be encouraged by reading it so I asked her permission to share it here:
Last night, someone stole the catalytic converter off my car. Apparently they’ve got some kind of precious metal in them, so thieves use a saw to cut them off people’s car super quickly–they got 4 in our apt complex.
I went through the process of filing a police report, insurance claim, and driving the car over to the repair shop. As we were driving home, David (my husband) said something like, “Well, at least we have our emergency fund and this won’t make much of a dent in it.”
And I realized that in all the stress of those hours, I hadn’t worried once about how we were going to pay for the repair. The power of being mostly-debt free (we just have a small student loan left to pay off)! -Ruth
amy says
I hate reading about all the problems that everyone has encountered but I love the happy endings! We have been working the Dave Ramsey plan since the beginning of the year. I actually calculated it out last night and we have already paid off almost $20,000 in debt. We should be debt-free except for the house by the end of the year (knock on wood!) I get so much encouragement from reading how people have gotten debt-free. Everyone keep sharing!!!
fanged bunny says
Had the pleasure of having our catalytic converter hacked off while on vacation at a ski resort. It was in a small town in Vermont. The sherrif popped in the one car repair shop, and found us there on a Sunday. The thieves tried to hawk the part the following day. A small litigation was brought, and we were reimbursed in whole.
Good for you for having the funds and the safety net. Working towards ours, one day at a time.
Allison W says
We just became debt-free except for our mortgage! 🙂 We have an 8 month old daughter, our first, and I was very sad about having to go back to work because I’ve always wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. It seemed impossible, though… I mean, we’re both teachers for crying out loud! But we were very blessed to have my mom watch our daughter when I went back to work, which saved us money on child care, and I was able to use my paychecks to pay down our debt. It was like a light bulb went off when I asked for my remaining balance on my car payment at the bank, I realized that I could pay it off in a couple of months if I put my entire paycheck towards it. Then my inlaws offered to trade cars with my husband, who needed a new car badly, so they could trade it in for their new car, and we could have their (also old, but in much better shape) car. Done! Suddenly we didn’t have to worry about a car payment! Then we set our sights on my husband’s college loan. It was a huge leap of faith, but we took $10,000 from our savings and paid that off for good. We’re left with not very much in our savings, but it’s enough to deal with an emergency if it comes up. What a blessing! And I quit my job! I’ll be staying home full time starting in August! I’m going to look for some part time work to help out a little as well… my husband is a little nervous about living on just one paycheck, but I really feel like God held my hand through this process and called me to stay home and guided me on what to do to make that happen. What a relief! And every time something has come up, like my husband panicked a little about his credit card bill (he puts his gas payments on the credit card for the rewards and then pays them off every month), that same day my mom found some old bonds of mine that relatives had gifted me in the 80’s. It really feels like God is watching over us and protecting us and encouraging us that we’re doing the right thing. Thank You!!!
And Crystal… thank you so much for this website. My husband and I check it every day, and reading your journey to becoming a work-at-home mom really inspired me to know that I can do it too. You have touched our lives and I’m sure countless others by doing what you do! 🙂
Chris says
Even more so than going into your emergency fund, do you have any comprehensive insurance on your car? This would be covered, after meeting your deductible.
RuthS says
Yes, the insurance is covering it. Emergency fund just has to cover the deductible 🙂
Leanne says
This is awesome!! We have had so many situations like this – sick animals, broken windshields, car accidents where the car is totaled, etc. We will be debt free NEXT MONTH after 4 hard years of paying off debt and cannot wait to live with even more financial freedom.
RuthS says
Way to go!!!
jennifer says
I’m so looking forward to that feeling of being debt-free with a fully funded account for emergencies. Can’t wait!
Em says
We had the same realization this morning. We have 3100 in truck repairs and now our van is in the shop. We saved our tax return and some other “extra” income over the past year and although the fun things will have to put off, the rest of our budget will remain intact.
Everyone needs a budget with some put aside for emergency situations. I believe that car repairs should be a category of it’s own, not always an emergency!
David says
We do have a car repair fund but it’s small at the moment, partially because we have decent cars (paid off a year or two ago but were new or almost new when we got them) that don’t need much service. I do think “thievery” is a perfect legitimate emergency that wouldn’t otherwise be planned for (outside of having insurance which is saving us $500 on the repair), but I’d be ok using car repair money if it was there too 🙂
–David (Ruth’s husband from post)
Amie says
I’m sorry about your car. As for your efforts to be debt-free, good for you! I am still very much in debt, but I am working on it. It wasn’t until 2 years ago that I finally put aside an emergency fund. It has been great. I actually haven’t even touched it! We’ve paid down around $10,000 in debt during this time. I will be dipping into the e-fund soon enough though, I have a baby on the way and I have a few hundred left to pay oop before my insurance starts covering 80%. I also didn’t have disability insurance when I got pregnant so I will be losing income during my maternity leave. We put our tax refund aside to pay medical bills and cover lost income, but we will still be short. We just found more ways to cut back and have shaved over $100 off our bills. This will cover the increase in daycare. I worked it out to have my older son bused to my job so I won’t have to pay for after care for him and it will balance out. As I look at all of this, I am not all that worried. Just having a plan, makes me feel better. I can’t wait to be debt-free.
RuthS says
Babies certainly didn’t help us on the route to debt-freedom 🙂 But I’m glad you have a plan–babies are worth all the financial hassles for sure!
RuthS says
Babies definitely make the route to debt-freedom harder, but they are certainly worth it. Glad you have such a good plan!
RuthS says
Sorry, wasn’t trying to reply twice. Internet ate my first comment 🙂
Lana says
My husband was unemployed for 9 months 2 years ago and we came through it without much trouble at all because we were prepared and debt free except for our mortgage.
We have 14 months until our mortgage is paid off and it is SO exciting!!
amy says
Good for you Lana!!!!
Ashley R says
My husband and I are from from debt free but we are working on it. We have been very thankful though that we had some money saved up when he was unexpectedly laid off last year. I can’t say we never worried, but that extra money allowed us to keep up to date on our bills and have food in the house. This was the second time he lost his job. The first time we didn’t have any money saved and it was much more stressful. I will always be grateful for that emergency fund!!
Doreen says
We recently had a similar light bulb moment. My husband has been mostly out of work for the last 2 months and during these two months the stove burned up and the alternator on our car went out and cost 600 to fix. And these things, while they were major, did not disturb us at all. We dont have a huge savings account, but we spend carefully. The thing that made all the difference is that we dont have any debt and live in an older but paid for mobile home. Being debt free really makes you free indeed and makes the stresses of life so much easier to handle!