Wisdom and Emotion Collide

In the summer of 2007, after months and months of researching and searching, I bought the vehicle of my dreams - a Toyota Tundra. It was love at first sight and I was thrilled to have it. This vehicle provided me with the ability to go and do so many things that I otherwise would not have been able to do. It also provided many opportunities for me to serve others, which I felt had become a positive obligation; I enjoyed very much helping people in all sorts of circumstances and situations because of the fact that I had a truck.

I never in my wildest dreams thought of selling or getting rid of my truck. The thought made me shudder. I was planning on keeping my truck until 'death do us part.' I had become emotionally attached to it. And as dumb as that sounds - becoming attached to a beautifully shaped piece of metal with a roaring engine - it's true. I admit it. So you can imagine how I felt when I came to the decision to sell Squirt, my truck. H.E.A.R.T. B.R.O.K.E.N.

With the amount of driving I do for my job I got sick of listening to the variety of music stations offered in southeast Idaho. My favorite CDs were even becoming drab to listen to. I flipped from FM to AM and found my new 'radio addiction' - the Rush Limbaugh, Laura Ingrahm, Glenn Beck, and Dave Ramsey programs. This is where it all started - the Dave Ramsey program. For those of you who don't know who Dave Ramsey is or know anything about him, he is a financial advisor who helps people get out of debt and become wealthy through a very basic, simple, straight-forward process that is tried and proven a million times over. (Check out his website to get the whole gig; it's awesome stuff if you're serious about getting out of debt).

Before listening to Dave I was ho-humming my way out of debt, which was beginning to prove to be unprofitable unless I wanted to spend the rest of my life in debt. I got hooked. I wanted to become serious about getting out of debt. After crunching some numbers and looking at all of my debts I realized I was in a lot deeper in debt than I had been kidding myself to be in. I was determined to do everything it took to get out of debt.....except sell my truck that is. It really wasn't that big of a debt or that expensive to keep. (Did I mention something about kidding myself?). I was. It took me about a month to finally stop kidding around and make the decision to sell my truck - my biggest debt and monthly payment, not to mention the $300+/mo. in gas. This is where wisdom and emotion collide.

Wisdom won, as you might have suspected. I posted my truck on Craigslist on April 26th. An interested buyer came to look at it and take it for a spin on May 2nd. It sold on May 7th. Heartbroken? Very. Blessed? Undeniably. And I might add, strangely happy knowing I had just made a BIG step towards my financial freedom.

I was even more blessed by being able to buy a very reliable, fuel-efficient vehicle - 2004 Hyundai Elantra. I bought this vehicle from a good friend who also jumped on the getting-out-of-debt bandwagon. Her mode of transportation now is a bike. (How fuel-efficient, green, and awesome is that!?!). Totally the way to go. I'd jump on that bandwagon in a heartbeat if I could. Anyway, I am saving hundreds of dollars now just from selling my truck. It's amazing to see that money go towards my other debts making them smaller and smaller each paycheck instead of seeing it go into a black bottomless pit. Even though a part of my identity was taken (as a co-worker stated) and even though I miss my truck a lot I know that it is worth it in the long run. As Dave Ramsey says, "Live like nobody else now, so you can live like nobody else later."