Faith and finances

There was a period a couple of years ago that Adam and I went several months with out contributing any money to any congregation or cause whatsoever.  We were feeling fine doing the paycheck to paycheck thing while Adam was in law school, but then our finances got hit big time.  Somehow, we egregiously miscalculated our taxes the previous year when I had been teaching private lessons and we found out that we owed 4000 dollars to the government.  There was no way we could have paid it.  This was a wake up call for us and after praying about it, we decided that we should make our first tithe in months to get our finances back in line.  The next day, Adam saw a poster at his law school advertising the continuing education tax credits.  He never knew about it and had not claimed it that year or the previous year.  After some recalculation, our tax bill was completely neutralized thanks to Obama.  Just kidding......thanks to God.

A lot of people would just call that a coincidence.   People get really uncomfortable when you start to talk about God rewarding "good" acts and punishing "bad" acts.  I'm sure there were people holier and more generous than me and Adam who had to pay their full tax bill that year and some people might use that fact to argue that our "coincidence" was not directly from God.  Granted, I don't think God is following us around making good things happen to us when we are good and making bad things happen when we are bad.  I do, however, think that God takes care of people who are trying to take care of other people in some pretty interesting ways.  I think a couple of things happen when you give.  1) I think it changes the heart of the giver.  When you have perspective on the blessings you have from God, you are freed from wanting more and more.  That helps finances in itself because you don't constantly buy crap you don't need. 2) I also think God brings money from unexpected, perhaps even miraculous, sources when you give even though you think you don't have the resources.  A lot of people manipulate this idea to preach the gospel of prosperity, the idea that if you just love God, contribute a little here and there, and work hard, you'll be set.  I once saw a license plate Pslm374 on a 60,000 dollar Mercedes.  The Psalm is "delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." That license plate really grossed me out.  If your delight is only in the Lord, do you still desire a Mercedes?  I'm not trying to condemn Mercedes buyers, but I don't agree with boasting that you have a nice car because you love God.

Anyway, I'll get to the point. The point is, Adam and I have been making the same financial mistake of not giving for the past several months.  I think this has set us back financially and spiritually. Call me crazy, but I think contributing our money could very well make our debt go away faster rather than slower.  That may not make any sense, and I don't have any proof of that other than very little experience and a gut feeling, but we're going to give it a shot anyway.  Thanks for reading.

Simplicity

It's great how simple it is to answer questions in my mind about what I can and can't buy.  Trying to buy clothes before now took major mental gymnastics with an inner dialogue that went something like this:

"Cute shirt. I want that!"
"Hmmm...Maybe you shouldn't buy it."
"No, it's been like 2 weeks since I've been shopping, and I've had a really tough week. It's only 25 bucks."
"Adam will be irritated if you buy it, most likely."
"I supported him through law school.  He can't say anything."
"Yes, great idea, you should say that to him when he calls you out for buying it when you just bought a whole new outfit two weeks ago. I'm bet this whole scenario will actually be great for your marriage."

I didn't always end up buying the shirt, but it happened enough that it was a problem.  Now the inner dialogue is this:

"Can I buy a shirt?"
"No."
"What about new shoes? Cheap ones from Target?"
"No."
"Can I at least go get a latte?"
"Do you have a gift card?"
"Ummmm.....no."
"Then....NO."
"Can I have-"
"No."

Here are all the cool things I have figured out that I can do:

-Download library books on to my Nook.
-Go running. 12 miles this morning. Not too shabby for a Wednesday.
-Lay out at my pool.
-Read magazines for free at Barnes and Noble.  I think the employees really like it when I do this, actually.
-Get caught up on all my lame TV shows on Hulu that I wouldn't dare force Adam to watch during the year.  Glee and Smash are like drugs that don't even really make you feel that awesome when you are high, but you still can't stop.
-Write a really lame blog. :)

I made a budget yesterday.  An actual excel document with a pie chart and everything.  I won't say how much money Adam and I make together, but if you do the math, you would know that we would have to put over 4,000 dollars a month toward our debt in order to pay off 100K in 2 years.  I'll go ahead and be honest and say that as a music teacher and entry level attorney, we cannot do that right now.  We are going to have to start off with about 3,500 per month until we get more side work together. I am teaching private lessons for the summer and that will help, but won't make up the entire difference.

Our spending this month is pretty well under control.  The only thing that was really disconcerting was our cell phone bill.  We both have IPhones, so we pay 130 dollars per month.  I had a no idea it was that much.  No. I. Dea. I use my phone constantly, but I'm kind of wondering if it is actually worth that much a month.  I listen to my phone on runs.  I use the navigation all the time.  It's what I surf the internet on.  It's my primary email source.  Okay, I think I just talked myself out of getting rid of it.  Ugh.

The running side of things is going fairly well. I logged my first 40 mile week in a long time and I'm working on a training plan for the Devil Mountain 50K at the end of September.  I feel fairly confident that I will be much better prepared for this 50K than my last 50k.

Food.

-by Adam-

This past weekend we went out with some friends in what we deemed will be our last fine-dining experience for these 2+ years until we’re debt free.  It was a going away party of sorts for us.  And a sad one for me because I love food.  Not only do I love food, I love expensive food.  I love expensive food and I love sharing it with my wife and my friends.  I can drop a Benjamin on dinner faster than you can say “Cabernet Sauvignon.”  And I like to do it often. 

At the restaurant Duo this weekend, our table shared Scallop Carpaccio, Anchovy Deviled Eggs, and Rabbit Rilletes.  Then I finished it off with a pork chop that would make Homer Simpson cry.  And with every bite, I was simultaneously euphoric and profoundly sad, because I knew this was it.  I know this way of living isn’t sustainable, isn’t responsible, and isn’t even morally acceptable for me. 

So we’re quitting.

My dad used to get very angry with me over cereal.  I ate cereal for breakfast probably 5,000 times between ages 4 and 18, and I loved all kinds.  But I refused to eat that last 1/10^th of the box of cereal—you know what I’m talking about, that part with all of the Lucky Charms dust, or the Frosted Flakes that have just become Frost.  And being the martyr he is, after getting angry with me he would combine the leftovers from three or four cereal boxes to make his own bowl of crumby, dusty cereal, and I would feel guilty the entire time I watched him eat it. 

I hope to learn a lot from our whole experience over these next two years, but one thing I hope to learn the most is the value of food.  I want to learn how it feels to not be able to get take-out or fast food every time we are too lazy to plan ahead, or worse, we have plenty of food but are too lazy or tired to make it.  No more “yeah we’ll just make that Chicken tomorrow night” or “that [insert perishable vegetable in fridge] will still be good in a couple of days right?”  If I’m out of decent food in the pantry on a Saturday afternoon, Jimmy John’s is not the answer—I am going to eat that can of vegetable soup that’s been sitting there for weeks, darn it.  We are going to buy lots of frozen meat and vegetables.  We are going to find a way to use our perishable items before they go bad.

 

We are going to have a back-up plan, because that sushi restaurant across the street is not an answer.

And when I’m too dumb or lazy to plan ahead, I will be thinking of my Dad with every bite of that mixture of Corn Chex, Froot Loops and Smacks that I have to eat.  

Training Recap:

Tuesday: Interval training- 6 miles
Wednesday: Trail run 6.5 miles
Thursday: Tabata 1.5 miles
Saturday: Long Trail 13 miles
Sunday: Easy 3.5 miles

Total- 30.5

Training for this week:

Monday: Off
Tuesday: 2 hour run
Wednesday: 5 miles with intervals
Thursday: Off
Friday: 3.75-4 hour run
Saturday: 5 miles
Sunday: off

Plan

I haven't broken down our financial situation or my training situation into minute detail yet, but I have basic ideas about how the 100K and 100 miler are going to go down.

Debt Pay-down:

1. Stop eating out.  For real.

We have gone through lots of phases in which we ate out "less," meaning we spent 100 dollars a week at restaurants as opposed to 150, but we are going to cut that down to nada.  I've decided that it's okay to eat out for special occasions if we make up the money by selling something or some unexpected income.

2. Stop buying stupid crap for no reason.

If you thought it was absurd how much we spend on eating out, you don't want to know how much I spend buying stuff just because I'm a terrible planner and record keeper.  I have spent hundreds of dollars on stuff for my high school kids that I couldn't be reimbursed for because I was too dumb to keep the receipt.  I lose also lose things constantly because I just don't care.  20 dollar sunglasses are not expensive until you have to buy 4 pairs each  year.  These things add up quickly.

3. Delay buying a new car.

95 percent of Americans would probably agree that I "need" a new car.  I'll post a pic later, but just so you get the idea: it squeals at an ungodly decibel level every time I start it.  I've had this problem "fixed" many times but it returns within weeks of each repair.  Paint is peeling.  One window is super-glued so it stays up.  A door handle is broken off in the inside.  There is a rusting dent from a hit and run.  In short, it's a beaut.

4.  Quitting coffee.

This is not going to make as huge a dent in my finances as it is going to make in my heart.  Goodbye, Starbucks.  You always took more than you gave.

100 miler

Right now, I can't even wrap my mind around running a 100 miler, so I'm going to take my races progressively

July 14, 2012- 50K or 25K Midnight run in Little Rock.  I'm behind on training so we'll see if I make it to the 50k mark.

September 29, 2012- Devil's Mountain 50K in Pagosa Springs.  This race is a beast.  5000 ft elevation gain....ouch.

April 20th, 2013 (I think that's the right date) Ouchita Trail 50 miler

The 100 mile race could be one of the following: Arkansas Traveler (Oct. 2013) or Rocky Raccoon (February 2014)

Today, I did a really tough 3 hour run.  Haven't done that kind of distance since last summer and I can feel it.  So if anything in this post doesn't make sense, it's the running hangover that I have.

Explanation

My husband will affirm, with subtle traces of irritation in his voice, that I take the leap-and-the-net-will-appear approach to a great deal of my life.  Decisions come first- plans come second.  I decided this morning that we are going to get rid of our law school debt, (which has reached- no exaggeration here- six-figure status) and run a 100 mile race in 24 hours within 24 months.

Most people would call those "goals" rather than decisions.  I wish goals worked for me, but they just don't give me the mental kick in the butt that decisions do.  Decisions are public; goals stay comfortably forgotten in one of the 37 spiral notebooks that I bought specifically for the purpose of goal-writing at one time or another.  Here is why I feel like I have to make these decisions:

100K down in debt-

It's disturbingly common for law students to have six figures in debt, and part of me really wants to dismiss my husband's law school loan figures as normal.  Right now, I have exactly the life that I hoped to have at the age of 26.  I have the clothes (well, most of the clothes) I want.  I have a nice apartment.  I live in Colorado.  I work at a great school as a choir director.  Seriously, this is the life I have wanted since the 7th grade. (I was a practical, nerdy 7th grader.) But I know, as tough as this is to admit, that my lifestyle is borrowed.  The practice of living comfortably, and even occasionally luxuriously, while we have mounds of debt in the closet doesn't reflect the faith that I want to have.

100 Miles

Well, I figure as long as I'm making really impossible decisions, I might as well throw a 100 miler into the mix. I could have just set a 50 miler as a goal, but then my blog title would be even less catchy.  The origin of this goal actually comes from when I was little and watched psychotic ultrarunners hobble over the finish line while my dad blared some excerpt of a (I think) Beethoven symphony at the Arkansas Traveler 100.  On top of that, I saw that a girl from my high school recently completed a 100 miler.  I have been ignoring the fantasy of training for a 100 miler because A) too "busy" B) hardly anyone my age tries to do one C) I don't want to mess up my sleep schedule for a day and D) It's a hundred freakin miles.  However, the chick from my high school is A) a single mom! and B) my age.  That's beyond impressive to me.  Anytime anything happens to someone you went to high school with, whether they had a kid, got fat, or got cancer, it's bound to make you reflect.  Thanks for the inspiration, Kristen!

So that's a brief explanation of the what and why.  I'll be the first to admit these decisions are a little outside the realm of reality, but sometimes, I think God blesses outrageous plans more than he does reasonable ones so we can't ignore his involvement in them.  We'll see!