Gazelle Speed: Debt Down!

The Randolph's have done it again peeps! We have paid off another debt. Hot damn!

I was so excited to write the check to pay off one of our many loans. It wasn't a lot but $220 is a pretty big deal in our household. We have one more asset to add to our list.

Since we still don't have a clear idea of what my full checks will be for the new job so I am not quite sure how the Debt Snowball will look. We are still fighting one of our doctors offices because they want to charge us for 2k when they did not properly file with our insurance some of the procedures they did during Matthew's surgery. I really hope that it comes out in our favor but of course the doctor's office is dragging their feet.

I don't believe that I have given you the link directly to the man himself. The man behind the idea of a debt free life, Dave Ramsey. Please make sure to give his site a look and you may get some ideas to make your life/budget a little easier.

http://www.daveramsey.com/home/

Do you remember me telling you about the Baby Steps. I have attached the link for the Baby Steps. We are still on number two but we are staying strong with our budget and paying off our debt. I have had people tell me, "You don't need Dave Ramsey to pay off debt!" I politely retort with, "Well For the past 7 years Mr. Randolph and I have tried to relieve the debt but have failed. WE need Dave Ramsey!" I am not ashamed to say that he is the one that got us on track. We are on track and have a plan, a mission, a way of life. Why would you try and be negative about that? I know why.....because you are seeing that I am showing results!

It's not for everyone, but if you just need a little shove in the right direction then take a gander.

http://www.daveramsey.com/new/baby-steps/

Here a debt free story I pulled off of the site!
Soldier: Married W/ 2 Kids 3 years to freedom

Original story submitted by CW2 Hensley on August 17, 2011

I am a US Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 (CW2) Blackhawk pilot. I have a wife and two children ages 3 and 1. My wife is a stay-home mom, so I am the sole bread winner. I make about $70,000 per year including benefits.

In the spring of 2009 I was beginning a year long Afghanistan combat tour. At the time I had a net worth of negative $30,000. My debt was in car payments and student loans. Fortunately, I had no credit card debt. I also had a mortgage with very little equity in the house.

Another soldier gave me a copy of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. I watched all of the videos over the course of a week and took copious notes.

I aggressively paid off the debt, established a $3000 emergency fund, and maxed out Roth IRAs for both my wife and myself. I sold my Jeep that was paid off, refinanced the house for 15 years, and began paying an extra $700 per month on the mortgage.

It helped that in 2009 and in 2011 I was deployed, so my salary was tax free and I wasn't buying gas, food, or other living expenses for myself. Of course, I still support my wife and children.

Now 2.5 years later I am half way through another year long tour in Afghanistan, but my finances have changed. I now have no debt, except the mortgage balance, and I now have a retirement portfolio worth $40,000! That is a $70,000 swing in net worth in under three years on a soldier's salary!

The house will be paid off in less than 7 years, and at the current portfolio growth rate, I WILL BE A MILLIONAIRE BEFORE MY THREE YEAR OLD GOES TO COLLEGE!

Thank you Dave. The future looks very bright.

Praying for Pop

I meant to blog about how my Pop(sisters dad) went into the hospital with heart problems. I was scared out of my mind. Potato and I went and visited him for a couple hours and thankfully realized that he is doing relatively ok. They think that he might have had a mild heart attack a couple months back because the back of his heart is no longer pumping. Since it did happen a while back the heart is already trying to heal itself. It amazes me how the body heals and fights the bad gremies.

He will be going through 4-6 weeks of rehabilitation/therapy and after that they will be able to tell if he will need a pacemaker. I am hoping not. Pop is the type of guy you never expect to get sick he is built like an ox.

I called him tonight and he is in great spirits and feels confident about the new diet and exercise program the doctors put him on. Please keep him in your thoughts. He has 3 kids and one still in high school. Potato is his first grandson and we want him to be around for a very long time!

Get well Pop!

Potato was the court gesture for Pop while he was in the hospital. I mean you know he holds the healing powers!

Sweet Boys Update!

My earlier blog showed you the stress of having my two most favorite boys sick.

Well after a few breathing treatments for the Potato he is on the road to a very speedy recovery. I can't tell you how many yucky diapers I have changed over the weekend. I guess that is the sign of the demons releasing their hold on my little man ;-)! He of course is in great spirits and has been a force to be reckoned with. Now to get DH to feeling better.

The doctor slid some meds "under the table" to DH and said this ought to fix you! He was right!!!!! The cough is really calming down and he is starting to feel the demons leaving him as well he-he! Well I could not be happier. He also went in for chest and head x-rays on Thursday because his doctor was concerned he may have polyps and of course we would not get a call back from the doctor until this morning. The nurse said "Mr. Randolph we will need for you to come in so that we may discuss your x-ray results."There is no way to describe the fear that shot through my body; although DH was calm and cool. Can you tell that I am the worrier?!?

At 10:40am he went in to see the doctor and his x-rays did NOT show polyps. It showed a CYST, in his nose, and a little spur growing on top.How nice..... He can't feel the spur but the doctor said that it has the potential of poking straight through....HIS NOSE! It sounds horribly painful but the doctor did not seem concerned. Well this cyst is causing really bad deviation and in the septum and he will have to have surgery.How wonderful! The doctor said that he did not have to do it right away but by years end it needs to be done. Otherwise it can cause severe damage. My poor husband has already had back surgery and now this! I am not sure why he has to go through all of this and I pray that God takes away all his pain and stops troubling him. I know that things could be much worse but its just so disheartening. I hate to see him in pain or uncomfortable. The good thing is we now what we need to do to fix him.

DH also needs to do a sleep study soon because the doctor is afraid he may have a bad case of sleep apnea. This can cause brain damage over time and may bring on early onset dementia. Since dementia is in the family bloodline I am already worried. I guess the sleep study is on the list of to-do's for my hubby.

On a great note the chiropractor visits 3 times a week are really working wonders. He has NO pain! After each session they are making progress on straightening out his very unlevel body. He has one hip to low his neck and shoulders are way off. He has an appointment coming up to let us know his progress so this should be pretty amazing. I will let you know how that goes.

Besides all this ruckus the weekend was kinda muted. My bosses daughter had her boy baby shower and it was lovely and then Potato had a birthday party to attend for his buddy from Butterflies Day-Care. Sunday I was laying by the pool and sippin on an adult slushy! There was not other way to end a very stressful week. I hope you enjoy the few pictures I got from our weekend.

Angela's Baby Shower(not sure why the picture is so small)

Jacob's 2nd Birthday!