Looking forward to 1/2015 - Great job, you two~

I am Corbett and my husband is. We had a plan set in place and Amanda completely altered our path. This is our story.

Richie and I are currently renting a three bedroom condo with two and half baths at $900 per month all included. Not bad for our first home. However, with the market today, you can buy a house with a mortgage of $900 a month. So we got to thinking, maybe it would be wise to look into the idea of buying our first home. We have several friends who have worked with Amanda and highly recommended her. After I received her information, I contacted her immediately. She required us to complete a few documents to better help her understand how to work with us. This information included: our monthly income, monthly bills, monthly spending, savings, debt and much more. Richie and I had a pretty extensive debt list which included his student loans, my student loans, my car loan, and my credit card and so on. After filling out all the required information for Amanda, we were ready for our first face to face meeting.

My expectations: I was expecting Amanda to have a list of housing options ready for us.

My reality: Not what I expected.

During our meeting with Amanda, she encouraged us to pay off some of our debt by using the snow ball method from Dave Ramsey. She also suggested Richie and I get on the same car insurance in order to save money. We informed Amanda that Richie was thinking about going back to school to receive his master's in Theology. She said that was not wise due to the fact that we both already owe on student loans. She then spoke to us about God's order. Our God is a God of order. Some things require patience, hard work and self control, but the result is golden. She bluntly stated that we have over $50,000 in debt and going back to school is not an option for us. Talk about crushing someone's dreams. House was no longer labeled a "Good" idea and Richie going back to school was out of the picture. By this moment, I did not exemplify the best of attitudes. Amanda said that she needed a week to look over our finances more in depth and that she will meet with us next week.

During the next week, I spent much needed time with the Lord praying. Asking the Lord to show me His order, and what this looks like for Richie and me. Not much clarity, but peace was given which was enough for me. Richie and I were also able to pay off his student loan and my credit card. Things were starting to make since.

Our second meeting with Amanda, she came up with a plan. She said I have to options for you. One, I can get you into a house by June 2013. Two, I can get you debt free by January 2015. Without hesitation, Richie and I looked at each other and said option TWO. I think we were all shocked by our responses. With the debt free option, we had to cut down on some things and pay double to our bills. I started paying double on my student loans. I refinanced my car. My car loan interest rate went from an 11% to 3.75% with USAA, and I started paying double on my car loan. Richie and I got on the same car insurance with USAA. We are also going to move into a basement apartment which will save us $300 month. On top of everything else, Richie and I both received a raise at work. Plus my credit score went from 524 to 703. By January 2015, Richie and I will have paid off $50,000 in debt and be completely debt free.

Conclusion: God has order for our lives. Once we surrender to His order, doors began opening and blessings began to flood.

Amanda, I thank you so much for supporting and believing in Richie and me. I can't wait to see what else the Lord has in store for us in the future.

More updates to come.....


Sincerely,
Corbett