April 17th is the Deadline

If you have not filed your Federal Tax Return or State of Michigan Tax Return yet, don’t panic. We can file an extension for you. It is best to anticipate your amount owed and send with the extension to avoid late fees.

Contact our office in Ann Arbor to ask questions or schedule an appointment.

 Here it straight from the IRS:

Young Learners!

Many of us take a while to “get it” and realize the extra stress and aggravation that comes along with buying it now on credit instead of saving. This young couple learned the Dave Ramsey way early!

We’re debt free! In our 30s!

We’re debt free! Just paid off our mortgage last Friday.

We’re 32 and 35 years old. We married about 18 months ago. The only debt we had was a house that I had bought 10 years ago that was (then) a rental property. We kept it a rental property and rented a super cheap apartment instead for a year or so until the current renters moved out. Then we moved in and started chugging through the mortgage.

When we married, the house had $92K mortgage left on it. Using money my husband had saved prior to us meeting, we paid off $20K to get the PMI off of it. We continued to pay extra on the mortgage, but weren’t super aggressive. The interest rate on it was 6%, which was great for 10 years ago, but horrible now. But we weren’t great candidates for re-financing since it wasn’t a primary residence.

Until a positive pregnancy test in August of last year. Then we stopped contributing extra to our Roth IRA (we still had our 10-month emergency fund and did the 401(k) thing to get a full match from our employers) for a few months while we paid off the mortgage like mad. We even liquidated some small mutual funds that we no longer wished to own. In just 6 months, we paid off $70K in the mortgage.

We did things a little out of order from Dave’s plan – mostly because we weren’t saving 15% for retirement for those few months, but it’s what fit our needs best. Having no mortgage means I now have the option to be a stay-at-home mom if I choose. It means we aren’t obligated to anyone. It means freedom!

(We also weren’t worried about stockpiling cash for the birth since we have a high deductible health plan with a HSA that has several years of family max-out-pocket saved in it, so even in the case of a medical emergency, we’ll be fine for this year.)

This is a great story posted on Dave Ramsey’s website. It is motivating to read about such determination and persistence.

On a beautiful summer day I went grocery shopping. I had a cart full of items and was ready to swipe my credit card to pay for it all. My card was…gasp of embarrassment ..declined! I had made a payment but it had not shown up yet so I was over the limit. I tried to call the credit card company to get an increase right there in the store. The credit card company declined my increase and all my other credit cards were maxed out and there was no money in the checking account so I left the store with nothing. I drove my husband’s $22,000 financed car home and cried the entire way. That was rock bottom.

We talked for weeks about what we were going to do to get ourselves out of this mess. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I hated living paycheck to paycheck and knew this was not the way I wanted my life to go. Although I felt like I continually tried to make not only the budget but that marriage work, when my then husband came home with a financed motorcycle when we owed my parents money I could no longer try and explain away his decisions. We soon separated and later divorced. When Dave says money fights and money problems are the number one cause of divorce in North America he has summed up my very young, very new and very short marriage.

I moved back in with my parents and paid them rent while I got on my feet. My ex and I tried to split the debt but in the long run, I was sued for $22,000 for that car I drove home from the grocery store in that ended up being repoyed when he didn’t make the payments (I had co-signed of coarse). I also ended up with a credit card he was suppose to pay off when he told me he was filing bankruptcy and quit making payments.

I started my life (over) at 23 with $24,000 in debt. I owed my sister $1,600-I was able to settle the car lawsuit for $5,000 (which I had to borrow $3,500 from my father and paid back)-I had $7,185 on 5 credit cards and a car that I had already “fleased” for 3 years with $11,540 owed on that. And to top it all off I was making MAYBE $19,000 annually in a retail job. The light at the end of the tunnel was very faint but I decided it WAS there and this is what I HAD to do.

I had started listening to Dave at the end of my marriage and was trying desperately to get my ex on board but once I moved home I knew I was in control of my own life and could finally start working the program. I read his book all the time, I sat down religiously to do my budget and pay bills. My smallest debt was $197 on a store credit card and getting Baby Step One and that small credit card took almost 5 months! I was making so little and had so many bills (due to the loss of one income and was basically paying all the same bills) but getting that savings account was an amazing feeling. Once that small credit card was done the snow ball started rolling, my sister was paid back, then the credit cards one by one, my father was a great debt to pay off-I hated owing my family money more than anyone else! Next, and finally was my car! I had been working the debt snowball for about 3 years at this point and it’s also when I met the true love of my life. He was so supportive of all I had been through and couldn’t believe my determination. After dating for awhile and getting more and more serious he wanted to financially help me out. I turned him down. I told him not only did it seem wrong for him to help me with mistakes I had made with my ex but also I had come so far on my own I really wanted to pass the finish line by myself…and I finally did!

On August 12th, 2011 I paid my car off!! I am DEBT FREE!!! The next weekend, that wonderful supportive man proposed to me! It was a very exciting month, to say the least!

My fiance, Brandon, had been working his own debt snowball while we dated and I am so proud to say as of March 9th, 2012 he is DEBT FREE (except his mortgage) too! (He paid about $50,000 off in the three years we have been together).

I am 28, he will be 30 in June and to be debt free before our marriage AND before we turn 30 is incredible! We are saving up money for the wedding and Baby Step 3 right now and already have the honeymoon booked and paid for! We also took FPU together.

I knew the light at the end of the tunnel was there, even if some days I could barely see it. We have faith in so much we cannot see, turning your life around is just one more thing we need to believe in. I could never have done this with out Dave and his teachings. I offer advice to anyone who will listen and try to pay it forward as much as I can.

Thank you Dave and your family and crew for helping people like me become BETTER THAN I DESERVE.

Eliminate Credit Card Debt

Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover was the inspiration for this get out of debt story:

No more Credit Card Debt!!!

I started Dave’s program in June 2011 after taking a good long look at my life and realizing that I didn’t want to keep up with the Jones’s (actually my 2 income siblings’ households). When I started, my mother actually thought I had joined a cult, but I just kept telling her my Daveism’s..You know the ones I am talking about. I would tell her that I was going to live like no one else now so that later I could live like no one else. My favorite and the one I quote all the time is “You can get anywhere if you just go one step at a time.”

I am still on baby step #2 but since June of 2011 I have paid off 14,617 worth of stupid debt, and as of right now…I have NO CREDIT CARD DEBT for the first time since I was 18 years old!!! As I am almost 36 years old that is almost half of my life. Sorry for the exclamation points and bold text but I am just so excited. I have my debt snowball blown up to posterboard size and posted on my fridge so I can keep on track. I tell all my friends about Dave Ramsey and when my mom was visiting me recently she burst out laughing when she wanted me to buy something and I told her Dave would not approve..She asked who Dave was and I jokingly repied..”you know, the guy from the Cult… She is on board now seeing my progress and soon Sallie Mae will be kicked out of my house. I only wish that I had found Dave 15 years ago and my highlighted copy of the Total Money Makeover is sitting on my living room table. Thank You Dave, for giving me the tools and support that I needed to change my life completely. I look forward to the day someday soon when I can call in on friday with my own debt free scream. Thanks again!!!

Dave Ramsey Billboard Inspires Savings

No more debt…EVER!

Here is how one couple eliminated PMI

30-year mortgage to 15-year in one year

These Newlyweds have a plan thanks to Dave Ramsey!

A New Life Together

Another Dave Ramsey Success Story:

Opportunity knocked…we answered!

Debt is Paralyzing To Most

It stifles your creativity and joy. That is why we believe so strongly in the Dave Ramsey method.

Learn how others have gotten out of debt with Dave’s help:

Success Stories

Dave Ramsey offers tools to live with a budget.

When you spend your money on paper and on purpose each month with a written budget, you’ll actually experience more freedom than before! These basic budgeting forms will get you started.

Visit his site to download the forms:

http://www.daveramsey.com/tools/budget-forms/