Adria Lambert over at Sea of Adria posted this a little while back, but I was just watching it and thought that it was absolutely hilarious! It is a really good illustration regarding how twisted the American mindset about money has gotten.

My wife and I have been going through lots of changes in how we manage our money, so something like this really hits home with us. We have made some major changes, and while it is sometimes painful changing behavior like that, we are already starting to see some of the benefits! The best one is the freedom from the bondage of debt that we are starting to experience! But in order to make it work, you must be serious about it. There’s no cutting corners, and you may have to make some radical changes. But if you give yourself completely to the process, I can promise you that it is totally worth it!

Here are a couple of our favorite resources. We have found great value in each one of these, and hope that you find them to be equally as valuable.

• The New Master Your Money Workbook, by Ron Blue – We did a chapter of this each week on a date night. It not only helped us to calibrate our thinking about finances, but also improved our communication with each other!
• Your Money Map: A Proven 7-Step Guide to True Financial Freedom, by Howard Dayton – We are working the “money map” steps right now, and think that it provides a great set of realistic, practical goals for us to work towards. There are lots of other resources that go with this program too.
• The Total Money Makeover, by Dave Ramsey – I haven’t actually used his materials, but we LOVE his show on Fox Business Channel. Serious, no-nonsense advice!
• Christian Personal Finance blog – I lurk here fairly regularly. Great conversation and solid wisdom.
• YouNeedABudget (YNAB) software – We have been using this for a little while now, and love the approach to budgeting that we are now being held to. Pretty basic software, not lots of bells and whistles (yet), but it does the job well and is constantly being developed to include more features.
• The Grocery Game – We have saved a TON of money recently on food. Not only are we making an effort to eat out less often, but this website has helped us to literally cut our grocery bills almost in half!