- Trade Me Out of Debt, aka TMOOD, evolved after a lengthy brainstorming session of how I could somehow eliminate my debt in a creative way.
- I was already working crazy hours (anywhere from 60-90 hours a week) and working on my degree, so compounding another job at the time was pretty much out of the question.
My Original Idea
- Find something random and try to "trade" (swap, trade up, bigger or better, whatever you want to call it) it on the Craigslist Barter Section for something bigger or better than what I had at the time.
- I would do this until I had something big enough to "Trade Me Out of Debt."
- Yeah, this did not last very long. I had chosen some random Frank Sinatra records to try and trade. I was never able to trade them, but I did continue to go on and make other random swaps, but they really did not make much sense. October and November flew right by and not much was really happening. It was not going how I had planned!
- I felt defeated and wanted to quit. I could not quit, because I was going to "trade myself out of debt," whatever that even meant.
Then The Tide Changed
- It was a Friday, work was slow and I could not take the project off my mind. Why was I even doing this project? It was not even going how I wanted it to.
Matthew 17:20 suddenly popped in my mind
He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
Why This Verse? Why At This Time?
- The words "faith" and "mustard seed" really stuck out in my mind.
- Was this verse supposed to apply to my life in some way?
We Had Faced Multiple Hardships
- The last 4 years were really tough. Our faith in Jesus was really tested.
- Really since 2002 was when everything started, but that was before I was married. I will leave that for another story and another time.
- Later I experiened job loss, and extreme medical hardships.
- I concluded from our past events, that God was wanting us to put more trust in him.
What was the purpose of the mustard seed though?
- I tossed out a Q to God, "What the heck am I supposed to do with a mustard seed?"
- This is what I felt I got from it: "Take one tiny mustard seed and trade your way out of debt in 3 years or less." Even more confused, I asked, "How am I supposed to take a mustard seed and become debt free?"
- This is what I felt I got from it, "Did I not turn water into wine? Did I not heal the sick? Did I not raise the dead, feed the hungry, and give sight to the blind? How can you not have faith in Me when it says countless times in My Word what I have done and you yourself have seen what I can do?"
- He had a point, why could I not fully trust Him? If God tells you to do something, you better do it. Otherwise He will just use someone else that is willing to obey Him.
- How could I not fully trust God? God has provided so much for us in the past. I have seen people healed, but yet find myself doubting it happened just weeks afterwords! I've seen God provide in miraculous ways to where not one soul can tell me there's not a God. How could I ever doubt him after seeing just a glimpse as to what He can do?
There was still one big question!
How do you become debt free with just one mustard seed?
- When I mention the word "trade," I am referring to bartering or really more so swapping. I will give you this for that, etc...
- Many people in the United states are bartering their services or items for other things in order to not have to spend money. In this day and age many people are losing their jobs (which I experienced 3 months of that because of cut backs, and 8 months because of medical reasons) and are having to do what they can to get by. This is sort of what I am doing.
- December 2010 official kicked off the beginning of a new journey. I started with one yellow mustard seed. I then swapped it for something bigger and better. I then I took that item I got on the trade and swapped it for something else bigger and better. I will continue to do this for three years. The project will end somewhere around the 1st or 2nd week of December, 2013.
- I will then take the last item and swap it to someone else, and in return they pay off all of our debt which is roughly $95,000. Our debt includes our mortgage, credit cards, and some student loans.
- In the event that the last item is worth in excess of our debt, then the remaining amount will be donated to a charity or foundation.
- Here is the kicker: Our debt could potentially be zero dollars by the end of the project. With that being said, it would not matter what the last item was or how many trades I have made.
This whole idea seems crazy, I know!
Why not jump out there, have a little fun and take a few risks?
I don't have anything to lose, other than a mustard seed!
- I am not doubting God can make this project work out, but I am also not banking everything on becoming debt free from trading up.
- We have a plan to get rid of our debt, but why not make it fun? If this works out, awesome. If not, then hey I had fun, my life was changed and hopefully others were as well. I think what God is really trying to teach me is to be willing and obedient to follow Him. So that is what I am doing.
Here's a summary of how this project works
- Step one: I had one Yellow Mustard Seed at the beginning of this project.
- Step two: I took the mustard seed and swapped it for something bigger and better than a mustard seed.
- Step three: That item is then swapped for something else bigger and better.
- Step four: Step 3 will continue to get repeated a bunch of times.
- Check out past posts to know what has taken place so far. You can also go to the Track My Trades tab to see everything that I have traded so far. I write about a lot of stuff, so it is nice to keep track of everything. The tab Our Mission, will explain what my driving force is for this project.
- If you have more questions, check out my FAQ tab,
- If you like what you read, I would love to have you sign up by email to get the most recent updates! You can also Follow me on my Facebook page as "Trade Me Out of Debt." And lastly, you can follow me on Pinterest as Trade Me Out of Debt. I did not have room to put all the letters so it might be under "Tr8meoutofdebt"
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