Its probably no secret that we're big fans of Dave Ramsey. His no-nonsense biblical approach to finance has helped people of all income levels get their financial affairs in order. Dave speaks the truth about responsibility and what it really means to honor God with the money He provides for you.
Dave has also wrote a book called EntreLeadership. Its about the steps you need to take to succeed in the world of small business. What sets this author and book apart from all the others is the fact that Dave was once bankrupt himself. He now uses his own experiences to council others and get them (or keep them) heading in the right direction.
One thing Dave claims is that you can start a small business without going into debt. Is that possible in Agriculture? It might be. You could start with 1 cow, get her bred, and grow your herd. You could lease your cows to another farmer until you herd is big enough, and then rent your own farm. You could trade labor for use of equipment until you save up enough money to buy some very used pieces. Along the way your herd (under good management) would continue to grow, you could trade up on equipment, and save to buy a farm. Around here land is going for about $6,000.00/acre, or more. If you could save about $2,000 a month(with a modest herd milking), it would take about 25 years to save up the money to buy a 100 acre farm. Hopefully it would have some sort of milking facility on it already. And a house. At this point, assuming that you started when you were 18, you would about 50 years old. Still some life left in you to farm, for sure!
We didn't take this route. We took out a mortgage and bought a farm, having about 60 head of cattle to start with. 25 of those we had an additional loan for. We also had a loan for the parlor we built. Kind of makes us look like hypocrites, huh? I would like to think not. We only borrowed what we absolutely had to have to get going. Here, you cannot build on land you do not own. So we bought the land. When we ran our finpack farm analysis, 60 cows was the minimum to turn any kind of profit. So we bought the cows. Milk cows need to be milked. To send milk on the Grade A market (the best price) you have to have a facility. So we built one. But it stopped there. We only borrowed money for things that we absolutely had to have to get going. As we paid that debt down, we bought some other things that are really useful to farmers; a truck, a tractor, etc. Most (but not all) things we paid for with cash. But it took a long time to get to that point. We're 11 years in and now we find that if we buy used and old enough items we can typically save & pay cash for them.
We do not have any personal debt. That is something we have also worked on over the years. We do have 1 personal credit card, when used it is paid in full each month. We carry no vehicle loans, and the last two kids that we had were paid for as soon as we got the bill. That meant we stayed less than 1 full day in the hospital (and were blessed with healthy babies), but it was worth it. Having no personal debt doesn't mean we live high on the hog. It means we only have one bathroom, no smart phones, vehicles that are 17 & 8 yrs old; a big garden and our travel trailer (just bought-with cash!) is as old as Rick is-literally. Material things do not matter as much to us as making memories, so often our funds are directed more towards family activities (& giving) then buying "stuff".
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| Check out this find! A 1979 Nomad 23ft travel trailer! Vintage is in, and for once we are with the trend! It was taken care of very well, stored inside and treated with respect. We're having a blast shopping for the Tupperware and housewares from the same year to match the red, brown, & orange (original) interior. The kids love sleeping in it (even if parked in the yard) and I'm sure some good memories are to come. The best part? $1500.00 (after negotiations, of course). No more than the cost of a 1 week vacation for a family of 7. Like Dave says, have that vacation paid for BEFORE you go! |
Our 76 Apache popup came with vintage Tupperware and many other things from the 70's so it seemed like a time capsule.We like it better then anything new we every seen.
ReplyDeleteI so agree! They have so much more storage, too, which we really need with all the kids. Ours only has 1 bunk, a queen size and a twin size bed, so it might be tight, but it will work. There's room for a playpen. This one had a retro blender and some dishes, a toaster, and some odds & ends.
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