About Bob Lotich

My financial journey

I remember wanting to have millions of dollars, so I could spend it all on myself.

I remember when I was living off of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese that was purchased on a nearly-maxxed out credit card.

I remember sitting in a broken down car, 1,000 miles from home, with no money, and no one to call for help.

I remember the feeling of hopelessness as I watched my financial life spiral out of control before my eyes.

I remember being so frustrated when I realized my soon-to-be-wife and I needed to rent an apartment instead of buying a house because we couldn’t afford to buy a house.

I remember getting married and looking at our $47,000 of debt and wondering how in the world we would ever pay it off.

I remember laughing at the idea that I could give away a million dollars.

I remember meditating on and clinging to Phillippians 4:19 with all I had.

I remember making sacrifices – like spending no more than $45/week to feed my wife and I – so that we could scrape together just a few bucks to try to pay down debt.

I remember the ironic observation that money doesn’t solve money problems.

I remember calculating our net worth for the first time to discover that it was NEGATIVE $13,843.84

I remember reassuring my wife that all the sacrifices would be worth it eventually – even when I was wondering the same thing myself.

I remember listening to Dave Ramsey and thinking to myself, “I can do this!”

I remember not being able to buy gifts that I longed to and felt social pressure to buy, because we didn’t have the money.

I remember when I had to step out in faith and give beyond my means.

I remember the excitement of paying off my first credit card. We jumped, danced, and shouted for joy at our minuscule first step of progress.

I remember how thrilled I was when I realized that we finally had a positive net worth! A total of $746.07

I remember the day it dawned on me that this Debt Snowball thing really works.

I remember the awkwardness of not being able to go somewhere with all my friends because we couldn’t afford it.

I remember struggling for months to get a budget set up and how I felt on top of the world when I finally got the budget working.

I remember only being able to pump $5 worth of gas into the car, because that was all we had until the next paycheck.

I remember praying to God and watching Him do the impossible in our lives.

I remember going out to eat with friends, but not ordering anything because we didn’t have the money in the budget.

I remember paying off our car and receiving the title from the bank and the joy of officially “owning” our car.

I remember starting a home-based business to help us get out of debt faster.

I remember having our transmission go out and trying to figure out how we were going to survive with one car.

I remember seeing my boss break into tears as he told me my department was no longer needed, and being very thankful that I had started an emergency fund.

I remember how comforted I felt by having our financial life in order.

I remember going out to dinner with Linda (an extremely rare occasion) as a celebration for paying off our last credit card.

I remember the thrill of having enough money budgeted to afford Christmas gifts for everyone.

I remember the sweet satisfaction of moving into our house after living in a one-bedroom apartment for 5 years and being able to plop down a 15% down payment on the house.

I remember the day we finally paid off my $17,000 student loan – our last remaining non-mortgage debt.

I remember having my car break down and it NOT being a life-altering problem like it would have been a couple years earlier.

I remember the moment I realized that maybe, just maybe, God could use someone as simple as me to give away millions of dollars over my lifetime.

I remember paying off our mortgage and the tears of joy and indescribable sense of freedom that came along with it.

I remember dreaming of a day like today – debt free, happily married, and living with purpose – and I am thankful that I didn’t stop fighting for it.

34 Random Things about Bob:

1. I have had dozens of jobs over the last 20 years, and one of the more unbelievable ones was in college when I was literally paid to put soda cans back into 6-pack plastic sleeves.

2 Even after 8 years of writing it doesn’t come easy. Part of Lauren’s (our senior editor at SeedTime) job is to hound me like a 5-year old with a plate of broccoli to get my writing done. It is challenging to get in the flow, but when I do, there isn’t a much better feeling.

3. My son is a better dancer than I am.

4Keep me away from anything with Chocolate in or covering it. I try to be a disciplined person – and I am in some areas of my life, but my sweet-tooth has been a tough one to beat.

5I can grow a great beard (if I do say so myself) but Linda doesn’t dig it and since she has to look at my face a lot more than I do… 😉 

6I love talking about entrepreneurship and plan on writing a bit more about it on SeedTime next year.

7I love tech-gadgets. They are a guilty pleasure.

8 Linda and I are in a band. Kind of. I have been a worship leader for 10+ years and so a while back we decided to record some worship songs. Here is one of our recordings you can check out. (Since so many of you asked about it in the comments, you can download all our songs free here)

9I am scared of failing. I continually force myself to face my fear of failure.

10Everything I can think of that I have succeeded at in life was preceded by lots of failures. The key is to use failure as momentum and -of course- learn from it!

11I still do dumb things with my money. I obviously try not to, but it still happens from time to time.

12We are adoptive parents. It has been an amazing experience that I highly recommend.

13I wish I could get rid of my cell phone. While the convenience is great, the negative effects on relationships by everyone (I am guilty too) being glued to their phones is disheartening.

14One of my big goals in life is that 80% of the food I eat is grown or raised on my land.

15I already said she doesn’t like me in a beard. Well, she really hates a stache, so I decided to start the son early. And yes, this mustache is real.

16I love things that were valued and cherished hundreds of years ago – fine craftsmanship and artistry of any kind make me happy.

17Along that vein, I love just about anything made out of full-grain leather (except pants). 

18I am a minimalist in progress. Earlier this year I wrote about how we made over $2k getting rid of our junk. It felt way better than I thought it would.

19I kinda hate Apple products. Or I guess I hate that some people actually think they are cooler because they have them. I typically run the other way from stuff like that, but I do use a lot of apple stuff for my business since it is still the best tool for the job in a lot of cases.

20 I am really good at bagging groceries. Yep, believe it or not I actually have a trophy to prove it.

21Yes, I make a full-time living blogging, and no I don’t need help finding a “real job.” You would be surprised how often I get asked that.

22One of my favorite things to do is to ride my 150cc scooter with my wife. A few years back, my wife and I rented one on vacation and it was some of the most fun we’ve had. I almost like it better than riding a motorcycle. (Shhh! Don’t tell anyone!)

23I love buying and selling things at the same price. It is one of the secrets of our financial success thus far. I try to do it with almost everything, but my best accomplishment thus far was buying an old Taurus for $1,000, driving it for 5 years and then selling it for $1,000. That was a happy day.

24I love cooking and will likely go to culinary school later in life.

25I LOVE problem-solving. It’s thrilling when I find a solution to a challenging problem.

26I finished our basement and did it all myself except for the taping – I am terrible at taping.

27I believe paying off your debt is one of the best decisions you can make. It creates so much freedom and provides so many more options than most people realize.

28I love fermented foods. Sourdough bread, sour pickles, Kombucha or really any other traditional foods make me happy.

29Except, if it has onions in it, then I hate it.

30I have my degree in business administration, but I have learned far more about business from the books I read AFTER graduating than what I learned in school.

31I would be half the man I am without my wife. She is truly a gift from God and she so perfectly fills in the gaps of my weaknesses. Without her encouragement and support, I would have made very little progress in life.

32I desire nothing more than to honor God with my life. I miss the mark and often need course-corrections, but I never stop chasing God’s plan for my life.

33I now live in Nashville. I was born and raised in St. Louis, but just recently moved to Nashville and have been loving it!

34I believe that Christmas actually is the best time of the year.

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