What, no leeches?

Well, it appears I have a full-blown infection in my lungs, which has me out of commission on doctor's orders for a few days. For most people, being told not to work Saturday or Sunday would feel like a waste, but I was scheduled to work both, so...yay.

(As for the graphic, I just like thinking that any major illness would have cost me the ultimate price on the Oregon Trail.)

Last night, I got laid out by the most intense sinus pain of my life. It lasted about 12 hours, and I went to the doc this morning. After a shot in each butt cheek, a five-minute breathing treatment with some sort of inhalant medicine, two advil and two prescriptions, I was out the door! I guess it actually was worth signing up for COBRA insurance.

In a more upbeat piece of news, Karen and I were happy to find a surprise in our mailbox the other day: the title to her car! We took some of the money from selling mine and used it to pay hers off, which means we have $0 in debt!!! (We recently paid off the credit card, which had lingered at $2,000 or more for a while.)

I plan to buy my next car with cash, once one of us has reliable employment. Karen has a job interview with the local university next week, so we're both obviously excited about that. It's administrative work, which pays well but not might be a dream job. But discounted schooling would sure open up some doors to more fun jobs.

Our zero-debt approach was inspired by a finance radio show guy named Dave Ramsey. His Web site's pretty cheesed out with his promotional stuff, but I like his basic ideas. I heard him on the radio when we were moving to Alabama, and it instantly resonated with me. I picked up his book "The Total Money Makeover," which I would definitely recommend. He gives easy-to-understand, practical advice on saving money long-term.

His basic steps are:
1. Do everything you can to save $1,000 in cash as quickly as possible. (We, thankfully had quite a bit more than that saved when we decided to move.)
2. Start a "debt snowball," where you list your debts from smallest to largest (not counting house). Pay as much as you physically can each month to the smallest debt until it is gone. Meanwhile, keep paying minimum payments on everything else. When one is killed, move on to the next-smallest debt. Do this until you're out of debt. This usually takes years, but since Karen and I were a bit ahead of the game with savings, we were able to pull this off in about two months. We had the money, we just hadn't been smart about using it to pay off debt.
3. Increase your emergency reserve to $10,000, in case you decide to do something stupid like quit your jobs and move cross-country. We're still a bit short of this one, but it's a good goal. With few bills to pay these days, we're saving pretty much everything we don't spend on food or Christmas shopping.
4. Pay off your mortgage as fast as possible.
5. Set up and invest in college savings plans for your kids.
6. Invest in a diverse, mutual fund-based portfolio and max out your retirement savings.
7. Continue to expand your wealth, and focus on philanthropy.

I just think it's interesting that this guy made a New York Times best-seller out of a book that calls for a 14-year (on average), amazingly intense commitment. While we probably won't be as strong with these goals as we should be, they have helped us focus our priorities at a time of economic uncertainty.

OK, back to following doctor's orders: "Your job is to take it easy for two days." After two shots in the ass, that's a welcome prescription.