How to Adopt Without Debt

We Adopted With out Debt!

Julie Gumm and her husband have adopted two kids and didn’t go right into a dime of debt to do it.

Lately on The Dave Ramsey Present, Dave interviewed Julie Gumm, creator of the brand new e-book, Adopt Without Debt: Creative Ways to Cover the Cost of Adoption. Julie and her husband have adopted two kids and didn’t go right into a dime of debt to do it.

Listed here are among the highlights of that interview.

Dave: When did your loved ones begin your debt-free journey?

Julie: My husband began listening to your radio present, nevertheless it was actually once we attended considered one of your Reside Occasions again in 2000 that form of acquired us began on our debt-free journey. We paid off about $30,000 in client debt, which took us about 9 months. We ended up bringing Financial Peace University (FPU) to our church and main it for a number of years. We began working the Child Steps. It was about November 2007 once we paid off our mortgage. That was form of our final massive debt hurdle.

The place on this course of did adoption speak begin?

Julie: After we paid off debt and out of the blue had a few of that cash freed as much as do different issues, my husband and I spotted we’d gotten used to doing with out and giving up issues. After we had the cash to do them, they weren’t actually that necessary anymore. We simply began taking a look at ways in which we may give generously. That opened our eyes to the wants round us in our area people and internationally. That ended up in our adoption story.

My husband was studying Scripture sooner or later and got here throughout James 1:27 that claims, “Faith that’s pure in fault, look after the widow and orphan of their misery.” We needed to actually resolve what that seemed like for us. What does caring for the orphan seem like for us? It doesn’t imply adoption for everyone. We actually felt God main us to adoption after which seemed on the totally different ways in which we may try this. God advised us particularly that there have been these two wonderful kids in Ethiopia who had been eight and 6 on the time. They had been meant for our household.

How do you undertake with out going $50,000 in debt?

Julie: There are principally three ways in which I discuss within the e-book. Certainly one of them is discovering cash you have already got—which hopefully, your listeners are beginning to do a funds, minimize prices, and trim bills that they have already got.

The second is grants. There are 27 totally different grant organizations I discovered which are attempting to offer cash away to adoptive households. You possibly can apply for these.

The third one is artistic fundraising concepts. There are every kind of tales that adoptive households gave me. There are 25 households I featured within the e-book with totally different artistic concepts that they’ve finished to boost funds for his or her adoption.

So what are among the coolest fundraising concepts you’ve heard individuals do?

Julie: One I completely love is form of a mixture grant and fundraising. It’s known as the Each Fingers Basis, and it truly makes use of the adoptive household and a workforce of their household and buddies doing a piece challenge at a widow’s house and elevating funds from household and buddies as they try this to assist with adoption prices. I simply suppose it’s a very cool pairing of that Scripture. The common household who does considered one of these Each Fingers initiatives raises $10,000 for his or her adoption bills, which is unbelievable.

Listen to Dave’s entire 10-minute interview with Julie Gumm.

About Julie Gumm

Julie is married to her high-school sweetheart and is the mom of 4 kids from two continents. She and her husband, Mark, completed paying off $235,000 in debt, together with their home, in 2007. They’ve been dreaming and residing God-sized, debt-free desires ever since. Julie blogs about their loopy, fun-filled life here.

She loves networking with different adoptive dad and mom and talking to teams on adoption, international orphan care and debt freedom.