Good morning my lovely friends, today I am welcoming Mandy from Biblical Homemaking as a guest-poster, and I am giving some tips over at her blog. I found Mandy through a mutual friend, Abbie, and am so glad I took the time to start reading her blog. It is filled with great devotions {in audio!}, as well as ideas on creating a lovely home. I am sure you will enjoy her writing on debt-free living.
Hi! I’m so excited to be here blog swapping at More Bang for Your Bucks! It’s always so much fun to visit sweet blogs like this one and make new friends here in the blogosphere! Thank you, Kelli, for allowing me to share here today!
I’m thrilled to get to tell you all about one of my favorite topics- debt-free living!
We began our journey to financial freedom back in 2007, after almost five years of struggling with consumer debt. You can read more details about our story here, but to give you the quick version, we had $40k of debt in student loans, car loans and credit cards. Though we barely brought that amount home per year, we paid off every penny of it in just 19.5 months. In that time, God, in His mercy, provided many ways for us to make additional income, we sold our nice car {along with it’s nice payment!}, and we operated on a strict monthly budget to save what money we could from our regular income.
It was a whirlwind of hard work and sacrifice, but one of my sweetest memories is writing that very last check for my husband’s student loan. It was such a great relief to know that we were finally done with consumer debt! Right now we still have one last big check to write for our mortgage, and that will be a very exciting day at our house!I I even hear that the grass feels better under your feet when you actually own it!
These days, I try to tell everyone I can to avoid debt at all costs… in fact, the other day at Sam’s I nearly reached across the counter and grabbed our favorite college-aged cashier by the ear {ok, figuratively speaking} and pleaded with him not to go into debt for school and cars! He probably thought I was some kind of crazy! Luckily, he just smiled and agreed with me, and said he was working on it! 🙂 I’m always excited to tell our story of financial freedom and the lessons we learned from it to anyone who will listen.
If you are just starting out on your journey to becoming debt-free, here are a few things we learned that might help as you go through the process:
1. Realize you need to get out of debt.
Even though we were swimming in debt, we didn’t have a desire to change our lifestyle. We thought car payments were a part of regular life, and though we didn’t like credit cards, we used them frequently. They were a “necessary evil” to keep us afloat. It wasn’t until we read the Total Money Makeover after years of struggling and juggling debt that we finally “got it,” as the author Dave Ramsey says. If you have debt and haven’t read the book, please, please do! It’s life-changing!
2. Commit to paying off your debt.
Once you “get it,” you’re willing to work hard to leave it behind. For us, the Biblical perspective that Dave’s book offered really gave us a desire to honor God with our finances, and drove us commit to working hard to pay for our years of financial mistakes. My husband worked long hours doing side work in addition to a full-time job, we traded our nicer SUV to buy a 9-year-old mini van with cash {now it’s almost 13 years old and still running great!}, I played the drugstore game, sold unwanted stuff on craigslist, and carefully watched every penny.
3. Focus on your goals.
Make a plan for your money- when getting out of debt, focus on paying off one bill at a time. Once you’re out of debt, focus on your next goal- whether it be saving money for college, a vacation, paying off your home, or giving your money to those in need. Goals give you a purpose for your money, and keeping those goals in mind will give you the motivation you need to stay on task.
4. Enjoy the journey.
You didn’t get into debt overnight, and unless you are blessed with a windfall, you won’t get out of debt overnight. It’s easy to get overwhelmed when you make a list of all of your bills and balances, but don’t get discouraged. Remember where you were last month, or last year, or five years ago. Becoming debt-free is a long process and it helps to remember how far you’ve come along the way. Before you know it, you’ll be debt-free and laughing about all those meals of beans and rice.
5. Pray.
God was so merciful to give us the chance to get out of debt. When you commit your way to Him, and have faith that His will and timing will be accomplished, amazing things start to happen. He provided for us in so many ways during that 19 months, and gave us such a peace that His will would be done. The Lord is so generous to those who seek Him- I can’t believe what He has done in our lives, and He will amaze you too!
And if you’re looking for more information on becoming debt-free, here are a few of my favorite resources:
Books/Websites-
Dave Ramsey’s website– we listen to the podcasts for entertainment and motivation
Budgeting systems:
Mint.com– an awesome free budgeting software
Free cash envelope system templates– for Dave’s cash system
Blogs:
Money Saving Mom– great money-saving website with coupons and frugal ideas
and of course, More Bang for Your Bucks! 🙂
Thanks again to Kelli for letting me share my story! She does an amazing job of showing us how to live frugally, doesn’t she? I’m so thankful to be a part of the fun today!
Thanks, Mandy, for your loving way of sharing how to become debt free!
Happy Thursday, y’all!
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About Kelli Hays
I love both of you ladies! Great post X 2!! 🙂