Debt Free Journey Update – 20% Paid Off in 4 Months!

It’s been just about 3 months since I started my journey to become debt free.

It started with listening to a podcast by The Minimalists on budgeting. It got me thinking about how crazy it was that I am almost 40 and had never really been on a budget in my entire life. They mentioned a guy named Dave Ramsey on the podcast, so I figured I would take a listen to a Dave Ramsey podcast too. Why not, right?

Before I queued it up I thought back to a couple months prior. I literally wondered what it would take for me to get uncomfortable carrying debt. It felt so normal. Only one friend of mine really openly talked about his own finances and how he budgeted to pay cash for things. (Thanks Matt! 🙂 ) I thought it was easy to make monthly debt payments. I thought I could afford them easily.

Then I listened to my first Dave Ramsey podcast, and his caring but no nonsense delivery was the wake up call I needed. I felt like he practically appeared in my kitchen, took me by the shoulders, and shook me hard, while saying ‘you’re broke!’ I never saw it like that. If I have to take out a loan for something, or put something on a credit card, I can’t afford it.

True story.

So now it’s three months later. I have my emergency fund of $1,000, I have paid off 2 accounts, cash flowed a vacation, and I have got some serious December goals to end this year on a financially awesome note. On the 15th I’ll be paying my personal loans off 6 months earlier than I expected! And on the 30th I’ll be paying off another credit card. After that I will only have one credit card and my car loan to pay off!

By the time December 31st gets here, I will have paid $8,154.75 towards my debt in only 4 months! That’s just over 20% of my total debt! I can’t lie, it has taken a lot of dedication, but it’s so so so so worth it to me. I think every day about when the time comes in 2019 that I have no debt payments of any kind. That will definitely feel like the biggest pay raise I’ve ever received!

I keep this on my counter in my kitchen. It’s such a great reminder that by doing the right things every day, I’ll get there. The best IS yet to be!