Ok, this is where the rubber meets the road.
The more popular our site becomes, the more flack we seem to get for what we spend our money on. And I’m sure that there are many more critics who think we don’t do enough to payoff debt but don’t have the guts or the time to leave a brutally honest criticism in the comment section – thank you for that. 😉
I’d like to talk today about why it’s so important to define and write your own, individual plan for debt payoff, instead of simply following somebody else’s plan to the T. Read more
If you’re looking to get out of an extreme amount of debt, you’re likely going to have to take some extreme cost-cutting measures to save money and reach your debt free goal. We haven’t yet stooped to dumpster diving for dinners or making our friends’ kids gifts out of what should be in the recycle bin, but we’ve done our fair share of cutting costs. Here are something of the more intense things we’ve done to cut costs and save money in our home.
One of the things that’s seriously on my heart these days is the seeming inability of so many who are deep, deep in debt to be able to take that first step to get out. My deep in debt friends, you deserve debt freedom so much, so today I’d like to address some of the possible reasons you’re avoiding taking that first step to debt free, in hopes that you’ll get up the courage to take that first step to financial freedom. Read more
A little excerpt from one of my favorite children’s books made me think quite a bit about our debt payoff journey the other day. Author Arnold Lobel wrote a terrific series of children’s books called “Frog and Toad”. Frog and Toad are best friends who go on all sorts of interesting adventures together. Here is a little edited snippet from one of my favorite Frog and Toad stories, called “Dragons and Giants”:
“I wonder if we are brave,” said Frog. Frog and Toad looked into a mirror.
“We look brave,” said Frog.
“Yes, but are we?” asked Toad.
Frog and Toad went outside. They came to a dark cave. A big snake came out of the cave.
“Hello, lunch,” said the snake when he saw Frog and Toad. He opened his wide mouth. Frog and Toad jumped away.
Toad was shaking. “I am not afraid!” he cried.
They climbed a mountain and heard a loud noise. Many large stones were rolling down. “It’s an avalanche!” cried Toad. Frog and Toad jumped away. Frog was trembling.
I am not afraid!” Frog shouted.
They came to the top of the mountain. The shadow of a hawk fell over them. Frog and Toad jumped under a rock and the hawk flew away.
“We are not afraid!” screamed Frog and Toad at the same time. Then they ran down the mountain very fast. They ran all the way to Toad’s house.
“Frog, I am glad to have a brave friend like you,” said Toad. He jumped into the bed and pulled the covers over his head.
“And I am happy to know a brave person like you, Toad,” said Frog. He jumped into the closet and shut the door.
Toad stayed in the bed, and Frog stayed in the closet. They stayed there for a long time, just feeling very brave together.
Rick and I feel like this often on our debt payoff journey. It seems like for every dollar we pay off, another expense comes, working to destroy our efforts, and often we just want to hide under the covers until it all goes away. You might feel that way too, and that’s okay. What’s important is that you keep facing those debt dragons and giants, and keep working to destroy them until they’re gone for good. Don’t give up, even if you have to spend a few days hiding under the covers, pretending to be brave. 🙂
Nor does my debt define me. Often times when we’re struggling with debt, it feels like it consumes our lives. I know that often times I spend way too many hours researching additional side hustles, scrutinizing our budget, or researching ways to cut costs more. But there comes a point during a debt payoff journey that we must realize that our debt is not who we are, nor does it make us a bad person. Read more
Does other people’s success ever stop you from achieving your goals? We were reminded the other day of a time when we let this happen to us. It all started with a post over at Out of Your Rut. Kevin wrote an article about the dangers of The Brady Bunch, and the memories came flooding back. It was 2012, and we were in the throes of realizing that we were in way too deep concerning our debt. But of course, that didn’t stop us from buying seasons 1 and 2 of The Brady Bunch for the kids. We’re always looking for “healthy” TV shows for the kids; ones with not too much violence, illicit encounters or other garbage that don’t do much good for either kids or adults.
However, the Brady Bunch didn’t do too much good for me, either. Read more
Well, friends, here it is Valentine’s Day. Whether or not you celebrate this “holiday”, I do have to admit it does make me think about all of the wonderful people we have in our lives. Over the past year, the readers, commenters and writers in the PF blogging world have really come to mean a lot to both Rick and I, even if he is largely silent on the subject. 🙂 Read more
I’ve been watching the interest on our Discover card go up and up, since a large portion of our balance there just ended it’s 0% introductory rate and is now costing us money. When I apply my payments, they go toward the rest of the balance first, which is still at zero percent. Prompted by a tip off from a Facebook commenter, I checked into seeing if this was legal or not, I learned some interesting facts** about credit cards, interest rates and our payments to those cards, and here’s what I found out: Read more
I’m sitting here in my office right now, freezing my tail off. We keep the heat much lower than I’d like it to be. Why? Because we want debt freedom more than we want the instant gratification of a warm house and whatever else our little hearts desire to have.
Is this a fun way to live? Yes, and no. At first glance when we choose to tell ourselves “no” to things, we’re tempted to throw a bit of a tantrum and argue with ourselves about how we want/need/deserve A, B or C. That part is NOT fun, but it’s easily and quickly overtaken by “Yes” when we remember what’s waiting for us at the finish line of our marathon to debt free. What’s waiting for us? Read more
After I wrote my recent post titled “Can You ‘Bootstrap’ Your Way Out of Poverty?”, someone asked me a very valid question, and that question was,
“Given your situation growing up, how did you end up in such a financial mess as an adult?”
The answer, quite honestly, is that I had, for years, short-sighted vision. After going through what I went through as a child, a seed was planted within me. My work ethic, which was good before, was now great. I got my first job at 14, painting the interior of rental properties with my mom. From there, I continued to work. Fast food, slow food, retail, whatever work I could find as long as I was working and, more importantly, making money. Read more
