John and I have just begun the journey of getting out of debt. Sometimes it can feel overwhelming or dejecting to put every extra dollar into, sigh, things we can't see.That's why I've begun compiling stories from real life friends who have get-out-of-debt success stories. Seeing that others have done it makes me feel like we can do it, too.
So today I introduce you to Chris & Keeleah. They're a beautiful couple from Ontario, they have a little girly (and another one on the way), and they do things like spend maternity leave supporting communities in the Dominican Republic and lead youth ministries in their spare time.
And they started out marriage with a $30 000 debt.
Hear their story:
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When Chris and I got married in 2006 we were excited to
start our lives together including combining our (little) income and paying
bills together. Of course, we weren’t
naïve to the debt we also brought into the marriage.
In total we had around
$30,000 which included school debt ($20,000), car debt ($8,000) and credit card
debt ($2,000). I don’t really remember what the deciding factor was for us to
be debt free but I remember the hatred of having to make all those payments
every month and just wanting to be done with it.
At the time we attacked those debts I was working as a waitress and Chris worked at a gas bar (meaning: we did not make a lot of money). We setup a simple excel spreadsheet with ALL our debt listed (it only works if you are honest about the debt your have) and how much we would pay off of each debt every month.
Being able to see the end date of each of our debts really gave us the motivation we needed to continue.
We started with the smallest debt and worked our way up the largest. With every debt we conquered we became a little stronger and grew our confidence that we could actually get out of debt!
We paid our last debt just shy of the two year mark and we felt amazing. We owed nothing to anyone other than our regular monthly bills and our mortgage.
What a freedom to know you truly own your belongings. Over the years we never incurred more debt no matter how tempting it has been (We did buy a “new to us” car but we paid it off in six months instead of the seven years the car lot wants you to pay for).
There are many times we see our friends upgrading their cars, toys and homes. We have had moments of frustration and I personally have had fits of “I want this….” but we have stood firm on our belief that ultimately more stuff (or new stuff you can’t afford) only causes more stress later.
We have patiently saved for vacations and house renovations. We live on a monthly budget using mostly cash. It is not always easy and it can be very disappointing when we can’t always have what we want when we want it but truly living a simple life and living within our means has helped us to keep our marriage strong and our priorities straight.
We are currently saving towards more house renovations instead of buying a new house beyond our means and our constant goal is to hopefully be mortgage free within seven or eight years.
We believe it’s possible!
And after that, “bring on the savings and giving and stress free money life” (hopefully)!
At the time we attacked those debts I was working as a waitress and Chris worked at a gas bar (meaning: we did not make a lot of money). We setup a simple excel spreadsheet with ALL our debt listed (it only works if you are honest about the debt your have) and how much we would pay off of each debt every month.
Being able to see the end date of each of our debts really gave us the motivation we needed to continue.
We started with the smallest debt and worked our way up the largest. With every debt we conquered we became a little stronger and grew our confidence that we could actually get out of debt!
We paid our last debt just shy of the two year mark and we felt amazing. We owed nothing to anyone other than our regular monthly bills and our mortgage.
What a freedom to know you truly own your belongings. Over the years we never incurred more debt no matter how tempting it has been (We did buy a “new to us” car but we paid it off in six months instead of the seven years the car lot wants you to pay for).
There are many times we see our friends upgrading their cars, toys and homes. We have had moments of frustration and I personally have had fits of “I want this….” but we have stood firm on our belief that ultimately more stuff (or new stuff you can’t afford) only causes more stress later.
We have patiently saved for vacations and house renovations. We live on a monthly budget using mostly cash. It is not always easy and it can be very disappointing when we can’t always have what we want when we want it but truly living a simple life and living within our means has helped us to keep our marriage strong and our priorities straight.
We are currently saving towards more house renovations instead of buying a new house beyond our means and our constant goal is to hopefully be mortgage free within seven or eight years.
We believe it’s possible!
And after that, “bring on the savings and giving and stress free money life” (hopefully)!
Good for you guys, what a great thing to learn at your young ages, you will never regret what you have achieved and will teach your children about surviving in this world.. Kudos to you both!
ReplyDeleteKaye Birnie