Our Journey to Becoming Debt Free

Google tells me that the average credit card debt is nearly $15,200, and an average student loan debt of $116,000 {at a cost of $29,000 per year over four years}. That’s a lot of debt for one person! Sadly, I am no exception.

There was a time I was putting fuel and school related purchases on my credit card left and right assuming the money would come from “somewhere” to cover it later. Later being the same time I would be able to pay off my student loans.

Anyone see the problem there? If not, it’s okay. I didn’t see it at first either. While my credit card balance is under half of the national average, there is still a problem with the mentality of using borrowed, non-existent money. I knew the money would need to be paid back, but the “when” to being debt free was never forefront in my mind while I was working hard to finish college.

The moment it clicked…

It wasn’t until I had been on the job/career search for well over a year with no such luck. It wasn’t long after we had gotten our estimate on Bookworm’s orthodontic work either. But this particular day I was waiting at Bookworm’s elementary school with Monkey and Lady Bug in tow. While we were waiting, I was listening to the laments of a friend when that something finally clicked.

They had been trying to selling their home for a few months while trying to buy another house at the same time. Her husband was offered a new job 17 hours away with the potential for more income and better insurance coverage. She talked about how their credit cards were near maxed out, as she talked about how stressful it was to deal with the selling/buying aspect while they were packing for their latest vacation. She went on some more that she, similar to me, couldn’t find a job in her degree field.

Hindsight is always better when it’s someone else’s problem and not your own. Listening to her helped me realize how much I wanted us to be debt free.

Our debt was not wracked up on vacations, the latest fashions, or making sure our kids had every extracurricular activity out there.

Our debt was accrued by attempting to finish graduate school while raising a family.

Our debt came to be when we took out a car loan because it was theoretically cheaper to deal with smaller monthly payments than the major payment to fix our current car.

It came about by paying some medical & surgical bills for Monkey, as well as some furniture purchases to accommodate Lady Bug.

But ever since that talk with my friend, I have tried to be more aware of our debts because I don’t want to be that person living paycheck to paycheck well into our 50s, and yet still trying to keep up with what everyone else tries to have.

Goals for the future…

I would like to be able to take the kids on vacations, but pay cash for it all. But the reality is that these vacations aren’t very memorable for our kids while they’re this young. While they are young is the perfect time to work on becoming debt free.

I would love to know that there is money in the bank for when our spare fridge breaks, or something goes wrong with the car. I want there to be money for retirement and spend time with my husband as we travel across the US, and possibly the globe.

Most of all, I want our kids to see their parents having a strong grasp on their money, and being able to save it, and not treading through debt. I’ve seen my parents struggle to raise three kids on a small income, and it gives me a little bit of perspective. I want my kids to see that positive influence so that they can do the same later in their lives… that they can learn from our mistakes. Being more aware of our finances is how we can do that. Becoming debt free is how we can do that.

Our debt free journey…

We both would like to become debt free sooner rather than later. I started my accountability at a separate blog name, but decided that this is blog is where I can continue to be accountable and make our income work for us. Making our cents matter to us. This is a continuation of our chronicles on how we have been cutting costs, our progress throughout or debt repayment, and what we’re doing to keep on trudging along the way while still having some fun.

Please keep in mind that as of writing this post, we have been working at this for the last 30 months {the beginning of 2014}, and as a result three credit cards have already been paid off! After consumer debt, our largest balance is on our combined student loans; it’s more than our mortgage.

On this blog, I hope to show how we are progressing towards our financial freedom, and yet still taking the time to enjoy the simple and fun things in life. There have been some wonderful blogs that have inspired me along the way, and I hope I can be one of those inspirational blogs for you and your journey. It’s a long road ahead, but my hope is that if seeing our journey helps inspire you to begin, or gives you the confidence to continue along your debt free journey as well, I’ve done my job!