Ever felt like you were drowning in debt with no way out? I know the feeling all too well.
My husband and I were perfectly “normal”. I mean, as normal as any other newly blended family who likes geeking out to Dr. Who, table-top RPGs, and sci-fi/fantasy books. We’ve been married for 5 years and have been together for 5 years before that. Between the two of us, we have 3 kids (4 if you count the son-in-law), 2 grandkids, 2 cats, and 1 dog.
We were just like many families living paycheck-to-paycheck and thinking it would be impossible to get out of debt.
We were doing all of the “normal” middle-class money things. We had student loan debt that was still with us in our 40s. We had two car payments. We somehow managed to buy a house with an outstanding mortgage rate. We had five different credit cards… his, hers, ours, and two travel-focused cards getting us even more cashback than the first three we had and airline mile points! Oh, we did manage to get rid of our student loans, and my car payment, AND pay for our “familymoon” cruise when we got married. I just took out a loan on my 401(k). That’s no big deal, right?
We had our “good job blinders” on. You know… we both have good-paying jobs with stable organizations that we’ve been at for more than ten years, so it’s not like we have to worry about getting laid off or anything like that. We can make all of our payments. We may have overextended ourselves a touch by buying the house before we were completely ready, but, really, it’s just fine. We’ll make it work.
We were just starting to realize how frighteningly close to the edge we were getting with the credit cards, and we told each other that we should begin to do some belt-tightening and focus on paying those off. Crisis averted, right?
You hear that? Yup. That’s the sound of the other shoe falling.
You know those stupid decisions you make before your brain is completely developed yet, and you’re young and immortal, and nothing bad will happen that you can’t BS your way out of? Decisions were made long enough ago to have escaped our radar, but they were now coming back to bite us in the butt.
We got to the point where we couldn’t see any option other than bankruptcy. So, we did the walk of shame to the bankruptcy attorney’s office to let an adult-ier adult handle our debts for us. We really lucked out and got a super cool attorney and a trustee who was actually nice and not judgmental. With the budget they put us on we could pay off 100% of our consumer debt in 5 years, allowing us to keep our cars and our house. So. That just happened.
We had a total of over $67,000 in debt on that bankruptcy. That is costing us over $1,100 each month and because nobody trusts a person in the middle of a bankruptcy to make reliable payments, that was being garnished… so our bosses know all about it, too. Fun times, eh? By the way, we still have all our grocery and utility bills. And, because we got to keep the house and the cars, we have the mortgage ($157,610 balance) and one car payment ($9,848 balance). And let’s not forget about that 401(k) loan. At least that was down to just having $12,000 or so left on it.
That was pretty much our financial rock bottom.
About a year and a half later I realized that I was getting close to paying off my 401(k) loan, and that was going to free up a little over $500 per month. I had to double-check with my bankruptcy attorney to see that this wouldn’t affect our repayment amount. When he assured me that our plan as written allowed us to get extra income in without automatically paying more on the bankruptcy, I decided I wanted to learn more about money so that once we got out from under this bankruptcy, we’d never end up in the same mess. EVER. AGAIN!
I was talking to my mom about this neat program I found through a Facebook ad that was going to teach me how to pay off debt, and save money, and invest to make more money, and it sounded like it made a lot of sense… and it was only $2,000, which I’d be able to afford once I paid off my 401(k) loan and if we used our tax refund. My mom just sighed and said, “Please don’t spend $2,000 on this. At least without reading this book first.” She pointed me to Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.
$12.08 on Amazon.
I read it cover to cover. My husband skimmed it but was wholeheartedly on board. This book laid out a step-by-step plan for getting out of debt, staying out of debt, and securing a comfortable retirement. It talked about more than that, but the investing stuff was so far in the distance to us that we figured we’d read up more on those parts when the time came!
MAN! I wish we had found this book sooner!
That’s assuming no raises or extra income from side hustles or anything like that. So, I’m seeing all of those numbers as times to beat!
I’ve got to tell you, especially after what having to file for bankruptcy did for us mentally and emotionally, having this plan feels AMAZING! This is some of the most fun I’ve ever had in the aftermath of a bad decision. We have a plan. And, it’s a really simple plan.
I’m here to help you take that first step towards financial peace. Remember, if we can do it, so can you! And if you need someone to bounce ideas off of, or help you see a new perspective, or to talk out a plan with, or to help you stick to it… I’m here to help.
Do I have this all figured out? Nope! But I know the concepts behind what I’m doing well, and I have the training – and the heart of a coach. I’m right here in the trenches with you; we can be battle buddies.
If you’re tired of feeling overwhelmed by debt and ready to start your journey to financial freedom, schedule a free consultation with me today. Let’s work together to create a plan that’s simple, effective, and tailored to your needs.
