The average American has roughly $38,000 of personal debt. That’s consumer and student loan debt, not factoring in mortgages.
Did you just spit out your drink? Because that should shock you! If it didn’t, that’s just another sign of our times. It has become the social norm to be in debt to some degree.
Recently several close friends have reached out to us asking how we reached our goal of becoming debt free (not including our mortgage yet), which has inspired me to create this new series on ways to save money, cut costs, and start the journey to becoming debt free!
We followed a program from Dave Ramsey. It is super simple and I highly recommend it. I’m not going into too much depth with this series but will focus on tips for cutting back on groceries, expenses, and short term ways to earn extra for your debt snowball.
Find Your Why
And make it a good one. You need to have a why that will kick you into gear. If you’re like us, you became complacent (see yesterday’s blog on complacency) with your debt.
“Everyone we know has debt and they’re still afloat. Meh, just swipe that card again.”
“If THEY can afford THAT car, surely we could get something better for us?”
“Fake it ’til you make it.”
You have to get yourself out of that mindset.
We are close friends with a couple who followed Dave Ramsey’s teachings on financial freedom. During a play date (okay, a mommy sanity date) the wife of the couple shared with us how they would be completely debt free before the next month. Including their mortgage! She shared with us about Dave Ramsey and the massive lifestyle changes they decided to take for their family.
That sparked something in us and we decided to look into things ourselves. We wanted to get out of debt to provide freedom for our family.
What Does the Bible Say
Proverbs 22:7 (NIV) “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.”
Please, take some time and read that again. The borrower is SLAVE to the lender. If that isn’t a slap with truth, I don’t know what is.
This verse became my biggest tool for self control (and still is). My biggest fault is impulse control, so reminding myself we were choosing freedom really made an impact for me.
Where to Start
Like in all things. Go to God first. Pray about it. Seek counsel from others who are going through similar situations and who will encourage you. This is a key part, because for some reason most people get real feisty when talking about getting out of debt. You’re infringing on their comfortable zone of complacency and they won’t like it.
If you are able to find a local class for Financial Peace University, I would highly recommend joining! You will get the support, the guidance, and all of the teachings Dave Ramsey has put together over the years for getting out of debt.
We had credits saved in out Audible account and downloaded his books from there.
(You can sign up for Audible through Amazon here. During our journey to become debt free, we did cancel ALL subscription services; however, we used the credits stored from previous months. Even after we cancelled our subscription, we were able to keep the audio books stored on our phone! Of course, make wise choices! Listening to the books were a must for us as we were both working, had a rambunctious toddler, a newborn, and livestock to tend. There was simply no feasible way we could have sat down to read the books during this phase of our lives.)
There are affiliate links in this post. Read my disclosure policy to learn more.
If you are a traditionalist who needs the physical copies in hand, check out:
You can also check out his YouTube Channel for daily information.
**I’ve had several inquiries about my Bill Organizer! You can find it here!**