I met someone that had been $500,000.00 in debt and they paid it all off within 7 1/2 years. After hearing their story, we have a new perspective!!!
Of course, I wanted to speak with this family immediately. After hearing a few take away's from their journey, I felt thankful for the information that was shared over a fifteen minute phone call. Truly, this phone call has changed our perspective about our debt free journey. Like most individuals on this journey, we become discouraged at times when the overall amount doesn't seem to be lowering. At this point I am both anxious and excited at the same time!! The anxiousness stems from the desire to alter our entire budget during the middle of the month and the excitement is from the thought of learning new techniques to conquer debt. The suggestions shared were as follows:
- No longer using debit cards
- No longer putting the kids in extra curricular activities
- No longer living off of two incomes
- No longer having unplanned meals
- No longer allowing "wants" to have space in our home
The suggestions were made to be carried out over a two year period. Initially, I felt very overwhelmed with these suggestions. But, as I replayed the conversation through my mind I realized that these are things that individuals do when they are serious about eliminating debt in a timely manner. I took a little time to think about this conversation and later sent a message to my husband requesting a financial meeting.
When my husband arrived, I spoke with him about the suggestions made by our new friend. I also discussed that we needed to revisit our blow amount and whether we will allow the kids to participate in sports during the Fall. Initially, the room was very cold and hollow. I am still unsure whether that was from my anxiety about this difficult conversation or was it from his deep breathing as we discussed this topic. Towards the end of the conversation, I stopped talking and allowed me husband to sit with the information that I shared. It was clear that he needed time to process his thoughts in a quiet space without me breathing down his neck for quick responses. Eventually, he shared that he was willing to do anything necessary to bring out debt to zero and boy was I excited.
Truly, we are excited to meet new friends while on our debt free journey. There is so much information to learn about this process and I am looking forward to gaining additional knowledge. Our perspective on tackling debt has changed due to listening to someone else's story. We are looking forward to sharing our steps with readers and encouraging them through our experiences.