It’s always great to hear other people’s journey to financial freedom when you’re on your way to your own financial freedom. In this episode, we are going to be talking with Dustin and Tiffany and hear how they crushed over $75,000 in debt in just 18 months!
Dustin and Tiffany are a married couple with a 2-year-old daughter. They decided that being debt-free was what they wanted and they accomplished their goal with sheer grit and determination.
Types of Debt
When Dustin and Tiffany got married they brought a bunch of debt with them. They purchased their house 2 weeks before they got married. Additionally, Tiffany had a car payment and Dustin had some student loans.
Then after they got married Tiffany acquired some student loans and they took out a line of credit on their house. They paid some things off along the way, but never really focused on it, and they weren’t intentional about paying off debt at that time.
Throughout their marriage, they accumulated and paid off over 130K in debt. They decided they wanted to focus and become debt-free and that’s how they were able to pay off all of their debt quickly.
Switching Gears
After Tiffany took a financial peace university class she had a better idea of how things should be and it opened their eyes on the matter. However, that didn’t necessarily make them switch their way of thinking on debt completely. When Tiffany was pregnant they decided to get a new car to accommodate the new child.
Having all that debt and having to work opposite schedules and never seeing each other motivated them to switch their way of thinking and become debt-free so that they weren’t spending all of their time stressing on paying the bills and not spending it with each other.
The Mindset to Be Debt Free
Sitting down and doing a budget can help you see what you’re spending and what you have leftover after the bills are paid and the necessities are purchased. By doing a budget you can see the numbers and see what’s possible.
Another great thing to do while setting a budget is to set goals. You can set both short-term goals and long-term goals. However, you should start with shorter-term goals because it’s easier to see the win in front of you that way.
Having goals set in mind will help you be intentional in what you’re spending. Furthermore, you’ll be able to see the finish line that is ahead of you. You have to make sure you stick to the budget and your goals. This will help keep you motivated in your financial freedom journey.
Ways to Pay Off Debt
Some of the things that Dustin and Tiffany did to tackle their debt was that they sold an old vehicle and put that money directly towards their debt instead of spending that money on a “want” item.
They also put all of their tax return and overtime money towards their debt. Another great thing that they caught was what when it came to their bad spending habits were, eating out was the majority of it. They decided to cut out a lot of those extra spending habits.
Tiffany also started a fitness business on the side that helped a little with their debt. Now that they are out of debt, the business has taken off which allows her to be at home. This made it so she doesn’t have to go do a second job after work. There was no huge start-up cost and it was saving them money in other areas so it ended up being worth it for them to start a business.
What You Will Learn
- Why a budget is important
- Why you should stop bad spending habits
- Ways to pay off debt
- How to respond to other people’s comments about your journey
- What your mindset should be during your journey
- How to stay inspired during your journey
- How this journey can impact your marriage
Resources Mentioned
Thanks For Listening!
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Today’s show was sponsored by Crush My Mortgage. If you are ready to accelerate the process of paying off your home mortgage and become truly financially free once and for all then enroll in our brand new online course Crush My Mortgage.
