My “Get out of Debt” Journey: Part 5
At this point in our journey out of debt, my husband and I had paid off a couple of smaller debts and were pressing forward on the larger ones. We came to realize that “pressing forward” often meant one step forward, two steps back, but we were determined to finish the job.
We had many reasons for wanting to get out of debt, but one of the greatest was my desire to be a Stay-at-Home Mom. We needed both our incomes to make all our monthly payments, and that meant I had to keep working. We had a great babysitter for Bub, but that wasn’t the same as being home with him myself.
On top of that, we wanted another child, but the thought of leaving a new baby with the babysitter was very. . .upsetting. If we could pay off our debts, we could get by on my husband’s salary and my part-time job teaching online classes–and I would get to stay home with the kids. That was an extremely powerful motivator.
I wanted another baby in the worst way. Bub wanted a baby brother in the worst way. I can’t tell you how hard it was to hear him pray for God to send him a brother, knowing that one wouldn’t be coming any time soon. All because of our STUPID DEBT! I started to get mad at the bills (in a good way). I saw them as thornbushes standing between me and my second child, and I wanted to hack them away as fast as possible.
So we kept hacking away. Another bill paid off. Then another. Now the car payment was the only debt left. Unfortunately, it was also the largest. But we kept on hacking.
What we really needed was a better tool to hack with. More on that next time.
Hi Andrea,
I just read your 5 – step series of getting out of debt. I think the Dave Ramsey approach (I have no clue who this is) seems like a realistic step-by-step approach. For people who are struggling to find that extra money to pay down debt, this looks like a great recipe to begin with. My husband and I finished paying off our credit cards and started with the smaller amounts first. The feeling of satisfaction is important to keeping motivated.
We’re now working towards paying off our larger debts (a car, line of credit and student loan) and saving for a house.
I’ll be checking back on this story!
Little House
I love the image of thorn bushes standing between you and your second child. That’s a powerful motivator.
I am using the Dave Ramsey debt snowball approach to hack away at my debt. I have paid off one small debt so far. It’s great motivation to keep going, but I am finding it harder to pay off the second one…just gotta keep going.