Often, WE stand in the way of our own success.
I found what worked for me and now I want to share that with you.
Often, WE stand in the way of our own success.
I found what worked for me and now I want to share that with you.
Trouble for me began my freshman year of college when I took out extra student loan money to “live on”. That extra money started my uninhibited spending.
I would get checks (loans) in the mail for $5,000. I didn't even know that it charged 26% interest.
I bounced a lot of checks, maxed out all of my credit cards and had no money left after simply paying rent and buying gas. I found help through a credit counseling agency, paid off all my debt – and in the process decided that I wanted to help others with money matters.
AND THEN... I went heavily BACK INTO DEBT AGAIN.
What?!
Just because you know what is right vs wrong, doesn’t stop our brains from saying…
"Ooh, you would love life so much more if you bought {a camper}!"
{Insert your weak spot here}
200
Thousand Dollars
1
camper
4
car loans
8
credit cards
11
student loans
We have paid off over $200,000 in debt since 2012.
(and that does not include the mortgage)
Over the course of many years, we would increase our spending as we earned more.
We both quit our jobs [at the same time] to pursue other passions, and we cashed out our 401ks. After getting a great deal on our new home, we were quickly advised that we could take out a home equity loan.
We were very responsible with our credit (read: we made minimum payments only), so the bank consistently increased our line of credit until it practically matched my annual salary.
It wasn't until about 2012 that things started to feel tight for us.
I started seeing we were drowning with payments and didn't quite have enough to cover everything. Even though we never had a true rock bottom moment - we did slowly have shifts in our thinking.
Random Fun Facts!