Jessi Fearon has been actively working to dump debt since early 2013. She’s started the popular blog, The Budget Mama, to help share her real life tips for living on a budget. However, blogging also helps keep her accountable.
Jessi is sharing her in-progress debt free story for today’s New Year New You profile.
As she puts it, getting out of debt requires a lifestyle change. Sometimes that change is uncomfortable – in the near term. As you can read from the other profiles in this series, a bit of discomfort is worth the end result.
1. How long have you been actively working on your goal of eliminating debt? What was your beginning debt total?
We have been actively working to eliminate debt since February 2013. I eliminated just over $11,000 the first year we were married of my own personal debt. The total without the house was just under $50,000 and stands at $18,986 today (not including the mortgage).
2. What prompted you to begin?
In February of 2013, after reading The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, I realized that by still having credit cards and a car loan, we were still putting our growing family at risk.
3. You have a frugal living blog. How has this helped your personal journey out of debt?
It helps to hold me accountable and to remind me that God gives us challenges to bring us closer to Him. It is so easy to get caught up in the negativity of “woe is me”, but by having my blog as an outlet, I’m able to put the negative in check and get back to work.
4. What’s been the most challenging part of your journey out of debt? How have you handled that obstacle in order to maintain your momentum.
Our growing family. We are still in the stage of life were we are still having babies, and as any parent knows, having babies comes with more than just diaper costs. Keeping to our debt payoff plan while trying to complete our family has definitely been a challenge. We have to readjust our budget and debt payoff plan several times to accommodate the never-ending needs of our growing family.
5. What are helpful resources you’ve encountered since seeking debt freedom?
I find that following other bloggers that are on this journey to be the most beneficial. They keep me motivated to stay on track with our debt payoff plan.
6. What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned thus far in your debt free journey?
That you are going to have to get uncomfortable on this journey. When we first started this journey I thought we would still be able to do and live like we always had, you know still be comfortable, but the truth is that you are going to have to allow yourself to become uncomfortable and go without things that you want in order to achieve success on this journey.
7. What is your anticipated debt free date?
Our goal is to be debt free (including the mortgage) by December by 2020.
8. What do you plan to do after achieving debt freedom?
We plan to start saving the money we were applying to our debt towards to purchase of our homestead. 🙂
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