Let's talk about how to pay off debt. I remember reading in one of Dave Ramsey's financial guidance books that if people are making fun of your car, you're probably in the right spot with your debt payoff.
Well, the ‘ol van is broken down and sitting in our driveway (in true trashy fashion). It's got a mouse living in the dashboard somewhere and in a few more days, the studded tires on it are going to be illegal and there aren't any regular ones to put back on it. The doors no longer slide and it has dents in the door from when my frustration about said doors has been too much for my unholy heart to handle.
But…
… and this is a big but, my friends…
WE DID IT.
Two years after committing(ish) to following the principles of Dave Ramsey (yes, I moaned and groaned about “Dang Dave” a few times over the years, haven't I friends?), we are finally, completely, totally, 100% DEBT FREE.
OH HECK YES. HECK YES, BABY.
Sorry, forgive the enthusiasm. But if you've ever paid off debt, you know that it is the most life-sucking way to ever spend money in the history of the world. And even though every month I wanted to buy lambs… or tractors… or a new Suburban… or piles of good food… I didn't. Instead, I put the money towards debt.
Let's just face it. That sucks.
“Head down.“, I said to myself.
“Don't covet that person's car doors that actually shut.” I murmured under my breath.
After all – and I really do believe this – comparison is the thief of joy.
And so, we faithfully continued on. Cash was paid for everything or it simply wasn't purchased. Thanks in part to the sales of From Scratch (thank you ALL!) and my essential oils income (thank you ALL… again!), we've been able to apply more and more each month to the last of our student loans.
(By the way, is it just me or is school INCREDIBLY expensive? I might as well just gild my firstborn child and give that to the University instead.)
How To Pay Off Debt
How We Paid Off $30,000 In Debt
Yes, you read that right. $30,000 of student loans. Two years ago, that included a few thousand on a car, a few thousand to a local clinic, and a few thousand on a credit card from our move to Alabama. The smaller amounts were paid off with a hefty tax return, which left us with the student loans.
1. We planned accordingly.
We sat down, ran the numbers, and prioritized a few things. We knew that we wanted to keep growing and expanding our farm. This feeds our bodies and our souls. So we calculated how much it would cost to keep us expanding and functioning here on our land and allotted ourselves this “extra.” It kept us from resenting our debt and our lifestyle.
2. We minimized expenses.
After that, we kept expenses to a minimum. And though we never went hardcore with any lifestyle changes (I just couldn't do the Top Ramen and Saltine diet), we did try to be conscious of our purchases and how that would affect our debt payoff.
And boy did it snowball!
At first, our loan payments were $250… $500… $700.
This month, we were able to put more than $10,000 towards them! HI-YA! Take that, you stupid student loans. I curse the day I met you.
3. We found a source for extra income.
Stuart's a teacher. And while it's an incredibly rewarding profession, let's be honest here folks – we surely ain't in it for the money. We kept our lifestyle such that we could get by on his income alone. And having three littles, it was essential (and a priority) to us that I continue to stay home with them.
10 months ago, I got started sharing essential oils here on the blog, as well as locally. I'd been looking for some high-quality essential oils to share here on the blog, as many of my DIY recipes included them. Joining the essential oil family was one of the most life-changing decisions I've ever made. As my work-from-home business slowly grew and grew, I began to fall in love with the relationships it enabled me to build with readers, friends, and strangers alike. Blogging can create a very introverted environment, and after four years of it, I was beginning to feel a bit secluded from the world. I love that essential oils enable me to interact and share with others. It's given me lifestyle long friends, natural solutions to many of our healthcare problems, and significant extra income to boot. What an incredible answer to prayers this was!
(By the way, don't think it's just me and my little ‘ol blog that has found success with essential oils. I spent last week in California at a Leadership Retreat in a room filled with thousands and thousands of other people who have found the exact same success as I have. It just takes drive and determination.)
4. Commit. COMMIT. For the love of all things holy, COMMIT!
There's no way this would have been possible without intense commitment. Dave Ramsey, I'm afraid, is not for the faint of heart. When I tried to start my van the other day and instead heard the dreaded click as I turned over the key, I almost lost it. I loaded the kids into the truck (legal? probably not.) and drove into town to get Stuart's car. As I called to vent out my frustration to him, he encouraged me to not drive to the car lot (yes, I was on my way there… literally!) but instead to “STAY THE COURSE, HONEY! STAY THE COURSE!”
I didn't want to. I wanted to finance a shiny Suburban. I wanted doors that shut and locks that worked. I wanted a car that would start. I wanted to drive to the car lot so damn bad, I could almost smell the pretty leather seats.
But I didn't. I drove home and prayed for patience and grace and perseverance.
As difficult as it was to break ourselves of habits and shell out that money we worked hard for each month, it's incredibly rewarding to be sitting in a different seat now. We have, cliche as it may sound, financial freedom.
5. Stay The Course.
Now that we're out of debt, we have a few priorities. The first is to stay out of debt continually. Every single time I get something at Target, they offer me a credit card. Same for Lowes. Even Costco is offering them now.
LEAVE ME ALONE, people. Don't you know that I'm trying to stay strong here?
Our second priority to staying debt free is saving up to buy our property. We love this farm – it's home. It runs through our veins. And though we probably won't be able to pay cash for the entire thing, we'll continually follow Dave's principles of home purchasing and work on saving up for that day.
Lastly, we're focusing on the big picture by finally getting around to purchasing life insurance, opening retirement accounts, etc. Even though I want that dang Suburban, I'm trying hard to remember it's not the most important thing right now. If there's money left after the bigger priorities are met, in time, we'll get it. But I want to be smart about having things in place: this includes Stuart and I know that we'd be okay financially if something were to happen to either of us, that we'd be able to care for the children adequately without working right away, that we have a good amount of money stashed away that we can access in the event of an emergency, and that we're paving the way for eventual retirement.
It's not the most exciting thing in the world.
Not nearly as exciting as a new tractor would be.
But important, nonetheless. Sometimes being an adult is booooorrrring.
So when it comes to how to pay off debt…well, we didn't do anything magical to become debt free. It was slow and painful. I hope that encourages some of you who feel like getting there is IMPOSSIBLE. I felt like that, too. Lots of times.
But I've never been one to let impossible things deter me. And you shouldn't be either.
Onward and upward to debt-free living, my friends!
congratulations to you guys! I am on my way too. Baby steps for me, but steps in the right direction. I have high hopes. 🙂
I share in your enthusiasm!
We are two payments away from paying off nearly $30k in debt in 8 months!
We did it through following Dave Ramsey as well, and although I have grumbled the entire time, I am feeling so proud of us and our ability to have done that so early on in our lives. I am totally experiencing the car thing, trying to keep my eyes on the bigger picture for now haha!
Congrats to you and your family!
Congratulations and this was just what I needed to hear right now. Doing the same thing and it is not easy. Soon…
WOW! Thanks for your honesty, and not sugar coating it. It does suck! Congrats!
You have a beautiful family too, by the way.
Amen! Good job you two!!!!! I can say that with such sincerity and happiness because we’ve been there too… Not more than a year ago. Keep the perseverance- it’s so worth it. 🙂
Congratulations! So very proud of you! It takes a great deal of perseverance and courage to do what you just accomplished! I want to encourage you. We were also buried in debt, but have paid it off and bought our home and 2acres with cash. It can be done! Praying for you! 🙂
So lucky! I’m in medical school so my loans are going to be 300,000+ before I can finish, but my goal is to put debt repayment first in priority once I graduate so I can work it off and continue to practice medicine without money issues creeping into my mind.
There’s definitely something wrong with the student loan situation. The loans came about as a federal initiative to make postsecondary school more affordable, but so many schools just looked at that and said, “guess we can raise tuition!” 🙁
I completely understand what you are going through. I recently finished residency and when went to med school interest rate were ridiculously high – my sisters went a few years before and after me and had rates half as high as I do. Top that off with purchasing a practice and we have tons of debt right now. Don’t be discouraged when people assume you make more than you do either. And don’t even try to rationalize with them about it – a lot of people still think doctors make millions every year. Just keep your head down and live like you are a resident even after you finish and you will eventually pay off all that debt.
Good luck!
I love hearing debt free stories! They are so encouraging to those of us still in the trenches! My student loans are over 100k and absolutely ridiculous amount of money, especially considering I don’t even use my degrees! I get a little nauseous when I look at the numbers…. But we have our plan and in 5 years or so we should be debt free! I think the best advice is the part about not resenting the debt, we could have shaved off a couple years if I stayed at my day job, but we were miserable and that’s not sustainable. So now I work from home and love that freedom so much more than the extra money we had to waste on stupid stuff. So we recommit every month to our budget and debt free living and someday we’ll be able to celebrate that last payment!
KUDOS TO YOU! Yes- it is exciting and I cannot wait (I dream about it) for the day to come when I can say my student loans are paid off!!! You are an inspiration thank you for your post!
Congratulations! I am still working the snowball and it is slow and difficult, but my day will come too. You are right – student loans are terrible! I have been paying slowly on mine for 10 years already (and no, I am not a doctor or a lawyer – this was undergrad…) but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Finally. So glad you are finally out from under that weight of debt – and once you save enough for your suburban, it will be totally worth it to pay cash. I know – it took me 4 years to save enough to pay for my vehicle. Worth every single sacrifice to not have a monthly payment!
This is so encouraging!! It can be done! This year our “new years resolution” was to pay off debt!! So far we’ve paid all our credit card debt and we paid off our first student loan off yesterday 🙂 It honestly feels better to pay off the debt than to let it sit in the account and think of what else we could get with it!
I feel like this day will NEVER arrive…but it will. *pours dried beans into the slow cooker* Just keep swimming! 😀
HAHAHAH!
I’m retired you are so rite to save for retirement and get life insurance since you have children I thought my husband and I did everything tite but I was wrong he lost a very good paying job at 64 the French restaurant I worked in closed after 50 years in business hard to find jobs at this age so for 2 years been really hard but we had 6 months savings like they say and retirement which we did not want to touch we had to this December my husband can finally get his SS and mine also we are debt free kind of but owe for a 60,000.00 kitchen and bath makeover we did rite before this happened so we need to pay that off who knew we still both want part time jobs I love your blog Shay especially the way you cook and garden so inspirational helped me get through hard times I had to stop buying mags makeup clothes going out even flowers I love to plant but God and people like you help good luck and get a nest egg I’m so glad we did
I’m sorry, but I have to ask. How on earth are you able to take care of three kids, run a farm, blog and work from home -as if all these weren’t work enough – on top of it all. Don’t take me wrong. I absolutely admire you for that. But it’s just that I’m trying to take care of three kids and run my house besides homeschooling and I’m constantly falling behind and feeling overwhelmed. I really wonder how you do this.
I don’t know… I just do! 🙂 Blogging is done at night/at nap. Homesteading is done with the kids. I feel overwhelmed often. But I just tell myself to take the next baby step 🙂
Wow! This was a very fun post to read. You guys are amazing!
Just curious, do you own the land? The homestead? Or is that mortgaged?
It’s currently rented. Now that we’re debt free, we’ll be saving to purchase.
We just paid off our last vehicle loan. Now to attack our mortgage. We have been working toward debt elimination for two years too!
I’ve been listening to Dave Ramsey since 1994- when I was in high school. I’m so thankful we are also debt free, and we’ve still been made fun of. It doesn’t end even when you are debt free because you still do things “weird”. My husband is also a teacher and I stay at home with our boys, although I work a little on the side doing web design. We don’t have cell phones (we use iPod touches as cheater cell phones), and I drove a 1999 Corolla with 2 kids until this past summer when we finally got a minivan. When we had just the Corolla I had to site diagonally in the drivers seat to fit, since there was only about 8″ between the dashboard and the seat with it wedged forward for the car seat. However, we still continue to live debt free, I get to be home, our house will be paid off in 10 years at most (and we live in an expensive area), and we will retire in style. Freedom!!!!! It’s wonderful:) And congratulations!
Congrats! Being debt free is the best feeling. However, I would like to put a note in here for ‘evil’ credit cards. They can be incredibly useful, BUT you have to use them right. I use mine for virtually every purchase I make, BUT I count the payments on my credit card in my budget as though I had actually paid cash. Then at the end of the month, I have enough money in my account to cover the repayment, and I don’t pay any interest. And the bonus? I get hotpoints on every dollar I spend. So about once a year, I can treat myself to on of their rewards, and don’t have to feel guilty. I just bought a new drier, completely with my hotpoints. I have never had one before, and I am stoked! It would have been years before I could have afforded one if I had to save for it.
“comparison is the thief of joy. ” so true.
You are always real, and completely crack me up. 🙂 I’m certain that we’d be friends if I knew you! Keep on blogging!
Congratulations! Thank you for your encouragement! My husband and I have almost $40,000 in student loans still and we’re working hard to prioritize them. Its so discouraging to see over 50% of my monthly income go to paying off debt. Sometimes I look at the numbers and feel like I’m drowning and we’ll never get out.
Just keep swimming!
So proud of you for making this happen! Now you will see the blessings roll in. As soon as we paid off $50,000 of debt, we were blessed abundantly and….the best part…we are able to help others!
Congrats! My husband and I are working on this same process right now! It’s slow going, but we’re working on it! So far we have just one of three student loans paid off but it’s a step in the right direction.
Congratulations Shaye!! That’s so exciting, and I totally hear you on the “Dave Ramsey isn’t for the faint of heart”. We’ve gone through his stuff too, and I probably should again! The only debt we have is our home so I’d like to work on getting rid of that and actually getting a hefty sized savings account… or like you said, some life insurance. Anyway, best of luck to you, and I too am one happy mama to be able to stay home with my littles and make extra money on the side.
Congrats you guys. I am working on it too. Every time I listen to dave and hear those amazing debt-free screams I get so excited that those people have changed their family tree. I also get excited that one day mine will change too. Stay the course you guys awesome job.
My husband and I have been debt free from the beginning (gasp!) We’ve been married almost 3 years and, after renting the first year, had just enough to pay cash for our first house. It’s a little house in a podunk town, but it’s OURS! We dream a lot about owning a farm some day, but for now we’re making do with eight chickens and a garden. Being debt free is truly FREEDOM.