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Journey To Debt Free: Finding The Debt Free Light

September 6, 2017 By Thinking of Someday Leave a Comment

In case you haven’t noticed, we have decided to kick the start of each month off with an interview as part of our success stories category. So today we have an interview from some more of our friends, who after 2.5 years of marriage and with a baby on the way, realized it was time to put their differences aside and get on the same page in regards to their finances and financial goals. After much deliberation, and of course compromise, they reached a decision that they felt would work for their family.

In this interview, which is our very first journey to debt free interview, we have Katrice, who is in her early 30s and is a research chemist, and Jimmy, who is in his late 20s and is a forensic scientist and active military. They have two children, a pre-teen girl and a baby boy.

Why do you want to get out of debt?

In 2015, we decided it was time for a change. We wanted to have more money and fewer bills. The feeling of owning what you purchased and not having the burden of owing money. The idea of having less responsibility. Trying to maintain good credit, for example, is a responsibility especially when it comes to financing.

Katrice: I started tackling my own debt before we were married. But even after we were married I was spending a lot of money. I use to spend over $400/mo on just my maintenance alone (getting my hair done, manicure and pedicures, waxes, you name it! Lol). And I shopped a lot. I wanted to start focusing on paying off debt, but I was caught up in everyone telling me I shouldn’t just work my life away, but to enjoy life as well. I’m glad we finally came to the debt free light and I’m still enjoying life just as much!

Oh wow. That was a lot Katrice. At the same time, we can understand the pressure from others as well as from ourselves to enjoy life now. We’re glad that we came to the debt free light and that you guys did as well!

We noticed that you guys mentioned trying to maintain good credit, especially when it comes to financing. Does this mean that you’re still using credit cards or loans while on this journey to getting out of debt? Do you plan to still use credit cards and/or loans once you’re out of debt?

Yes, we are currently still using credit cards while getting out of debt, but we have the cash on hand to pay the card off before the next billing cycle. This way we don’t accrue any interest charges. We use the credit cards for the perks. And the credit cards that still have a balance on them we don’t use at all. Those are the ones we are working towards paying off.

And yes we will still be using credit cards or a loan on certain terms after we finish paying off this debt. However, we are much wiser now when making those decisions and don’t plan to accrue this amount of debt ever again. Besides, we plan to only use the card/loan for the amount of cash we have available for a specific purchase.

How much debt do you have?

A LOT! LOL. We bought our first home after our wedding.

What type of debt do you have?

At this time, we have student loans, credit cards, a vehicle loan and our mortgage.
Our debt totals after college and marriage were as follows:
  • student loans: $32,000
  • credit cards: $35,500
  • 2 auto loans: $41,000
  • personal loan: $12,000
  • TOTAL: $120,500
Our debt totals now, especially since we have been working on our plan for 1.5 years are as follows:
  • student loans: $10,000 (with the military paying 80% towards Jimmy’s loans)
  • credit cards: $15,000
  • 1 auto loan: $14,000
  • TOTAL: $39,000
So we have almost $40,000 of debt left, not including our mortgage. We’ve paid off $81,500 of debt! And some of that was one of our car loans!

What’s your household income range?

Before marriage, combined we were grossing upwards of $140,000. With recent job changes at the end of last year and the beginning of this year, we are grossing upwards of $100,000.

How does being in debt make you feel?

Jimmy: That everything is over priced in this world.

Katrice: I feel like I am drowning (in over my head).

What’s your plan for getting out of debt?

We currently have a three-year payoff plan, which we started at the end of 2015, to get rid of most of our debt and not including our mortgage. We will have $7,500 left on a student loan and about $2,500 left on a credit card. We can’t pay off the student loan until the military is finished paying their portion. We have a 30-year mortgage term and we do plan to pay it off early after we pay off this other debt and start investing more.

What role has doing a budget played in you trying to get out of debt?

Our idea of budgeting is tracking where our money goes and how much money we have coming in. It’s similar to a budget, only that we do not set limits, but minimums that must go to certain categories for the household. For example, we pay $150/mo towards our electric bill (our electric bill is not this expensive, by the way). This way we stay ahead on our bills just in case of hardships or an increase that we did not expect during the harsh winter or hot summer months. Any extra money we have left over goes towards paying off another form of debt we currently have.

While getting out of debt there are typically 2 schools of thought when it comes to investing. Invest so you can get that compound interest, and especially if your employer is offering a match. Or stop investing so that you can focus only on getting out of debt. So, are you guys investing?

We do contribute to a 401k to collect the maximum amount of free money given from our employer. For example, if the employer matches 5% of contributions, then we will contribute 5% to get the full percentage of the match. So we’re currently only investing to get the free money from the employer, nothing outside of that yet.

Once we’re out of debt we do plan to eventually begin maxing out Roth IRA’s for each of us. We would also like to max out our 401k as long as they continue to have a company match. At some point, we would even like investing outside of our retirement accounts with any extra money we have.

What’s been your hardest challenge with trying to get out of debt?

 Jimmy: Not having enough money in regards to being able to pay stuff off more quickly. For instance, we waste money on daycare when we could save money by having a nanny for a few years. When we had a nanny it was cheaper than daycare, but we wanted our son to have that interaction with other kids his age as well as more activity during the day to help with his development and motor skills. Also, me eating out sometimes when I don’t have to. Laziness hurts the budget at times.

Katrice: For me, the hardest challenge is not adding more debt to the debt we already have when there are things that we want to buy. I fear going into debt again.

What’s been your motivation to stay on this journey to being debt free?

The freedom to do whatever we want with our money with no worries or a care in the world.

What advice would you give to someone who doesn’t see the need to get out of debt or a young person who hasn’t accrued any debt yet?

Our advice is to weigh the pros and cons of what you are going into debt for. Ask yourself is it worth it? For example, deciding to have a luxury wedding or going to the Justice of the Peace (the court house).

Our Thoughts: Thank you Katrice and Jimmy for sharing your story about your journey to debt freedom. We’re sure that your story is one that many people can relate to. Continue to follow the “debt free light” and we’re sure that’ll help you to finish up your journey.

** If you’re interested in helping us inspire others by sharing your journey to debt free, please contact us. We would love to hear from you! **

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Filed Under: Success Stories Tagged With: debt free journey, personal finance, zero-based budget

See what’s happening on Instagram…

thinkingofsomeday

Instagram post 2195099541783240281_8793995697 T H E  C H O I C E  I S  Y O U R S!
Instagram post 2193080050207492136_8793995697 Soooo close to $100,000. We can feel it!! 💃🏽 🕺🏽
Instagram post 2192293690626409747_8793995697 And to think our original goal for the year was $23,000. 🙌🏽
Instagram post 2191701566520389980_8793995697 The total for our mortgage principal payments for November was $3924.33.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
$878.46 came from our regular payment, $1525.25 came from our budget, and $1520.62 came from RSUs.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
This is the most that has come from our budget all year. We did have a 3-month check though. And we both agreed that we wanted to put $1000 towards the mortgage from it.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Now we’re in the last month of the year, and we’re hoping to finish up strong. How’s everyone else’s #mortgagefreejourney going? Is it looking like you’re going to meet your goal for this year?
Instagram post 2191480089267366040_8793995697 Several posts back, we posed a question. After many talks we decided to use the additional funds to fund our youngest son’s 529. Our reasoning is:
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
1. We’re making incredible progress on paying the house off. We’re hoping to be done much sooner than we first thought.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
2. We’re investing 20% of our income for retirement and it’ll just increase once we pay the house off.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
3. To fund our youngest son’s 529 this year, we used our tax refund. Since those aren’t guaranteed (and we actually owed taxes the last couple of years prior), we don’t want to rely on that. So we agreed that it’s better to fund his 529 ourselves instead of depending on a windfall. Plus, Omar received the gift of going to college debt free and we want to give that gift to our kids.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Thanks to those that left their feedback!! ☺️
Instagram post 2190759099323309660_8793995697 I probably should’ve posted this a little sooner given that Black Friday and Cyber Monday have passed. But there’s no time like the present, right? 🤷🏽‍♀️ And besides, someone might need to hear this regardless of if it relates to the holiday shopping season or not.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
This does come to mind particularly for this time of year though because it’s typically when people will be buying for several people, if they’re going to buy anything at all.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I like to give gifts during this time, and as long as my list is, there’s no way our budget could handle it if I didn’t plan to spend. I literally make a list, set a budget per person, and try to come under budget because I consider that winning. Lol.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
However, it hasn’t always been this way. When  I was without a job and couldn’t afford to get other people gifts, I let those who usually would get me something know that I couldn’t get them anything and they didn’t need to get me anything neither. Was it easy to admit? No. But I felt better once I said it and knew that I wouldn’t be adding to my debt that I currently had no way of paying.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
So regardless of if you are planning to spend or planning to not spend this holiday season, either way make a plan. Stay true to yourself especially if you’re planning not to spend. And stay true to your budget if you are!
Instagram post 2186463961520488685_8793995697 We’ve been debt free for over 4.5 years now. Just like becoming debt free didn’t happen without a plan, maintaining a debt free lifestyle didn’t happen without one either.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
On the blog, I decided to share 5 things we do to help maintain our debt free lifestyle and why we choose to do them.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Yes, one of them is budgeting and one of them is actually spending money. Click the link in our bio to find out what the other 3 are.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Once you become debt free, what are you going to do to maintain a debt free lifestyle? Have you given it any thought? If you’re already debt free, what are you doing to stay that way?
Instagram post 2185321353939169605_8793995697 7:17 || After a long week of making popcorn candy turkeys (🤣) and a long week of work for Omar, we finally got the chance to celebrate our 7 year wedding anniversary and 17 year dating anniversary over the weekend. No they’re not in the same month. We’re just now getting a chance to celebrate our wedding anniversary from July because when we had plans to do so, a stomach bug swept through the entire household. I got hit the worst, and we literally said, “Happy Anniversary” to each other while I was laying on an ER stretcher waiting for some IV fluids. What a way to bring in 7 years, huh? Lol.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Anyways. We went out to eat for our first ever 8-course meal. At this particular restaurant the experience is known as the “Chef’s Table.” And as you can see in the picture, we literally were sitting in the kitchen area, but to the side. We were able to see everyone in action, including the chef.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
As far as the food, it was amazing!! The only thing neither of us were fond of was the beet salad, but beets aren’t something we typically eat. Each course was paired with a beverage (champagne, wine, or whiskey). We were expecting some drinks, but not that many. Lol. Although they did have a sign posted that said “get drunk” and once we saw all the wine glasses, we knew what was coming. 😆
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The only 2 things not specifically listed on the menu was the truffle parmesan popcorn, which we had first. And of course dessert was last, which was a carrot cake with rum soaked white raisins.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
It took us a little over 2.5 hours, and we enjoyed every bit of it. It was nice to reflect on our 7 years of marriage and 17 years of being together. 🖤
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Would we do it again or something similar? Absolutely! Although maybe only once a year or so depending on the price. But it was much much cheaper than the ER visit! Lol. #piecesofsomeday
Instagram post 2182412688127109081_8793995697 popcorn candy turkey || So I’ve been working on this the last couple of days for our oldest son’s Thanksgiving party at school. I’m not the room mom this time around, but all the parents did have to sign up for a party or be assigned to one. I was assigned since the sign-up sheet wasn’t mentioned during the Open House we attended. Any how. Let me just say...
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I won’t be making these again. 😳 Lol.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I mentioned it in my stories yesterday that I always seem to pick ideas that seem easy, but once I get started I quickly realize that it’s not easy AND it’s more on the expensive side.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
It took forever to separate the different colors of candy. It took forever to fill the fingers, especially the skittles because they kept sticking to the bag. The M&Ms were easier, but took up less of the glove. After realizing I would run out of candy and the kiddies don’t need that much candy anyways... I decided to push some of the popcorn down in the fingers as well. Luckily my mom helped me with the popcorn part.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Gluing on the eyes was a fail the first time and second time 🤦🏽‍♀️ (you can see that in my stories from today as well as what I should’ve made instead). Needless to say, I’m glad this is over. 😂
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Oh. And we also have to take a meat dish. So we chose pulled pork.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Cost: I stopped counting after $55 (and this doesn’t include the rolls and utensils or anything I bought afterwards).
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The only supplies I had at home was the construction paper and glue to put the snacks together.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I don’t know if this is a #parentingfail or #parentingwin (definitely not a good #budgetwin). Lol. I do know that we will be enjoying this pulled pork for dinner... I mean, for the party tomorrow (😆) And all the other food that will be there! #piecesofsomeday
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A married couple making someday a reality all while balancing family + finances + avoiding debt. Find out more about us, here.

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See what’s happening on Instagram

thinkingofsomeday

Instagram post 2195099541783240281_8793995697 T H E  C H O I C E  I S  Y O U R S!
Instagram post 2193080050207492136_8793995697 Soooo close to $100,000. We can feel it!! 💃🏽 🕺🏽
Instagram post 2192293690626409747_8793995697 And to think our original goal for the year was $23,000. 🙌🏽
Instagram post 2191701566520389980_8793995697 The total for our mortgage principal payments for November was $3924.33.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
$878.46 came from our regular payment, $1525.25 came from our budget, and $1520.62 came from RSUs.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
This is the most that has come from our budget all year. We did have a 3-month check though. And we both agreed that we wanted to put $1000 towards the mortgage from it.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Now we’re in the last month of the year, and we’re hoping to finish up strong. How’s everyone else’s #mortgagefreejourney going? Is it looking like you’re going to meet your goal for this year?
Instagram post 2191480089267366040_8793995697 Several posts back, we posed a question. After many talks we decided to use the additional funds to fund our youngest son’s 529. Our reasoning is:
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
1. We’re making incredible progress on paying the house off. We’re hoping to be done much sooner than we first thought.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
2. We’re investing 20% of our income for retirement and it’ll just increase once we pay the house off.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
3. To fund our youngest son’s 529 this year, we used our tax refund. Since those aren’t guaranteed (and we actually owed taxes the last couple of years prior), we don’t want to rely on that. So we agreed that it’s better to fund his 529 ourselves instead of depending on a windfall. Plus, Omar received the gift of going to college debt free and we want to give that gift to our kids.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Thanks to those that left their feedback!! ☺️
Instagram post 2190759099323309660_8793995697 I probably should’ve posted this a little sooner given that Black Friday and Cyber Monday have passed. But there’s no time like the present, right? 🤷🏽‍♀️ And besides, someone might need to hear this regardless of if it relates to the holiday shopping season or not.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
This does come to mind particularly for this time of year though because it’s typically when people will be buying for several people, if they’re going to buy anything at all.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I like to give gifts during this time, and as long as my list is, there’s no way our budget could handle it if I didn’t plan to spend. I literally make a list, set a budget per person, and try to come under budget because I consider that winning. Lol.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
However, it hasn’t always been this way. When  I was without a job and couldn’t afford to get other people gifts, I let those who usually would get me something know that I couldn’t get them anything and they didn’t need to get me anything neither. Was it easy to admit? No. But I felt better once I said it and knew that I wouldn’t be adding to my debt that I currently had no way of paying.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
So regardless of if you are planning to spend or planning to not spend this holiday season, either way make a plan. Stay true to yourself especially if you’re planning not to spend. And stay true to your budget if you are!
Instagram post 2186463961520488685_8793995697 We’ve been debt free for over 4.5 years now. Just like becoming debt free didn’t happen without a plan, maintaining a debt free lifestyle didn’t happen without one either.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
On the blog, I decided to share 5 things we do to help maintain our debt free lifestyle and why we choose to do them.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Yes, one of them is budgeting and one of them is actually spending money. Click the link in our bio to find out what the other 3 are.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Once you become debt free, what are you going to do to maintain a debt free lifestyle? Have you given it any thought? If you’re already debt free, what are you doing to stay that way?
Instagram post 2185321353939169605_8793995697 7:17 || After a long week of making popcorn candy turkeys (🤣) and a long week of work for Omar, we finally got the chance to celebrate our 7 year wedding anniversary and 17 year dating anniversary over the weekend. No they’re not in the same month. We’re just now getting a chance to celebrate our wedding anniversary from July because when we had plans to do so, a stomach bug swept through the entire household. I got hit the worst, and we literally said, “Happy Anniversary” to each other while I was laying on an ER stretcher waiting for some IV fluids. What a way to bring in 7 years, huh? Lol.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Anyways. We went out to eat for our first ever 8-course meal. At this particular restaurant the experience is known as the “Chef’s Table.” And as you can see in the picture, we literally were sitting in the kitchen area, but to the side. We were able to see everyone in action, including the chef.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
As far as the food, it was amazing!! The only thing neither of us were fond of was the beet salad, but beets aren’t something we typically eat. Each course was paired with a beverage (champagne, wine, or whiskey). We were expecting some drinks, but not that many. Lol. Although they did have a sign posted that said “get drunk” and once we saw all the wine glasses, we knew what was coming. 😆
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The only 2 things not specifically listed on the menu was the truffle parmesan popcorn, which we had first. And of course dessert was last, which was a carrot cake with rum soaked white raisins.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
It took us a little over 2.5 hours, and we enjoyed every bit of it. It was nice to reflect on our 7 years of marriage and 17 years of being together. 🖤
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Would we do it again or something similar? Absolutely! Although maybe only once a year or so depending on the price. But it was much much cheaper than the ER visit! Lol. #piecesofsomeday
Instagram post 2182412688127109081_8793995697 popcorn candy turkey || So I’ve been working on this the last couple of days for our oldest son’s Thanksgiving party at school. I’m not the room mom this time around, but all the parents did have to sign up for a party or be assigned to one. I was assigned since the sign-up sheet wasn’t mentioned during the Open House we attended. Any how. Let me just say...
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I won’t be making these again. 😳 Lol.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I mentioned it in my stories yesterday that I always seem to pick ideas that seem easy, but once I get started I quickly realize that it’s not easy AND it’s more on the expensive side.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
It took forever to separate the different colors of candy. It took forever to fill the fingers, especially the skittles because they kept sticking to the bag. The M&Ms were easier, but took up less of the glove. After realizing I would run out of candy and the kiddies don’t need that much candy anyways... I decided to push some of the popcorn down in the fingers as well. Luckily my mom helped me with the popcorn part.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Gluing on the eyes was a fail the first time and second time 🤦🏽‍♀️ (you can see that in my stories from today as well as what I should’ve made instead). Needless to say, I’m glad this is over. 😂
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Oh. And we also have to take a meat dish. So we chose pulled pork.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Cost: I stopped counting after $55 (and this doesn’t include the rolls and utensils or anything I bought afterwards).
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The only supplies I had at home was the construction paper and glue to put the snacks together.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I don’t know if this is a #parentingfail or #parentingwin (definitely not a good #budgetwin). Lol. I do know that we will be enjoying this pulled pork for dinner... I mean, for the party tomorrow (😆) And all the other food that will be there! #piecesofsomeday
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