My Story
In 2018, I made the decision to leave a toxic work environment, but the aftermath of that decision proved how bad we were doing with our finances. We were living what is considered a “normal” life living paycheck to paycheck and carrying a huge amount of consumer debt. We had enough money to cover the bills and anything extra was put on the credit cards. Once our income changed, we realized we were holding on to a threat and we needed to make some drastic changes to improve our finances. I started searching the internet and reading anything I could find on personal finance.
The first thing that was clear was that we needed to get out of debt. That required us to change our mind set about how we managed our money and take a good look at the behaviors that got us into debt in the first place. We decided to attack our debt with all we had, we made budget cuts, we sold stuff and ultimately, we decided to sell our home. Selling our home allowed us to tackle a big portion for our debt including a car, personal loan, and a few credit cards. After that anything extra went into the remaining debt.
Cutting our spending included saying “NO” to a lot of things including eating out, vacations and many “wants”. In addition, we started looking at ways to increase our income. My husband had been a teacher for the past five years, but he was underpaid. He decided to go into the construction field. Meanwhile I took a contractor position that gave me flexibility to search for my next employer and make more money. It was a very difficult decision, but our peace of mind was more important.
Now
Since then, we have paid off 40k in consumer debt, bought three homes, live well beyond our means, and can finally stop stressing about money! Now I help others build wealth through homeownership and taking control of their money!