Blogging Away Debt Our Journeys to a Debt-Free Life

by Hope

Last week I wrote about looking forward to the end of my debt payoff journey and the possibility of being completely debt free in just two years! I also decided, on a whim, that we would be doing a #nospendjanuary.

In having these discussions with the kids this week, we’ve also looked back at all the changes in our lives over the last few years. Some of them were intentional with the goal of getting out of debt and some of them were forced due to job loss, house loss and big moves.

I thought I might highlight some of the big changes as a bit of nostalgia for me and maybe to update some of the new readers on the roller coaster that has been my life these last few years:

• We sold our 15 passenger van that had a substantial loan tied to and downsized to an old paid off Honda Accord for 6 months. (And I had to learn how to drive a stick shift – yikes!)
  • I was able to save enough in that 6 months to purchase a used Ford Flex as a family car and the Accord became the twins first car as they got their licenses.
• We were forced to move from our home of 4 years with little notice and took it as the opportunity to downsize and try apartment living with the 5 of us, 3 dogs and a cat.
  • We sold most everything when we moved from 1,800 square feet to 900 square feet. I truly embraced minimalist living and still function that way for the most part.
• During our apartment stint, my business pretty much folded as my largest two clients downsized. And things got really desperate…we ended up on food stamps and it took me almost 2 years to get back on solid ground.
  • We had to move out of the apartment and another family graciously let us live on their land in their camper/trailer. We stayed there for 9 months and were able to experience farm life with raising chickens in our kitchen. We also discovered that I HATE ‘glamping.’ I may have already known that but this really pushed it home.
• After just over a year of mostly unemployment, we made a big move to GA after the camper we were living in was damaged while we were out of town and became unlivable. By the time we completed the move and were living with my Grandmother, I had a full time job offer and I returned to the corporate world after 10 years as an entrepreneur. This is where the tides began to turn for us. This was March, 2017.
  • That brings us to present day with the rebirth of my business going well, almost 2 years in our cozy rental home and the kids doing really well in their schooling!

Our debt journey has been a true roller coaster ride. And it has been really hard the last few years. But you know what…we can all look back now and appreciate what we have been through and have found tons of fun things to laugh and smile about.

What we thought were the darkest days, taught us so much. And now, I really can see a light at the end of the tunnel. I am going to be debt free. I am really going to get there.

By the way, coming to the end of the first week, admittedly not a full week, we have not spent an extra cent! Go us!!!!

Hope

Hope is a creative, solutions-focused business manager helping clients grow their business and work more efficiently by leveraging expertise in project management, digital marketing, & tech solutions. She’s recently become an empty nester as her 5 foster/adoptive kids have spread their wings. She lives with her 5 dogs in a small town in NE Georgia and prefers the mountains to the beaches any day. She struggles with the travel bug and is doing her best to help each of her kids as their finish schooling and become independent (but it’s hard!) She has run her own consulting company for almost twenty years! Hope began sharing her journey with the BAD community in the Spring of 2015 and feels like she has finally in a place to really focus on making wise financial decisions.