Welcome to Blogging Away Debt. We’re glad you’re here! This website is about the everyday journey to get rid of debt!
Blogging Away Debt is part of the District Media, Inc family of websites. Originally founded in the District of Columbia in 2007, District Media, Inc is an independent, woman and veteran managed media company. With an audience of over 10 million monthly visitors, our content appears on Google News, AOL, NewsMax and other channels. Our objective is to deliver high-quality personal finance news, advice, and other related topics that inform, empower, educate and entertain the public. District Media provides this information free of charge through our portfolio of 15 different websites, with all operating expenses paid through advertising.
The Team Behind District Media
James Hendrickson, CEO and Founder
For marketing/sales inquiries contact: james@districtmediafinance.com
Tamila McDonald, Chief Operations Officer
For editorial questions contact: tamila@districtmediafinance.com
For other questions or to discuss the editorial direction of the site, please email:
Amanda Blankenship, Chief Editor
Amanda@districtmediafinance.com
Latrice Perez, Associate Editor
latrice@districtmediafinance.com
Travis Campbell, Associate Editor
travis@districtmediafinance.com
Here are the wonderful writers who have graciously shared their story on Blogging Away Debt.
Hope
Hope is a digital marketing manager and foster/adoptive single mom to five kids. She has run her own consulting company for over 15 years and took a leap of faith returning to the corporate world in 2021 to a job and team she loves! Hope began sharing her journey with the BAD community in the Spring of 2015 and feels like she has finally mastered the balance between family first and wise financial decisions.
Ashley
Ashley is a 40 something Arizonan (at least on paper) and a true Texan at heart. She loves running, writing, and all things cheese. She is also a married mother of two, and works in academia. Her current goals are focusing on paying off her 6-digit student loan debt, building wealth and budgeting.
Vicky
Vicky Monroe is a freelance personal finance and lifestyle writer. When she’s not busy writing about her favorite money-saving hacks or tinkering with her budget spreadsheets, she likes to travel, garden, and cook healthy vegetarian meals.
Rebekah
Rebekah is a full-time government employee who enjoys blogging late into the night after her four kids have gone to sleep. She’s been married to Chris, her college sweetheart, for 15 years. In 2017, after 3 long years working the Dave Ramsey Baby Steps, they paid off more than $70K and became debt-free. When she’s not working or writing, she’s exploring the great outdoors.
Lindsey
Lindsey is a freelance writer in the personal finance and lifestyle sphere. When she’s not at her laptop, she is likely teaching herself a new hobby with a high potential for injuries – such as skiing or cooking. Connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Sara
Sara is a writer, reader, and mom to three kids. When she’s not making peanut butter sandwiches or helping find lost shoes, she helps her husband run their family business.
Debt has been a constant third wheel in her marriage. From school loans to business lines of credit, she and her husband are sick of owing money to other people. The past year, they’ve worked harder than ever to ditch their debt for good. They still have far to go, but she’s excited to share their journey to financial freedom.
Elizabeth S.
Elizabeth is a single woman in her early 30s, working as a manager at a software company and living in the most expensive city in Canada. She hopes to blog about her journey to eliminate debt and build savings for homeownership someday. Whenever she has taken two financial steps forward, she’s always taken a step back with a bad credit card purchase (we’re looking at you, unnecessary iPhone of May 2019). Elizabeth lives alone with her fur kids, a dog and a cat, and when she’s not in front of the computer, she enjoys running, camping, reading, and baseball.
Ashley L.
Ashley L. is an educator in her early 30’s. She lives in a southern city and when not working with children, she devotes her time to her “doghter”, a Chihuahua fur-baby. In her leisure time, she enjoys traveling, writing, and reading.
One Ashley’s primary goals is to create financial security for herself, which has led her on a journey to pay off debt. A recent step she took that she is proud of is earning her third degree while decreasing her student loans to under $7,000. You can read her story here.
Before these guys, there were others. Here are some of our BAD blogging predecessors:
Former Writers
Ashley
Here is Ashley’s story:
I’m an early-30s, married, mother of twin girls. My husband is a flooring contractor and I work as a lecturer at a major university.
To give you some more background information, be sure to check out my debt story, and what lead me to start my debt-reduction mission.
When I started blogging here in February 2014, I had nearly $150,000 in debt!!!
Within 3 months of beginning to blog, I paid off over $10,000 in credit card debt. In total, I paid off just over $25,000 of debt in 2014, just over $26,000 of debt in 2015, and over $30,000 of debt in 2016!!!
Sometimes I have struggled with finding balance, and not everyone has agreed with all of my choices, but I’m thrilled with the progress I’ve made so far, while also learning to balance family time and having a life outside of debt repayment.
Be sure to check out her other important posts:
Starting the Debt-Reduction Mission
Debt Repayment 6-month Reflections
(FINALLY) Hitting the Half-Way Point in our Debt-Reduction Journey
3.5 Years Into Debt Repayment: Reflections & Looking Ahead
Matt
Here is Matt on his debt:
Hi and welcome to Blogging Away Debt! I’m Matt, a 28-year-old, single mechanical engineer with a live-in girlfriend, a couple of dogs, and a whole lot of debt. Just how much debt? $124,007.66 to be exact.
I graduated college in 2009 with over $110,000 in student loan debt alone and a car debt I didn’t need. So how far have I come in nearly 6 years? With only $55,000 left to pay off the student loan, I’ve paid off nearly $70,000 in debt!
With a goal of being debt-free by November of 2016, I’ll share my journey, every step of the way, as you cheer me on or chide me for bad financial decisions. Either way, I hope you enjoy reading!
In December 2015 Matt stepped down from blogging.
Adam and Emily
Adam and Emily were the fourth (as a couple) bloggers for Blogging Away Debt. They took over for Claire who decided in late June 2013 that she would no longer blog about her debt. They started blogging about their debt in July 2013 but left in February 2014 to focus more on work and less on writing. Their debt-reduction journey continues and they chime in from time to time in the comments and with occasional debt updates. See their latest (effectively debt-free) post here.
Here is their message to all the blogging away debt readers:
Hi! I’m Emily.
I run a small furniture refinishing business, which takes a lot of my time and energy, but is one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. I love seeing my clients put a piece of my work in their homes. Because it’s refinished by hand, it feels like art, and it feels so good to help them achieve the look they desire for their home.
Hello! I’m Adam.
In 3 years, we’ve made great progress on our debt, but we have a long way to go! I grew up in a small town in Indiana. I have always been a bit of a techie nerd but thankfully I came out of the basement every now and then. I love our life in Austin, with all the culture, the shows, the music, the food, and the fun! I work at a tech company like so many people in Austin, and in our free time, we are starting to do some homesteading. It’s a constant struggle for us to stay on track with our debt payoff plan, but if all goes well, we will make our last payment on my 35th birthday in July 2017! Wish us luck!
Claire
Claire was the 3rd blogger for Blogging Away Debt. She took over for Beks in March 2012 and continued to blog about her debt until June 2013 when she decided that she needed to bid farewell before all her debt had been paid off — she was the first blogger in this series who failed to blog her debt away. Her statement to the blogging away debt readership is here:
I was born and raised in Texas. I’ve at least driven through every state — except Washington and Oregon — in the US courtesy of a road trip loving Dad.
I am a “life is just half full of funny” kinda gal. Humor is my saving grace and I am thankful for it every single day. I have a strong Catholic faith and am thankful for that foundation.
I love being a mom, but also love my career. I’m blessed to have found a balance allowing me to be at everything my kids need and want me to be at — while also having a career.
Favorite Quotes: Well-behaved women rarely make history. Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out. -James Bryant Conant
Beks
Beks was the second blogger for Blogging Away Debt. She took over this blog in May 2009 after Tricia (see below) paid off her credit card debt.
Here is a little bit more about her:
Name: Beks
Gender: Female
Industry: Government
Occupation: Paper Pusher
Location: San Diego: CA : United States
Hey Beks, Do you believe that forks are evolved from spoons?
Of course, how else do you explain the existence of sporks at Wendy’s??!?!
Favorite Movies
* Rebecca
* Around the World in 80 Days
* Don’t Eat the Daisies
* Better Off Dead
* Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Favorite Music
* Kenney Chesney
* Rascal Flatts
* Taylor Swift
* Janet Jackson
* Jack Johnson
* Leona Lewis
* Sarah Bareilles
Tricia
Tricia was the original blogger who created Blogging Away Debt. She was able to pay off all her credit card debt in April 2009 at which time she passed the blog onto Beks. A wonderful author, you can find all of Tricia’s work here.
Our Editorial Commitment
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