The Journey That Started This All - My Debt Freedom Post From 2020
I don’t even know where to begin … for starters THANK YOU GOD.
Wow. For 16 months I have been looking forward to this day. I have been obsessed and determined to reach this goal, and today I can officially say that I am debt free outside of my mortgage.
I made my first extra payment on my debt on July 5th 2019. I broke my debt freedom journey into two phases. “Phase one” consisted of paying off my cell phone, medical bills, and two interest free credit cards (Barclays & Rooms To Go). On October 31, 2019 I had paid all of these off totaling $8363.93 and completing “phase one”. The months leading up to reaching this goal I was working a travel nurse job in Burlington, NC and a part time cosmetic nurse job in Charlotte, NC where I live. I remember between the two jobs some months I would only have a few days off and my weeks were extremely busy. I am 100% positive that I was exhausted during this time, but looking back today I don’t remember the exhaustion. I do however remember how I felt when I eliminated those four debts! I never liked the idea of only paying off debt and not saving at the same time, so by the time I completed phase one I also had saved up three months of living expenses for my emergency fund. I’ve always been a saver but to have this money set aside in a separate bank apart from my normal accounts was huge for me! I enjoyed the holidays with my family and told myself that I would start “phase 2”, paying off my jeep, after the new year.
Well we all know how quickly 2020 turned into a mess. Being a nurse I am blessed to say that financially I was not impacted negatively from the Covid-19 pandemic. I actually was able to take travel nurse opportunities never seen before and I increased my income while taking covid crisis assignments. In the beginning I was fearful of what the virus may do to the economy and my personal finances, so I did not pay very much additional on my auto loan as originally planned for 2020. At the completion of my NY travel assignment I did decide to refinance my auto loan. I received an amazing rate from Truliant Federal Credit Union which was going to save me money on any remaining interest. I was planning to continue my debt freedom journey and throw some extra money at my auto loan each month with no end date in sight … until I was offered another covid crisis contract in TX. I felt secure enough in my increased savings from my NY assignment that I began to make large weekly payments on my auto loan once I started the TX crisis assignment. I made my last payment thanksgiving morning and I am officially the owner of my Jeep Wrangler. Send me that pink slip!
During this journey I have perfected my budgeting skills, I have fell in love with a minimalist lifestyle, and I have made so many online friends that are also on their debt freedom journey. Check out the instagram hashtag #debtfreecommunity to see over 1 million posts of others on their journey!
I want to share things I DID do during my journey. Many people always think about what they have to give up in order to reach financial goals, so let me show you things I refused to go without that didn’t stop me from reaching my goals.
Tithing. Whatever I have is already God’s, so giving 10% back to him is the very least I can do. God blesses me over and over again. I absolutely refused to stop this while paying off debts.
Nail appointments. I’m sorry, I love my SNS. I ate a few more meals at home and that allowed me to continue getting my nails done. 3/4 trips to chic-fil-a is a nail appt ladies!
Facials. I realize that I feel my best and am more motivated when I look my best. I have struggled with acne for the majority of my life, so my skin is a priority to me. Stopping random shopping trips definitely allowed me to continue taking care of my skin.
Occasional meals out. I made these fit my budget by only ordering water, taking advantage of specials, and passing on appetizers. Going out for drinks can kill your weekly food budget, I promise the alcohol tastes just as good at home guys!
Fun. There are so many very cheap if not free things to do for fun. Going to the park with your pet, weekday movies, game nights at home, the list goes on and on.
I share this to hopefully encourage you that you can still live a life you love while getting your finances together. I definitely sacrificed a lot over those 16 months, but the freedom I gained for my future self and future family is worth it! I don’t like to give too much energy to my struggles, but they were definitely there. I have worked extremely hard to get to where
I am today. I worked a lot of overtime. I have traveled away from my family, lived with strangers to keep my living expenses low while on assignments, missed birthdays and holidays. I mean I could type all day about the struggles but I am choosing to be thankful for the growth that came from them. I understand there have been far worse struggles for others this year and my heart goes out to everyone negatively impacted from Covid-19. People have lost lives, loved ones, jobs, and homes. I pray for us all everyday during this difficult time.
I hope you find the motivation to join me and many others on this road to financial freedom. If you like competition, try to do it faster than me. If you need a support group, shoot me a message and I can connect you with many many like minded individuals. A huge thank you to everyone that supported me and respected my decisions during my journey, To my friends, I’m still not going shopping with you, but we can squeeze in some bomb food every now and then.
Kayla
