It’s been almost a year and a half that my husband and I sat down in our old house and honestly asked ourselves what we were doing and what we wanted our lives to look like. Our house stressed us out, we weren’t sure about our recent move, we weren’t overly happy although we had “everything” we could have ever wanted (newer cars and a brand new house). We thought we just needed to earn more and everything would be alright.

We had started budgeting when we started saving for a down payment on a house in January of 2016. It had really put our finances into perspective and helped us figure out what we’d be able to afford and how much we’d be able to put down for a down payment. Our first mistake was making our first house a brand new house. We had never had to deal with maintenance before so that was all new to us. Not only that, but we were putting technology in our house that we’d never even known was a thing, let alone know how to work it! While we saved a lot of money on materials, more than usual with new construction, we still added items that exceeded our initial budget. We rationalized that while the overall loan was getting larger, our monthly payment wasn’t getting too out of control.

Fast forward to move-in day. We didn’t have hot water for 5 days. Our high-tech heating system failed after a few months due to a faulty valve. We had to buy a lawnmower and a snowblower as yard maintenance was our responsibility now. We still didn’t have a patio or walkway so we ended up getting quotes for that. We had no idea what we were doing.

And then tax season rolled around and that was our biggest mistake. Not withholding enough. Not only did we not withhold enough and got hit with a huge tax bill, we also had to pay a penalty for not paying enough taxes for each quarter. That was a pretty big blow to us as we were settling in to a new state, a new town, and a new house. Thankfully we aren’t overly big spenders otherwise and had enough to pay our bill. We also had decided to hold off on the patio and walkway until the following year so that also helped. After tax season we adjusted our withholdings and re-calculated our budget…and we were even more stressed.

To be honest, without a budget we would have had no idea what kind of shape our finances were in or where they were headed. We would probably still be living in that house continuously stressed and trying to earn more money. Thankfully that budget, house and the whole experience made us ask ourselves some really tough questions. What did we want our life to look like? Did we want to stay in this house? Did we want to take vacations? Soon our leases would be up and we’d have car payments. What would we do then? Did we want to continue paying our student loans off at the snail pace we were? We went back and forth for a few weeks. We spent so much time creating what we thought would be our forever home, were we really going to “give up” less than a year after we moved in? We adjusted our withholdings, crunched some numbers, and decided to sell. We installed the patio ourselves and placed the house on the market with a flat-fee listing service to save as much money as possible. Thankfully we were in a seller’s market and the house sold immediately in May of 2017. We knew we wanted to be able to take a vacation if we chose to. We also decided we didn’t want to be bogged down by our student loan debt any longer. We took a leap not knowing where we would land.

What have we accomplished since then? We found a smaller, more “seasoned” house that was less expensive. Because the house was older we didn’t feel so bad trying to do some of the repairs or house maintenance ourselves. At the end of 2017 we saved enough money we were able to buy my car outright. That alone felt like a huge weight lifted off of our shoulders. We also had a credit card that was 0% interest that we paid for our appliances in our old house with. That 0% interest was ending soon and we wanted that expense gone, which we were able to pay off at the beginning of 2018. We then set a goal of wanting to pay off my husband’s car when his lease came due in August and then pay off two of my smaller student loans by the end of 2018. We didn’t know if we could do it, but we were going to try. It felt so daunting at the time, but we had successfully paid off one car, so why not! We worked hard and planned and we are now ahead of schedule! This month we were able to pay off the second car and BOTH student loans. Now we’ve gained 4 “extra” months to put our money to work for us. All this, in addition to taking  week vacation to Florida back in April! It was our first vacation in 4 years!

Where are we headed now? Well, we plan to take another vacation this winter somewhere warm. We also want to pay off another one of my private student loan in 8 months, refinance my other private loan into a shorter term (7 years vs 15 years) AND then pay off my husband’s private loan 10 months after that. Just writing it all down seems incomprehensible, but I’ve run the numbers and I know if we continue to work hard we will succeed.

We have a long road ahead before we are even close to achieving financial freedom, but with each debt that we pay down and eliminate is a great burden that has been lifted! You may be sitting here reading this article thinking “this is all great for you guys, but I can’t do that because…(fill in your excuse)”. Look, I’ve been there! I never thought I’d be able to repay ANY of my student loans ahead of schedule. I have so much student loan debt that some of them are even on 25 year repayment plans! That would put me at 50 before I even paid them off! But the hubs and I had a dream. At first we just wanted to be able to take a vacation every couple of years, which we’d be able to do by decreasing the expense of our house. Then we dreamed bigger and planned even more. We just wanted to eliminate one car payment. Once we successfully hit that goal, we were less stressed and more empowered to aim even higher. You just need to be motivated enough to make the change. If you aren’t motivated, you will continue to make excuses, blame others and be the “victim”.

You will not know what you are capable of accomplishing until you’ve tried. You may be surprised at what you can achieve. I know I was. If you told me 2 years ago that I’d sell the house we built less than a year after we moved in, have no car payments, and pay off two student loans I probably would have laughed in your face. But mindset is a powerful tool! It is the single most important tool that can build you up or tear you down! All you have to do is try!

If you are willing to get serious with paying down debt you need to start by setting up a budget. You can get my free budget download here, along with the tutorial. If you need inspiration on ways you can easily cut costs, read this article. You’ll see what strategies I use every day to save on necessary purchases and how I’ve saved a ton on my student loans by refinancing them. Lastly, everyone should have an emergency fund, no matter how much debt you have. If you need to start building one, this article will tell you the one thing you need to do everyday in order create an adequate emergency fund. You might just be so overwhelmed that you don’t know where to start. It’s ok! Overwhelming situations and fear of the unknown can cause some serious analysis paralysis! Talk to your family or friends, find a supportive online community, or email me here! The opportunities for help are endless and I want nothing more in life than for you to succeed!

Have you paid off a significant amount of debt? What strategies did you use? Do you suffer from analysis paralysis and don’t know where to start? Leave a comment or feel free to send me an email! I’d love to hear your story!