Hello! Please enjoy this post from a blog friend. I enjoy hearing about how others are progressing on their debt payoff journeys, and I believe these stories can help others stay motivated.
Just over a year ago, my husband and I began a focused financial journey. At that time we carried more than $66,000 in debt from a second mortgage, a car loan, furniture financing and student loans, not including our primary mortgage.
Although our interest rates were relatively low—ranging from 0.09% to 6.8%—we did not want to carry that level of debt for years. We set a firm goal: pay off all consumer debt within three years. No excuses.
Planning alone wouldn’t be enough. The first and most important step was changing our mindset and spending habits. As our incomes rose over time, our expenses rose with them. It became easy to justify a new house, another vacation or upgrading our car after promotions and raises. Even though we considered ourselves fairly financially knowledgeable, we slipped into the common trap of increasing spending as our income grew.
Left unchecked, that pattern becomes a vicious cycle that leads to more and more debt.
Although we were happy overall, the growing burden of monthly obligations increased our stress and strengthened our desire to become debt-free as quickly as possible. Starting down a path doesn’t mean you must keep following it. Like turning back on a hiking trail, you can realign your financial goals and return to basics. That’s what we decided to do.
So, my husband and I sat down and did the math.
At our then-current rates of repayment and spending, it would have taken many years to be debt free. That outcome didn’t sit well with either of us. After compiling statements, adding up balances and signing up for a debt-tracking tool, we began creating our map out of the woods.
We encountered many different debt-reduction strategies: snowball, avalanche and variations in between. Some approaches recommended cutting every nonessential expense—cable TV, dining out, lattes and date nights. Others promoted extreme couponing or taking second jobs. Many advised tracking every penny and allocating every dollar.
With so much information, we realized a one-size-fits-all approach wouldn’t work for our family. We had tried strict budgeting before and found it cumbersome. Attempts to stop eating out completely failed within weeks. While uncertain about some tactics, one thing was clear: we needed a plan tailored to our lives and values.
So we talked.
We disagreed at times.
We talked some more.
From those conversations came something powerful. Not only were we mapping a way out of debt, we were planning our lives and setting shared goals. We defined short-term priorities, one- to two-year objectives, and long-term retirement goals. My husband tends to spend more freely, while I lean toward saving. We had to compromise and agree on decisions that worked for both of us. The process of communicating felt rewarding and constructive.
Our approach.
We settled on a simple, effective hybrid plan.
First, we committed to building an emergency fund equal to six months of expenses within a year. We agreed to save 15% of our income toward retirement. After covering our essential monthly bills, we applied the remaining available funds to accelerated debt repayment, using the avalanche method to target higher-interest balances first. We paused any new major debt for the next three years and focused on all debts except our primary mortgage. We tracked progress with our chosen debt tool.
We also made practical daily adjustments.
Bringing lunch to work saved us roughly $30–$40 a week, and we limited dining out to three or four times a month, usually with coupons or discounted deals. We kept our television service because we enjoy TV shows, but switched providers during a promotion that reduced our monthly bill. We purchased life insurance to protect our finances in case something happened to either of us.
We found ways to enjoy time together without spending much money, and managed to reduce monthly expenses by about 10% while increasing payments toward debt. To boost cash flow, I began doing part-time consulting 10–15 hours a month for an extra roughly $250, and my husband umpires baseball games in summer, earning about $40 per game. Altogether, we were able to throw an extra $3,000 at debt over the past year.
Our debt payoff progress.
We began this plan in early October 2014 and are now a year in. In those 12 months we have paid off just over $22,000 in debt and still have about $44,000 remaining. We’ve also built emergency savings equal to roughly five months of living expenses and are working to reach a full six months.
We expect to be debt free within the next two years—possibly sooner—because we apply bonuses and tax refunds directly to debt. With a clear roadmap, we’re steadily finding our way out of the financial woods.
The journey will be long and there will likely be setbacks—unexpected life events can require rerouting—and we may need to revise our plan in the future. But one thing is certain: we’ve learned how to help ourselves and how to navigate toward our goals.
We’ve weathered a few storms and are preparing to handle more. We’re rediscovering the basics of enjoying life while working toward financial independence.
Most importantly, we’ve learned how to be happy while spending less.
Author bio: My name is Brittney and I live in the beautiful Rocky Mountain state of Colorado. My husband and I both work in education and have two loving, stubborn Labrador retrievers. I started a personal finance blog, Life On a Discount, to motivate myself to stay on track paying off $66,000 in debt (from student loans, a mortgage and a car loan) and to share how we stay motivated and still enjoy life through strategic discounts—one day at a time.
How are you progressing on your debt payoff journey?