Paying off debt is a popular topic on the internet. There are a lot of people teaching about how to do it and each teacher has their own method. I’m not necessarily a purist on any one method, and I know that each person and family is different, so there is no one size fits all formula. That being said, my family follows Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps, which I would absolutely recommend! His snowball method helped us pay off 80k in debt and completely change our lifestyle, allowing me to stay home with our 3 kids! Paying off debt is difficult. I remember how hard it was to save our first $1,000 before we ever started on our debt… it seemed impossible! I am thankful that we serve a God who makes the impossible possible and helps us gain financial wisdom! We have learned so much along the way, and these are a few things that we did that helped us to keep our costs low and pay off debt. I hope that this encourages you and gives you some ideas on your debt payoff journey!
- We kept old phones and stopped upgrading because we “needed” new phones. Most people, unless you work with your phone, don’t “need” new phones. I talked to my Dad on the phone earlier today and he still uses a $40 flip phone… It works just fine for him. I personally have no need for a new phone… it is a “want” and not a “need”. When we decided to stop putting things on credit and start paying cash for all of our purchases, that meant that if we wanted the new iPhone we would need to come up with the $1,000 cash to buy it. Suddenly, my old iPhone seemed to work just fine!! As I write this, my iPhone is about 5 generations behind the newest one, and I don’t have any plans to buy another one anytime soon.
- I deleted some apps off of my phone… specifically Target, Amazon, and Instagram! You could replace those three names with any three things that are making you spend money unnecessarily. I found that it was way too easy for me to buy whatever I was thinking of from Target or Amazon with just one click. I also deleted Instagram during our debt payoff journey because Instagram made me want to buy a better phone so that I could take better pictures of my family which made me want to buy boutique clothes for my kids so that they all matched in those pictures, and also buy a new couch and a new workout program and some new boots and… you get the picture lol. Instagram, for me, was negatively impacting my debt payoff goals. You could replace “Instagram” with whatever app or online shopping that is holding you back from accomplishing your financial goals.
- We drive used cars. We paid off both of our car loans, and when we got the titles in the mail it felt so good! We won’t ever buy a car with a car loan again. My car is 9 years old, and I really love it. I am going to keep driving it until I have saved the money to pay cash for a new car. There was a small temptation to buy a newer, better, bigger car when I was about to have my third baby… but I realized that three car seats line up in the back of my sedan just the same way that they would line up and fit in the back of that Mercedes SUV that I like… so for now I’m keeping the paid-off sedan.
- We made a list of everything that we could think of that we could cut from our budget and do ourselves. I cut everyone’s hair, we do manicures and pedicures at home, pick flowers from outside instead of buying flowers, cook most meals at home, pack our lunches, make coffee at home instead of buying from Starbucks, etc. Anything that you can think of that you can do at home instead of paying someone else to do will help cut costs and all of that extra money can be put toward debt.
- We got extra jobs and worked overtime! This is the thing that helped us pay off the most debt. We cut costs as much as we could, but we still needed extra money to throw at debt. I worked as a teacher and then got a second job teaching online and worked nights and weekends. Chris took every single overtime shift that was available to him. You wouldn’t want to live like this forever, but with a set amount of time and a goal in mind, it is definitely doable! It was a blessing for us, because I ended up being able to stay home when we finished, and Chris got a promotion because he was working so much overtime!
I hope that this short list gives you some ideas and inspires you. If finances feel like a curse instead of a blessing in your life, I would encourage you to give that area of your life to God and ask Him to help you get started with putting your finances in order. One of my favorite things that I have enjoyed so much about the Dave Ramsey program is that he teaches Biblical financial principles. A good place to get started is by reading his book, The Total Money Makeover, and listening to his podcast, The Dave Ramsey Show. These three verses from God’s word have been especially encouraging to me as we have paid off debt, and I pray that they will encourage you:
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. -James 1:5
And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. -Philippians 4:19
For nothing is impossible with God. -Luke 1:37
