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How we paid off $132,408.98 in 24 months!

1/19/2019

6 Comments

 
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​Debt is like the heavy weight being carried around with us everywhere we go. Every purchase, activity, vacation, or meal, thinking in the back of our minds: “Can we afford this? Should we really be spending our money on this?” It sucks and after 24 months of diligently working on paying off our debt, using the Dave Ramsey Baby Steps, we are DEBT FREE (excluding our home)! ​We didn’t want to be like the average American 
who has about $67k worth of debt, even into their 70’s. ​So we worked hard to pay off $132,408.98 of school loans, car loans, and credit card debt! In that time period we sold a condo and a vehicle. The proceeds of about $38k from these sales helped to pay down our debt. Besides that we have worked 2-3 jobs each and put that extra income towards our debt as well.
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The thing that made the biggest difference to help stick to our debt free goals was using a free app called “Every Dollar,” which is essentially a budgeting tool that allows you to track ALL of your income, spending and debt. It allowed us to keep track of all of our money. It was completely eye opening when we started using the app to see how much we were actually spending on going out to eat and activities. Once we reigned that spending in we were able to see where are money was actually going.
It took us about 2-3 months to get the hang of it and actually stick to the budgets we had set for each category. Even now, it is a constant challenge that we work at every day. ​
​During this time period we went on vacations (frugally), planned a wedding, and got married. We decided to combine our income and have one joint checking and savings account. Yeah, that was super hard!​ We are in our 30’s and neither of us had been married before so we had always had full reign on our own spending and money. To have someone see what you spend and not to be able to just buy whatever was a challenge for sure. But with the type of life we wanted to live, and the financial goals we set for ourselves, we ended up being much more successful working as a team then doing it separately.
We didn’t want to be like the average American who has about $67k worth of debt, even into their 70’s. ​
It’s crazy to think that we are debt free because all we have known is debt. We live in a society where you go from living at home and being taken care of, to then graduating from high school and going into college where you instantly have thousands of dollars’ of debt. Most students, if they have a part time job in college, are just making enough to get by and nothing goes to pay off the school loans until after graduation. Then you finish school with a ridiculous amount of debt and most likely aren’t making a ton of money when you start that first job after graduation. So making the minimum monthly loan payment is a battle and it feels like a win when you can make that payment. In reality, most of that amount is going towards interest and very little is going to pay down the principal balance of the loan(s). Most students graduate and are happy with a salaried job where they make $45k - $65k/year, and that’s lucky. For us, we graduated at a time, in a job market, where we were competing with seasoned professionals for the same entry level positions. To even have a job after graduation was a blessing.
For us, we graduated at a time, in a job market, where we were competing with seasoned professionals for the same entry level positions. ​
Everyone has their own story of how they got to where they are in their debt burden. But we can say from experience that if you put the past behind you (with all the bad decisions, crappy investments, and dumb purchases) and make a plan to build a brighter future for yourself and your family, then eventually you will become debt free. You will be able to experience the weightlessness and freedom it brings.

​This is not the end of our story; we still have to start saving for our future and eventual retirement. But we are now one step closer to financial freedom and it sure feels good!
Blog post written by:
Jacob and Amy Karras
Unnamed Adventures
6 Comments
Rene Agredano link
1/22/2019 02:05:19 pm

Right on you two, a big congrats! In our opinion, there is no real freedom in this lifestyle until you do it 100% debt free. We made that move 11 years ago and getting rid of the debt was life changing. We also used Every Dollar and followed Dave Ramsey's advice, even went to meet him in Nashville to thank him.

You are doing this the right way! I would love to interview you for a column I write for Escapees Magazine. Drop me a line and let's talk.

Reply
Amy Karras
1/22/2019 02:24:50 pm

Rene, thank ou so much! It feels surreal to finally be out of debt! We have applied to do the debt free scream in TN so fingers crossed we get picked! Congratulations to you as well! Thanks awesome!

We would love to be interviewed for your column! Feel free to email us at [email protected] and we can discuss this more!

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Nissa link
1/22/2019 05:25:01 pm

That’s is so amazing you guys! My husband are on the same journey of becoming debt free! We live fulltime in an RV and hopefully in two years we will be traveling fulltime. Thanks for the inspiration!

Reply
Amy Karras
1/22/2019 05:43:15 pm

Nissa, thank you so much! Good luck to you and your husband on your journey to financial freedom! Two years will go by faster than you think!

Reply
Kacy
2/2/2019 08:50:17 pm

Stumbled across your post on Insta. Wanted to say congrats on a job well done! Look forward to following along in pictures as you explore the world.

Reply
Amy Karras
2/2/2019 09:08:47 pm

Thank you so much Kacy! We actually have some really cool stuff we will be announcing in March so keep an eye out!

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