My Debt Free Journey Begins
My name is Rebekah and I guess I should tell you a little about myself right? I am 27 years old and have been married to my fabulous husband for four years. We live in sunny San Diego California where we purchased our first home over a year ago – on an interest only loan. We lived in blissful ignorance of our snowballing debt problem until I wrote yet another check to a credit card and realized our payment wasn’t even making a dent in the fast accumulating balance. If we continued to spend, we would hit all our credit limits in less than 6 months. This terrified me… especially since it only took us four years to get here.
Before my husband and I married, his wise grandfather sat us down to share what he thought was the most important marital advice we would get, “Always live below your means and never, NEVER buy anything on credit. Save a little each month and pay cash for everything.” As young 20 something know-it-all’s, we married and immediately financed two cars, purchased a home even though he begged us to wait, and continued to use our credit cards. My biggest regret is the fact that I ignored the true wisdom of a man whose sole goal was to help me. I couldn’t be sorrier.
My husband and I started to attend a financial counseling course and felt that, for once, we may have a debt free future. Unfortunately, a week after starting the course, the company I worked for closed and our world took a tailspin. Suddenly those bills we could easily pay in the past looked unreasonably daunting. On top of everything, three large corporations in San Diego conducted major cuts and flooded the market with job seekers.
For the last six weeks, I have been job searching with intense fervor but have been unable to land a position. A deep sense of defeat hung over my head and I couldn’t help but feel that I was a failure. BUT, there is a light at the end of the tunnel! We buckled our budget, worked odd jobs and long hours, and we not only paid our car payments and credit cards…we paid our mortgage payment too! I lost my job and somehow, we’re surviving!
I know what it’s like to feel overwhelmed. I know what it’s like to cry every single day. I know what it’s like to cringe at the sound of a mail carrier bringing another load of bills. I know what it’s like to feel as though I will never break free from the heavy thumb of debt but…
I know I can do it.
Posted: November 10th, 2008 under Debt Reduction.
Comments: 13
Comments
Comment from ceejay74
Time: November 10, 2008, 7:24 am
Welcome! There are several people in similar shoes on this site, including me. I’m not out of the woods yet, but I’m making progress, and tracking it on this site–and getting fellow bloggers’ input–has been invaluable to the process.
Comment from Broken Arrow
Time: November 10, 2008, 7:49 am
Welcome! Your grandfather is a wise man indeed.
Comment from swimgirl
Time: November 10, 2008, 7:54 am
Welcome and good luck! Stick with it!
Comment from Ima saver
Time: November 10, 2008, 8:03 am
Welcome, it will be tough, but you CAN do it!! It is wonderful to be debt free and someday you will find that out and never want to look back.
Comment from merch
Time: November 10, 2008, 8:08 am
We all think we are much wiser then we are. When I was 18, I knew everything. When I was 24 I knew 18 yo me didn’t know jack but I knew everything.
Keep at it. You may not realize it now but this could be the best thing to happen to your marriage. To move forward, both you and your husband need to be a true team. Same goals and sacrifices. And if you two can keep the team going after you have cleaned up the debt, the sky is the limit.
Good luck.
Comment from lizajane
Time: November 10, 2008, 8:19 am
Welcome! I think one of the huge benefits of this site is that there a whole group of people that have the same frame of mind. What happened is in the past; all that counts now is how you move forward. It sounds like you have the right attitude to do whatever it takes to get through these challenges.
Comment from campfrugal
Time: November 10, 2008, 8:27 am
Welcome to the blogs!
Comment from Koppur
Time: November 10, 2008, 8:56 am
Welcome to the blogs, Rebekah. There are a few os us in a smiliar difficult position right now. This is a great place for ideas, encouragement, and advice. look forward to reading your blog and getting to know you.
Comment from Blue Eyes
Time: November 11, 2008, 5:55 pm
Welcome…I look forward to reading your blog.
Comment from guruz
Time: November 13, 2008, 8:38 am
I wish you good luck!
“What is the crime of robbing a bank, compared with the crime of founding one?”
Comment from Delboy
Time: November 13, 2008, 3:00 pm
Wheres Nate gone…? oh and Welcome Beks. Good luck on getting yourself out of debt, good on you 
Comment from Creditcardfree
Time: November 21, 2008, 7:38 am
I’m a little late, but welcome! I look forward to reading about your debt free journey.
Comment from Zach H
Time: August 27, 2009, 3:47 pm
My Mother chose to begin her journey to becoming debt free a few years ago. It’s been a topsy turvy journey but it has been a very rewarding one. She started instilling in me the values of living debt free pretty early, early enough so that I’d actually listen and consider it. I can say that in my own (few) experinces, it’s been great being able to say that I don’t owe anyone a single cent.
Kudos to you on your journey and I wish you the best of luck! I am also late as far as commenting but I figured I’d drop by and share my .2¢. Godspeed!
Write a comment