To get out of debt, you have to really want to.
I know that sounds really simple, but its SO true. No one ever just wakes up one morning and is like “Oops – I’m debt free! How did that happen?”
You have to be intentional, and focused, and really, really want to. It’s very simple to pay off all your debt, but it’s not EASY. I’ll say that again – its simple – you just pay it all off and don’t get any more. But its difficult – if it were easy, everyone would be debt-free and it wouldn’t require any sacrifice. (see Part 1 here)
We cut out a lot of spending to achieve our debt-free goal. Sometimes I’ll refer to these cuts as “sacrifices” although I know it is such a first world thing to say that I “sacrificed” getting a manicure. Let me assure you that I know that going down from 100 channels to 10 channels is not a sacrifice. But subjectively, these things all definitely impact your life and everything is relative.
Things we Gave Up:
Credit Cards (use debit cards)
Cable TV (got Netflix)
Movie Rentals (haha, remember when this was a thing)
Manicures
Expensive salon cuts/highlights
Almost daily restaurant/coffee outings
Organic expensive grocery stores
Trips to the Mall or Target for entertainment purposes
Movie theatres (oh, but we still see movies!)
Home Warranty
Newspaper subscription (for the coupons!)
Magazine subscription (I loved the magazine Real Simple and this one hurt)
Verizon Wireless (switched to Republic Wireless)
Gym Membership
Expensive Internet (switched to super cheap plan with a different provider)
Super Expensive Car Insurance (shopped around online and found Progressive)
Giving expensive Christmas gifts and fancy custom photo cards to every person we knew (DIY for the win)
Dog grooming (DIY baby)
Oil changes (DIY again)
Privacy (getting roommates)
Saturdays (listing things on eBay or holding a yard sale)
Expensive Date Nights
Remember – personal finance is personal. Your Mileage May Vary and these are just the things WE cut. If you want to keep your cable TV because you are addicted to HGTV and genuinely love to watch it every night – be my guest. No judgement. Don’t give up your favorite things. Just figure out what you most value (and you can’t say you most value EVERYTHING you are spending your money on!).
I can honestly say that I do not miss a single thing on the list of things we got rid of. I do not feel like we truly sacrificed anything. I have literally every single material object that I need. And I’m even more happy and grateful for what I have now than I was when I was spending a LOT more money.
Isn’t that the strangest conundrum? We’re spending MUCH less than we were, but appreciating what we have more. We go out to eat much less often, but when we do, it’s special, it’s fun, we enjoy it more. Humans get used to nice new things really quickly.
What could you give up? What are you spending money on that isn’t adding joy to your life?
