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How to Keep a Good Attitude While Being Debt-Free

June 10, 2020 by Tasha Hackett 3 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Sometimes being debt-free isn’t much fun.

When I look around at the world driving nice cars and eating at nice places and going on nice vacations I can get discouraged. But then I remind myself that I am choosing this! (And then I also remind myself that 80% of Americans are in credit card debt.)

“I’m choosing this!” is more than just semantics. That little phrase can change your life. Hear me out: If you’re on some kind of diet that doesn’t allow cake, it’s only because they didn’t know about Laura’s cakes. (Like this Low sugar Strawberry Cream Cheese Cake or this Low Sugar Banana Cake.) But let’s pretend you’re not eating cake because a diet book told you not to. So now you’re sad about not eating cake, and you sigh and feel bad for yourself because you really want cake and it’s all somebody else’s fault for deciding that high sugar and processed fats and carbs are unhealthy and you struggle with attitude problems every time you are put in a cake situation.

Let’s not blame the cake.

What if you turned the whole thing around and told yourself, “I’m choosing this!” Nobody is forcing me to give up anything. “I am choosing to make better food choices. Eating healthier options is my choice! I don’t even want all that cake because I know what’s in it, and it’s nothing good!” And then you can use your freshly ground flour to make your own densely nutrient cake and you can choose to have your cake and eat it too.

What if you wanted a new car instead of cake?

Something my husband and I have embraced the last few years of paying off debt is “We’re choosing this!” We are choosing to not spend money so that we can use it for other things. We could choose to not pay our bills, but then the electric company could choose to turn off our lights. If we choose to ignore our mortgage payment, the bank will choose to take our house. See how this works?

There are exceptions to everything.

I do understand there are times when life spirals out of control and things you had carefully planned fall apart. My sister was in a car accident years ago and was left with over $40,000 in uncovered medical bills. Sometimes the job situation doesn’t work out, I get it. But for the vast majority of Americans we have put ourselves in our own financial messes. We made the choice to move out of our tiny apartment to buy a house we really couldn’t afford. And we had such fun in that house! But if you give a man a house he’s going to want a dog to go with it… and a lawn mower and snow shovels and two cars and another phone and the internet and a video streaming plan and a grill and… and… before you know it, the $9/hour secretary job just isn’t enough.

We absolutely love being debt free.

I haven’t always had a great relationship with money. I would get so mad at people who said, “I can’t afford…” and yet they lived a lifestyle that said differently. But then I found myself saying, “I can’t afford…” and I realized it’s all in perspective. We made a combined total of $8000 our first year of marriage. As we worked more and made more we bought more and being debt-free wasn’t as much of a priority because we didn’t even know where the money was going. When I sit down and look closely at the choices we’ve made the past 12 years of marriage I can see huge financial mistakes we made that put us back. With each raise we started living just a little more comfortably. And that’s okay! That was OUR CHOICE. But to then go and say, “Well, I can’t afford…” doesn’t really make sense.

Being debt-free sometimes means making the choice to nail shingles on your own garage.

I’m choosing this.

When I say, “I’m choosing this.” It brings ownership back on my shoulders. Playing the victim isn’t possible with that phrase. I am choosing to save money! I am choosing to pay extra on the mortgage! I’m choosing to do family birthdays differently. I am choosing to live beneath my means because I have something better in mind for later. Here are some choices we’ve made and continue to make because we absolutely love being debt-free: Paying the internet bill instead of keeping chips on hand. Putting gas in the car instead of going out to the movies. Finding extremely loved used vehicles instead of buying new clothes for everyone in the family. Living in a 600 sq foot home until we got a better paying job in another state.

Being debt-free sometimes means making the choice to watch the sunset on a beautiful date on the prairie.

You get to choose!

I am giving you a phrase that has the power to completely change your outlook on life and money whether you are debt-free or not. “I’m choosing this!” You get to choose and you don’t have to be ashamed about it either. I am (97% of the time) not ashamed about the vehicles I drive because we bought them on purpose. We used to buy them on purpose because it was that or nothing. Now we buy used vehicles on purpose because we have really exciting plans for our money.

What are you choosing? Are you pleased with your choices?

My intention is most definitely not to make you feel bad about yourself or your money, but the opposite! If you find yourself feeling sad and thinking, “I can’t afford…” try pepping yourself up with a little “I’m choosing this!” attitude change. It could rock your world. And then go make cake. Because cake is yummy and actually quite affordable.


Laura’s friend Tasha is passionate about encouraging women. She’s a homeschooling mamaX4 who loves to make silly faces in the mirror with her toddler. She and her husband Ben have worked hard to be debt-free (except for their mortgage) and try to choose people over things everytime. She can be found playing on Instagram @hackettacademy and @heavenlyhomemaker and has too many hobbies to name. Most recently she’s been making chocolate cake for breakfast and sending her kids out to pick asparagus for lunch.

 

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Did Tasha Pay off Her Huge Debt in One Year?

January 29, 2020 by Laura 2 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

I’m sure you’re all wondering: Did Tasha pay off her huge debt in just one year?! Read Part 1 of this compelling sage here! 

Did Tasha Pay Off Her Huge Debt in One Year?

by Tasha Hackett

I had decided that I was not going to be in debt forever and better yet, was going to scramble out of it as quickly as I possibly could. 

Could we live on half our income? Our one-salary-teacher’s-pay income?

Could we bust out a large portion of our debt in one year? It seemed drastic. But also super exciting because, as mentioned, I am highly motivated by challenges and numbers and worksheets and goals and if we pretended it was all just one big game maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.

At the time, our take-home pay was $3,300 a month (Just under $40K a year). That meant we needed to live on $20,000. I knew it could be done because we had been living on that seven years ago… except we’d only had one kid and a smaller house and only one car and one phone and no internet and we never went out or did anything that cost money and ate potatoes and cabbage and beans and eggs and grape juice was a fancy treat. *Whew*

But I saw in my pencil-in-the-margin scribbles: So you’re saying there’s a chance. 

What about the rest of my family?

I have the gift of persuasion. Ask my three siblings. And I know what motivates Ben. (Dreams of vacations to Disney World, sport cars, steak…) He began listening to Dave Ramsey Podcasts in the shower and on the way to work, so he was definitely on board with my crazy plan. We named 2017 “Year of Plenty” to remind us that we really did have plenty and that we were making this choice. On purpose. 

I’ll skip to the end: It didn’t work. 

We couldn’t do it. 

By June of 2017 we had paid off only $3000 of the projected $20,000 goal. We had cars break down. A terrible leak in the basement. One thing after another.

In July I fell to my knees and prayed earnestly for God to pay these debts off. I began praying multiple times a day for this specific request. That’s when I realized my debt-pay-off goal was incredibly self-centered.

God did a number on my attitude about money that year. When I realigned my will with God’s and continued to petition his aid, He delivered. As he does over and over. I am no longer surprised by this, just expectant of his wonderful plans, though it took me 32 years to get there. 

By December 31, 2017 we had paid off a total of $29,000. 

Whaa!?!? I know. That’s nine thousand more than planned. I can’t even. God does amazing things. I’ll go into detail later on what living on half our income really looked like. For now just rest assured that what is impossible with man is possible with God. I’m not preaching a health and wealth gospel to you. 

I’m telling you that I was sick of being where we were and so I asked and let God change our hearts. 

I was sick of “being poor” and realized, with a heavenly tap on the shoulder, that I wasn’t poor. I had plenty. More than plenty. I just needed a fire under me to get started. I needed a reason to do this hard thing. I needed to see a light at the end and begin to hope and plan and dream of a different kind of financial life. When a family requests money to fund their mission work in Ecuador I can say, “Absolutely!” and write off a thousand dollar check and not worry about feeding my family. We had one year of plenty which opened our eyes to enjoy a year of generosity, and early 2019, except for our home mortgage, we finished off all debt, including Ben’s MA degree and baby number four medical bills… and…. What are we going to do next? (besides buy that Blentec??) 

We’re going to Disneyland! 

All six of us, on a plane, to stay in a hotel, to enjoy the beach and frivolous theme park extravaganza. And we’re paying cash for all of it. The freedom we’re experiencing from 2 ½  years of “extreme” consumer sacrifices is TOTALLY WORTH IT. 

My seven year old recently asked me, “Mom, are we rich?” I answered without a pause. “Yes! We are rich.” My four year old chimed in, “What is rich?” I answered, “Rich is having enough money to buy all the things you need.”

Someday they’ll grow up and think maybe I lied to them. But I pray they always feel rich, that they can distinguish between need and want, that they learn at an early age how to tell their money what to do, that they will live generously with whatever God will provide.

We have new and challenging and exciting financial goals for 2020 because we now understand, because we have plenty and are so rich, that if we don’t have a set plan for our money it will walk away all by itself. 

I can’t wait to share with you all the things I’ve learned and am still learning on this journey. 

See ya ‘round, 

Tasha

P.S. I know you’re saying, “Wait! This was a why story, what about the how?” I know! This too shall come. In the meantime, drop a note below. Do you have a goal for your money this year? What motivates you to pay off your debt? Are you having trouble finding a motivator? Are you debt-free? How does it feel!? 

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Can You Live on Half Your Income to Pay Off Debt?

January 15, 2020 by Laura 5 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Tasha’s back! This time she’s sharing the introduction to her story – how she decided to help get their family out of debt. But wait? Live on half your income? Is it possible on a teacher’s salary?

If you haven’t already, you should read the intro to the intro here. :)

Once Upon a Time When We Were Broke

by Tasha Hackett

Cue Fairytale Music: 

Narrator: Once upon a time in a kingdom near you there lived a little girl named Tasha. Literally, she’s only 5 foot and a hundred pounds. She was the mother of four children. She was married to her King, and she was Queen of her castle and bought herself a Blentec because she had money for it and she wanted it.

Cue Record Scratching

Tasha: Excuse me? Um, no. That’s not at all how it happened. Back up a few years. 

Take Two.

Cue Fairytale Music:

Narrator: Once upon a time in a kingdom near you lived a mother of one little prince. She was married to her King and she was the Queen of her castle… and she… had… a blender that worked well enough…

Cue Record Scratching

Tasha: Nope, just stop. I’ll take it from here. Thanks. 

Hi, it’s me, Tasha. Can I tell you a story? My working title is…. “The Story of How I Decided to Not be Broke Anymore” or we could paraphrase: “My Journey to the Blendtec” Haha. I kid. This story has nothing to do with blenders. Or does it!?

Seven years ago, Ben and I had one little baby boy. Ben worked afternoons and weekends and went to school full time (at a not-at-all-cheap private college). I worked full time in an office. Baby went from Daddy, to daycare, to me, and round and round.

We were broke. 

To be fair, we were broke long before that, we just didn’t understand how much until there was a baby involved and diapers and daycare and medical bills and carseats… 

A friend from school worked as a financial advisor. He asked if he could stop by and chat. Sure! Then he tried to educate us on the benefits of investing, and mutual funds, and retirement, and bla bla bla – I heard and understood nothing. He kept asking, “What do you want?” Expecting us to have these big dreams, and big things we wanted to buy or go or do. 

As I wasn’t hearing him, I’m not sure he was hearing me.

After a while, I jumped off the couch and rifled in the closet for a minute and brought back our money jar. I brought it in with a flourish. In it contained our savings. A few dollars of change and almost $50 in cash. 

I knew I was being dramatic. But I set the jar on the coffee table and told him, “What I want is to go to the grocery store and buy food for my family without my heart racing because everything is too expensive.” Our meeting ended shortly after, we said thanks anyway, parted as friends and went on our merry, happy, broke way. 

Fast forward a few years. I’m a stay-at-home mom to two kids. Ben is now a middle school teacher making $35,000. This was SO MUCH MONEY!!! So. much. (By the way, I’m going to bust through that awkward social norm and use real numbers with you.)

He started at $28,000 in Kansas. Now at $35K, we ordered pizza every Friday ($15) and went out for donuts every Saturday ($4). I bought the real whole food ingredients that I needed to make food for my family ($?). I was making some of Laura’s recipes that included the luxury of cream cheese and chocolate chips. We called back our friend and said, “We’re ready now!” We were finally ready and peaceful about investing for retirement.

AND YET!!! Somehow we were still broke. This was three years ago (after investing for a year), and I was now the mother of three children. I had a sad, “oh-poor-me,” moment and whined something like this to our financial guy, “I feel like we’re just barely keeping ahead! Are we going to be poor forever… ? I just… when are we going to be able to take our family on trips, are we ever going to be able to go places and do big things?” 

And he said something like this, “… it’s going to take a long time.” 

The Breakthrough

I don’t know what it was in those words, but SOMETHING CHANGED in me. The debater and controller and adventurer in my soul said, “Challenge Accepted.” I had found a motivator. I had found a WHY that spurred me. A silly thing in hindsight, of all the reasons, for me it wasn’t the big trips or the future RV or the new clothes from an actual store, but the challenge itself that I was NOT going to let it take a long time.

This was October 2016. I ran the numbers over and over. Scraps of paper littered our house with pencil marks and budget plans scribbled in the margins. I started keeping a detailed track of how much was I really spending on groceries every month. How far could a tank of gas get me? If I cut out this and that could I stretch it this far…? The question I was trying to answer:

Could we live on half our income? 

To be continued…

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3 Effective Strategies to Help You Pay Off Credit Card Debt

February 2, 2011 by Laura 19 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

This post is written by Craig Ford, writer at Money Help for Christians.

The average American family has too much credit card debt. According to results posted by Visual Economics, the average American family makes $43,000 per year and owes $2,200 in credit card debt. Since not everyone even has credit card debt, that means those who do typically have debts in excess of a couple thousand dollars.

If you are currently working on getting out of credit card debt, here are three effective strategies to consider. 

#1. Pay Off Highest Interest Debts First

This is the oldest approach to debt repayment. It is, in fact, the approach that makes the most mathematical sense. Simply make a list of all your debts, and then start to pay off the debts that cost you the most (determined by interest rates).

Thus, you would pay off the 17% Capital One card before the 15% American Express card. Last of all, you’d pay off the 10% credit union card.

In the long run, this method saves you the most money, and theoretically, helps you get out of debt the fastest. But life and debt repayment are about a lot more than money. However, when you look closely at credit card consolidation and balance transfers, you realize that math is not the heart of the debt issue. 

#2. The Debt Snowball

If you’ve heard of the debt snowball, it is likely because Dave Ramsey promotes the debt snowball.

With the debt snowball, you list your debt by amount owing instead of by interest rates.

Imagine you owed $9,000 on a Capital One card, $5,000 on an American Express account, and $2,000 on a card from your credit union.

In this case, you would pay off your cards in the following order – credit union, American Express, and Capital One. You would continue to make minimum payments on all the other debts until you pay off one debt. You would then shift your focus to the next debt. 

One of the biggest advantages to the debt snowball is that it provides the quickest emotional pay off. Instead of waiting until you pay off $9,000 in debt (as you would with the highest interest), you get to do the happy dance after paying off the $2,000 credit union bill. That emotional energy will fuel your continued fight out of debt.

If you are interested in the debt snowball, you might check out this free debt snowball spreadsheet.

#3. Emotional Debts are the First to Go

The fact is sometimes we make poor choices. Choices that haunt us. Let’s say you once helped buy a $1,000 stereo for an old boyfriend. That relationship never worked out, but you still have that $1,000 credit card debt. Imagine how good it would feel to finally pay off that debt and move on. 

This debt repayment strategy encourages you to list your debt in order of how passionate you are to pay them off. Perhaps one credit card company has been especially rude in their interactions. Put them first, and get them out of your life. 

Again, this is a strategy that relies on emotions more than math.

Which is the best strategy?

The answer completely depends on your temperament. 

I, for example, could effectively use #1 and #3 in conjunction. The reason? I hate paying interest to banks so the debt with the highest interest rate would also be the one with the most emotional pay off attached to it. 

Yet, there is no denying that many, many people are following the debt snowball with amazing results. Either way, if you have credit card debt, be sure you have a game plan or steps to get out of debt and work aggressively towards whatever strategy you adopt.

What strategy do you use / do you recommend to help people get out of debt?

 Be sure to visit Money Help for Christians where Craig promotes a frugal, simple, debt-free, and generous lifestyle so Christians can faithfully maximize their resources by putting them at the disposal of God’s Kingdom.

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Money Help for Christians at Heavenly Homemakers

January 4, 2011 by Laura 1 Comment

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

I am very excited to introduce a new feature beginning this year here at Heavenly Homemakers!

Craig and Jeri Ford are friends of ours, and are currently missionaries at Papua New Guinea. Craig writes at Money Help for Christians, sharing financial tips for believers. He brings the Bible and money together in Money Help for Christians. Craig promotes a frugal, simple, debt-free, and generous lifestyle so Christians can faithfully maximize their resources by putting them at the disposal of God’s Kingdom. Money Help for Christians is committed to providing relevant resources in order to assist Christians in this effort.

The first Thursday of each month, Craig will be guest posting here, sharing some of his great financial advice, particularly for women. I’m very excited to read what he has to say each month, and I think we’ll all learn a great deal from his expertise on this subject! The first of Craig’s posts is coming up this week! 

 

Here’s a brief introduction into what Craig will be sharing with us this time:
As part of your 2011 New Years resolutions, many of you are looking for legitimate ways to increase your income by working at home. For some of you, an extra few hundred dollars a month will give your budget some much needed breathing room. Others of you might want to supplement several thousand dollars a month by working from home. The extra income might be needed to help you get out of credit card debt. Regardless, this post focuses on offering specific suggestions for mothers who have decided to earn some extra income in 2011. 
Read more of Craig’s first post Thursday! 

We’d love to hear what financial topics you might be interested in learning and reading about. Be sure to leave a comment here or email me with any topic suggestions!
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