My Financial Journey: Debt and Plans for the Future

We’re all thinking: “how do they have that kind of money,” when we watch certain content on social media. Talking about finances is too private and personal to lay it all out for us on social platforms, but people have no problem showing off their shopping hauls. I remember reading a Substack from co-founder and Editor in Chief of Refinery29 Christene Barberich on her debt story floored by how honest she was about this time of her life. Seeing her bravely share her story, even though she felt embarrassed, and seeing where she is now, inspired me and gave me hope that being in debt does not have to be a lifelong struggle. It is possible to get out of it and live a comfortable life, debt free.

There are chapters of different financial experiences in my life. There is the beginning where you’re young, supported by your parents while you navigate yourself out of childhood into adulthood. Then there is when you have your first real job with a salary you only knew as a hypothetical. Next, you get married and (depending on what you believe) you join finances and everything is together – our debt, our money. Now, I’m in a new chapter of handling finances on and of my own. Having to learn finances for myself, I learned a lot about my relationship with money. How I spend, why I spend, how I save, and why I save. Trying to find the right methods for myself, I still keep some healthy habits I have learned in the past, but certain things I have grown out of.

Jesus once said, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much,” (Luke 16:10). I would recite this to myself when I started from scratch and had my own money to manage. A little is still something, and I was faithful with what I had. I never went hungry, I had shelter and the essentials (Psalm 37:25), so I was secure in that regard; my new focus was on saving for the future, budgeting for payments, and having practical spending habits. I wasn’t perfect with it, and there were moments I had to dip into my savings, but I was learning, I was enduring, and I realized I needed some guidance.

I started talking to people about money: how do they save, do they have debt and how are they paying them off, how do they normally budget? I didn’t need to know the numbers to learn their methods. I gleaned onto their wisdom and listened to financial podcasts and read from Dave Ramsey resources. We each have to find the right fit for how we save, spend, and pay off debt, it’s not a one size fits all.

I started tracking my spending to see where I was putting my money after payments and savings were set for that month. I tried Ramsey’s zero-based budget: I found this helpful to see where I could allocate money for different things, and to see where I didn’t always need to budget for. It took months of trial and error and practice, and I feel comfortable now with how I manage my money. I am also doing the Baby Steps in paying off debt. There are seven steps but I am focusing on the first three:

1. Save $1,000 for your starter emergency fund.
   
2. Pay off all debt (except the house) using the debt snowball.
   
3. Save three to six months of expenses in a fully funded emergency fund.

The debt snowball is an accessible approach to paying things off. It’s a weight lifted off your shoulders when you see things get fully paid off at the amount and pace you can manage. Here are the steps:

1. List your debts smallest to largest, regardless of interest rate. Pay minimum payments on everything but the smallest one.
   
2. Attack the smallest debt with a vengeance…Do whatever it takes! Once that debt is gone, take that payment (and any extra money you can squeeze out of the budget) and apply it to the second smallest debt while continuing to make minimum payments on the rest.
   
3. Once that debt is gone, take its payment, and apply it to the next smallest debt.
   
4. Repeat this method as you plow your way through debt until you’re debt free!

A guest on this one podcast I listened to was a financial advisor and he said, following a budget is always 90%, it doesn’t have to be 100% perfectly done. Some things come up, or maybe we missed an unknown payment, so allow yourself some grace and wiggle room when starting to follow your budget plan. I remember feeling nervous, a little scared, but also excited and hopeful to practice the debt snowball. Making those monthly payments were thrilling. I used to have the outlook of paying off debt with dread, despair, and like a loss; but I now see it as a huge gain: I am getting this debt out of my way for a more comfortable and free future. This hope brings me joy now; I have accepted my current state, hopeful for the future and know that it will come because I am building something here now.

If you’re looking for some literature on understanding finances I recommend the following books:

“More Than Just Making It: Hope for the Financially Frustrated” by Erin Odom

“Know Yourself Know Your Money” by Rachel Cruze