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Episode 203 - How I Saved and Paid Off $155,969.80 in Four Years!

Do you feel like you're constantly struggling with your finances? Do you have a hard time keeping up with bills, paying down debt, or building an emergency fund savings? If so, you're not alone! That's exactly how Micheale felt about four years ago before joining Roots. But today, things are much different for Micheale, and she is my guest today and she is here to share what's helped her pay off over $150,000 of debt in the last four years.

What You'll Learn

  • Discover how Micheale paid off over $150,000 in four years.
  • Hear how improving her finances has massively improved other areas of their lives.
  • If she had to start all over again, hear what she would tell herself knowing what she knows now.
  • Listen as she shares what has made the biggest difference for them.

Resources Mentioned

Free Tools and Downloads at www.therealdebtfreedad.com

Connect With Brad

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Episode Transcript: 

Brad:  

Hey, do you feel like you are constantly struggling with your finances? Do you have a hard time keeping up with bills, paying down debt or maybe building an emergency fund savings? Hey, if so, you're not alone. That's exactly how Micheale felt about four years ago before joining Roots, but today, things are so much different for Michelle and she is my guest today and she is here to share what's helped her pay off over one hundred and fifty thousand dollars yes, you heard that right One hundred and fifty thousand dollars of debt in the last four years. Stay tuned.

Speaker 2:  

You're listening to the debt free dad podcast with Brad Nelson. Brad and his co-hosts experienced the anxiety of living paycheck to paycheck before learning the fundamentals of financial success. They are now on a mission to empower regular people to pay off their debt for good and enjoy happier, less stressful lives. Keep listening for inspirational interviews, tips, tricks and practical advice to gain financial freedom.

Brad:  

So, guys, as I mentioned in the intro, I'm excited to have Michelle joining us today on the Debt Free Dad Podcast podcast. But hey, after listening to this episode, if you want to take this a step further, we've got an awesome free workshop to take this to that next step, and I'll be sharing the details about that later on in the show. So, guys, like I said, I want to take a second to introduce you to Michelle Brown. Now, michelle is a special education teacher and English teacher for the last 17 years. She loves working with students and finding new ways to either teach them reading or math. And Michelle has three grown daughters as well. Her oldest has a bachelor's and is working a full time job, and her two youngest daughters are also working but are still in college. Michelle, so happy to have you a part of the Deffredad podcast. Welcome to the show. Thank you, I appreciate it. Yeah, absolutely so. Now you have been in Roots for four years now, so we've been on live meetups, we've talked a lot about different things, and I'm just I'm glad to have you on today to share a little bit about your journey and what you've been able to achieve, because over the last four years, you've overcome a lot, but you've also, man, when we talk about your numbers, what you've been able to pay off. It's, it's incredible. So before we get there, though, what I would like to just have you share a little bit with our listeners is just how did you start learning about money when you grew up, and how did that education, or what you learned about money as a, as a, as a child or even a teenager, how did that affect you as you became an adult, and how you manage your finances?

Micheale:  

I learned money from my mom. I mean she was a single mom most of her life and I mean we made it paycheck to paycheck and she struggled. I mean she tried to save but it was always difficult. It wasn't an easy process for her. I mean she tried to do her best but you know it wasn't an easy thing for her to do. Yeah, yeah.

Brad:  

Did she ever take time to like did she, did she teach you anything? Did she try to show you anything budgeting skills or anything like that, actually?

Micheale:  

she did teach me how to. She opened up a check my first checkbook with me. She taught me how to to use a checkbook and stuff which a lot of parents don't do.

Brad:  

Right.

Micheale:  

And she made sure that I knew how to balance it and stuff like that. And she did that at a pretty early age, like by the time I was 16 and stuff. So she was really she tried to help me with that and stuff. I have to give kudos to my mom on that one.

Brad:  

Yeah, that's awesome. So how did that affect you as you became an adult? I mean, did you do well with money? Have you been something you've struggled with Like? What were some of the things as you became an adult? What were the pluses and minuses when it came to manage your money?

Micheale:  

Um, I always knew that I had to pay the bills first. And, um, my mom always taught me when I had kids you pay the babysitter before you pay anything else, because if you don't have a babysitter, you can't go to work, um and so, but it was a challenge, it just always was. It was like there's not enough. Sometimes it's just like there's not enough for savings. Um, you want to put stuff aside for savings, but there was never enough for the savings because there was more bills than there was money coming in.

Speaker 2:  

Yeah.

Micheale:  

I always felt like I was never had enough to make ends meet.

Brad:  

Yeah there's a lot of people listening to that whole not enough, can't make ends meet that are listening to this right now. I mean there's a lot of people right now that are, that are feeling that pinch. So would you? Would it be fair to say, then, that most of your adult life I mean money's, money's been somewhat of a struggle for you? Oh, yeah, for sure, and was it? Was it just like not making ends meet? Did you? Was there any sort of um not to throw you under the bus or anything? Was there anything, because we all have them. Were there any bad habits or anything that you felt were you know, now that you've gone through Roots you've been in this for four years you've made some amazing, amazing changes. What types of bad habits did you feel like were were kind of keeping you stuck, knowing what you know now today?

Micheale:  

Um, I would probably say that I didn't um budget as well, I probably overspent. Um, I didn't probably tell my kids, no enough, you know, I would get stuck. I mean they'd be like, well, mom, I need this or I want this, and I would cave because I wanted to provide for my kids and I felt bad. And so you know. But then I learned I. It took a lot to learn, it did. Yeah, I had to change some of my behaviors and it was a struggle, but I had to learn how to do that so that I could pay off more and and get myself in a good place where I was more comfortable.

Brad:  

Yeah, yeah, I think, um, like I said, I think you're saying a lot of things that resonate. I'm not saying no to your kids. That's, that's not always an easy thing, right? And and if you're not careful, obviously not being able to say no to them and setting that boundary, I mean that can seriously add on a lot of financial stress to your life, there's no question. So you, you eventually decided to join us in Roots. Now this is back in, uh, like 2020, and uh, it was right around then, and so what was like the deciding factor for you then like to say you know, maybe I need to do something about this.

Micheale:  

I think that I just was. I was just really stuck. I needed help to be able to get myself pushed and to really make a difference. And so I was like, well, why don't I just get started and at least give it a year and see where I go? And I made leaps and bounds.

Speaker 2:  

Yeah.

Micheale:  

I made the changes and I stuck with it and I'm like, okay, I'm going to make the changes. And so it was not hard, it was not easy at all.

Brad:  

It was very hard. Yeah, let's dive into that Not easy made some changes. So, looking back when you first started, what were some of the things that you learned or that you started to take action on, at least in a different way than where you normally were that you felt started to make some of the biggest differences, for you to make a big leaps and bounds, Like you said. You made leaps and bounds that first year.

Micheale:  

What do you feel was the biggest contributor?

Brad:  

to that.

Micheale:  

I started putting $75 out of my paycheck right into an emergency fund, and I've continued to do that. I've never changed it. Even when I switched jobs recently, I still did that, and so that always goes in, and so it's twice a month. So it's $150 that goes into an emergency fund, and I've had to rebuild the emergency fund at least five or six times, probably more, because I've had emergencies that have just whited out on more than occasion. I don't know how many cars I've had to replace because I've hit five deer. Oh my goodness.

Brad:  

Yes, so let's talk a little bit about that. Okay, so you've had to replace your emergency fund time and time again. You've five deer, you've hit.

Micheale:  

Yeah, at least in a four year span. I haven't told you that many times, but I hit five deer.

Brad:  

Have you ever looked up the record of how many people have hit deer? No, I don't want to, because you might be competing with a few people.

Micheale:  

My family calls me the deer slayer. They've revoked my hunting license. It's horrible.

Brad:  

Now I live in Wisconsin, michelle, so hitting a deer isn't uncommon, but five times, I don't think I've ever heard that many times. And two raccoons. So, oh man, all right. So those animals, hey, they need to be on the phones Like. Hey, michelle's out, we need to get off the road.

Micheale:  

That's what they say. It's horrible. I'm really trying not to do that anymore. So.

Brad:  

Right, right, oh, those poor deer, oh man, so all right. So, yes, you've had to overcome a lot, not just from your car situations, the deer situations. You've rebuilt your emergency fund time and time again, and so I think the reason I want to point this out is because you've definitely faced some challenges over the last four years. I mean, it hasn't been exactly just smooth sailing for Michelle four straight years to help you be able to do the things that you've done?

Micheale:  

Not at all. Not at all.

Brad:  

So can you share a little bit Now. Your mom sadly passed away she did. And you went through some transitions with that too. Can you, from a financial standpoint, can you, kind of share how that, how what you were working on, helped you kind of work through all of that and moving through that situation too?

Micheale:  

I had to learn how to deal with funeral situations. It was rough because I had to pay her bills for three months with no access to her money none, literally because I didn't have enough in my emergency stash at that time, I had to borrow from my grandparents, which were her parents, and gratefully they did, and then I paid them back. But it took so long and it took three years to finalize her estate, which is ridiculous. But it was just persevering and making sure I kept track of all of her stuff, all of my stuff Again, and because of her teaching me how to run a check register, that saved me with the lawyers, because they wanted accountability of how I spent every last penny of her money. And then, when her furnace went in her house, they're like oh no, you have to pay for that yourself, you're living there. I literally had to pay for her brand new furnace and I went probably four months with no furnace because we argued about this, and I had no heat for four months none, and it was a cold. That winter was cold. It was from October to almost January, no furnace.

Speaker 2:  

Wow.

Micheale:  

And it was cold and there was nothing we could do. We were arguing and fighting and I was researching and people were telling me $10,000, $12,000 for a furnace and I finally found one for $3,600.

Brad:  

Wow good for you.

Micheale:  

Yeah, I really did the research. I did what Brad would do and I'm like, no, I'm not gonna pay 10 grand, I don't have a spare 10 grand. I just didn't. I'm like I cannot afford 10 grand for a furnace. And I was able to do $3,600 and that's what I did and it just. It was a lot of challenges and it was a lot of working. I had it every day. And it was okay, Brad's not gonna give up, I'm not gonna give up, I'm gonna keep working at this and I can do this. And so it was a difficult struggle and finally being able to buy the house and I had to buy it at market value. I couldn't even go through. I had to buy it at market value. They would not let me do it at payoff.

Brad:  

Right right.

Micheale:  

But that's okay. I got a mortgage, did it, it wasn't bad, and now it's mine and it's the estate closed and I'm still more secure and, thank you Lord, I got it at the lower. I got an interest rate before they rose.

Speaker 2:  

Yeah.

Micheale:  

And I got it at like 3.25 as an interest rate. So that's a decent interest rate. Yeah, absolutely.

Brad:  

Yeah, a lot of people right now are wishing for that one, so God, I'm not gonna refinance? I don't think so. Can you? Let's go back a little bit to that first year, maybe the first a couple of years? As you're doing this, you use our debt freedom planner. You obviously have been in Roots. Can you talk about from a budgeting standpoint, like how budgeting has helped you throughout this process? Again, you've gone through some significant challenges. You've had to rebuild your emergency fund multiple times. Your mom passed away. You had to deal with a lot of her bills. I mean obviously budgeting and principles, practice, doing those things all helped you through that. So can you share a little bit about what's helped you most with budgeting and just with our audience, maybe some tips or things that really kind of helped you?

Micheale:  

I think writing down all my bills and the planner just helps keep me focused. It keeps me on track. It keeps me because I had to pay two separate bills for two households for a long time. It kept me motivated. It kept me on track. It's like, okay, I've paid this, this and this, and I gotta pay this, this and this. And it keeps me on track. It keeps me motivated. It's like, okay, I've gotten this done. I've paid this much this month. I can do this, and it really does. It keeps me motivated. I try to make sure I do it every month. At the end of the month I try to tally how much I've paid off. Okay, I've paid this. I had this much in car repairs Okay, that's still a win because I was able to do it Right. And some months I don't have to use my emergency fund, which is a win.

Brad:  

That's huge.

Micheale:  

If I don't have to use it. I hate using it. I hate it. I just wanted to sit there. I don't want to use it, I just want to. My goal this year is to get it up to $3,000. That's my goal. I have a lot of medical bills, unfortunately, and now my new insurance is high deductible, which I'm still trying to refigure in how to use it and how to do it and how to help my children use it, unfortunately, but that's a work in progress. I'll figure it out because that's what I do. It's just a matter of working on it on a monthly basis, sometimes a weekly basis, and I use the planner and I was setting goals and I want to pay this one off, and I want to pay that one off and paying off the smaller ones, and I was making a plan on how to do that.

Speaker 2:  

Yeah.

Brad:  

What would you say from a sacrifice standpoint? Was there anything significant that you feel that you had to sacrifice big, or was there just small adjustments that you've made over the years to reduce?

Micheale:  

For me it was smaller adjustments because I don't go out to eat a lot yeah, it's pretty rare. It was learning how to save if I want to do something. It did teach me that If I want to do something for my kids, I put it away in an envelope. I am the queen of sinking funds. I have them all. Yeah, you do Whether it's saving up for my kids' birthday present or for Christmas or whatever. My middle daughter has no clue. Right now she's in Brazil. Absolutely, she's on vacation. She must have saved up for it. She's having a time of her life, but she has no idea that her Christmas present is still waiting for her, because when she gets back and she makes her next car payment, my other daughter, my oldest daughter, and I are paying off the rest of her car payment. Wow, because we're going to pay her next two car payments, but we're waiting until she makes her next one.

Speaker 2:  

Yeah.

Micheale:  

So when she gets home and makes her next car payment, we're paying it off Because she only owns like $500. And I have it sitting in a sinking fund.

Brad:  

Yeah, just waiting, that's incredible.

Micheale:  

Merry Christmas to her.

Brad:  

Yeah right, how cool.

Micheale:  

Because she's like I really don't want anything, mom, I'm just working on my college loans.

Speaker 2:  

Yeah.

Micheale:  

You know, but that's what we decided we would do, because then it will free up money for her. Yeah, you know, but it's just having the patience to put stuff aside for sinking funds, whether it's for a new car, whether it's for car repairs, whether it's for a vacation, whether it's. I want to drive down the entire East Coast from Bangor, maine to Miami, florida, which I did, and it was amazing.

Brad:  

I took 30 days 30 days, the 30 day trip this past summer, wasn't that this past summer?

Micheale:  

It was actually two summers ago, but I drove 8300 miles. It was an amazing trip.

Brad:  

Yeah, that's awesome, yeah, cool. So now you can you share what in the last four years, you've been able to successfully pay off as far as money or Just debt, like how much debt you've paid off in the last four years.

Micheale:  

I paid off $155,969.80 in four years and then in my college loan forgiveness that was $86,191. 88.

Brad:  

Yeah, which isn't included in that 155, by the way.

Micheale:  

No, it's not, yeah, it's not included.

Brad:  

Yeah, so we'll talk. We'll talk a little bit about the college loan. Forgiveness in just a second. But what? Okay, if you go back four years ago, would you have ever imagined no Today? Four years later you would have been there.

Micheale:  

No no.

Brad:  

That is an insane. When you sent me that email because obviously you know when we get you on the podcast for you we just want to know some information and obviously know your final numbers and where you're at when you sent me those and I told them I was like holy crap, like I know you've done well, but I didn't know it was that well. Like I was like I was blown away.

Micheale:  

So I was too actually when I added it up. I'm like, nah, I didn't know.

Brad:  

No, we're going to recalculate that. I was like there's no way. So what do you feel when you see that number?

Micheale:  

It's like I'm so proud of myself.

Brad:  

Yeah, there you go. You should be Damn right. You worked so hard for that.

Micheale:  

I haven't really worked really hard for it.

Brad:  

Well, and I think for you, Michelle, and what I'll say to your listeners out there, obviously Michelle is in Roots, so you know, inside Roots, as a member, you come to our live meetups and we do these live meetups just about every single week. We're off here and there, but I'd say 95% of the year we're meeting once a week and, Michelle, you are one of the people that was there almost every single week. You're there every single week. You have just made not only this commitment to the program but a commitment to yourself. You're going to do this and I think if you're listening to this podcast and you're like, what is the big difference maker? How does she do that? I mean, you're a teacher. How do you do that? In four years Commitment, you just said you've just been willing to take a different approach. You've been willing to be patient. You've just been willing to try all of the stuff that we've given you and you've shown up and that's how you do it. There's no secret behind it. You just have been willing to put in the work and that's why I think when you say you're proud of yourself, that's why I'm proud of you, because you've been willing to put in the work, and I think most people just aren't willing to do that.

Micheale:  

It's not easy. I'm not going to lie, it's not. And there are times where I'm discouraged and I'm like I'm not making a difference and I'm not doing this right and Brad's probably going to be disappointed in me. And then I look at this and I'm like, oh no, those are pretty good numbers.

Brad:  

Those are pretty fantastic numbers. So talk about feelings now. You mentioned prior to starting this, back in 2020, you're just tired. You felt stuck. You know it was constantly just barely getting by. Things like that probably stressed, is my guess, but now you're in a completely different place. Can you talk about how you feel now versus how you felt before?

Micheale:  

I feel at least more secure with my finances. I can usually pay all my bills. I set aside enough. I always have some in my ER fund, you know, and I try to take time for myself, and I mean even now I'm applying for another job, for a second job, because I'm not sure about the medical with my new medical plan and I'm worried about it. So I'm trying to be proactive in what I need to do, because I don't want to get into that spot where I was before. So I would rather be proactive versus reactive, and so I don't want to be stuck there. But even when they said what's your availability, I'm like oh, I have to have Tuesdays off because I don't want to miss Tuesday nights, because it keeps me accountable, it keeps me focused on what I need to do for me, and that means that I need to show up, because when I don't show up, you know it's I. I feel like I've let myself down, and so I do need that accountability for myself and I know that, and so that helps me keep going and being like now I'm doing the right things, showing up, even if I'm writing, I'm listening to you guys and I don't always say some things on there, but I'm still listening, and I might be working on grading papers while I'm listening, but I'm still there.

Speaker 2:  

Yeah.

Brad:  

Now I think one other thing I want to talk about and give you this question in the list of kind of questions we're gonna go over. But one thing I think we talk about a lot and you know this is celebrating your wins. And I think I do talk about this and quite often I kind of bring you up and I say this is what I think Michelle does great here. If you guys are looking for an example of making sure you recognize every win, and can you talk about how that's helped you? Because I think that's one of the areas that even me included, even still today, I'm a very goal-orientated person and when I reach a goal, I don't take time to really probably celebrate it the way I should have recognized what it took to get there. It's always kind of like let's move on to the next one. But that is not a good idea, right? I need to do better in my own life and I need to take you as an example of this, because every week, you know we celebrate on the live meetups and we talk about the wins that we got the week prior and what were the things that we did good, you always have like six or seven things that you were listing. Can you talk about how that's helped you stay motivated throughout this?

Micheale:  

I think I need that. I need that pat on the back to be like listen, I've done a good job, I'm still working at it, and so therefore, like you said, the accountability I'm trying to hold myself accountable and I need that celebration. You know like I even set a goal for myself to walk a thousand miles this year and I had to create a spreadsheet for myself and it's exercise miles, just not regular miles, exercise miles, and so I get up every day and I go for my walk, whether it's three and a half miles, four and a quarter miles, and I'm like I'm gonna do this and it's just to be healthier, just for me, it's not for anybody else.

Brad:  

Love that.

Micheale:  

And you know it is cold. This morning it was 21 degrees out and I went out 4.3 miles and I'm like whoo, all right. I'm like what would you do if I did not have to?

Brad:  

do anymore, bet you were happy you had that furnace when you got back.

Micheale:  

I was A nice warm shower.

Brad:  

Yeah, I bet, I bet.

Micheale:  

But you know it's just. You know you say you need those celebrations and you really do. That is the difference, because when you don't take the time to celebrate what you've done, even if it is a small win, even when I only put $5 aside or something else, those $5 do add up.

Speaker 2:  

Yeah.

Micheale:  

Like I wasn't realizing. I didn't realize that I paid off $155,000. I didn't realize it was that much money that blew me away. That's huge Outstanding. I didn't realize how much it really was in four years.

Brad:  

Yeah, and that's the thing, like you mentioned, like you mentioned that down the mountain there are celebrate you have celebrated that before Like it could be just a small, you still celebrate it and that's what I love about it. There's so many of us that disregard that, like, oh, I was only able to put like $15 in my savings account this week. Well, it's not about the amount, it's about the consistency of doing it, it's about creating the habit of it over time, and that's what gets you the biggest. Look at, michelle four years, $155,000 in debt paid off, and you have celebrated these little, tiny celebrations every single week. And here you are four years later. That is the power of consistency in taking small steps forward. And sometimes, you know, I think we can all just disregard those little things, like they don't matter because they're not big every single week or every single month. Well, they're not gonna be. But you talk about it. It's like the consistency of doing it. That's the secret. And, man, I just I feel like your journey has just been although not perfect, because none of ours are, it's just a prime example of how you successfully get out of debt. You don't do it overnight, it takes time, its consistency is disciplined. There's gonna be ups and downs, but you've stayed committed to it.

Micheale:  

And I'm not out of debt yet. I still got a little ways to go, yeah, but I'm gonna keep working at it.

Brad:  

But talk about the hope though that you see now, do you feel? Like man the light is at the end of the tunnel for you soon.

Micheale:  

There is a light.

Brad:  

Yeah, that's gotta feel really good. At one time you probably like there's never a way I'm getting out of this.

Micheale:  

Yeah, probably, but there's a hope.

Speaker 2:  

Yeah.

Micheale:  

There really is, you know, and I'm still doing loan forgiveness for my parent plus loans. And that's like six years down the road. But, that's okay. It's just six more years of teaching.

Brad:  

Right, I'm okay with that. Right, and now let's talk a little bit about that. So you've paid off $155,000 in debt, but then you also did get student loan forgiveness. Talk a little bit about that, cause some of our listeners may not understand, like, how you actually got that.

Micheale:  

Because I'm a teacher, yep, consider public service loan forgiveness, and that's why I did it, because I did 10 years of service, you know, and even before that I did other things too, like I got teach grants forgiven, I got Perkins loans forgiven, so there's actually more that I've gotten forgiven. It's a lot. It is a lot.

Brad:  

It's not an easy thing to get done. No, it is paperwork. It's a lot of work.

Micheale:  

It is, it's being on the paperwork.

Brad:  

Right.

Micheale:  

It's turning it in. Every year I have to turn in paperwork and prove that I worked at schools every year. Right, you know, it's being diligent about turning my paperwork in and getting it, making sure that it's a qualifying payment, and we do make payments. Like. They try to up my payment to $810 a month and I fought and argued and fought and argued. I'm like that's more than my mortgage. I'm not. You're telling me that I need to Choose whether to live in a house or be homeless. Yeah, because I can't afford both. Right, I argued with them and argued with them and argue with them, and I got it down to four hundred and ten dollars, and so that's why I'm like, no, but I would tell me to argue.

Brad:  

You keep at it. Yeah, you keep at it.

Micheale:  

I argued them down to four hundred and ten dollars and my daughters and I Share the payment because I took the loan out for them. I told them that they had to help me pay it. I said we just have to pay the bare minimum and that's it For six years right. And then we split the payment and they helped me with it, and they do, and, and for six years they got out me with the payment and then it'll be forgiven, yeah, yeah like you don't want us to pay extra?

Brad:  

No, no, yeah, of course, because you're, yeah, you're looking for the, yeah, the public service forgiveness, yeah for sure. So I mean huge, huge, honestly blessing for you that it worked out. It doesn't. I don't hear about it often, I don't. I don't hear people who often get that. I think in the eight years that I've been doing this, I think you're maybe the third one that I've ever heard has gotten it done. It doesn't happen very often, so but anyways, in addition to the hundred fifty five thousand dollars that you paid off on your own, I mean that's just an incredibly kind of bonus on the top that that's worked out for you. So can you talk a little bit about? You know your daughters and stuff? Did they? You know, as you kind of went through this? Did they have anything to say about changes that mom was making with their Finances or anything? Was there any feedback from them or maybe other friends that you were kind of working through some of this stuff?

Micheale:  

Um, I'm not too much. A lot of times they would be like oh, you want to go out? Mmm, nope, it's not my budget right now. Yeah, really, come on. No, no, it's good, you know, and sometimes they got annoyed with it, but it's fine. Yeah you know Now. They know that they got asked me way in advance.

Brad:  

You've trained them well, Michelle. I love it.

Micheale:  

Because it's not my budget, it's not generally happening. That's right Right you know, and I try to budget for that sometimes and I try to have like a Gift budget now too for unexpected like baby showers or Wedding things. And yeah, I learned that I need to have a budget for that because before I didn't and things would like that would pop up.

Brad:  

Right, right, yeah, sinking funds, sinking funds for the win for sure. Yep, having that budget saving consistently for those upcoming expenses, that's the secret. So if you're listening to this episode, you're like, how do I stay out of debt in the future? Like, listen to Michelle, like get on a budget, start putting away money for those future expenses that are coming up. And the more you do that, the more in the habit you get of doing it, the less debt you need and hopefully no more debt You'll need because you'll have the cash to do it and sometimes I've had to to borrow from my sinking funds.

Micheale:  

It's like, okay, this came up. Well, pull this out of my sinking fund. Nope, that's not what I wanted to do, but it's better than taking it out of my emergency right.

Brad:  

But I love that, though, because that's what most people miss about savings savings Even if it's saving for something else and you end up having to use it for something that came up. Like you said, savings creates opportunity to flex in your life without creating more financial stress, you know in and having those sinking funds allows you to adjust. It allows you to adjust to life. Yeah, it may not have worked out perfectly, but now savings has created this opportunity for you to now use this money for whatever's popped up. Or, as opposed to, if you don't have any money, you're constantly relying on debt and you're just adding more and more stress and payments to your life and you're like never gonna get out of this and but you've turned the cycle of that for your life. I mean, that's just just in four years time. And then, if you think about the trajectory of the rest of your life All you've learned, all the habits you've created, how that's just gonna keep moving forward and building more and more momentum as as the time goes on, it's Girl. It's gonna be awesome for you. It's awesome. I'm so excited for you. I'm really from from day one to see where you started and all the stuff that you've gone through. It's really, really exciting to see where you're at today because it's just as as my job it's. One of the coolest parts about it is just to get to watch people go through this journey and you it's. It's been so much fun to watch, so I can't wait till you're debt-free. You will get there. Yeah, you're getting there. You're on your way. So, like, what is what is the goal for you, like, once you're debt-free? Like, what are some future things that you love to be able to do just in your life and experience? You know, and looking at that, you know we talk about having some sort of a why or purpose to kind of move you forward. Keep motivated. You know what's what's Michelle's like? What are you looking to do?

Micheale:  

I really want to travel, love that yeah. Australia is definitely on my bucket list.

Brad:  

Yeah, there you go Super fun yeah.

Micheale:  

I would love to go like there for like a month or so.

Brad:  

Yeah, how cool. That's one of the top ones we hear. When I, when I talk to people, it's like if, if you didn't have to worry so much about money and he had money to go do things that you love to do, what would be travel is is typically the number one answer.

Micheale:  

So and I do travel more than most people. I just pick up sometimes and I go for a weekend or whatever and I get my little car, we just go. Yeah, love that but I Do it on a budget as well, so sure.

Brad:  

But well, good for you, awesome. So last question for you, michelle, before we let you go off the show here today If you had to go back and talk to the Michelle from four plus years ago and you know, maybe they're on the fence, you know, maybe they're just not quite sure. If, oh, should I not necessarily Roots, but just in general should I start working on my finances? Should I start budgeting? Should I start paying attention? This more Like what would you say to them, knowing what you know? Now, today, four years later, this will take time.

Micheale:  

This will be hard work, but it's so worth it. Keep track Right away. I wish I had gotten better track my very first year. I think I would have had more paid off, or I would have known that I had more paid off, because I think I think I joined in 2019 and I didn't keep track.

Speaker 2:  

Yeah.

Micheale:  

No, honestly, I don't think I kept track that first year and so I think I've paid off more and I have no clue. It's kind of sad. It's just like oh, I missed the boat there.

Brad:  

Well, I think, I think you bring up a good point, though you know it's, it's when you get started. It's hard. That's why you know again, that's why we have Roots. It's support, accountability, it's to have someone kind of hold your hand throughout that first part, Because the first, the first six to 12 months, are not easy. You know it is not. You can make great progress. We've had so many people are making great progress in that short period of time, but it's not easy. It's like you said it's hard work, it's going to take time.

Micheale:  

And I don't think I kept as good track as then as I do now. Yeah, but that's something you learn, you know tracking tracking is such a good behavior change.

Brad:  

You know, you've you've learned that like I didn't track, but now I started to and like holy cow, this.

Micheale:  

this actually shows that I'm on the right path, you know right, I think, because if you don't track, you don't see your wins as well either.

Brad:  

Yeah for sure. And it's especially easy to give up because you're like well, what good is this? I'm not really getting any results. And if you don't have any proof of progress from tracking, it's easy just to wave the white flag and say I'm done, I'm not doing it anymore. Exactly, and now now, looking at Michelle $155,000 debt paid off. I bet you're more motivated now, like I'm going to keep going.

Speaker 2:  

This is working right.

Brad:  

Yes, all right, michelle. Well, I just want to say congratulations to you. We're so proud of you. Like I said, it's been an honor of mine to be able to be here with you and just about every Tuesday with you and celebrating your wins and seeing the consistency and discipline, and not only just you know from my standpoint, but also just being a great member there in in Roots. And I know other people are seeing you, other people are watching, other people on those live meetups are seeing you consistently being there and you're providing them the motivation, like, if she's doing this, I'm going to do it too, and we're going to have people on this podcast that are going to listen to this episode and say, if this, a teacher, a normal everyday person, can do $155,000 in four years, why not me? Right, and your story is not going to be able to give more people hope. So thank you so much for coming on and giving that to those people. I appreciate you.

Micheale:  

All right, thank you, you're welcome yeah you too.

Brad:  

So the totally awesome debt freedom planner is helping so many people make consistent progress with their finances, whether that be building emergency funds, paying down bills, budgeting, tracking paydays, saving up for larger purchases, goal planning and planning for those irregular yearly expenses that always seem to catch you by surprise. Now the debt freedom planner will help you take the stress out of managing your money. And if the thought is running through your mind, hey, I just need to have a simple tool to get my finances together. This planner is perfect for you. Head over to therealdebtfreedad. com, click on the debt freedom planner in the menu at the top of the page and order your debt freedom planner today. Hey guys, as you know, that sound means it is time for the celebrations of the show, and today we're kicking it off with Claudia Ann. Claudia Ann says all bills are paid and I put an additional $300 into my emergency fund. Claudia Ann, congratulations. It's a great win. Susie, I finished my first budget. She says it's terrifying, but it's done. Susie, you are absolutely right. These first few months of budgeting that's why we always like to say just call them a crappy budget, because they're going to be crappy, they're going to be hard, it's going to be scary. It's going to be terrifying, like you described, but that's okay. You know those feelings are signs of change and those are all good things. So congratulations for you getting that first one done and things will only improve from here. So keep up the great work. Shelly also says made final payment on my personal loan. I'm able to roll Check this out, guys and an additional $465 every single month onto my next snowball item. That is a huge chunk of money now added to her debt payoff plan every month. Moving forward, Shelly, such a great win. Congratulations. Kim went off track this past Christmas and an upcoming baby shower, but I completed my January and New Year budget. 2024 will be a good year and getting things paid off, Kim. Way to get back on track. Way to jump back on that wagon. Aaron the extra paycheck showed up today that I was waiting for and it will all be going into my savings. I love that. Aaron, padding up that savings feels great. And Angela, to finish us off here today, has said I don't need that to about five things this week. Those are the most hard fought wins. You guys, those behavior changes, saying no, standing up for your past, Standing up for your personal financial life. It's a hard thing to do sometimes, especially when they are enticing you to buy and you just want to get it. Angela, such a great, great win. Hey, as always, congratulations to all of you guys who are taking a stand for your financial life and are wanting better. We get that. Getting out of debt isn't easy, but with our help and with your consistency and discipline, we promise you this will be some of the best work you do in your entire life. Hey guys, thanks for joining us today and we will see you on our next episode.

Speaker 2:  

Thanks for listening to the debt free dad podcast. Connect with us on Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. Just search debt free dad. If you found value in today's episode, please leave us a rating and review. We so appreciate it for resources, show notes and links mentioned in today's show. Visit debt free dad. com. Catch you next week.

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