WE'RE DEBT FREE!!!

In 2001, Bethany and I each owed over $15,000 in student loans. We owed a monthly payment of $400 for a brand new truck we foolishly purchased. We owed thousands of dollars on at least two credit cards. And we owed well over $100,000 on our home loan. Plus interest. Let's review:



$30,000 in student loans

$25,000 auto loan

$5,000 credit card debt

$110,000 balance on home loan

=approximately $170,000 of debt PLUS interest



Today: We're debt free. Here's how we did it. First and foremost, we followed the advice of financial guru Dave Ramsey. We obeyed every step of his plan called "The Total Money Makeover." We set up a monthly budget, paid cash for everything, and bought nothing on credit (if you don't have the cash, you don't buy it.) We worked on our "debt snowball" paying the smallest debts first, then rolling the extra money into the next smallest and so on. We sold the expensive truck and drove cheap vehicles that neared 200,000 miles on their odometers. We went to the movies about once a year. We bought virtually nothing but generic. In short, we lived like no one else, so that later, we could live like no one else.



Eventually, we paid off over $110,000 in debt by following Dave's plan. Bear in mind that we also adopted the cutest boy in China during this decade of no-decadence. (International adoptions are not cheap, but when you eliminate debt, you find the money for things that really matter.) Also worth noting, I only worked part-time for two of those years and not at all for two more. So our mountain of debt was removed with the help of only one full-time income for nearly half the decade.



With only four years of house payments remaining (taking only 14 years to pay for what was originally a 30 year mortgage), we were well on our way to paying off the house and being completely debt-free. But last month, our hard work and years of sacrifice were rewarded by a gift from Bethany's dad. After his untimely death two years ago, his estate was eventually divided among his six children and just yesterday the Naughton family was able to use Bethany's share to pay off the balance of our mortgage. I am sure Bill Lemon is smiling down upon us, proud to have helped his children in this way.



Another silver lining to the dark cloud of Bill's passing is that we will be able to fully fund the adoption of our little girl this spring with the money we would have spent on house payments. Our greatest regret is that he was never able to meet Truman or our little girl.



So there you have it. Even if we had never received a dime from Bethany's dad, we would have erased over $170,000 of debt plus interest by living within our means. By buying only what we needed. By saving every penny. By living simply. Oh, and did I mention we were able to start college funds for the boys and retirement accounts for us while this Total Money Makeover took place? Well, we did. I hope I don't sound like I'm bragging. I only wish to inspire others to free themselves from the bonds of indebtedness like we did. I assure you that it is worth every bit of sacrifice along the way. I'm only 39 years old and as I look around me, I know that everything I see around me--ten wooded acres, a four bedroom house, a minivan, a truck, a classic car, a party porch, a beautiful family--is all mine. That's a damn good feeling.