Hello and welcome to Enemy of Debt! I founded EOD in April of 2008 in an effort to motivate and inspire financial discipline by focusing on behavior and truth. Our behavior decides our outcome and the truth is what most people avoid. By teaching personal responsibility, debt free principles, and the importance of planning people can learn how to take control of their finances one step at a time.
My journey to debt freedom and financial independence began in January of 2008. We became sick and tired of living paycheck to paycheck and were finally mad enough to take action. At that time, we did not have any savings, knew very little about budgeting and were buried under $26,076.75 of debt.
In the first two months we were able to throw together our very first emergency fund ever of $2,000. It took us only 18 more months to eliminate the retched debt from our lives and I can proudly say we never plan to borrow another dime ever again, for any reason.
As you read and learn more about me by reading my articles here on Enemy of Debt, you will very quickly learn that I not only plan to avoid using debt ever again, but I HATE IT! We took what most would consider radical steps to eliminate the debt from our lives and we do not regret this decision at all. It has shown us our true potential and allowed us to experience financial peace.
Check out my latest interview about my journey.
I’ve had lots of fun in my efforts to help others get out of debt and live debt free. I decided to start another project blog to help others (and myself) tackle their finances after becoming debt free over at Beyond Debt Freedom. As I have found out, getting out of debt is only one piece of the puzzle. The journey continues well past debt freedom.
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Meet Travis Pizel
If you’ve been reading Enemy of Debt for more than a week then you know who Travis Pizel is. He is a great friend of mine and he shares my passion for helping people get out of debt.
“Travis candidly shares his family’s experiences, struggles and successes as they fight their way out of debt. As a father and husband he provides a unique perspective on balancing debt, finances, and family.”
Travis has passionately grabbed the torch and continued to inspire others with his own personal experiences in getting out of debt. His wonderful daughter, has also contributed to Enemy of Debt by explaining things from her perspective.
Getting out of debt isn’t the easiest, or most fun journey you’ll ever take, but it sure is worth it. It takes sacrifice and a willingness to change key habits and behaviors in order to reach the ultimate goal of debt freedom.
Once again, welcome to Enemy of Debt and I hope you enjoy what we have put together for you here. Please take the time to subscribe to ensure you receive updates via email whenever a new post is published.
Sincerely and with LOTS of debt free love,
just found your site. I love it.!!!! I also hate debt and vow to continue to live debt free. Glad you are helping others to learn the truth of debt bondage, and the wonderful world of frugal living.
Debt is stupid and freedom is fantastic! Congratulations on enjoying debt freedom, it is super awesome!
Hey Brad,
Great blog you’ve put together. I recently only just begun my debt journey with $15k on credit cards, payday loans as well as court fines so its about a total of $25k and it sure is frightening. Hopefully I can learn some essential skills like budgeting, cost cutting and frugal living and pay off these burdens in 2013.
Thanks a lot! I hope you find it useful in your journey to debt freedom. One thing I know is that YOU CAN DO IT! As frightening as it may seem now, a few years from now you’ll look back with relief and amazement at how much more awesome life is without all that debt.
I’m currently working on a blog where I plan to tackle more of the psychology aspects of everything life throws at us. On top of that I’m also working on an interactive site that will allow you to transform bad habits into good habits for more of a lifestyle change rather than a quick makeover. Pretty exciting stuff! I’ll keep you posted and good luck with your site as well. I’m going to go keep an eye on it as you develop it more. 🙂
Hey Brad! So glad I found your site.
Recently turned 23 and graduated college with over $42,000+ in debt — a combination of student loans that I didn’t necessarily need, medical bills from college mistakes and TONS of consumer, impulse-buying ridiculousness. After college I was jobless, bombarded by debt collectors and cried everyday I was so overwhelmed.
After relocating to Omaha, Neb. for a job I was introduced to Financial Peace University in January 2013, and since then I have begun my gazelle intensity journey to dig myself out of this mess. Since leaving the class in March 2013, I’ve found that budgeting is absolutely the toughest part. I track every single penny I spend and use tools like mint.com as well as check my bank statement every single day, multiple times a day, but I have not budgeted a penny since March. I’ve paid off about $12k since taking the class and have only my student loans left to tackle… but I still feel like I’m not gaining enough traction.
I just stumbled upon your monthly budget and am going to start using that in hopes that I feel a bit more organized (Last month I spent over $650 on food/alcohol… not sure how this can happen, but it did).
Anyhow, I’m excited to get the ball rolling in the right direction again. Thanks for the great tools!
-Audri
Hi Audri! I’m glad you found EOD too. FPU and Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover truly changed our life. It sounds like it’s helping you already. Great job killing 12K of your debt!! Keep at it and you’ll be debt free before ya know it!! 😀
Love the site guys. You inspire me.
So excited for you. We too got sick and tired of being sick and tired of living check to check.
Awesome site, Brad! Best to you and your family!
Hi Brad,
If you don’t care about credit or planned to ever use it again, why did you bother getting out of debt? Why didn’t you just pile up the money and invest it instead of paying what you owed.
I ask because I recently changed jobs to a commission only career, which made be unable to pay my credit card bills for several months in the beginning. The cc companies closed all my accounts and my credit went way down to pretty much useless now. I also have almost 70k in student loans that was originally about 50.
In total it is about 90k in debt. This will take me about 3 years to get out of. But I can’t stop wondering why I don’t keep that cash save part and invest part of it and just pay cash for everything instead of being another 3 years in the hole. I’m 38 and want to retire as soon as possible and live as much on cash as possible. I know student debt doesn’t go away so I’m thinking if this isn’t wise then I should start with the student debt first, since the cards are closed and no additional interest is being added and I do not plan to need a loan soon. I’m hoping to only ever need a loan to buy another home or investment property.
Just trying to decide if 90k is worth buying my credit back if I dont need it and can live on saved cash. Not many people think like this these days in the US so hard to get advice other than simply- pay off your debt, but why if you don’t need it? thanks
I might suggest that not paying back money you spent is unethical and essentially stealing.
G’day, Just discovered your site. Looking forward to having a read through your posts. Cheers