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Debt Free Questionnaire

Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader #7

by Brad Chaffee on March 12, 2010

in Debt Free Questionnaire

Hello everyone. Time for another Debt Free Friday!! Today we have with us the author of Debt Free Hispanic. Be sure to check out Fabian’s debt free call to the Dave Ramsey Show. It’s debt free calls like this that kept us motivated throughout our journey. As I’ve mentioned before those calls are why I wanted to start this series. Actually, it’s not the first time I tried putting something like this together. The first time I was a little too optimistic with what probably amounted to 10 or so readers. ;) It was only my 5th post, but I sure was pumped up!!

Fabian has me wondering why I have not called the Dave Ramsey Show yet. You’d think I’d be all over that right? I may surprise you here soon with a real debt free scream from Enemy of Debt and the Fam! Stay tuned!

Oh yeah, today you will not see much of me, it’s my wife’s birthday! :D

Fabian’s Debt Free News! ENJOY!

I have also put together a page, where YOU can fill out the Debt Free Questionnaire. I’d love to share your story.

The Enemy of Debt Questionnaire – Debt Free Hispanic

How much debt did you have and how long did it take you to pay it off?

The highest debt I have ever had was $21,000. My wife brought in about $1,000 of that and the rest were from my school loans and business debt.

How does becoming debt free actually feel? Does it feel better than you imagined it would?

Being debt free feels liberating. I can breathe a lot better. The feeling is overwhelming sometimes, just knowing that every check I receive goes into my bank account and stays there until I choose to spend it.

What were some of the struggles that you had to deal with along the way? Was there ever a time where you almost gave up?

The struggles came when I wanted to pay off my last $5,000 because that was about the time that I was wanting to save up to buy a ring so I could propose to my girlfriend, who is now my wife.

What would you consider to be the most important key to becoming debt free? What helped you the most?

The key to getting out of debt for me was traction. When I sold a bunch of Houston Astros jerseys on eBay that I was collecting. That money helped me to pay off some smaller debts so that I could have those small victories. What kept me going was that I was constantly telling my girlfriend how much I was paying off month after month.

It seems a lot of people have bought into the idea that debt is essential in order to prosper, what do you have to say to those people?

I’ve never been wealthier in my life than I am now and it’s all due to cutting up credit cards and paying for everything I own with cash. Credit does not lead to prosperity, it leads to a financial crisis.

What was the biggest sacrifice you would say you made in order to become debt free? What about you changed the most?

During 2007, most of my income went to paying off debt. It was hard to see all that money go straight to banks. It’s always easier to get into debt than it is to get out of it.

Did your friends and family give you a hard time about your new mission to eliminate the debt from your life? If so how did you deal with it? Do you think you inspired others by your journey?

Yes, people didn’t understand why I would want to drive a paid for vehicle. They didn’t understand why I had to bring my lunch every day just so that I could pay off more debt. But that’s okay because today I’m debt free and I continue to build wealth since I get to keep my income.

What is next for you? What financial goals do you plan to accomplish?

Next I want to speak to different people groups of all ages about staying out of debt and how their lives could change if they break the habits of using a credit card to pay for their purchases. I plan to continue building my income by adding multiple streams of income. I will continue blogging as Debt Free Hispanic so I can reach as many people as I can with the message of living debt free. I want to be able to make enough money to stay home with my wife and one day raise children. I want to be able to give away money to students so that they can attend college but I want them to learn about staying away from school loans.

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Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader Series

Debt Free News: The Kick Off - yours truly @enemyofdebt
Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader #1 – Kelsalynn @KelsaLynnFitLog
Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader #2 – Nick @Nickfro
Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader #3 – Paul @fiscalgeek
Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader #4 – Peter @MoneyMatters
Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader #5 – J Money @BudgetsAreSexy
Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader #6 – Dustin @EngagedMarriage
Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader #7 - Fabian @debtfree
More to come…

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Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader #6

by Brad Chaffee on February 19, 2010

in Debt Free Questionnaire, Featured

Hello everyone. As always, I hope you all are having a wonderful debt free Friday. Today’s Debt Free Friday addition is from one of my good friends, Dustin from Engaged Marriage. He is a wonderful guy, and one of the things I love about him so much is his passion to help others. Him and I, have a lot in common and I know we will be working together on some great projects in the future. Please stay tuned by subscribing to Enemy of Debt if you have not already. You would be missing out if you did not also subscribe to Engaged Marriage.

We worked together on a collaborative e-book that just released called Love Everyday - a free, no strings attached e-book about relationships, love, and marriage. Go check it out! Dustin and I are also members of The Extraordinary Life Network.

Please Enjoy Dustin’s Debt Free News!

I have also put together a page in which, anyone can go and fill out the Debt Free Questionnaire themselves. I’d love to share your story.

The Enemy of Debt Questionnaire – Dustin from Engaged Marriage

How much debt did you have and how long did it take you to pay it off?

At our peak, we had around $54,500 in bondage. In other words, a ridiculous amount of debt that was suffocating our family finances.

Once we got fired up and determined, it took us approximately 3 1/2 years to knock it out. It was a nasty combination of student loans, car loans, and furniture loans.

How does becoming debt free actually feel? Does it feel better than you imagined it would?

The day that we actually went to the credit union and paid off our SUV (our last debt) was surreal. I called Dave Ramsey on behalf of my family that same day and got to scream “I’M DEBT FREE!” live on the air. That was 2/29/2008 (hour two of the show that day), and that has become a very important date for our family.

Since then, our debt-free lifestyle has honestly become a routine. It just seems like the only logical way to live now, and I can’t imagine having so much of our income tied up in payments. We’re still very proud of our accomplishments and excited about what it is setting us up to do in the future.

What were some of the struggles that you had to deal with along the way? Was there ever a time where you almost gave up?

We got serious about getting out of debt right after our first son was born, and our daughter was born during the last year of paying everything off. So, I’d say our kids were both the motivation for our intensity and the drag on our progress…they are expensive!

The idea of giving up never occurred to us. It was just too important of a goal, and we were determined to persevere.

What would you consider to be the most important key to becoming debt free? What helped you the most?

The budget. There is no question that success in personal finance must start with a plan, and the monthly side of the plan is a solid budget.

It seems a lot of people have bought into the idea that debt is essential in order to prosper, what do you have to say to those people?

I would say that they are simply buying what the culture is selling without thinking it through. With resources like Enemy of Debt and Dave Ramsey’s books and podcast available, you can find solutions without debt.

I can almost guarantee the short-term pain will be greater when you choose the debt-free path, but the long-term gain is much better. As Dave likes to say “It’s hard, but it’s worth it.”

What was the biggest sacrifice you would say you made in order to become debt free? What about you changed the most?

For us, it required us to refocus our priorities. This came pretty naturally since we were also welcoming children into our marriage.

However, it takes sacrifice and a willingness to not “keep up” with the appearance of some of your friends if you are going to get beyond “normal” in your level of financial success. And trust me…in hindsight, normal truly does suck!

Did your friends and family give you a hard time about your new mission to eliminate the debt from your life? If so how did you deal with it? Do you think you inspired others by your journey?

We never got a lot of criticism for pursuing debt freedom, but we did get a lot of disbelief. Even after we accomplished our goals, some friends and family remained doubters that they could do the same.

I’m proud to say that our example has inspired several of our friends to pursue debt freedom. This was my first experience in really inspiring others to improve their lives, and I think it laid the groundwork for the work I’m now doing with Engaged Marriage.

What is next for you? What financial goals do you plan to accomplish?

It looks like I’ll soon become an owner in the engineering business where I work. That will require a lot of cash to buy in, but I’ll be doing it over time and our debt-freedom is essential for giving us the cash flow to accomplish this.

Aside from that, we’ll continue to pay down our mortgage and invest for the future as much as possible. And I’ll be spreading the good word about achieving an extraordinary marriage and awesome family life over at Engaged Marriage…and teaming up with Enemy of Debt every chance I get to help change the world! (I like that)

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Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader Series

Debt Free News: The Kick Off - yours truly @enemyofdebt
Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader #1 – Kelsalynn @KelsaLynnFitLog
Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader #2 – Nick @Nickfro
Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader #3 – Paul @fiscalgeek
Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader #4 – Peter @MoneyMatters
Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader #5 – J Money @BudgetsAreSexy
Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader #6 – Dustin @EngagedMarriage
More to come…

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Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader #5

by Brad Chaffee on February 12, 2010

in Debt Free Questionnaire

Hello everyone. I hope you all have a wonderful debt free Friday. It’s time for another Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader installment. This one is brought to you by Mr. J Money from Budgets Are Sexy. I have been friends with J since around the middle of last year, and he really is the nice, caring guy that wants to help make your finances and your life go a little smoother. He is really good at posting on topics to make personal finance a little less boring and has proven that budgets really are sexy.

At the end of 2009, we teamed up to bring you Brad And J’s 1st Annual Christmas Stimulus 2009, where we gave $150 each to one of our lucky readers. It went so awesome, we look forward to bringing you the 2nd annual Christmas Stimulus. We also worked together on a collaborative e-book that just released this week. Love Everyday - a free, no strings attached e-book about relationships, love, and marriage.

Ironically, J uses credit cards to his advantage by not carrying a balance ever. Most people cannot use them in that way but it is one of the only ways I will approve of credit card use, although I have decided to slice and dice those snakes out of my life. He is an extremely disciplined saver and focuses his energy toward maxing out his retirement accounts first. J Money has a great financial plan, and we like to joke about taking a trip to some beach , some where, to enjoy the fruits of our labor, which will likely involve some strong mixed drinks and our beautiful families. Haha! That would be AWESOME!

I have also put together a page in which, anyone can go and fill out the Debt Free Questionnaire themselves. I’d love to share your story.

The Enemy of Debt Questionnaire – J Money from Budgets Are Sexy

If you have ever “carried a balance, what was your highest debt at any given time, and how long did it take you to pay it off?

The biggest balance I’ve ever carried on credit cards was probably around $5k a couple of years ago – 1/2 due to wedding expenses (we used part of the money we got as presents to pay it off the next month) and the rest from buying a new iMac and other random stuff. It took us about a year to pay off fully, and ever since we’ve been clean as a whistle ;) Andy by “clean” I mean we haven’t had any balances accrue over the months – we use our cards now to budget and get back rewards, paying them off in full every month.

How does becoming debt free actually feel? Does it feel better than you imagined it would?

AWESOME. And exactly the way I thought it would feel ;) Although in a weird way it’s also more boring now because there’s no more drama, so I guess that was unexpected. Now if only I could get rid of our Mortgages!

What were some of the struggles that you had to deal with along the way? Was there ever a time where you almost gave up?

Never considered giving up at any point ($5k is much easier to manage than say $10-$50k like many folks have), but I certainly felt like skipping some months. I think allowing yourself to “slip” once or twice throughout it is fine, but it’s really important to stick to a game plan as best you can and keep that rhythm going. Every time you take a break it gets harder and harder to start back up again, and then of course you have even more to pay off due to all that extra interest.

What would you consider to be the most important key to becoming debt free? What helped you the most?

Actually WANTING TO be debt free. You could read all the blogs, magazines, tv shows in the world, but until you actually care enough to DO SOMETHING about it you won’t get far. Then, once you’re ready ready to rock and roll, it’s all about surrounding yourself with like-minded people and TELLING them what you’re doing. It’s one thing to tell yourself, but it’s a whole other once your friends, family, bloggers, tweeters, etc know what your plan is. It helps push you & keep yourself accountable throughout the whole process :)

It seems a lot of people have bought into the idea that debt is essential in order to prosper, what do you have to say to those people?

I’d like to hear more on this theory before commenting ;) Do you mean people borrowing to invest more like some gambling habit? Unless you’re starting a business or using this debt to further your career/education, I’m not sure why anyone would willingly go in debt. Except for home ownership too actually – not many people can put down 100% like your perfect world. (but I’d love to see you accomplish it, sir!)

What was the biggest sacrifice you would say you made in order to become debt free? What about you changed the most?

I stopped shopping, period. Instead of going out to the mall or Best Buy every weekend when bored, I started blogging and entertaining myself other ways. Ways that didn’t cost me money. As soon as I did that I magically had extra money to use ;) It wasn’t easy, but it’s definitely helped our financial situation a lot more. Although I will say my wardrobe misses the ol’ shopping days…

Did your friends and family give you a hard time about your new mission to eliminate the debt from your life? If so how did you deal with it? Do you think you inspired others by your journey?

No one gave me a hard time because I was blogging & talking about it with similar minded people. I’m sure I would have taken crap from a few of my friends (like if I didn’t go out drinking or partying with them), but in the end it’s really all about YOU. No one else is going to look after your money – or be effected by it – as you are. I’m not sure how many people actually follow what I advise on my blog these days, but I’ve had a few nice emails over the years :) That’s just icing on the big sexy money cake!

What is next for you? What financial goals do you plan to accomplish?

My biggest goal this year is to max out ALL our retirement funds. Last year I accomplished my 401k & Roth, but this time around I’d like to max out my wife’s funds too. It’s not going to be easy, but it’s certainly a fun little challenge. And I love challenges – without them we’d be boring. And lazy ;)

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There you have it, from the mouth keyboard of J Money himself. He is one of my best blogging buddies and seriously a great guy to know. If you haven’t been over to read his blog, you should. If you haven’t subscribed, you are missing out.

Oh and J, I will definitely show you how we plan to buy our next house using the 100% down method my friend. As for the question, about using debt to prosper, are you going into debt to prosper? Basically, people justify using debt as a way to have things, what do you have to say to those people? From what I have seen you are prospering just fine without it, even with that large mortgage—but I am mainly talking about everything but a mortgage in this question. Even for me, a mortgage is acceptable, it’s just not the only way to own a house, as I will show you down the road. :D (You can respond in the comments section)

Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader Series

Debt Free News: The Kick Off - yours truly @enemyofdebt
Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader #1 – Kelsalynn @KelsaLynnFitLog
Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader #2 – Nick @Nickfro
Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader #3 – Paul @fiscalgeek
Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader #4 – Peter @MoneyMatters
Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader #5 – J Money @BudgetsAreSexy
More to come…

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Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader #4

by Brad Chaffee on January 29, 2010

in Debt Free Questionnaire

Hello everyone. I hope you all have a wonderful debt free Friday. I’ve decided to share another Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader submission with you today. One of the things I’ve learned from listening to people call into the Dave Ramsey Show to scream they’re debt free—hearing that call makes a HUGE difference. Hearing someone else to the point of tears after finally paying off that debt is an emotional experience.

Paying off debt is like running a marathon. It takes A LOT out of you—tremendous strength, discipline, sacrifice, and endurance—but each and every cramp is worth the reward of crossing the finish line. Tears are a part of that experience.

Those calls are very beneficial and extremely motivational for people who are paying off their debt. Those calls can also inspire someone who has never given it a second thought, to pay off their debt. That’s what I hope to accomplish with this series. You get to hear real stories, from real people who have DONE IT! And YOU CAN TOO!

Today I want to introduce you to Peter from Bible Money Matters. One of my favorite pages that he has put together, is where he introduces you to Dave Ramsey. (Dave Ramsey is the author of The Total Money Makeover and the man behind Financial Peace University. He is the person that inspired my wife and I to get rid of our debt once and for all!) Peter has gone to great lengths to take you through the process.

So now I will shut up, and let you get to know Peter, a debt free man with a debt free plan. Enjoy! :D

The Enemy of Debt Questionnaire – Peter of Bible Money Matters

If you have ever “carried a balance, what was your highest debt at any given time, and how long did it take you to pay it off?

My highest debt that I have ever carried was after I got married back in 2002 when I had about $20,000 in student loan debt, $2-3000 in credit card debt, a car loan of about $7000 and a mortgage of about $210,000. It took us a while to realize just how bad carrying the debt was, and we didn’t pay off the debt for several years. But once we did we did it quickly. It was probably in 2006 that we finally paid off my student loans (my wife didn’t have one, she was smarter than I was), our car loan, and all credit cards. Since that time we haven’t carried any more credit card debt, and have paid cash for pretty much everything. Our last car was purchased used with cash, no car payments. Now we pay ourselves a car payment, building up a reserve for the next time we need a car. We still have a mortgage, but we’ll be starting to pay extra payments on that starting this year, and hope to pay that off as early as possible.

How does becoming debt free actually feel? Does it feel better than you imagined it would?

Paying off our debt was much better than I thought it would be. I still remember the overwhelming sense of peace that flooded over me when we got notice that our last student loan had been paid off. It meant that we were now in a place where we were completely free of the chains of debt, and we would be able to do more good with our money instead of just paying off the interest on our debts. Paying off our debts allowed us to be able to give even more to our church and other charities this past year, which was a great feeling!

What were some of the struggles that you had to deal with along the way? Was there ever a time where you almost gave up?

Along the way we’ve had a lot of struggles, mostly with medical problems that my wife has had to deal with. In 2008 my wife had a catastrophic blood clot in her leg which in the end almost took her life. She was in the hospital for a month and had 4-5 surgeries to remove the blockage in her leg. When all was said and done she had amassed over 250,000 dollars in medical bills, which thankfully were all paid for by our health insurance except for about $2500 (which we had it reduced to by asking for a reduction in our hospital bills). Again in 2009 my wife had to deal with another health crisis and required another surgery, leading to another $2000 in medical bills. Our story is a good example of why even healthy people should carry health insurance. You never know when something will come up requiring you to have huge medical bills like we did.

What would you consider to be the most important key to becoming debt free? What helped you the most?

A mindset that you’ll never go into debt again unless it is absolutely necessary. You have to plan for the future, save up a big emergency fund in case of a big problem like we experienced, and just make a goal that you’d like to be out of debt no matter what it takes. You have to be committed to the goal, otherwise it won’t happen.

It seems a lot of people have bought into the idea that debt is essential in order to prosper, what do you have to say to those people?

They’re crazy! Having debt isn’t essential, in fact some of the wealthiest people are the ones who have learned to live without debt.

What was the biggest sacrifice you would say you made in order to become debt free? What about you changed the most?

Eating out was one of our biggest problem areas and a place where we spent a big chunk of change every month. We had to cut back on spending in that category drastically in order to reach our goal. Now that we’re out of debt we’re able to eat out a little bit more, but we still don’t quite as much as we did before. I think one thing that changed the most was our relationship to money – and to things. We realized that money and things are not the most important things, and that living a life free of debt and obligations to others allows you to go give more freely, and be happier with the things that you do have.

Did your friends and family give you a hard time about your new mission to eliminate the debt from your life? If so how did you deal with it? Do you think you inspired others by your journey?

Our families and friends didn’t even know that we were in debt I don’t think. We’re pretty private about our finances. In fact, it’s kind of funny, my in-laws still to this day don’t really realize how well we’re doing now, and are always offering to help us with money – even though we don’t need the help. Our friends that did know we were getting rid of debt were very supportive because many of them were taking Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University class with us, and were also working their way out of debt.

It is funny, however – we do see a lot of people to this day that really are skeptical of our debt free attitude, and think that you can only get ahead by leveraging credit, and using debt to finance a certain lifestyle. If only they knew the freedom that comes with being debt free!

What is next for you? What financial goals do you plan to accomplish?

This year we plan on starting to invest more since we’ve finally built up a nice big 8-10 month emergency fund in savings. So now we’ll be investing 20% or so, making extra payments on our mortgage and giving more to our church and others. That is the reason why we’ve worked so hard to be debt free, so that we can be more free to give to others when we want to, to invest enough money for our retirement, and to live the life that we want to live!

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Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader Series

Debt Free News: The Kick Off - yours truly @enemyofdebt
Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader #1 – Kelsalynn @KelsaLynnFitLog
Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader #2 – Nick @Nickfro
Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader #3 – Paul @fiscalgeek
Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader #4 – Peter @MoneyMatters
More to come…

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Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader #3

It’s time for another Debt Free Friday edition of Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader. I will be stepping up my efforts to get more of these so that I can give you real debt free results from real debt free readers at least twice a month. YOU can help me! Are you [...]

16 comments Get Motivated!

Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader #2

Hello everyone! There has been a change of plan. Originally, I wanted to share with you how my wife and I were earning extra dollars and saving money, but that post is incomplete. I need a little more time to add everything we’ve done. I also got bogged down with site design the last few [...]

4 comments Get Motivated!

Debt Free News From A Debt Free Reader!

Hello everyone! I would like to introduce you to one of the readers here at Enemy of Debt.  Her name is Kelsalynn and she has recently become debt free.  She currently writes for kelsalynnfitlog, and she started out with $60,952 in debt with a minimum monthly payment total of $790.  Now she is DEBT FREE [...]

9 comments Get Motivated!

EOD Debt Free Self-Interview

Not sure if interviewing yourself really counts as an interview.  I thought it would be helpful to some to see what we struggled with and how we handled the task of becoming debt free.  Furthermore, if you have any other questions for me feel free to ask them in the comment section.  Happy Debt Free [...]

6 comments Get Motivated!