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My Wife and I Paid off $18,000 of Debt in 90 Days
Momma we made it!!! Well not really but being debt free is the first step toward financial freedom and building wealth.
A quick back story in case you are new to my world.
I was a former Division I Athlete that accumulated a massive amount of credit card and student loan debt due to the fact that I was a walk-on and not a scholarship athlete.
Like most athletes at major college programs that come from the inner city and low-income communities, I did not have many resources. I did happen to have $20 that my father gave me on a random visit that I would hold onto throughout my entire college career.
While in college, I had a brother who served nearly 20 years in prison so my “why” was a little different. My hope was to have a decent enough college career in athletics that would lead to an opportunity to play and make millions, at the professional level.
Related: How We Made $6,140 Last Month
My goal was to help my brother avoid having to take penitentiary chances in order to make a honest living upon his release.
None of what I had planned or hoped for worked the way I had envisioned.
I did manage to get something out of the deal; I graduated, earned some advanced degrees and eventually went on to get married and become a moderately successful entrepreneur, best-selling author and speaker.
Now to the good stuff.
Fortunately my wife and I are both pretty good with money and budgeting. We have long been fans of Suze Orman and I sometimes listen to Dave Ramsey and Dr. Boyce Watkins to name a few as it relates to money and personal finance.
My wife and I met while attending Michigan State University (MSU). We both graduated with a considerable amount of student loan and credit card debt. Hey!!! That’s the price of being a young, broke college kid.
Its what we both had to do to break cycles of generational poverty in both of our families.
How It All Happened
It was my 34th birthday. I sat in silence the entire day full of joy and peace but also with a quiet calm reflecting on my life. I reflected on where I was currently at (spiritually, financially, physically and in my marriage) and where I wanted to be.
Related: How Chasing My Dream Resulted In Massive Student Loan Debt
I ignored the 50,000 happy birthday shout outs on I received on Facebook (I have the best fans and community). They certainly know how to make a person feel special. I didn’t send out my daily inspirational or my motivational post.
I didn’t even respond to any text messages or phone calls, I sat in silence…the entire day.
Sometimes you have to be still in order to hear what is trying to be revealed to you.
For me, in that moment, I kept hearing and coming back to one thing. I kept coming back to how much debt my wife and I both had.
What I heard in my spirit was: Pay off all your debt. Be intentional.
I learned early on, despite how much money you make or how much money you have, none of it matters if you have debt of any sort.
I pulled out our monthly expense book and began calculating every bit of debt we had out there. Everything from Chase to Bank of America, to car loans to private student loans, I tabulated it all.
The GRAND TOTAL….$18,000
Once I knew the number and wrapped my head around the total amount, I devised a plan to crush this debt as fast as possible.
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Part of our plan included side hustling. We both work decent paying jobs but income potential is limitless within your own ventures.
I immediately increased my speaking fee for all upcoming keynotes and speaking engagements, I sold more books, I accepted more coaching clients, drove more traffic to my online business and I sold more apparel from my clothing company.
I went hard in the paint!
All of that combined helped generate the momentum needed to payoff $18,000 worth of debt in 90 days.
A mixture of the debt avalanche approach as well as the debt snowball is what we used. But in all honesty…It was all about the GRIND!!!
It wasn’t easy but it was worth it.
Life After Debt
The first month after being debt free felt weird. It was crazy! Somehow we get so accustomed to paying off debt that something almost feels wrong when you have nothing else to pay.
Its crazy…I know!
Once we embraced there was nothing left to pay, we gave our new money a purpose.
The same payment amounts we were sending in to pay off massive debt, we were now sending to ourselves.
We began making payments to our investment accounts, our retirement accounts and our emergency fund account.
Now we are able to grow our net-worth at a much more rapid pace.
We can comfortably grow our net-worth all while still being a blessing to members of our family, our church and our community.
Life is good!
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