Road to Financial Freedom

I want to share with you a story. A story about a girl who was so dependent on credit cards to survive while in college, even while working 2-3 jobs.

I was not good with managing my money, I would always buy things I didn't need.. I needed books for school, I 'wanted' new clothes, I 'wanted' to do those cool things with my friends and there I was oblivious to it all until I got my bills each month and realized I was drowning myself in credit card debt! I never had much direction in life on the importance of credit cards, and why they shouldn't be used for everyday life purchases... At this moment in life, I am somewhat grateful for the ignorance because it helped me get a better grip on my finances today.


As I look back at those irresponsible years, I see all the things I could have done better. But here's the thing.. if I would not have made those mistakes, I don't think I would be on this same path I am now. Sometimes you just have to stumble and fall before you can take off full speed running. And that's exactly what I did.

The day that really sticks with me is the day that I couldn't afford to get gas because my account was overdrawn, I had just quit my waitressing job because I was completely miserable, the 10 hour shifts making barely minimum wage in tips (some other issues as well) and feeling completely defeated and no where to turn. How was I ever going to get myself out of this mess. I was scraping up every penny I had to try to make ends meet and with credit cards maxed out, I had hit rock bottom. Borrowing money from people was not something I did, I always managed to find a way to figure things out but at this moment in my life, I was in complete despair. I couldn't even begin to put all the pieces together in my head on how I let myself get to this point. It was embarrassing, point blank.


As the years went on and I started making more money, I decided to make myself a budget worksheet. I would write down all of my bills that I had to pay each month, beginning of the month and middle of the month. I made a "virtual checkbook". I would keep track of all my expenses, and what I would spend my money on. Once you have a visual of how much money you actually WASTE, it is totally eye opening! As I was still working two jobs, I still struggled with money issues of course but I was making my way to the end of that tunnel... if it was the last thing I did!

Fast forward to May of 2014, our wedding month! :) My husband and I had been saving for about a year and a half to pay for our wedding ourselves. We managed to save up the $10,000 to have a gorgeous, intimate beach wedding with our closet friends and families in the beautiful Outer Banks, North Carolina. While we would have loved to have our entire family there, it was financially smarter for us since we were paying for the entire thing ourselves. We couldn't have asked for a more blessed day!! After the wedding was over, we racked up about another $1,500 in credit card debt - but this was in all my fault because there were things I really wanted and yes I was getting in over my head a little.

But here's the thing...it was kind of like a light bulb went off! I was more focused on bettering my life since joining Team Beachbody, and seeing all my friends and fellow coaches talking about how they are paying off their debt and are on their road to financial freedom, I got to thinking, WHY CAN'T I DO THAT?!?! So I did! I made a plan, I started paying more than just the minimum balances on my credit cards, and stopped using them all together! I have not made a single credit card purchase since May of this year, and I am so very excited.

Glad you stuck around this long because here's the best part of this post, since mid-May of 2014... yes, just shy of 5 months, my husband and I have managed to pay off $3,200+ in credit card debt! IT IS GONE FOREVER!! We have been working so hard and making daily, weekly, and monthly sacrifices because we are looking to better our lives. With just two credit cards remaining, I am very excited to say... there is no doubt in my mind that we will beat our goal of wanting to be credit card debt free fairly soon!

Why am I telling you this? Why do you even care? I am sharing this with you because I know what it's like to struggle, I am paying off all this credit card debt and still have thousands of dollars in student loans! But I am on the road to a bright and financially free life... Credit cards are only as evil as you let them be, I am learning from my past mistakes and I am looking forward to a bright future! If you would like to join me on this journey, please reach out to me and let's chat! For more information about my budget worksheet, please feel free to email me at tbbcoachsteph87@gmail.com! I would be more than willing to share it with you!

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My Dream Board - Goal #2

To continue with my dream board goals, my goal is to become credit card debt free. While I still may have a lot of student loans to pay off, I am determined to get all of the credit card debt gone before the end of the year so I am able to pay larger amounts on my student loans!

During my college years I was working multiple jobs which needed to be very flexible with my schedule for my classes, so I would sometimes work seven days a week. Since I was pretty much making minimum wage at these jobs, it only went so far. I was paying for rent, utilities, car insurance, car payments, food, etc. This amount of money only goes so far... I was desperate so I unfortunately opened up a few credit cards to help pay for books and other supplies, but had gotten in really far over my head. 

After many years of racking up the credit card debt, I was completely sick to my stomach and felt like I was falling into a dark hole I would never get out of. I never had someone preaching to me about the importance of credit cards, and how difficult they would be to pay them all off. I would only pay the minimum balance, and when you look at your statement, and you see the part where it says if you pay just the minimum balance it will take you X amount of years to pay them off, yea I never realized how bad it actually was. And to think how much money I was wasting I felt hopeless.

Finally, I was able to land my first big girls job, which allowed me to have a bit more flexibility with my money and really start focusing on getting my finances in order so I will one day be able to afford a brand new car (which I have bought already), be able to buy a brand new house (which I plan on doing rather soon) and live life comfortably without restrictions.

I set a very strict budget for myself. Although, it may have meant sacrificing certain things like new clothes, new shoes, a new purse, and going out to eat all the time; I knew that I was getting myself back on the right track. Since mid-June of 2014, I have since paid off 4 credit cards. I only have three more to go and I could not be more ecstatic. Yes, you may think this is a lot, and yes it really is, but I know I have made mistakes in my past that I am cleaning up to ensure I am able to live a happier, stress free life where I don't have to constantly worry about being burdened with financial freak outs!!

I will have another post coming up within the week going over ways I have set my budget and how it helped me pay off four credit cards in just two and a half months. Make sure you stop back! :)

Quote to live by: Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.

-Michael Jordan

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