Thank you so much for watching!!! Know that we believe in you, whether you have big decluttering goals for the new year or getting out of debt-- YOU CAN DO IT!!! And we're here cheering you on :) Tons of love and support, Dawn (& Tom)
Beautiful video! Our family loves you guys, even our kids! Similar ages to yours, and everybody is on board with minimalizing. We apply the principles and tips from your channel all the time, and we can't wait for Tuesdays and Fridays when your videos drop. It's a topic of conversation each day they come out. And if you come to Texas sometime, youre welcome to visit. ;-) I do like sports. Sorry Tom, but we don't have to talk about it. Lol
Hey please consider doing this as a series! Especially from the perspective of debt cluttering your life. This would be great to share with so many friends to help them start
We did the Ramsey plan. Paid off $20,000 in 20 months. We finished in June of 2020. It made me so grateful for finishing right at the beginning of the pandemic. It felt like God had given a warning to me to get my finances in order back in 2018. One afternoon in October 2018 I came home and told my husband I just couldn't handle having debt anymore. Ww had struggled with money due to my son's medical bills, husband being unemployed for bit...lots contributed to the debt. I binge watched dave Ramsey for months. It was the biggest motivation watching others get out of debt!! The testimonials really gave me momentum😊
WOW $20,000 in less than 2 years ! That is awe-inspiring. I too have been on a journey for a while just getting current and ahead. When the pandemic began I was current all bills, plenty of food stocked up, and money set aside for that next month, so I was in a good space. However, I had coworkers who did not even have a full roll of toilet tissue on hand. And we were told our business was closing the next day !
(Judy VanderPloeg)-- We followed Dave's method, too. We had a family mortgage burning ceremony when we made that last payment and were debt free. Also, that "I'm debt free" primal scream that is featured on his show, is quite therapeutic. Congrats on paying off your debt! And to everyone still chipping away at it, I encourage you to keep going. Getting your debt paid off, is so freeing. You owe it to yourself, to not be a slave to debt.
"The time will pass anyway." So true, so start now and keep at it. A clean, decluttered house won't magically happen just because you watched a bunch of minimalist RUclips videos. Your debt won't magically go away unless you work consistently at that, too. Dawn's plan and Dave's plan both work IF you work at it and don't give up
Tom hit the nail on the head for me when he said pay all the debt when you get paid or it will just disintegrate before you realize it. So true! Thank you both for being so down to earth. There are not too many people I know that would carry on a conversation on the bathroom floor…. Y’all are my kind of people. Lol!! Dawn has changed my life in the best way. You are a blessing to me. Thank you 😊
Congratulations to you! Paying smallest debt and then rolling that payment amount over to the next bill is linear math. I did not do Dave Ramsey but took a different course back in the early 2000 using the same method and have utilized it several times over the years when I got myself into "trouble". We knew my husband was going to retire at the end of 2021. I started paying extra on our mortgage in early 2018 to prepare for that. First it was just a few extra dollars every month. Then I increased it to a full payment when I could. At the beginning of the pandemic, I started getting nervous and was throwing every extra dime at it. And I'm so glad I did. COVID forced my hubby into early retirement. I'll never forget how great I felt that day in July 2020 when I walked into the bank and made the final payment on our mortgage. I still love signing on to my bank app and seeing that Mortgage Account say PAID IN FULL!! .
My husband and I were doing the Ramesy over 14 years ago. When my husband had a heart attack and while he in the hospital he had kidney failure so my husband was not going back to work. So it failed on me to take care of him and work a full time job. So for 9 years I took care of him, work a full time job that I was barely getting paid over 14 dollars and hours. Paying all his medical expenses I paid off 2 cars and paid off the house just before he died. I sold the house to pay off all his medical bills and now live in a small apartment. So Ramesy does work even in very hard time. I started listening to you for encouragement when I started my journey on going minimalism.
Maybe we are one of the few that it actually took us LONGER than the projected original payoff😂...it took us over ***10 YEARS***!!! BUT, we also added many kids during that time and more medical debt. We had over $100,000 in student loans, medical and car loans. We have 7 kids, I am a stay at home mom and we were low (sometimes VERY low) income. It can be done! We told ourselves the same thing: " The time will pass anyway." It sucked. It was SO HARD. BUT IT WAS WORTH IT!!! WORTH IT, WORTH IT, WORTH IT!!!!!!🎉🎉🎉 Now to pay off our mortgage early! God is good and has ALWAYS met our every need and then some! If you are on the fence-go for it...you, your family and tour future are worth it!💛
This is incredibly encouraging and inspiring to me. Thank you for sharing your experience! Congratulations on your decade of hard work paying off (literally 🤣)
The Ramsey approach is life changing. I never understood how to manage finances in order to build wealth and the Ramsey baby steps made it approachable and gave me confidence that it was possible for a middle class family. Thanks to Ramsey we paid off our mortgage in our 30s, are saving for our kids’ post high school education, and will have a net worth of a million dollars by the time we’re 50. We’re not special. We don’t make a six figure income. We’re just prudent and we trust the baby steps.
YES!! I’m a single mom with a really exhausting corporate job, and I’m just working towards not working a 50 hour physically demanding (but also well paying, thankfully) work week away from my little. It’ll be $75k in 39 months. Minimalism has helped me achieve it!! Set up to be debt free in December 2022. Thanks Dave Ramsey and people like you who have taught me contentment. 😌❤️
GREAT video. Can we just stop for a minute at that part when Tom is talking about using every available dollar to pay off debt, as soon as it comes in. That is a huge hurdle to overcome: that feeling of "we used all the money to pay bills and now we have none!" I like the feeling because it makes me feel responsible, and like we've accomplished something. My husband however gets very anxious and stressed out! We actually just had a long "discussion" about this a few weeks ago!! I guess my point is that if anyone else has trouble getting past that part of paying off debt, you're not alone.
I'm so impressed with y'all's tenacity in paying down your debt. My younger son just got a promotion and huge salary boost, so I need to share the Ramsey method with him so he can pay down his college debt ASAP! I'm currently debt free with only a small mortgage. I couldn't have done it when I was married, but even as a single person I'm so happy to be in this position. I'm still able to work full time at 68+ years old and I thank God for that gift. Maybe I'll retire in a couple of years, but maybe not. Not having to worry about bills is such a joy!
During my college years a finance professor told us to just make one extra payment in December on our mortgage every year. It can cut a 30 year mortgage down to 17 years. It was amazing to do that in combination with the Dave Ramsey program. It got us out of debt fast. We paid our house off in 12 years. Time does pass. You just have to change your mind set about spending. Love you guys and love to see your videos on minimalism. I have been decluttering for 2 years now and won't go back. At first it was hard but I kept reminding myself to keep letting go so I could see what the other side of letting would be like. When I arrived, I was so at peace with my home and self. No more stress. All gone. It has been the best gift to myself and husband.
@@juliamorton3438 I don't think so. I guess it would be easy for a family with children to save the extra payment over 12 months and then give it in December. We paid off our house in 12 years by sending extra to the principal every month. I would not be able to give you the breakdown of the amounts because it's something my husband took care of. But the professor did say you could save a considerable amount in interest over a 30 year mortgage by doing this one extra payment a year in December. By sending the payment to the principlel , over time the interest you owe on a 30 year mortgage is cut down considerably because you dont owe as much on the principle therefore less on the interest. For example 100,000.00 dollar home in 30 years with interest could end up costing 300,000.00. So if you owe less on the principle then there is less interest and less years to be paid. Mortgage companies do offer a 15 year mortgage but for most families it's risky because the payments are higher so most people get 30 year mortgage. However, it's up to you to manage your money on your own terms and if it's possible pay it off soonrr and owe less in interest.
it took us years to get out of debt, YEARS! but now we are on the other side, even have the house paid off. It's so totally worth the sacrifice. lots of work but worth it!
I love this! My husband and I did Dave Ramsey, paid off about $70,000 in debt all while having 3 babies and cash flowing all the deductibles and hospital bills while on a modest income. Once you set your mind and you’re on the same page you can absolutely do it! It changes everything! Simplified our home, reduced consumerism! As we went through the journey I prayed EVERY DAY that God would give me a heart full of contentment and gratitude and He is so faithful! And now we use YNAB for our household budgeting! Thanks for all y’all do and all the encouragement and videos! Love yall!
I found minimalism after we paid of our debt. Taking control of our economy started the process to simplify our entire life. So happy to hear you talk about this!
You are so right about the debt free journey! We ended up finishing years ahead of when we had originally projected to be done. My husband now makes a very good income but we still live like we are broke. We rent an old run down house because it's cheap and drive 1 old van. But now we have the freedom to give to people and it's so amazing!
Love your goal and your heart! May God bless you greatly so that you in turn can bless others. This is what control of our finances is all about! The money is all from Him!
We had a crushing mortgage 18 months ago. My husband had Dave Ramsey on and Dave was yelling (at me so it seemed) “If you’re giving all your money to the bank you’re STUPID!” Well that was it. I literally cleaned the house that afternoon took pictures and we put our house on the market that day. We bought a house a third of the mortgage price (it needs a ton of renovations and updating which my husband will do… eventually 😜)and we are now living below our means! Not mortgage free yet but we have a goal and a plan and we are on our way! Thanks as always for the encouragement! - Lindsay in Ontario 🇨🇦
@@katrinagascho6165 we got this house at the perfect time. We had our offer in on it, sold our house for over asking and then everything skyrocketed just after we closed… my husband kept saying we could have gotten more for our last house if we would have waited… but I remind him that we never would have gotten this house for this price. God’s timing is perfect!
I love the language you use to describe a time in our lives as "this season" and reminding us that "the time's gonna pass anyway". Thank you for the tips and the encouragement to get through these challenging seasons of life.
There’s nothing quite like financial freedom! I really love that Tom heard what he needed to hear when he needed to hear it. Someone listening to this today will hear what they need to hear. Love it!
Good job guys! My hubby and I were debt free early on in our marriage and it is by far one of the best things you can do for your self, your family and as a witness of God's goodness. Determination and hard work, yes, but oh so worth it. Keep on, keepin' on. Be that light that shines atop that hill showing others they too can do it.
Dawn and Tom are so right, please, listen to them it is life changing. The best thing I ever did was work at becoming debt free and learning how to save and invest. I love the floors, great color choice. I love my Bosche dishwasher, so I hope you are able to fix yours. Loave you both and your whole family. 👍💖
First God lead us to get debt free, then to get our weight under control, and then to simplify our home. As we have walked in obedience to these things we have found such freedom! Thank you for being an encouragement in these things!
Followed Crown Financial and Financial Peace years ago and paid off mortgage 11 years ago. What a blessing to be able to still put mortgage payment away in saving since then and pay cash for cars and pay college tuition payments! God is so faithful!
From one Prius owner to another we are always getting teased for our ride however, at 52 mpg its the best. Early in our marriage my husband and I made a "purchase mistake"; bought a windsurfer on credit and didn't have the cash. We both were in panic mode and NEVER did it again. That was the best mistake we ever made. That taught us new habits- tracked everything, bought a starter house and remodeled one room at a time with money we saved for it, repaired everything ourselves, drove used cars, borrowed tools, ate at home, coached our children to save for college and apply for every scholarship possible and yes....carried our travel mugs of home brewed coffee into the office when everyone else held a takeout coffee cup. However, we are blessed to have had that mistake happen and 35 years later wouldn't have traded our "early retirement" for anything. You are so inspiring and thank you for making this site possible. Oh and by the way, once you are engrained in the "getting out of debt" mindset you can't imagine living any other way. Stay Warm-
When I first mentioned wanting to get out of debt, my husband said, "We'll always have bills", which is true if you are counting monthly expenses like mortgage, rent, lights, etc....but I meant getting out of credit card debt mostly, and we did eventually do that plus paid our mortgage off early too. Has made a tremendous change for the good in our lives, and we've been able to save money ever since then and also help others with our extra money too.
Dave Ramsey's plan truly worked for me. I've been out of debt for many years now & the freedom it has given me is invaluable. I can't imagine ever going back into debt.
My husband and I spent our first year of marriage paying off debt, the second year we bought a car outright and saved up a 3 month emergency fund, now spending our third year renovating the house. It feels so good to only have a mortgage and to be completely on top of our finances! I never have to worry about paying a large bill or buying necessities.
We will pay off our house this year. I am amazed we got here! When I first heard of Dave and listened to the debt free screams of others who did it, I could scarcely dare to dream we could do it, too. It's been a long road but the sacrifices were absolutely worth it. It feels VERY strange to be seriously considering what comes next, what life will look like. If we can do it, anyone can! Just start, just keep at it. you won't regret it!
If my husband and I had sat down to make a video it would have been a carbon copy of yours! We had such similar experiences to paying off our debts, down to the excel spreadsheets and the bumps in the road. Getting out of debt and paying off the mortgage last year has given us such a content and peaceful feeling about life. It is what fueled our desire to be less cluttered and live a more simple life. I’d say it even fueled our desire to be more healthy and to pick up hobbies that are healthy for the entire family. Thank you for this video!! It will inspire others for sure! My husband and I often reflect on the last five years and after it’s all said and done we truly felt like we never really went without. Fancy cars, expensive vacations, and eating out were things we didn’t spend money on, but we still have such happy memories and experiences from those years that we weren’t missing out on a thing while paying off our debts!
‘People thought you were broke!’ YOU WERE! When you have debts…that’s worse than broke it’s a minus! Apart from a mortgage which I paid off early, i once bought a car with a loan, it wasn’t new but it was more than I could afford, it was falling apart before I had paid it off…never again! I was 22 at the time, I pay cash. I live in Ireland and since the pandemic everyone is advocating using cards, I resist as I can only spend what I have! You are wonderful to have come so far, and you RUclips channel encourages others and earns you a great income. Win-win. 😃
'Knowing what I know today, I'd drive a Prius again if I had to.' Well... That just made me tear up! What a refreshing statement in a day and age when so few are willing to sacrifice for their family's future.
It just amazes me that anyone would stick their nose into your financial business.....I think it’s a great idea to do these kind of videos that talk about decluttering our finances as well as our homes.
I remember when me and my now husband decided we would live debt free. Almost all my friends family coworkers thought we were crazy, they were making fun of us, said we are stingy cheap and weird. But it was so worth it! These few years passed anyway, like you say, and now we are sooo free!
Love the transparency..... The greatest contentment comes from having enough and enough is usually far less than we think we need. God is faithful and he is able to do unbelievably above and beyond anything we could expect.
My husband and I have always been the weirdos who didn't go out to bars or ever buy new cars. We now own one home free and clear and rent it out! It's a freedom that you can't understand to know you can afford so many things, but you truly don't want most of them. The lean years were sometimes hard but so worth it.
YES! I tell my husband everyday that getting debt free is the MOST amazing feeling. We listened to Dave Ramsey’s podcasts for motivation every time we thought we wanted a bigger house or a new anything. It is so worth it. There is no “thing” that is worth the stress of being in debt. It’s hard at first, but then it gets addictive when you start making progress. We just finished paying off our house last year at the age of 45 (on the west coast). Minimalism and being debt free go hand and hand. Do it!
We did DR and Financial Peace. We have been debt free for a few years and this year we are going to be mortgage free!!! I cannot wait. I am working on decluttering and minimizing our STUFF. It's hard hard hard. But we will get there! Thanks for everything you guys do, you motivate me a ton!!!
You guys are awesome! Love that you are sitting on the bathroom floor together having a heart to heart with your viewers. My husband and I are a bit older than you-got out of debt a few years back. I totally watched Dave Ramsey RUclips for motivation. Now I watch you for motivation in decluttering and meal prep. Thanks so much for all that you do!!
Hello Dawn and Tom, Thank you for the video, it's fun seeing you both just chilling on the bathroom floor talking to us. All of your videos make me smile and get into a better mood. You Rock!
Love this video!!! We’ve been debt free for 10 years. Opened up many opportunities for us and being able to say yes to God!!! Including fostering and adopting.
I am a huge proponent of Dave Ramsey. Through his methods, I managed to get out of debt faster after moving to a big, expensive city. I thought for sure living there would slow down my snowball, but it actually made me push harder, plus I found a lot more free activities to do for entertainment in such a big city. I breathe so much easier these days 😌
You guys are the best! We are a Dave Ramsey family too. We took FPU when we were an engaged couple in college at 20 years old. We are 37 yrs old now - zero debt, haven’t had a vehicle loan in 10 years and pay cash for vehicles, and paid off our dream home that we built 7 years ago in June 2021. In that time period, I also gave up a six figure job to be a SAHM. GOD IS SO GOOD! Now, we are loving being more generous to our church and other non-profits we feel lead to support.
We're doing Dave Ramsey also...mortgage is down to about $10K! It's amazing how much stress and marriage issues money can cause!!! Our counselor suggested we do Dave Ramsey when we were having bad marriage problems. Saved our marriage ❤️
The floors look nice. I really enjoyed how laid back this video was. It is also very timely, starting off a new year, new goals, new intentions. I need to declutter, stop bringing more inventory in my small house to manage! And by doing so, would curb spending and put that money towards debt. Thank you! This was so very helpful!
We also did Dave Ramsey's plan, and were debt free except for the mortgage about 12 years ago. Then we went after our mortgage with a vengeance and paid off our 30 year loan in a little less than 15 years. It's so liberating. We have more to give and bless others.
My husband and I followed the Dave Ramsey plan too! We were out of debt, including our mortgage, since 2017! We were 43 and 47 years old and debt free! We are now putting money aside for vacations and to help our son stay debt free as he goes off to college next year! The plan works!
Yes. My husband and I worked so darn hard in our 20s and 30s ... now in our 50s and lining up for a great retirement with 3 kids and then grand children to follow...
Paid off 17k in student loans in 2020 since they stopped interest. 0 interest makes paying off debt much easier! Then paid off my husbands car loan early 2021. Only debt left is our mortgage, which I don't really include. It is so nice to be debt free! Dave Ramsey is good but I don't follow his cash envelope/cash only payments method. Buying things on a credit card and paying it in full every month really helped boost our credit scores.
I want to thank you both for your talk in this video about your getting out of debt. My husband and I are both retired and bought an RV to full time travel. We have had many things happen in the last couple of years that have put us in debt. After both of us watching this video we sat down and talked about what we can do to work on this debt. I have been following you for awhile and I am trying to get our RV decluttered and organized and this includes a storage shed. I would not have done as well as I did with my craft items without using your keep box with a date on it. I bought your book and I am so glad you put all the work into it for us!
Love this! We paid off $120,000 in student loans in 3 years thanks to Dave Ramsey's plan. We worked extra, sold everything, and didn't eat out for over a year. It was hard, but SO REWARDING!
Wow! You have talked about paying off your debt before but didn’t realize it was $100,000! Great job! I am really impressed. I can see how it really adds a lot of stress. My boys are car guys too- my 16 year old thinks he is going to be able to make money on his trucks😅
I listened to Dave Ramsey & made an excel spreadsheet also of all our debt except mortgage. Every month I'd mark off what we were able to pay. At the beginning it was like $20 a month we could pay & then it would be $50 or $80 as we paid off other bills. It took us about 3 years & then after paying off all our debt, we were able to refinance our house & pay it off in 2 yrs because we had freed up all of our money. The year after we started paying off our house I hurt my back, had surgery & could not work any more. The Lord gave my Hubby a new job position with an increase in pay for a yr & we were able to pay off our house. It was so nice to be able to pay it all off. You can do it even if it's $5.
Thank you for sharing your getting out of debt journey! I really like watching Dave Ramsey's RUclips channel as well. I think he is very wise. I think minimalism and getting out of debt do go hand-in-hand!
Down to mortgage only and the finish line is in sight. I'm an Excel spreadsheet fan as well, not only does it help me budget but also allows me to see the forecast for the next 3/6/12 months. As far as nay saying coworkers... my response to "come out to lunch/shopping/happy hour" or whatever was always "Saving my pennies for a big vacation!" A little deceptive maybe, but once everything is paid off, I'll be on a vacation from debt!
Being debt free is amazing! There is so little stress when I pay our bills now. Minimalism and Dave Ramsey joined forces in our house almost 3 years ago and has given our whole family a new life! Literally!
I love your channel! I always learn something and pass on your videos to friends. When I married my second husband the home expenses mortgage (none) and maintenance fee (very low) made me realize how stressed out I had been previously been about the high monthly expenses that had to be met on my previous home (a 4 storied brownsonenin NYC). When we began planning for early retirement I started budgeting to the dollar (I didn't know about Dave Ramsey) and eliminated frivolous purchases. Every extra dollar went into retirement and investment accounts. This made it possible to retire within 4 years. It is the most satisfying feeling to be debt free and realize we have so much freedom. It was equally rewarding to share one intention and to work together on a common goal. Two people working together whole-heartedly are unstoppable. Thank you for all the good you share with us.
When we started our debt journey it was the beginning of 2020 and COVID had just started which made it easier to make our new habits of not spending money. Then being sheltered in place helped me realized I had so much stuff that I didn’t use or value and wondered why I even bought it! And that when I found Dawn. What a life changing year. A nurse, going on a debt journey and simplify our home. I started remodeling room by room on such a small budget $500 per room and doing everything ourselves and paid off all our debt. What a year of blessing! Thank you so much for your videos, they have changed my life 🙏🏾💜
The fact that you are thinking about being out of debt is a huge win. Setting goals together is a huge win. Doing life together with the Lord giving you the wisdom you need is the best win of all. I wish I had been as smart as you two are when I was your age. Praying God’s blessing over you and your family.🙏🤗
100%!!! I wrote my budget down in a spiral notebook for months! I had to SEE it too! I took my $15K credit card debt down to $3K in about a year. You DO run into obstacles, but the weight of the stress that comes off of you, is priceless.
I'm so happy I found you now more than ever!! I found your channel because I was looking into your ways of declutering and organizing my house. Then strangely you began talking about Dave Ramsey and I just realized, ok, this is the reason why?! My husband and I did the FPU class years ago, then we did the 'ish. We haven't gotten back on credit cards ever since we cut them the first time. However, we just stopped doing the budget together and just recently I told my husband we needed to get back on this. Thank you so much for the motivation. I had my husband watch this video and I'm hoping we can get on the same page again. He even said he'll do a spreadsheet. Pray for us! 🥲
I was watching your video one day and you mentioned Dave and his plan, I googled it and started immediately. It took us 6 months to be debt free except mortgage. We are paying double to our mortgage so we can retire 5 years earlier than planned. Thank you for the information that changed our lives.
I enjoyed hearing your story! My husband and I started getting out of debt (all my student loans) when we got married and he was still in school. Neither of us even had full-time permanent jobs yet, and we dreamed of being debt-free in five years but didn't see how it was possible. We were out of debt in 2 years 4 months. We have a mortgage now but are hoping to get it paid off in under seven years. It feels so good! I agree that minimalism and getting out of debt are life changers. To everyone else who is on either or both of these paths, you can do it and it will be so worth it.
Yes! We cut uo our credit cards 25 years ago when we were the poorest we have ever been, continuing to purchase makes you feel better but makes the situation worse. I listen to the Ramsey podcast because he is still bravely trying to help people improve their lives with no tricks or gimmicks.
We are doing the Dave Ramsey plan as well so I love hearing others who did it and successfully got out of debt. We have been on it for 2 years and paid off a little more then 20,000 off. Just a small chunk it seems but we are not giving up. Its what got us on board about becoming a minimalist family. We sold and donated over 70 percent of our items. Off one income. Yet, our shovel will get bigger once we get our youngest into childcare. We are hoping in the next 2-3 years that we will be debt free.
I've been watching you for a few weeks now and I'm on board. I've been working Dave's program for most of my adult life. It's such a great track to run on. Through life's challenges I've always come back to Dave's plan. I love how you guys are sharing the way it worked for you. I'm interested in minimalism now and what it can do for my mind. :)
Thankfully I didn't have debt, but was living paycheck to paycheck. Now I have a 6 month emergency fund and sinking funds for various things like car maintenance. Wish I had found Dave Ramsey earlier in life. It has made a big difference.
Fannnntastic, Tom and Dawn ! This past week I tore up two paid-off credit cards ! Bah bahhhhhye to them ! Tore up another after paying it off about two months ago. Another in a month. And my student loan is almost History ! Woo hoo !! The weight lifting off of my shoulders is phenomenal ! Getting there ! I love it! PS Floor looks so fresh ! New start !
Thanks for sharing your debt free journey. We used the same plan and became consumer debt free the end of 2019. Our house should be paid off by the end of 2023!! If you’re on the fence about becoming debt free, just go ahead and get started. Like she said in the video, the time will pass either way.
My spouse and I do the Dave Ramsey plan and the only debt we have left is our mortgage. It was the best thing we have done. We almost have our house paid for and we have only been here 8 years.
We did Dave Ramsey after losing our home and being in debt. It took 3 years of intense work to pay off debt and save money for another home. We have a mortgage we are paying off ahead of time and one small car payment. Yes friends and family will think your crazy! It was comforting to know exactly where our money was going. It is so worth it! I would encourage everyone to do Dave Ramsey. Thank you for your honesty because it will definitely help someone ❤️
We started in 2016 with $56,000 in debt. Debt free 01/18. That freed up so much $$$$ we threw it all onto the mortgage. Mortgage free 12/21. Haven’t told any friends or family and probably won’t.
I definitely feel like being debt free is a part of decluttering your life. So worth it!! We had a Bosche dishwasher and loved it. We had a drain light issue and the drain tube just fell too low or got crimped on install and needed adjusted. Hope it works for you guys
Also, there might be a coin or shard of glass or dishes (watch your hands while trying to reach in pls!) In the sieve that is at the end of the drain tube or even in the drain part on the bottom of the dishwasher.
In Dec 2021 we celebrated 10 years of being debt free! We did Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University program at our church in 2010 and paid our last debt payment in 2011 and stayed debt free (except our mortgage, we live in CA) ever since!
To be debt free is so freeing. We have only functioned on a debt-free basis with the exception of our mortgage (that is now paid off) I can not imagine having large / small debt. Good luck to you!!
Loved this video so much!! We recently became debt free and paid off over $100,000 in 2 years. It was a lot of work, a lot of sacrifice but it was 100% WORTH IT! ❤️ if you’re in debt, you can get out even if at times it feels like you can’t. It’s hard but absolutely life altering in the best way.
Debt free is the best life. Had medical issues the last 3 months that lessened my savings. My brother said yes but you were able to pay everything and are now rebuilding my savings. What a relief.
Getting out of debt was the best thing I ever did as well! It took me 7 long years but I finished paying everything off in 2005. In 2004 I bought a house and that will be paid off in 5 years. It can be done. You have to sacrifice and do things other people aren't doing but the stress level is so far down now.
Dave Ramsey has changed our family tree! Our kids are also debt free and don’t use credit. One of them has already purchased a home with no credit score, Just a nice big down payment! Our youngest is a freshman in college and has a plan for paying as he goes.
We just got out of debt this past August. Paid off 2 vehicles, the roof, a heat pump, 3 new windows (a soccer ball hit them), new appliances, taxes, and at least $10k worth of stupid tax as Dave calls it. Started Dec 2019. My husband wasn't on board. I had to really be disciplined! Its so good to see couples like you who are working towards the same goal. It really helps encourage each other to keep going when you are pulling together!
Dawn, I would keep the vanity white, nice and clean looking. Matches your kitchen cabinets. I used to be in debt until I met my husband. We have 1 credit card and pay it off at the end of the month. We don’t live outside our means. You don’t need to keep up with your neighbors. We still take vacations throughout the year. Love your channel, and I purchased your workbook. Can always use the extra advice. Thank you to the both of you.
Thank you for your positive influence and encouragement to be good stewards of our finances! You go beyond minimalism and live out simplicity and contentment. Thank you both so much.
This is so helpful! A lot of people (me, I'm people) get into huge debt early in adult life. I honestly think it's because talking about money is such a taboo topic. Let's talk about how we made poor decision because we didn't know better at the time, let talk about how to get out of that debt, let talk about healthy spending habits. Then maybe the next generation will make better decisions. They will make mistakes, we all do but if they can learn from and recognize those mistakes quicker than we did, that will be awesome. Even if people feel more confident asking for help, that's a win. Money is something we all deal with in life but we all do it silently. Trying to rediscover the wheel when we don't have to. Thank you 💕 I would love more content like this!
Thank you Dawn! I'm the person who asked you about an update on your debt free journey on that Facebook live event! We are debt free too (2/25/21) due to the Ramsey plan and a lot of hard work. Your story is so motivational. I'm proud of you. I agree it has been an even bigger positive life change than decluttering (which has been awesome too)! Sending love.
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Thank you so much for watching!!! Know that we believe in you, whether you have big decluttering goals for the new year or getting out of debt-- YOU CAN DO IT!!! And we're here cheering you on :) Tons of love and support, Dawn (& Tom)
Beautiful video! Our family loves you guys, even our kids! Similar ages to yours, and everybody is on board with minimalizing. We apply the principles and tips from your channel all the time, and we can't wait for Tuesdays and Fridays when your videos drop. It's a topic of conversation each day they come out. And if you come to Texas sometime, youre welcome to visit. ;-) I do like sports. Sorry Tom, but we don't have to talk about it. Lol
Where do I sign up for private page?!?
@@shailaraynee there is a link in the description ❤️
Have one payment left on last debt besides mortgage. Going to see if we can do it today since it is payday!!
@@rondawinters1199 congratulations awesome
Hey please consider doing this as a series! Especially from the perspective of debt cluttering your life. This would be great to share with so many friends to help them start
Yes!!! I agree
This!!
Please!!
Yes yes yes!!!!! Please do a series like the kids toys on money and minimalism!
Yes!
We did the Ramsey plan. Paid off $20,000 in 20 months. We finished in June of 2020. It made me so grateful for finishing right at the beginning of the pandemic. It felt like God had given a warning to me to get my finances in order back in 2018. One afternoon in October 2018 I came home and told my husband I just couldn't handle having debt anymore. Ww had struggled with money due to my son's medical bills, husband being unemployed for bit...lots contributed to the debt. I binge watched dave Ramsey for months. It was the biggest motivation watching others get out of debt!! The testimonials really gave me momentum😊
WOW $20,000 in less than 2 years ! That is awe-inspiring. I too have been on a journey for a while just getting current and ahead. When the pandemic began I was current all bills, plenty of food stocked up, and money set aside for that next month, so I was in a good space. However, I had coworkers who did not even have a full roll of toilet tissue on hand. And we were told our business was closing the next day !
We've been using the Dave Ramsey method. It truly works! We're going to pay our mortgage off early!
(Judy VanderPloeg)--
We followed Dave's method, too.
We had a family mortgage burning ceremony when we made that last payment and were debt free.
Also, that "I'm debt free" primal scream that is featured on his show, is quite therapeutic.
Congrats on paying off your debt!
And to everyone still chipping away at it, I encourage you to keep going. Getting your debt paid off, is so freeing. You owe it to yourself, to not be a slave to debt.
Wow, 20 is your number! Congratulations!
@@marlenapeg4121 ha! I didn't even realize that until I just looked 😅😅😅
"The time will pass anyway." So true, so start now and keep at it. A clean, decluttered house won't magically happen just because you watched a bunch of minimalist RUclips videos. Your debt won't magically go away unless you work consistently at that, too. Dawn's plan and Dave's plan both work IF you work at it and don't give up
Tom hit the nail on the head for me when he said pay all the debt when you get paid or it will just disintegrate before you realize it. So true! Thank you both for being so down to earth. There are not too many people I know that would carry on a conversation on the bathroom floor…. Y’all are my kind of people. Lol!! Dawn has changed my life in the best way. You are a blessing to me. Thank you 😊
Congratulations to you! Paying smallest debt and then rolling that payment amount over to the next bill is linear math. I did not do Dave Ramsey but took a different course back in the early 2000 using the same method and have utilized it several times over the years when I got myself into "trouble". We knew my husband was going to retire at the end of 2021. I started paying extra on our mortgage in early 2018 to prepare for that. First it was just a few extra dollars every month. Then I increased it to a full payment when I could. At the beginning of the pandemic, I started getting nervous and was throwing every extra dime at it. And I'm so glad I did. COVID forced my hubby into early retirement. I'll never forget how great I felt that day in July 2020 when I walked into the bank and made the final payment on our mortgage. I still love signing on to my bank app and seeing that Mortgage Account say PAID IN FULL!! .
)
My husband and I were doing the Ramesy over 14 years ago. When my husband had a heart attack and while he in the hospital he had kidney failure so my husband was not going back to work. So it failed on me to take care of him and work a full time job. So for 9 years I took care of him, work a full time job that I was barely getting paid over 14 dollars and hours. Paying all his medical expenses I paid off 2 cars and paid off the house just before he died. I sold the house to pay off all his medical bills and now live in a small apartment. So Ramesy does work even in very hard time. I started listening to you for encouragement when I started my journey on going minimalism.
Sorry for your loss 😔.
Maybe we are one of the few that it actually took us LONGER than the projected original payoff😂...it took us over ***10 YEARS***!!! BUT, we also added many kids during that time and more medical debt. We had over $100,000 in student loans, medical and car loans. We have 7 kids, I am a stay at home mom and we were low (sometimes VERY low) income.
It can be done! We told ourselves the same thing: " The time will pass anyway."
It sucked. It was SO HARD.
BUT IT WAS WORTH IT!!! WORTH IT, WORTH IT, WORTH IT!!!!!!🎉🎉🎉
Now to pay off our mortgage early!
God is good and has ALWAYS met our every need and then some!
If you are on the fence-go for it...you, your family and tour future are worth it!💛
This is incredibly encouraging and inspiring to me. Thank you for sharing your experience! Congratulations on your decade of hard work paying off (literally 🤣)
The Ramsey approach is life changing. I never understood how to manage finances in order to build wealth and the Ramsey baby steps made it approachable and gave me confidence that it was possible for a middle class family. Thanks to Ramsey we paid off our mortgage in our 30s, are saving for our kids’ post high school education, and will have a net worth of a million dollars by the time we’re 50. We’re not special. We don’t make a six figure income. We’re just prudent and we trust the baby steps.
YES!! I’m a single mom with a really exhausting corporate job, and I’m just working towards not working a 50 hour physically demanding (but also well paying, thankfully) work week away from my little. It’ll be $75k in 39 months. Minimalism has helped me achieve it!! Set up to be debt free in December 2022. Thanks Dave Ramsey and people like you who have taught me contentment. 😌❤️
GREAT video. Can we just stop for a minute at that part when Tom is talking about using every available dollar to pay off debt, as soon as it comes in. That is a huge hurdle to overcome: that feeling of "we used all the money to pay bills and now we have none!" I like the feeling because it makes me feel responsible, and like we've accomplished something. My husband however gets very anxious and stressed out! We actually just had a long "discussion" about this a few weeks ago!!
I guess my point is that if anyone else has trouble getting past that part of paying off debt, you're not alone.
I'm so impressed with y'all's tenacity in paying down your debt. My younger son just got a promotion and huge salary boost, so I need to share the Ramsey method with him so he can pay down his college debt ASAP!
I'm currently debt free with only a small mortgage. I couldn't have done it when I was married, but even as a single person I'm so happy to be in this position. I'm still able to work full time at 68+ years old and I thank God for that gift. Maybe I'll retire in a couple of years, but maybe not. Not having to worry about bills is such a joy!
During my college years a finance professor told us to just make one extra payment in December on our mortgage every year. It can cut a 30 year mortgage down to 17 years. It was amazing to do that in combination with the Dave Ramsey program. It got us out of debt fast. We paid our house off in 12 years. Time does pass. You just have to change your mind set about spending. Love you guys and love to see your videos on minimalism. I have been decluttering for 2 years now and won't go back. At first it was hard but I kept reminding myself to keep letting go so I could see what the other side of letting would be like. When I arrived, I was so at peace with my home and self. No more stress. All gone. It has been the best gift to myself and husband.
I like this idea, can you explain more about it? Does it have to be December?
@@juliamorton3438 I don't think so. I guess it would be easy for a family with children to save the extra payment over 12 months and then give it in December. We paid off our house in 12 years by sending extra to the principal every month. I would not be able to give you the breakdown of the amounts because it's something my husband took care of. But the professor did say you could save a considerable amount in interest over a 30 year mortgage by doing this one extra payment a year in December. By sending the payment to the principlel , over time the interest you owe on a 30 year mortgage is cut down considerably because you dont owe as much on the principle therefore less on the interest. For example 100,000.00 dollar home in 30 years with interest could end up costing 300,000.00. So if you owe less on the principle then there is less interest and less years to be paid. Mortgage companies do offer a 15 year mortgage but for most families it's risky because the payments are higher so most people get 30 year mortgage. However, it's up to you to manage your money on your own terms and if it's possible pay it off soonrr and owe less in interest.
it took us years to get out of debt, YEARS! but now we are on the other side, even have the house paid off. It's so totally worth the sacrifice. lots of work but worth it!
I love this! My husband and I did Dave Ramsey, paid off about $70,000 in debt all while having 3 babies and cash flowing all the deductibles and hospital bills while on a modest income. Once you set your mind and you’re on the same page you can absolutely do it! It changes everything! Simplified our home, reduced consumerism! As we went through the journey I prayed EVERY DAY that God would give me a heart full of contentment and gratitude and He is so faithful! And now we use YNAB for our household budgeting! Thanks for all y’all do and all the encouragement and videos! Love yall!
What is unable?
Unable …??
I love YNAB so much! We paid off 20k this past year and It was totally bc of that program.
I absolutely LOVE YNAB! It has been a total game changer for our budgeting! It finally all clicked! Congrats on the debt payoff! It’s a great feeling!
I found minimalism after we paid of our debt. Taking control of our economy started the process to simplify our entire life. So happy to hear you talk about this!
You are so right about the debt free journey! We ended up finishing years ahead of when we had originally projected to be done. My husband now makes a very good income but we still live like we are broke. We rent an old run down house because it's cheap and drive 1 old van. But now we have the freedom to give to people and it's so amazing!
Love your goal and your heart! May God bless you greatly so that you in turn can bless others. This is what control of our finances is all about! The money is all from Him!
We had a crushing mortgage 18 months ago. My husband had Dave Ramsey on and Dave was yelling (at me so it seemed) “If you’re giving all your money to the bank you’re STUPID!” Well that was it. I literally cleaned the house that afternoon took pictures and we put our house on the market that day. We bought a house a third of the mortgage price (it needs a ton of renovations and updating which my husband will do… eventually 😜)and we are now living below our means! Not mortgage free yet but we have a goal and a plan and we are on our way! Thanks as always for the encouragement! - Lindsay in Ontario 🇨🇦
Knowing what housing prices are like in Ontario, this deserves some serious likes! Good for you!!!
@@katrinagascho6165 we got this house at the perfect time. We had our offer in on it, sold our house for over asking and then everything skyrocketed just after we closed… my husband kept saying we could have gotten more for our last house if we would have waited… but I remind him that we never would have gotten this house for this price. God’s timing is perfect!
@@smcb2202 preach!
I love the language you use to describe a time in our lives as "this season" and reminding us that "the time's gonna pass anyway". Thank you for the tips and the encouragement to get through these challenging seasons of life.
There’s nothing quite like financial freedom! I really love that Tom heard what he needed to hear when he needed to hear it. Someone listening to this today will hear what they need to hear. Love it!
Just paid our home off two weeks ago!!! Took us 18.5 years of scrimping and saving. It is the Best feeling ever!!
Good job guys! My hubby and I were debt free early on in our marriage and it is by far one of the best things you can do for your self, your family and as a witness of God's goodness. Determination and hard work, yes, but oh so worth it. Keep on, keepin' on. Be that light that shines atop that hill showing others they too can do it.
Dawn and Tom are so right, please, listen to them it is life changing. The best thing I ever did was work at becoming debt free and learning how to save and invest. I love the floors, great color choice. I love my Bosche dishwasher, so I hope you are able to fix yours. Loave you both and your whole family. 👍💖
Don’t answer that, Linda.
First God lead us to get debt free, then to get our weight under control, and then to simplify our home. As we have walked in obedience to these things we have found such freedom! Thank you for being an encouragement in these things!
Us too but different order. First debt, then simplifying and now weight loss! Never too old to make changes.
Followed Crown Financial and Financial Peace years ago and paid off mortgage 11 years ago. What a blessing to be able to still put mortgage payment away in saving since then and pay cash for cars and pay college tuition payments! God is so faithful!
From one Prius owner to another we are always getting teased for our ride however, at 52 mpg its the best. Early in our marriage my husband and I made a "purchase mistake"; bought a windsurfer on credit and didn't have the cash. We both were in panic mode and NEVER did it again. That was the best mistake we ever made. That taught us new habits- tracked everything, bought a starter house and remodeled one room at a time with money we saved for it, repaired everything ourselves, drove used cars, borrowed tools, ate at home, coached our children to save for college and apply for every scholarship possible and yes....carried our travel mugs of home brewed coffee into the office when everyone else held a takeout coffee cup. However, we are blessed to have had that mistake happen and 35 years later wouldn't have traded our "early retirement" for anything. You are so inspiring and thank you for making this site possible. Oh and by the way, once you are engrained in the "getting out of debt" mindset you can't imagine living any other way. Stay Warm-
When I first mentioned wanting to get out of debt, my husband said, "We'll always have bills", which is true if you are counting monthly expenses like mortgage, rent, lights, etc....but I meant getting out of credit card debt mostly, and we did eventually do that plus paid our mortgage off early too. Has made a tremendous change for the good in our lives, and we've been able to save money ever since then and also help others with our extra money too.
Dave Ramsey's plan truly worked for me. I've been out of debt for many years now & the freedom it has given me is invaluable. I can't imagine ever going back into debt.
Being debt free is the best feeling ever, Dave Ramsey got us motivated too!
My husband and I spent our first year of marriage paying off debt, the second year we bought a car outright and saved up a 3 month emergency fund, now spending our third year renovating the house. It feels so good to only have a mortgage and to be completely on top of our finances! I never have to worry about paying a large bill or buying necessities.
I love how excited Tom gets when talking about tackling your debt. I need this kind of hype person in my life. Love you both!
We will pay off our house this year. I am amazed we got here! When I first heard of Dave and listened to the debt free screams of others who did it, I could scarcely dare to dream we could do it, too. It's been a long road but the sacrifices were absolutely worth it. It feels VERY strange to be seriously considering what comes next, what life will look like.
If we can do it, anyone can! Just start, just keep at it. you won't regret it!
If my husband and I had sat down to make a video it would have been a carbon copy of yours! We had such similar experiences to paying off our debts, down to the excel spreadsheets and the bumps in the road. Getting out of debt and paying off the mortgage last year has given us such a content and peaceful feeling about life. It is what fueled our desire to be less cluttered and live a more simple life. I’d say it even fueled our desire to be more healthy and to pick up hobbies that are healthy for the entire family. Thank you for this video!! It will inspire others for sure! My husband and I often reflect on the last five years and after it’s all said and done we truly felt like we never really went without. Fancy cars, expensive vacations, and eating out were things we didn’t spend money on, but we still have such happy memories and experiences from those years that we weren’t missing out on a thing while paying off our debts!
‘People thought you were broke!’ YOU WERE! When you have debts…that’s worse than broke it’s a minus! Apart from a mortgage which I paid off early, i once bought a car with a loan, it wasn’t new but it was more than I could afford, it was falling apart before I had paid it off…never again! I was 22 at the time, I pay cash. I live in Ireland and since the pandemic everyone is advocating using cards, I resist as I can only spend what I have! You are wonderful to have come so far, and you RUclips channel encourages others and earns you a great income. Win-win. 😃
'Knowing what I know today, I'd drive a Prius again if I had to.' Well... That just made me tear up! What a refreshing statement in a day and age when so few are willing to sacrifice for their family's future.
It just amazes me that anyone would stick their nose into your financial business.....I think it’s a great idea to do these kind of videos that talk about decluttering our finances as well as our homes.
I remember when me and my now husband decided we would live debt free. Almost all my friends family coworkers thought we were crazy, they were making fun of us, said we are stingy cheap and weird. But it was so worth it! These few years passed anyway, like you say, and now we are sooo free!
haaaa!! love the Prius story!! hubby finally driving one!! We laugh .. all the way to the bank with gas savings!! LOL!!
Love the transparency..... The greatest contentment comes from having enough and enough is usually far less than we think we need. God is faithful and he is able to do unbelievably above and beyond anything we could expect.
My husband and I have always been the weirdos who didn't go out to bars or ever buy new cars. We now own one home free and clear and rent it out! It's a freedom that you can't understand to know you can afford so many things, but you truly don't want most of them. The lean years were sometimes hard but so worth it.
YES! I tell my husband everyday that getting debt free is the MOST amazing feeling. We listened to Dave Ramsey’s podcasts for motivation every time we thought we wanted a bigger house or a new anything. It is so worth it. There is no “thing” that is worth the stress of being in debt. It’s hard at first, but then it gets addictive when you start making progress. We just finished paying off our house last year at the age of 45 (on the west coast). Minimalism and being debt free go hand and hand. Do it!
My brother's story of getting out of debt is pretty amazing. Let's just say he's now living his dream and traveling the world debt free.
We did DR and Financial Peace. We have been debt free for a few years and this year we are going to be mortgage free!!! I cannot wait. I am working on decluttering and minimizing our STUFF. It's hard hard hard. But we will get there! Thanks for everything you guys do, you motivate me a ton!!!
You guys are awesome! Love that you are sitting on the bathroom floor together having a heart to heart with your viewers. My husband and I are a bit older than you-got out of debt a few years back. I totally watched Dave Ramsey RUclips for motivation. Now I watch you for motivation in decluttering and meal prep. Thanks so much for all that you do!!
Hello Dawn and Tom,
Thank you for the video, it's fun seeing you both just chilling on the bathroom floor talking to us. All of your videos make me smile and get into a better mood. You Rock!
Love this video!!! We’ve been debt free for 10 years. Opened up many opportunities for us and being able to say yes to God!!! Including fostering and adopting.
Amazing testimony! Thank you for sharing!
I am a huge proponent of Dave Ramsey. Through his methods, I managed to get out of debt faster after moving to a big, expensive city. I thought for sure living there would slow down my snowball, but it actually made me push harder, plus I found a lot more free activities to do for entertainment in such a big city. I breathe so much easier these days 😌
You guys are the best! We are a Dave Ramsey family too. We took FPU when we were an engaged couple in college at 20 years old. We are 37 yrs old now - zero debt, haven’t had a vehicle loan in 10 years and pay cash for vehicles, and paid off our dream home that we built 7 years ago in June 2021. In that time period, I also gave up a six figure job to be a SAHM. GOD IS SO GOOD! Now, we are loving being more generous to our church and other non-profits we feel lead to support.
We're doing Dave Ramsey also...mortgage is down to about $10K! It's amazing how much stress and marriage issues money can cause!!! Our counselor suggested we do Dave Ramsey when we were having bad marriage problems. Saved our marriage ❤️
The floors look nice. I really enjoyed how laid back this video was. It is also very timely, starting off a new year, new goals, new intentions. I need to declutter, stop bringing more inventory in my small house to manage! And by doing so, would curb spending and put that money towards debt. Thank you! This was so very helpful!
This needs to be taught to children from the get-go, ALL children everywhere.
We also did Dave Ramsey's plan, and were debt free except for the mortgage about 12 years ago. Then we went after our mortgage with a vengeance and paid off our 30 year loan in a little less than 15 years. It's so liberating. We have more to give and bless others.
I just really like the fact y’all are sitting on the floor! Real life!
My husband and I followed the Dave Ramsey plan too! We were out of debt, including our mortgage, since 2017! We were 43 and 47 years old and debt free!
We are now putting money aside for vacations and to help our son stay debt free as he goes off to college next year! The plan works!
Yes. My husband and I worked so darn hard in our 20s and 30s ... now in our 50s and lining up for a great retirement with 3 kids and then grand children to follow...
Paid off 17k in student loans in 2020 since they stopped interest. 0 interest makes paying off debt much easier! Then paid off my husbands car loan early 2021. Only debt left is our mortgage, which I don't really include. It is so nice to be debt free! Dave Ramsey is good but I don't follow his cash envelope/cash only payments method. Buying things on a credit card and paying it in full every month really helped boost our credit scores.
I want to thank you both for your talk in this video about your getting out of debt. My husband and I are both retired and bought an RV to full time travel. We have had many things happen in the last couple of years that have put us in debt. After both of us watching this video we sat down and talked about what we can do to work on this debt. I have been following you for awhile and I am trying to get our RV decluttered and organized and this includes a storage shed. I would not have done as well as I did with my craft items without using your keep box with a date on it. I bought your book and I am so glad you put all the work into it for us!
Love this! We paid off $120,000 in student loans in 3 years thanks to Dave Ramsey's plan. We worked extra, sold everything, and didn't eat out for over a year. It was hard, but SO REWARDING!
Wow! You have talked about paying off your debt before but didn’t realize it was $100,000! Great job! I am really impressed. I can see how it really adds a lot of stress. My boys are car guys too- my 16 year old thinks he is going to be able to make money on his trucks😅
I listened to Dave Ramsey & made an excel spreadsheet also of all our debt except mortgage. Every month I'd mark off what we were able to pay. At the beginning it was like $20 a month we could pay & then it would be $50 or $80 as we paid off other bills. It took us about 3 years & then after paying off all our debt, we were able to refinance our house & pay it off in 2 yrs because we had freed up all of our money. The year after we started paying off our house I hurt my back, had surgery & could not work any more. The Lord gave my Hubby a new job position with an increase in pay for a yr & we were able to pay off our house. It was so nice to be able to pay it all off. You can do it even if it's $5.
Thank you for sharing your getting out of debt journey! I really like watching Dave Ramsey's RUclips channel as well. I think he is very wise. I think minimalism and getting out of debt do go hand-in-hand!
Down to mortgage only and the finish line is in sight. I'm an Excel spreadsheet fan as well, not only does it help me budget but also allows me to see the forecast for the next 3/6/12 months. As far as nay saying coworkers... my response to "come out to lunch/shopping/happy hour" or whatever was always "Saving my pennies for a big vacation!" A little deceptive maybe, but once everything is paid off, I'll be on a vacation from debt!
Thanks to Dave, we’ve been debt free since ‘09! So grateful!!
Being debt free is amazing! There is so little stress when I pay our bills now. Minimalism and Dave Ramsey joined forces in our house almost 3 years ago and has given our whole family a new life! Literally!
I love your channel! I always learn something and pass on your videos to friends.
When I married my second husband the home expenses mortgage (none) and maintenance fee (very low) made me realize how stressed out I had been previously been about the high monthly expenses that had to be met on my previous home (a 4 storied brownsonenin NYC).
When we began planning for early retirement I started budgeting to the dollar (I didn't know about Dave Ramsey) and eliminated frivolous purchases. Every extra dollar went into retirement and investment accounts. This made it possible to retire within 4 years. It is the most satisfying feeling to be debt free and realize we have so much freedom. It was equally rewarding to share one intention and to work together on a common goal. Two people working together whole-heartedly are unstoppable.
Thank you for all the good you share with us.
When we started our debt journey it was the beginning of 2020 and COVID had just started which made it easier to make our new habits of not spending money. Then being sheltered in place helped me realized I had so much stuff that I didn’t use or value and wondered why I even bought it! And that when I found Dawn. What a life changing year. A nurse, going on a debt journey and simplify our home. I started remodeling room by room on such a small budget $500 per room and doing everything ourselves and paid off all our debt. What a year of blessing! Thank you so much for your videos, they have changed my life 🙏🏾💜
The fact that you are thinking about being out of debt is a huge win. Setting goals together is a huge win. Doing life together with the Lord giving you the wisdom you need is the best win of all. I wish I had been as smart as you two are when I was your age. Praying God’s blessing over you and your family.🙏🤗
100%!!! I wrote my budget down in a spiral notebook for months! I had to SEE it too! I took my $15K credit card debt down to $3K in about a year. You DO run into obstacles, but the weight of the stress that comes off of you, is priceless.
I'm so happy I found you now more than ever!! I found your channel because I was looking into your ways of declutering and organizing my house. Then strangely you began talking about Dave Ramsey and I just realized, ok, this is the reason why?! My husband and I did the FPU class years ago, then we did the 'ish. We haven't gotten back on credit cards ever since we cut them the first time. However, we just stopped doing the budget together and just recently I told my husband we needed to get back on this. Thank you so much for the motivation. I had my husband watch this video and I'm hoping we can get on the same page again. He even said he'll do a spreadsheet. Pray for us! 🥲
I was watching your video one day and you mentioned Dave and his plan, I googled it and started immediately. It took us 6 months to be debt free except mortgage. We are paying double to our mortgage so we can retire 5 years earlier than planned. Thank you for the information that changed our lives.
I enjoyed hearing your story! My husband and I started getting out of debt (all my student loans) when we got married and he was still in school. Neither of us even had full-time permanent jobs yet, and we dreamed of being debt-free in five years but didn't see how it was possible. We were out of debt in 2 years 4 months. We have a mortgage now but are hoping to get it paid off in under seven years. It feels so good! I agree that minimalism and getting out of debt are life changers. To everyone else who is on either or both of these paths, you can do it and it will be so worth it.
YES!!!! Dave Ramsey is what worked for us!
Yes! We cut uo our credit cards 25 years ago when we were the poorest we have ever been, continuing to purchase makes you feel better but makes the situation worse. I listen to the Ramsey podcast because he is still bravely trying to help people improve their lives with no tricks or gimmicks.
We are doing the Dave Ramsey plan as well so I love hearing others who did it and successfully got out of debt. We have been on it for 2 years and paid off a little more then 20,000 off. Just a small chunk it seems but we are not giving up. Its what got us on board about becoming a minimalist family. We sold and donated over 70 percent of our items. Off one income. Yet, our shovel will get bigger once we get our youngest into childcare. We are hoping in the next 2-3 years that we will be debt free.
I've been watching you for a few weeks now and I'm on board. I've been working Dave's program for most of my adult life. It's such a great track to run on. Through life's challenges I've always come back to Dave's plan. I love how you guys are sharing the way it worked for you. I'm interested in minimalism now and what it can do for my mind. :)
Thankfully I didn't have debt, but was living paycheck to paycheck. Now I have a 6 month emergency fund and sinking funds for various things like car maintenance. Wish I had found Dave Ramsey earlier in life. It has made a big difference.
Fannnntastic, Tom and Dawn ! This past week I tore up two paid-off credit cards ! Bah bahhhhhye to them ! Tore up another after paying it off about two months ago. Another in a month. And my student loan is almost History ! Woo hoo !! The weight lifting off of my shoulders is phenomenal ! Getting there ! I love it! PS Floor looks so fresh ! New start !
Thanks for sharing your debt free journey. We used the same plan and became consumer debt free the end of 2019. Our house should be paid off by the end of 2023!! If you’re on the fence about becoming debt free, just go ahead and get started. Like she said in the video, the time will pass either way.
My spouse and I do the Dave Ramsey plan and the only debt we have left is our mortgage. It was the best thing we have done. We almost have our house paid for and we have only been here 8 years.
We did Dave Ramsey after losing our home and being in debt. It took 3 years of intense work to pay off debt and save money for another home. We have a mortgage we are paying off ahead of time and one small car payment. Yes friends and family will think your crazy! It was comforting to know exactly where our money was going. It is so worth it! I would encourage everyone to do Dave Ramsey. Thank you for your honesty because it will definitely help someone ❤️
We started in 2016 with $56,000 in debt. Debt free 01/18. That freed up so much
$$$$ we threw it all onto the mortgage. Mortgage free 12/21. Haven’t told any friends or family and probably won’t.
I definitely feel like being debt free is a part of decluttering your life. So worth it!!
We had a Bosche dishwasher and loved it. We had a drain light issue and the drain tube just fell too low or got crimped on install and needed adjusted. Hope it works for you guys
Also, there might be a coin or shard of glass or dishes (watch your hands while trying to reach in pls!) In the sieve that is at the end of the drain tube or even in the drain part on the bottom of the dishwasher.
In Dec 2021 we celebrated 10 years of being debt free!
We did Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University program at our church in 2010 and paid our last debt payment in 2011 and stayed debt free (except our mortgage, we live in CA) ever since!
To be debt free is so freeing. We have only functioned on a debt-free basis with the exception of our mortgage (that is now paid off) I can not imagine having large / small debt. Good luck to you!!
I love your white bathroom vanity! I want one with drawers; makes so much more sense than doors!
Loved this video so much!! We recently became debt free and paid off over $100,000 in 2 years. It was a lot of work, a lot of sacrifice but it was 100% WORTH IT! ❤️ if you’re in debt, you can get out even if at times it feels like you can’t. It’s hard but absolutely life altering in the best way.
Guys, you knocked it out of park with this one. Best advice ever!!! Living debt free is living on a whole other level!!! Great job! 🙂
Debt free is the best life. Had medical issues the last 3 months that lessened my savings. My brother said yes but you were able to pay everything and are now rebuilding my savings. What a relief.
Thanks for the video! Debt totally clutters up your life and mind!
Getting out of debt was the best thing I ever did as well! It took me 7 long years but I finished paying everything off in 2005. In 2004 I bought a house and that will be paid off in 5 years. It can be done. You have to sacrifice and do things other people aren't doing but the stress level is so far down now.
Dave Ramsey has changed our family tree! Our kids are also debt free and don’t use credit. One of them has already purchased a home with no credit score, Just a nice big down payment! Our youngest is a freshman in college and has a plan for paying as he goes.
We just got out of debt this past August. Paid off 2 vehicles, the roof, a heat pump, 3 new windows (a soccer ball hit them), new appliances, taxes, and at least $10k worth of stupid tax as Dave calls it. Started Dec 2019. My husband wasn't on board. I had to really be disciplined! Its so good to see couples like you who are working towards the same goal. It really helps encourage each other to keep going when you are pulling together!
And we only owe $27k on our mortgage!
One of your best weekend videos yet. Please continue to share debt freedom tips, advice, and encouragement in your videos. Love you guys!
Dawn, I would keep the vanity white, nice and clean looking. Matches your kitchen cabinets. I used to be in debt until I met my husband. We have 1 credit card and pay it off at the end of the month. We don’t live outside our means. You don’t need to keep up with your neighbors. We still take vacations throughout the year.
Love your channel, and I purchased your workbook. Can always use the extra advice. Thank you to the both of you.
Thank you for your positive influence and encouragement to be good stewards of our finances! You go beyond minimalism and live out simplicity and contentment. Thank you both so much.
LOVE Dave Ramsey. I've been a follower for years and years.
This is so helpful! A lot of people (me, I'm people) get into huge debt early in adult life. I honestly think it's because talking about money is such a taboo topic. Let's talk about how we made poor decision because we didn't know better at the time, let talk about how to get out of that debt, let talk about healthy spending habits. Then maybe the next generation will make better decisions. They will make mistakes, we all do but if they can learn from and recognize those mistakes quicker than we did, that will be awesome. Even if people feel more confident asking for help, that's a win. Money is something we all deal with in life but we all do it silently. Trying to rediscover the wheel when we don't have to. Thank you 💕 I would love more content like this!
I love you guys! Thank you for being here to encourage us.
Thank you Dawn! I'm the person who asked you about an update on your debt free journey on that Facebook live event! We are debt free too (2/25/21) due to the Ramsey plan and a lot of hard work. Your story is so motivational. I'm proud of you. I agree it has been an even bigger positive life change than decluttering (which has been awesome too)! Sending love.
Have to say how blessed it is to have absolutely no debt. So grateful!