How much debt have you paid off?: $566,000
What was it for?: House mortgage, investment house mortgage and visa card.
From deciding to become debt free to making the last payment, how long did it take you?: 39 months (3 years and 3 months).
What age did you take on your first debt, and how old are you now?: First debt to buy a house at 20, and I am now 52.
Did you do it alone or as a family?: Family.
Did you pay off debt from your regular income, take on extra work, or change jobs to speed it up?: Regular jobs, but took on extra shifts to speed up payments.
Did you sell anything or receive cash gifts to contribute towards your debt payoff?: Sold our car, got a cheaper one to pay off the Visa card, and started our Emergency Fund. Sold the rental property to help pay off debt.
What people, books, websites, podcasts, budgeting tools, debt trackers and resources helped you?: Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps helped us.
Did you keep an emergency fund while you paid off debt? If so, how much?: Yes, we built this up to around $5,000 - $10,000. We did use it at the end to pay off the debt, as we just wanted it gone.
Did you have any setbacks along the way, and how did you overcome them?: Lots of setbacks. Got broken into, had a car accident, emergency dentist visits. We just kept going!
What tips/hacks could you share?: Be a debt-fighting team. Both of you need to be on the same page. Having visual aids to keep you motivated (such as debt-free charts) is fantastic. Have rewards along the way; we had a special weekend each time we paid off $100,000.
Was there a structure to your debt payoff? i.e. paying smallest to largest, or highest interest rate to lowest?: Yes, smallest debt to largest debt. We did this to get quick wins which kept us motivated. It wasn’t about the interest we were paying.
How did you stay motivated, and what was the most challenging part of paying off your debt?: This was easy for us; the more we paid off, the more we wanted to pay.
How did you celebrate making your final payment?: We took our whole family to Queenstown for the weekend. It was a fabulous feeling.
Was getting out of debt worth it, and what have you learned about yourself?: Yes, totally worth it, one of the best days of our life! I’ve learnt the simple life is the best life, and you don’t need money to make you happy.
Will you ever go back into debt again?: NEVER!