How much debt have you paid off?: $52,000
What was it for?: Car repayment, an old overseas holiday, and a credit card that I used carelessly.
From deciding to become debt free to making the last payment, how long did it take you?: 30 months (2.5 years)
What age did you take on your first debt, and how old are you now?: I took on my first debt, a student loan, at 19. I am now 29.
Did you do it alone or as a family?: My husband and I did it together.
Did you pay off debt from your regular income, take on extra work, or change jobs to speed it up?: We paid it off from our regular income, but I went down in wages, and my husband also took a pay cut. We balanced this out by changing cities and living a lot cheaper.
Did you sell anything or receive cash gifts to contribute towards your debt payoff?: My mother got an inheritance and gave each child $5,000. The majority of this amount she gave me went onto my first debt.
What people, books, websites, podcasts, budgeting tools, debt trackers and resources helped you?: Dave Ramsey got me fired up. Over time I kept big large budget trackers on my fridge that I crossed off week by week. I found it really helpful to put a date, time, and how much we had paid off week by week.
Did you keep an emergency fund while you paid off debt? If so, how much?: Yes, we kept an emergency fund of $1,000 - $2,000 at all times.
Did you have any setbacks along the way, and how did you overcome them?: We had multiple: a leaking roof, off work due to cyclones, car breakdowns etc. We planned out as much as we could how we could put these in our budget to pay for them. For a while, we shared a car while we saved for the repairs on the other one.
What tips/hacks could you share?: Always set up an automatic payment to your debt, make it as much as you can, always have an emergency fund at hand, don't be afraid to reach out and think outside the box, keep tracking your process/progress, tell everyone your goal so they can share in the journey too.
Was there a structure to your debt payoff? i.e. paying smallest to largest, or highest interest rate to lowest?: Smallest to largest worked for us well.
How did you stay motivated, and what was the most challenging part of paying off your debt?: At times, it was hard to stay motivated. I think it was the overwhelming feeling of debt that kept us focused on reaching our debt-free goal.
How did you celebrate making your final payment?: I will be celebrating by buying a fireplace and abseiling down some waterfalls.
Was getting out of debt worth it, and what have you learned about yourself?: Definitely worth it. I learnt that anything can be achieved with consistency. It's not what you do sometimes, it's what you do all the time.
Will you ever go back into debt again?: Only for a house. I will never get into debt again otherwise.