Testimony from Jessica of The Abundant Wife
When my husband and I got married in 2005, we had $70,000 in student loan debt. We promptly bought a duplex with an 80/20 mortgage for $150,000 and a used truck for $18,000. We had barely been married a year, and we were already looking at $238,000 in debt!
Now fast forward six years. I have become a loyal follower of Dave Ramsey and Money Saving Mom®. Despite leaving my job to stay home and care for our two kids, we have paid off our truck and our two smaller student loans. Soon we will pay off the second mortgage on our home.
Today we owe less than $143,000. We have paid off $95,000 in debt!
It’s not always easy to live like no one else. Many people think we’re pretty weird. We cloth diaper our kids, and we got by for years without a dryer.
We haven’t had texting on our phones since 2007, and we sold our second car last year. We’ve never paid for cable, and we gave away our television. We rarely pay for “date nights” but instead spend time together at home after the kids have gone to bed.
We don’t buy paper towels, and our cupboards look bare because we make most of our meals from scratch, wasting very little. I get more excited about finding new strategies to save or make money than I do about new purchases.
Before my children were born, I would ask my mother if it hurt to deliver a baby. She would tell me, “Yes, but it’s pain with a purpose.”
Pain without a purpose feels meaningless and unending. When pain has a purpose, you know it is leading you toward your final goal.
When I feel hopeless about our debts, and wonder for the umpteenth time why we are doing the things we are doing, I look at our goals. And I look at how far we have come.
Paying off our debts is pain with a purpose. As Dave Ramsey is fond of saying, “Live like no one else now, so you can live like no one else later.”
When it comes to eliminating your debts and saving money, there are probably things that seem painful to you. Organizing, budgeting, couponing, taking on extra jobs, and making sacrifices can be a challenge.
Change is painful at times. No one said it would be easy. But remember, it’s pain with a purpose. Keep your eyes on your goals, and remind yourself how far you’ve come.
Jessica and her husband Brad left their teaching jobs in 2007 to enter full-time ministry. In six years of marriage they have lived in six different places, including China, Maryland, Minnesota, and now California. Jessica blogs at The Abundant Wife about family, faith, and finances.
A testimony from Kiersten who blogs at 
Do you have a fun and frugal DIY idea to share? I’d love to hear about it! Read the submission guidelines and submit it 
