First and foremost, I believe you need to ATTACK your debt in order to be successful in your debt freedom journey. That means, you need to be aggressive in your approach to get rid of your debt as fast as feasibly possible. If you truly follow through on the "attack" mentality, your lifestyle will transform dramatically. You'll end up owning much less, doing much less, spending much less and possibly working much more. This is the approach I took when I began my journey. My family and I sacrificed a great deal because we had finally had enough. We didn't want to be in debt forever and we built a hatred towards it. We sold EVERYTHING we thought we didn't need, including cars, furniture, electronics, etc... We had garage sales and Craigslist postings galore. On top of our fire sale, we cut way back on our activities. We barely ate out, started saying no to certain parties, reduced the date nights my wife and I went on and focused on free activities for the kids to do. We did go on a family vacation (which was all paid for in cash) but I remember thinking afterwards that we should've used that money to pay down debt instead of enjoying a nice break! I think our biggest lifestyle change was in our day to day expenses. With our new budget in place, we have utilized coupons, shopped at thrift stores, and have completely changed our thinking so that we barely consider purchasing clothes that are not on sale/clearance. As for working more, I can't say that I've taken on multiple full-time jobs. But I have done several "side jobs" that have brought some extra cash in. Not to mention that I'm always thinking of new ways to try to earn extra money without sacrificing all of my precious time spent with the family.
Our attack/kill/ultra-aggressive approach worked! The results speak for themselves as we plan on paying off our last credit card bill next month! However, looking back over the last year and a half, I have mixed emotions. Am I ecstatic about the ginormous progress we've made on our debt? You betcha! But I can't help but think that I sometimes forgot to enjoy life. So, although I can't deny the results of my aggressive approach, I could've allowed myself to live a little more. I want to pass this very important lesson to everyone else. We have learned so much during our journey so far and one thing that's certain is that nothing needs to be set in stone. So, as we push forward with paying off our last debt (student loans), we have intentionally planned to "live" more. What does that mean? Well, for starters, we will go on vacation with no regrets. My wife and I plan on regularly going out on dates (with a big time date planned every quarter at least). The kids will start certain activities (Dylan with martial arts, Caitlyn with ballet and Kasey is still thinking about what activity he wants to pursue). And last but certainly not least, we will even start thinking about buying stuff that we "want" again.
OK, at this point, I'm sure you're thinking I'm either crazy or I have an extremely short memory. In the first part of this post, I was going on and on about being on the attack. Then, I contradicted myself in saying that living it up isn't so bad. Well, I'm right twice! As I've been writing this post, I have realized why my mind has changed. Drum roll please.....It's because of where I am in the journey!!!! If I didn't attack from the beginning, I wouldn't be in the position I am today. Because I have MUCH less debt, I have MUCH more money to play with. That means, I have options that I didn't have at the beginning of this journey. And here's the best part, because I've gone through the transformation associated with the attack mode, I have knowledge and skills that will prevent me from ever being in debt again!
So, when do you change your approach to your debt attack? I don't think it's the same for everyone, it depends on your goals and dreams. But no matter when the right time is for you, the evaluation of your past progress and future plans must be constant. In fact, I think one of your goals should be a milestone associated with when the right time is to ease off the attack. Maybe that's set for when a certain number of debt items have been killed (i.e. 8 out of 10 debts have been taken care of). Maybe it's a percentage of debt (i.e. removed 80% of our debt) or specific debt amount (killed $10,000 of debt). It doesn't matter which metric you use, just make sure you have one. This will also give you an interim milestone which should help you continue to push forward as you complete the journey to wiping out all your debt and start living freely.
Just to give everyone context, my wife and I have gotten rid of about $100,000 worth of debt in less than a year and a half. It's taken a major amount of discipline, persistence and sacrifice! It's a great feeling of accomplishment and better yet, an amazing realization of freedom! We have fought for a better life and continue to fight to attain all of our hopes and dreams! Anyway, in a previous post, I eluded to an "eye opening" event. Well, our last evaluation of our current situation allowed us to see just how far we've come and enabled us to begin enjoying life a little bit more. Who knows, maybe we'll allow ourselves to go back to Maui again someday! :)
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