This is My Debt Free Story. I Hold Nothing Back.
If you’re in debt, you’re not alone. I know what it’s like to look at $37,000 in bills and feel your stomach drop. Every mail delivery brought another reminder of money I owed. Every credit card swipe came with a side of guilt. I’m not writing this as someone who read about debt in a book – I lived it. I had to choose between paying my electric bill or buying food.
Money controlled every part of my life. It affected my sleep, my relationships, and my self-worth. But that same debt that almost broke me? It pushed me to change. It made me learn how to control my money instead of letting it control me.
I’m sharing my story – the real, raw truth of it – because spreadsheets and budgets aren’t what changed my life. What changed was how I thought about and handled money. My story goes from bankruptcy to freedom, and I learned things no financial book could teach me. If you want the truth about getting out of debt (and how to fix it), keep reading.
Life Before Reality Hit (2001)
In 2001, I was a single woman who thought she had it all figured out. I had what I believed was the perfect relationship, a good job, and credit cards that paid for the life I couldn’t actually afford. A budget never crossed my mind – I was too busy buying what I wanted, when I wanted it.
My credit cards weren’t just for emergencies. They paid for gas, groceries, clothes – everything. I hit a new low when I started using one credit card to pay off another. It was a money trick that could only end badly.
Everything Changed (December 2001)
My relationship ended in December 2001. Suddenly, I had to handle everything on my own. No more splitting bills. No more shared expenses. Just me, sitting at my kitchen table with a calculator, finally facing what I’d done to myself.
The numbers hit hard: $37,000 in debt. Zero savings. Nothing but minimum payments eating up my paychecks month after month. I looked around my apartment and saw nothing worth keeping – just clothes I barely wore and memories of meals I couldn’t afford.
My Low Point: Bankruptcy (2002)
August 2002: I stood in bankruptcy court. I never thought I’d be there, but there I was. Standing in front of that judge felt terrible and freeing at the same time. I promised myself that day that I would never end up in that spot again.
Starting Over: A New Life
Life works in weird ways. During my worst financial mess, I met my future husband. He saw past my money mistakes but was smart enough to wait until after my bankruptcy to get married. By June 2003, we were married and working to build better money habits together.
Emma, our daughter, came along 15 months later. We chose for me to stay home with her – it stretched our budget thin, but it matched what we wanted for our family.
Still Learning (2004-2007)
We tried to do better with money, but we weren’t perfect. We stayed away from credit cards, but we still took out a home equity loan and had two car payments. When our son was born in March 2007, we could make the minimum payments – barely.
A New Path Forward
October 2007 changed everything. Our son’s godparents told us about Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover. His plan wasn’t complicated – spend less than you make, save for emergencies, attack your debt. Something about his straight-talk approach worked for us.
What Actually Worked For Us:
- Writing Down Every Purchase: I kept every receipt and created a budget worksheet to understand where I was really spending money.
- Using Cash Only: We put cash in envelopes for groceries, fun money, and personal items. When it was gone, that was it.
- Building a Safety Net: We saved $1,000 first by reducing our expenses by learning how to coupon and finding discounts on the things we needed to buy.
- Tackling Small Debts First: We listed our debts from smallest to biggest. Each small win pushed us to keep going.
- Making Extra Money: I started looking for ways to make extra money from home, like babysitting for neighbors and also selling things we didn’t need. Every extra dollar went to debt.
What’s Next For You?
Getting out of debt isn’t about following someone else’s perfect plan. It’s about taking that first scary step of facing your numbers, then taking another, and another. My path went from bankruptcy court to financial stability – not because I’m special, but because I finally got tired of feeling sick every time I opened my mail. The tools were always there: tracking spending, using cash, saving first, and paying off debt. I just had to be ready to use them.
You don’t need to wait for the perfect moment to start. No amount of debt is too big or too small to tackle. Take out those bills. Look at your bank statements. Write down your numbers. That’s where I started, and that’s where you can start too. Your future self will thank you for starting today.