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Episode 235 - How She Paid Off Nearly $10,000 in Just 5 Months!

Carla's story is one of resilience, determination, and newfound financial freedom. Have you ever felt like you're stuck on a hamster wheel when it comes to debt, no matter how hard you try to get ahead? Carla can relate. But her journey over the past five months has been nothing short of remarkable, thanks to her dedication and the support she found in the Roots community. 

 

A Glimpse into Carla's Journey 

Carla joined Roots with a desire to break free from the cycle of debt that had been weighing her down. In just five months, she saved and paid off a staggering $9,555.76 – something she never thought possible. Through the guidance and resources provided by the Debt Free Dad podcast and the Roots community, Carla was able to make significant progress towards her financial goals. 

Embracing Financial Transformation 

One key aspect of Carla's journey was reevaluating her relationship with money. Growing up, she learned the value of saving from her parents but found herself relying on credit cards to hold onto her savings. This behavioral pattern led to a cycle of debt that seemed impossible to break. 

The Power of Budgeting and Cash Transactions 

Carla's journey to financial freedom involved embracing budgeting and shifting to cash transactions for her daily expenses. By creating a budget and using cash for purchases, she gained better control over her spending habits and was able to stay within her financial boundaries. This change in approach not only helped her manage her finances more effectively but also instilled a sense of accountability and mindfulness in her spending. 

Finding Support and Accountability 

One of the most critical aspects of Carla's success was the support and accountability she found within the Roots community. By sharing her struggles and victories with like-minded individuals, Carla felt empowered to stay on track and motivated to continue making progress towards her financial goals. The sense of camaraderie and understanding within the community provided her with the encouragement and guidance she needed to stay committed to her financial journey. 

Looking Towards the Future 

Carla's journey is a testament to the power of financial education, discipline, and community support. By taking control of her finances and making intentional changes to her spending habits, she was able to achieve remarkable results in a relatively short period. As she continues her path to financial freedom, Carla serves as an inspiration to others who may be facing similar challenges. 

Resources Mentioned

Get better results with your finances in 30-60 days - GUARANTEED. Watch this video to learn how! - https://www.debtfreedad.com/payoff-debt-in-60-to-90-days 

Free Tools and Downloads at www.debtfreedad.com

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Episode Transcript: 

Brad:  

Do you have a seesaw relationship with debt? Maybe you pay it off, but it always seems to come right back. Or do you feel you're on this hamster wheel and, no matter how fast you run, you just never seem to make any real progress or get to where you want to go? And that's exactly how Carla was feeling in her life. But today things are looking up. In fact, she joined Roots and in just the last five months you guys, Carla has saved and paid off thousands of dollars, and we invited her on here today to share her journey and what she's been able to do these last few months to get this amazing progress, to hopefully inspire you and to liberate yourself from debt once and for all. Stick around.

Speaker 2:  

You're listening to the Debt-Free Dad podcast with Brad Nelson. Brad and his co-hosts experienced the anxiety of living paycheck to paycheck before learning the fundamentals of financial success. They are now on a mission to empower regular people to pay off their debt for good and enjoy happier, less stressful lives. Keep listening for inspirational interviews, tips, tricks and practical advice to gain financial freedom.

Brad:  

Hey, hey, hey. Welcome to today's show everyone. I am Brad Nelson, founder of Debt-Free Dad. I paid off about $45,000 of debt, have been debt-free now for more than 11 years, outside of my mortgage. I've also been fortunate enough to help thousands of other people save and pay off tens of millions of dollars with the work that we do here at Debt-Free Dad. Now, after listening to this episode, hey, if you want to take your finances a step further, just like Carla's going to talk about on today's show, and you want to get better results with your finances in seriously as little as 30 to 60 days, I'll be sharing some details about that later on in the show for you to get started as well. Carla, welcome to the show. I'm so glad that you were able to take some time and join us today.

Carla:  

Thank you for having me.

Brad:  

Yeah, absolutely You're busy. You have a busy life right Very much so.

Brad:  

So I'm interested in talking about that because we're going to hit on that, because one of the big excuses that a lot of people make is just finding time to work on their finances. You've got three kids, all these pets, you're working two jobs and I think you mentioned you're going to be starting both these jobs pretty full time and yet you still have managed to make all of this amazing progress and getting out of debt and saving money. So I'm really excited to talk to you a little bit about this today because I know there's gonna be some listeners that can resonate with a busy life and how you kind of fit this all in. So but before we get there, can you just share a little bit of your journey with money and your relationship with money? I know you mentioned you've done some debt repair type things and things just didn't work out, but can you kind of share as a child how you learned about it and then how that affected you growing up and how you managed it?

Carla:  

So my parents always taught me to save my money and I would stash it everywhere. I had it in a drawer, in a jewelry box in my room. My dad would laugh how you know, I just had funds everywhere but I think he kind of cringed. He never really said anything out loud, but I think he cringed whenever there was talk about using a credit card. But I, you know, see my mom sit down once a week, maybe once a month, I don't remember but writing out the checks for the bills and paying everything on time.

Carla:  

Once I started working, I had to pay my car insurance if I wanted to drive the family car, and they taught me how to balance a checkbook because there weren't debit cards back then, which was probably a better thing, and told me how to do my taxes and all that. And so I would have thought, with that history, that I would have been set up for success. But I think when I got out on my own, credit cards sprinkled in and I realized now, thinking about it, that I think the reason I use those credit cards is because I was the saver. I wanted to save the money but I didn't want to spend it.

Carla:  

And credit cards aren't my money, is it? That's what you think, and I think that's probably how it started.

Brad:  

Okay, that's interesting and that is an interesting take on that. I have not heard that from many people before, but that is interesting and I could definitely see how that could happen. So, when you're, when you're using these credit cards, though, like what kind of things were you buying with it that you were maybe more hesitant about using cash for?

Carla:  

Everything I mean it was, it would have been groceries. I mean I was. You know, somebody said one time I heard you know, don't use a credit card for something you're not going to have. So buying food with it didn't make any sense because you're it's, you're aided, it's gone and you know it shouldn't be using it for that. We shouldn't be using them at all. But you know, those were some hints um that I'd heard. But everything um, new kids on the block concerts - real bad, real bad. Um, I blame them. I felt like I was behind and I didn't have enough money, but that's because so much of it was going to the credit cards.

Speaker 2:  

Right.

Carla:  

And it was a vicious cycle where you just don't have the cash so you put it on a card again because you're paying the card. It's horrible.

Brad:  

Yeah, now you mentioned in the bio and stuff that you had sent over. You gave just kind of a little bit of a brief background of some of the things that you've done to try to get out of debt. Can you talk about some things that you did in the past that maybe worked initially, maybe or didn't work at all? Like what were things that you were trying to because you obviously realized it's like I need to fix this, like I don't like this. So what things did you try but didn't find that really worked for you?

Carla:  

So I got to a point where I would just literally sit and cry when it came time to pay the bills because I didn't know where the money was going to do something. And this was gosh 20 years ago probably. And my parents were nice enough to take over my car payment and take my car. They gave me one of theirs, so I didn't have a car payment anymore. But then I started searching and I found these credit counseling agencies. And so you pay them a monthly fee and then they supposedly work with the creditors to bring your interest rate down and so that to help you pay it off. I actually finished all that and I was debt free not debt free. I was credit card free through that and then just slowly started again. It was called credit counseling, but there was no counseling.

Carla:  

They worked with the creditors yeah to lower your payments and consolidate if you will, but they never really said you know, didn't give any hints of how to not use them, just like you know. That's that's what we're doing here.

Brad:  

yeah, and that's, and that's where you know, I think that's where a lot of it's what, a lot of the things that are out there, like debt consolidation, credit counseling, even bankruptcy to some degree, you know, it's. It's more or less just a bandaid on a wound that you have, you know, and and it's the wound that we really need to fix. It's not necessarily a bandaid. We need a real solution to fix the wound so we don't have to keep putting band-aids on it over and over again. And, uh, you know, I think I resonate with that because I struggled with a lot of the same things too. You know, I did a lot of those types of things and they just didn't seem to work because I never really really addressed what the real issue was, which was the habits, the behaviors, the choices, the kind of the mental side of money, the money mindset that I had. It was, it was, it wasn't good, you know. So I definitely can resonate with that.

Brad:  

So you joined Roots in October, so as, as we're recording this, we're kind of almost halfway over done with March now. So we're talking five months ago, leading up to that point, what was life like? Were you stressed, were you anxious, and what kind of prompted you to say you know what I need to try this Like? How did you find out about what we were doing?

Carla:  

So a couple of things. Over the past year I had to get a new car and I'm not saying that I had to. The frame rusted out and my suspension went up in my frame.

Brad:  

Oh goodness, yeah, that's not good.

Carla:  

He's a mechanic but he can't fix that. So I had. I found a car for $5,500 and I walked in and they were like you're going to pay cash, right? And I said, nope, I need to finance it because I don't have the 5,000. And that about killed me.

Carla:  

I literally realized that I was going to work just to pay these credit cards and the debt and wanted to change because I wanted to spend more time with my kids. I don't want two jobs. I'm busy as enough. I don't need two jobs. So I started actually looking at productivity and decluttering and that kind of thing, some of these other interests, and a lot of the people that have those podcasts or those blogs or whatever. A lot of those people have actually gone through debt relief and so I started thinking, well, silly, that's what I need to do. So I literally got on and looked up you know, paying a, how to pay off debt and your podcast popped up and I started binge listening and it was the life without payments. I listened to that and I was like this makes so much sense. I need more, you know. So it was done deal, Awesome, Awesome.

Brad:  

So you got started in October and again, can you share? Before we jump into this, I want you to share. So since October we're talking five months what have you been able to save and pay off in total so far?

Carla:  

In total, I saved and paid off $9,555.76.

Brad:  

That's crazy. Would you looking at that number, would you have believed you'd do that in just five months?

Carla:  

No way, no way. I always thought, you know, you know there was the thought of you have a little bit of extra money, put it toward a credit card. But I thought, you know, even if I have an extra hundred dollars that I got for Christmas, that's not going to put a dent in my debt. So why would I do that? But it it it made a big dent, starting to throw extra cash toward it. It's, it's. I never believed I'd be able to do that.

Brad:  

It's incredible, I mean too. I mean you're averaging almost pretty close to $2,000 a month in the last five months to get almost to nearly $10,000 in five months. It's crazy, it's just an incredible number. So people I mean obviously, like you just said, you can't believe that you did that. So people out there listening to this are like okay, how the heck did you do it, Carla? What could you do? Because I want to do it too. So can you share, like maybe things you did in roots or maybe things that we taught you in roots, or was it the accountability Like what, what do you feel over these last five months has really pushed that for you the most, you think?

Carla:  

I'd already started a little bit of a budget. But I've never really worked on a budget and I still suck at doing the budget. But, um, that was a huge thing is just really putting the money where it goes before it gets there, and I've always kind of done like a direct deposit as soon as the check hits it goes to another account so that it's gone and I don't see it. The other thing was just behavior. If anything good came out of COVID, it was curbside pickup for groceries.

Carla:  

It's the best thing. I literally sit down and I probably spend a good two hours going between a couple of different stores. That I do. I still, you know, go to some of the wholesale clubs and still stay within my budget very, very well and it's pretty tight. But that was a huge thing because I no longer have the kids. You know, oh, I want this and I want that in the store and plus, I'm also not, you know, seeing shiny things that I need. So it's saved a lot for doing the pickup, groceries and just behavior in general. I really avoid going into stores.

Brad:  

For sure I think that's some of the easiest advice I've ever given somebody is that they say like well, how do I, how do I stop spending money?

Carla:  

We'll just stop going shopping and it's that easy sometimes yeah, and using cash too. I've always used my debit card and I thought, okay, that's fine, you're paying attention, but it doesn't hurt. Like you said, it does not hurt using the debit card nearly as much as when you break your last 20. It's just I could have done without that, you know.

Brad:  

So I want to talk a little bit about that. So you moved over to more cash. What types of things did you start paying cash for? That you used to pay a debit card or a credit card with. Was it like everything?

Carla:  

Just like I mean I try, I try pretty much. The only thing that really goes on a debit card that I really really tried to, um, is like gas and groceries, because you have to pay online or you have to pay at the pump, um other than that, like if I have to stop and pick up, uh, something for crafts, for kids, for school or um, you know they need a pair of shoes or it's those things that it's just a daily spending especially. You know I still I don't completely stay out of fast food. You know I do that every once in a while. I did decrease that quite a bit, but that kind of stuff you have to run into the store for. You know a loaf of bread and some milk, you know use the cash just because you see it going out, and I actually also will only take a certain amount of money into the store.

Brad:  

Love it.

Carla:  

So I don't have a choice to buy only what I went in for.

Brad:  

Cash is such a great, I mean and I know we're going to such a cashless system and I get it but cash is such a great accountability tool it really really is and I don't use it quite as much as I used to. But when I first started, I was the same way as you. I used it for just about everything, because I was so bad with my behavior. I would mess up my budget all the time with credit cards or debit cards. It's like I gotta put a stop to it and that, as I mentioned, you know you've got three kids, you've got all these pets, you're working these two jobs, you're very busy, you know, and you still have made this incredible progress.

Brad:  

How did you manage to like fit all this in? Because time is a big thing that we hear? It's not, you know. It's not typically. You know I have too much debt or I don't have enough income, for most people would keep some stock is just putting the time and effort in. And here you are, you've done it and you have a very busy life. So can you offer some any, any advice that you've done that's worked for you throughout this process?

Carla:  

I try to do it daily. I probably don't get to it daily, but as much as I can, after the kids go to bed, just sit down, look over the bank statements. I obviously have the business as well, so I'm always in the bank app checking things and seeing what's going through, etc. So that's just the biggest thing. It's just to sit down, look at the bank that's the big one, I think's just to see what's going through and make sure everything is going where it needs to go automatically and what's left know where I need them.

Carla:  

I'm just not getting there as much as I need to. I have. Sometimes I don't always cash my check that I get from our shop on time, so you know. So it's a little bit not always the same every month, so it makes it a little bit more difficult for the budgeting, but that's pretty much it. Just you have to make the time, um, to sit down and and just look at it. It doesn't take long, um, once you get it settled, you know, get your budget set and it set in your your calendar set for the month.

Brad:  

And the calendar is great, um, because, like um, you know you can check off everything and see everything's right in front of you Shouldn't be any surprises you had mentioned with some of the things that you tried in the past that there was no real counseling or coaching to really kind of help you work through some of the challenges that you were having with managing your money. Obviously, in Roots, a big thing that we do, especially here at Debt Free Dad, is we put a lot of focus on accountability and support. So can you talk about over the last five months, the stuff that we do here inside Roots, how that's helped you through that counseling that you were looking for and that you needed, whether it be from us or the program or even just the community in general that we have?

Carla:  

Yeah, so just started listening to the podcast initially and just hearing the stories of other people and how they've gone through everything and how they paid stuff off, cause you, you listened to the very beginning. You know this person paid off this much. And then the first question is how right so? And then the other part of it was I've always been taught not to really, you know, talk publicly about money and you keep it to yourself. It's private and so not many people know.

Carla:  

Now they do but they don't really know about the debt, and it's because it's kind of embarrassing. But to have the Roots community to get on there and be like, look guys, I'm struggling this week this and that and everybody's cheering you on and you can do it, so you slipped up big deal, jump back in and it's just. That's been an amazing part of it.

Brad:  

Well, I think you hit it on the head with the embarrassment. I think a lot of us have felt that way. I have felt that way. I think a lot of people that we work with feel that way, and we can kind of tend to put ourselves on this island, like we're the only ones that mess this up or that we're struggling. And the reality is is the majority of people, the majority of us, are living paycheck to paycheck. The majority of people are struggling with the same types of struggles but, like you pointed out, Carla, a lot of us just don't talk about it.

Brad:  

And I think that's the cool part about our community and being able to open up and have a safe place to get support, have a safe place to celebrate your wins and be open about it, because it can be a very shameful topic and you can keep it to yourself and that can eat at you over time. So talk a little bit about um. You know your, your husband and your kids how are. How did this go with them? You know you started listening to this show. Did you talk to your husband?

Carla:  

Be like hey, listen to this guy. Like what was his thoughts originally?

Brad:  

I was late one night when I was listening to the debt without payments or, yeah, life without payments.

Carla:  

And I didn't want to think twice. I think he'd already gone to bed or something. He wasn't home and I thought I'm not even going to talk to him about it. I'm just going to do it because I didn't want to think about it too much. I know that sounds weird, but I didn't want to have a discussion and have him change my mind. And it was funny because just last night we were talking about me coming on the podcast, and he said I've been listening to you because and he's like, I'm getting it. So I mean, we're not doing it together and I don't want to say that in a bad way. I know that should be the goal, but a lot of my debt I came with. It's not his debt, so I don't think it's fair for him to have to pay for it, but he's very supportive and he's picking it up.

Brad:  

I love that and that's one of the ways to do it. Like, if you have a spouse or partner that's reluctant to working on your finances, you maybe have a hard time communicating. It's just like just turn on our podcast or turn on another financial, just turn it on and it's amazing the conversations that will begin to happen, because it's a third party person inside your relationship and you can now talk about what that person's saying instead of the finger pointing back and forth. So I love that he's picking it up. That's so awesome. What about your kids? Do they notice anything different about you doing things different or how you're handling or talking about money?

Carla:  

If they say, you know, hey, can we get something? Um, I'll just tell them I didn't bring in money for that today. Um, and they're they're becoming more accepting of it. I try not to say we don't have money for that, because I'm trying not to lay that ground for them, um, but just saying you know I'm sorry I didn't budget for that today and I even said I said do you know what a budget is? My daughter, she's seven, she's like mom. I know what a budget is.

Brad:  

With all that attitude, I'm sure too right.

Carla:  

When she was in kindergarten last year, they actually had a project where they had to learn to. They had this much money and they had to put this much aside for a car or not a car payment, something like that, and a place to live and a place for food, and then you have this much left and then do you want to make money with that, or do you just want to have a job and you get money? It's incredible.

Brad:  

That's actually really good and so, yeah, that's awesome, that was cool. So how are you feeling now? Versus five, six months ago? Big difference, stress levels, anxiety, worry, like where are you at now with that?

Carla:  

It's absolutely amazing. My stress level is so, so decreased, I feel so much freer and I literally who wants to pay their bills? But I'm actually excited to sit and pay the bills, because I'm actually trying to challenge myself as to how fast I can get this done, Cause I've put into some calculators and it says, you know, I think it said like 2027. And I'm like yeah we're doing it better than that, so it's so refreshing, and I mean, just looking at the numbers is amazing. I just never dreamed it almost becomes.

Brad:  

A lot of people have said it. It's odd that it has almost become. It gets addicting because you start to win, start to get progress. I mean, you've built your emergency fund, you're seeing your check marks off on your debts and you see the level go down. All of that creates that amazing momentum that we want to create and you're feeling that and, like we tell everyone, it's like you're going to feel a lot better, sooner than you think. And here you are, just five months later and you feel completely different. It's incredible. If you had to go back and give the same person you six months ago advice on getting started or getting off the fence, what would you say to them, knowing what you know today, based on what you've learned over these last five months or so?

Carla:  

I know that everybody says, just do it. But the numbers don't lie. You just have to jump in. And everybody thinks, oh, I don't, if I don't have the money to pay the bills, why should I pay for this? But it's, it's worth it. It's just the stress level and the community, the support. It's just so worth it. And you know, even though I paid off I don't remember how much it was back then with that credit counseling agency but it took years, multiple years, and it might for some people still. But I've gotten this far already. You just have to jump in and do it. It's just so much better when you learn the hints like the budgeting, the sinking funds. I never thought of that, Never thought about sinking funds, the hints to get you to spend your money differently so that you're not relying on those credit cards.

Brad:  

It's just information that I never knew it's amazing the different results you can get when you start doing things differently than you always have. And you're proof of that. And man, carla, saving and paying off nearly $10,000 in five months, you got a lot to be proud of. I'm proud of you. That takes a lot of change, a lot of hard work, especially with your busy life. So congratulations to you. I appreciate you coming on and sharing a little bit of your journey with us here today. And so, if you want to pay off debt, if you want to save more money, if you want to take control of your finances just like you heard Carla did head over to debtfreedad. com, click on the green button at the top of the page and we're going to show you how you can begin to get better results, just like Carla did, in just the next 30 to 60 days. Go ahead, sign up.

Brad:  

So the totally awesome Debt Freedom Planner is helping so many people make consistent progress with their finances, whether that be building emergency funds, paying down bills, budgeting, tracking paydays, saving up for larger purchases, goal planning and planning for those irregular yearly expenses that always seem to catch you by surprise. Now the Debt Freedom Planner will help you take the stress out of managing your money and if the thought is running through your mind, hey, I just need to have a simple tool to get my finances together. This planner is perfect for you. Head over to therealdebtfreedad. com. Click on the Debt Freedom Planner in the menu at the top of the page and order your Debt Freedom P lanner today.

Brad:  

All right, as you guys know, that is time for the celebrations of the show, and the first one we're kicking off with is Shelly. Shelly says I worked through the very first module inside Roots after just joining the behavior module, and I learned a lot. I find myself stopping and asking if I really need to purchase things. She said no to going through the McDonald's drive-thru to get comfort food when emotionally, she felt like she needed it. She says she's making great strides already, so early on, Shelly, congratulations to you. There's some great wins. For just getting started. Brenda, I paid off our car loan. Heck yeah, she did so, going out to celebrate with a nice dinner. I love that you are doing that and taking time to acknowledge your wins. She said we'll be putting my car payment into savings so I won't have to get another car loan when we need another car. Also, looking into selling crafts as extra income. Brenda, Such a great accomplishment. Nothing like driving a paid-for car and now having that extra cash in your budget every month. It's going to be life-changing if you keep at it. Way to go, Brenda. Congratulations, Bonnie.

Brad:  

Finishing up here today, even though she says I sometimes think I am not making much progress with my finances. It becomes apparent that I am when I actually look at my snowball sheet. I just paid off another small credit card yesterday because I continue to make timely payments. The balances on other credit cards keep going down and are becoming small accounts. I continue to see progress. Plus, I have goals on savings. I save a minimum at least $300 every month and I've exceeded my $1,000 original goal and I'm up to $1,800 in my emergency fund now. I never thought I would accomplish that goal. She says, Thank you, Roots, for giving me the hope in my financial arena. Congratulations to you, Bonnie. Those are some great wins.

Brad:  

And again you're bringing attention to the power of tracking. Track your progress, because there's going to be days where you're going to feel like Bonnie did Ain't making much progress. But if you got proof, if you're tracking, you can go back and look and say, holy crap, I've been coming a long way and I just need to keep at it. So good for you. Hey, as always, congratulations to all of you guys who are taking a stand for your financial life and are wanting better. Hey, we get this. Stuff isn't easy. Getting out of debt is not easy, but with our help and with your consistency and discipline. We promise you this is going to be some of the best work that you guys do in your entire life. Thanks for joining us for today's show and we will see you on the next episode, take care. Thanks for listening to the Debt-Free Dad podcast.

Speaker 2:  

Connect with us on Facebook, TikTok, Youtube and Instagram. Just search Debt-Free Dad. If you found value in today's episode, please leave us a rating and review. We so appreciate it. For resources, show notes and links mentioned in today's show, visit DebtFreeDad. com. Catch you next week.

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