Episode: 310 - Staying Motivated on Your Journey to Debt Freedom
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Embarking on the journey to becoming debt-free is no small feat. It requires determination, consistency, and, most importantly, motivation. Staying motivated can often be the hardest part, but it’s also the fuel that keeps the engine running. Whether you’re at the beginning of your journey or currently grinding through it, these tips and strategies are designed to keep you focused, fired up, and on track. Let’s dive into how to maintain motivation as you work towards a debt-free life.
Embrace the Journey:
An initial step in maintaining motivation is accepting that becoming debt-free is a long journey. Debt accumulation didn’t happen overnight, and getting out of debt won’t either. It’s vital to strip away the pressure of time limits. While some might take longer, the focus should be on the progress and understanding that it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Patience and acceptance of the time it takes can set the right expectations and help in staying motivated.
Build a Support System:
Accountability is a potent motivator. Whether it's a spouse, a friend, or a like-minded community, having an accountability buddy can ensure you stay on track. Sharing wins and challenges with others who understand your goals can give you the push you need when times get tough.
Celebrate Small Wins:
It’s crucial to acknowledge and celebrate every achievement, no matter how minor it seems. Keeping track of wins, such as saying no to a coffee purchase or saving an extra $15, are all significant steps. These small successes provide evidence that the effort you're putting in is working and can significantly boost your motivation.
Build New Habits:
Successful and sustainable debt repayment is often about replacing bad habits with good ones. Start by selecting one habit you wish to change, such as reducing coffee shop visits, and gradually build from there. Once you master one change, introduce another. Building good habits incrementally can help maintain motivation as you see the effects of these changes.
Dream Big:
Allow yourself to dream about what you could accomplish without debt. Write down your current debt payments and visualize what you could do with that money once it’s no longer going to debt repayment. Dreaming about financial freedom can be a powerful motivator.
Be Flexible and Find What Works for You:
One size doesn’t fit all. It’s essential to find a debt repayment strategy that works for you and fits your lifestyle. Some approaches may require extreme cutbacks, while others allow for more flexibility. Choose a plan that keeps you motivated and allows you to enjoy life’s journey, even if it means it takes longer to achieve your debt-free goals.
Seek Out Motivation and Education:
Continuous learning and reminders about why you're on this journey can keep you motivated. Educational resources and supportive communities can provide additional motivation and hold you accountable. Engaging with these resources can inspire new approaches and techniques to excel on your path to debt freedom.
Final Thoughts:
Achieving a debt-free life demands perseverance and motivation. Celebrating victories, finding a supportive network, and being patient with the process are all critical strategies to help maintain momentum on this journey. With dedication and the right mindset, the work you put into becoming debt-free can be some of the most rewarding efforts of your life. Embrace the challenge and stay motivated as you work towards a future filled with financial freedom and peace of mind.
Resources Mentioned
The Totally Awesome Debt Freedom Planner https://www.debtfreedad.com/planner
To learn how to take the stress out of your finances so you can breathe again, follow this link: https://www.debtfreedad.com/lwp-masterclass-opt-in-page-podcast
Connect With Brad
Website- https://www.debtfreedad.com
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Transcript
Brad Nelson:
Hey, so today we are diving into tips and strategies to stay motivated on your debt-free journey. Listen, staying pumped while paying off debt isn't always easy, but it's the fuel that keeps the engines running. Now, whether you're just starting or stuck in the grind, this episode is packed with proven strategies and practical tips to help you stay focused, fired up and on track to crush your debts for good.
Announcer:
You're listening to the Debt-Free Dad Podcast with Brad Nelson. Brad and his co-hosts experience 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 Nelson:
Hey guys, welcome to today's show. I am Brad Nelson, the founder of Debt Free Debt. I paid off about $45,000 of debt. I've been debt free now for more than 11 years, outside of my mortgage. I've also been fortunate 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 Debt.
Amber Taylor:
And I'm Amber Taylor and my husband and I saved and paid off $54,000 in just 20 months and we have been living debt free outside of our mortgage since 2018.
Kati Hatfield:
And I'm Katie Hatfield. Over the last six years I have paid off over $190,000 in debt on a single income with just a little bit left to go.
Ryan Nelson:
My name is Ryan Nelson. My wife and I paid off $160,000 in debt over eight years while raising three kids.
Brad Nelson:
Hey. So, after listening to this episode, if you are ready to take things to the next level, you're ready to break free from living paycheck to paycheck, reduce financial stress, build your savings and finally pay off your debt for good. But maybe you're just not sure where to get started. We've created some incredible free resources to help you do just that, which is getting started, and we're going to be sharing those later on in today's episode. So, guys, today we are talking all about motivation and probably, at least in my opinion, doing this myself and helping a lot of other people do it, and we've talked about it a lot.
Brad Nelson:
Probably the hardest part about all of this is staying motivated, staying consistent and just keeping it going. And that's the hardest part because, again, we don't get into debt overnight, so it's going to take us longer than overnight to get out, and for a lot of people, this is going to be a really, really long journey and obviously life's going to throw stuff at you. You're going to have distractions. I mean, there's going to be lots of things that's going to come your way while you're getting out of debt. So today we're talking all about motivation.
Ryan Nelson:
Well, and I think, as you listen to our intros there, it took me six years or eight years, katie. You've been doing this six years. Some of you listening may look at that and go, gosh, I don't want it, that's forever. But the alternative for me was, if I didn't do it right now would probably be really, really, really bad because it was bad back then. So, like for me, it did take a long time and the motivation side is hard. But the other option is do nothing and just hope a magic bean fixes it, which that we all know that doesn't exist. So I don't know.
Ryan Nelson:
For me I just think, as you're listening, just try to take the time limit out of it for a bit, because, like Brad said, and for us I mean, took us years and years to get us to the point where we started, and I think just understanding that it was going to take us a long time to get out helped. You know, just just admit that upfront. This is going to take time. And when we did that it was like because I think, again, the industry, all these things out there, I think one of the most common things we hear from people is consolidation, consolidation, consolidation, because it's marketed as this get out of debt quick scheme and the reality is is it's not. We know it's not, but there that's. I think, especially in this day and age, we want everything now. We don't want to wait three, four, five, six years to get out of debt, we just want to be out of debt and make the pain go away.
Amber Taylor:
So that's just my two cents. As we get into this, yeah, motivation is hard, like it's not. It's definitely not easy, but because I had, you know, my husband and we kind of bounced things off each other and we kept each other motivated. But also just find somebody or some thing that's going to help you kind of stay on track, or accountability buddy or something, because it really does help you stay motivated when you're feeling like you just want to give up or you want to buy all the things.
Ryan Nelson:
Like this podcast.
Brad Nelson:
Well, I think that I mean that's the first, that's the first point on our notes here for today. This episode is just like kind of like. What Ryan said is face the reality of how this is going to go, and I think the first thing you got to understand is it's going to be hard and you're going to lose motivation. I think the reason I want to say that is because we tend to try to do everything perfect, or we have this perfectionist part of us not everyone, but a lot of us do right when, if we screw up just a little bit, we're just not good enough to do this. And the reality is is like you're going to screw up, you're going to mess up, you're going to overspend. You might even still use debt, you might still swipe credit cards.
Brad Nelson:
I did getting out of debt when I first started because I was trying to overcome bad habits and things like that. So just understand that it's going to be hard and there are going to be days where you're not going to feel like doing your budget. There are going to be days where you're not going to feel like saving money. There's going to be days where you'd rather go out to the restaurants and get the coffee and just spend frivolously. It's normal, those are all normal things. So I think you have to understand that. You're human right and this is going to be hard. So I think that's the first thing.
Kati Hatfield:
Yeah, I would say the concepts are very simple, but the work is hard and you have to be willing to work. But, like you, you can't just say oh yeah, I'm totally going to do this. You have to be at a point where it's kind of like I was at when I started was just OK, something has to change. This is ridiculous. It doesn't have to be rock bottom, but it was felt pretty darn close. If you're super stressed, you have to understand that if you've been trying to do it and it isn't working, you have to try a different way, because if it had worked, you would have done it already. So the motivation just has to be like okay, I just have to trust the process and take those little bit of steps. And, yes, you can't do it.
Kati Hatfield:
perfect, because none of this is perfect.
Amber Taylor:
Yeah, and I think I mean, brian, you can't do it perfect, because none of this is perfect. Yeah, and I think I mean, brian, you mentioned you had bad habits and you still use your credit cards and yada yada when you started. But knowing that, when we probably all started, we had bad habits, right. But creating, finding ways to create good habits that align with what you're trying to go for is going to make a huge difference, and it doesn't mean like you got to change everything all at once. Find one thing that you want to adjust Maybe it's coffee every morning. Find a way to start making that a habit, to making it at home, and then, when you've really gotten good at that now, add on another one, and I think just building good habits will help you stay motivated to keep going.
Brad Nelson:
Yeah Well, and we just recently released a whole entire episode on goal setting, and I think that's another thing too. To keep you motivated is having good goals of where you want your financial life to look like. Is it paying off your credit cards? Is it paying down your student loans? Is it having again a certain amount of money in the bank? Is it a feelings thing, like I want to feel better, like what? Have clear goals about where you're going, because that again, looking at those every day, reviewing them every day, because that's what you really want your life to look like Can keep you motivated as well.
Brad Nelson:
The other thing which we're really big on, as you guys know, if you've been listening to the podcast, is focusing on every win. This is another one, and I I admit like even today I'm I'm still not very good at this. You know I'm not like focusing on how far I've come or gone, or I'm always looking at the next goal to achieve and I tend to fail at looking at what I've already achieved. It's hard for me at times, so I feel like a little bit of a hypocrite when it comes to this, but this is why we do like our celebrations of the show on this podcast.
Brad Nelson:
All the time is to is to get you guys in the habit of looking at the wins, even the smallest of wins, even if you put 10, 15 bucks in your savings account, or even if you did say no to that coffee more often than not this past week. Like those are all things that we need to focus on, because, as humans, we tend to want to only focus on the stuff we got wrong and just beat ourselves up, and that's not very fun. So you do need to take some time and just focus on the wins. And also looking at those wins guess what? It creates more motivation, because you're like this is working, the stuff I'm doing is working, we have more money in the bank, we're paying cash for things. I don't feel as worried anymore. I just want to keep doing this and keep doing this and keep doing this, and that is really going to help you stay motivated on the journey.
Kati Hatfield:
Sometimes it's not even just money. But last night I was driving home at 5.30 after running a bunch of errands and I drove past like 30 fast food places and two of them smelled like steak and burgers. And'm like all I want is a steak or burger right now. And I'm like, no, I have food at home. I had to scold myself and then I got home and I had to have chicken strips and french fries because that's what I had at home. But I was like I'm really proud of me for not stopping and spending the money and you know I ate what I had, what I've spent money on groceries, so. So sometimes you just have to celebrate. I didn't do this one little thing that would have set me back $10, $15, but every little bit counts.
Ryan Nelson:
The other thing I was just going to say too and this is where we talk about focusing on your win and rewarding yourself. I think this to me and going back to what we were talking about is like finding motivation is going to help if you figure out how to get out of debt and you figure out what works for you. And I think a lot of people have asked me if I, you know, if they ask what do I do, and I tell them what we do with the podcast and this and that. So you're just like Dave Ramsey and it's like. I think, for me, this is where we differ, and this is a big thing for me is you got to figure out what works for you, and there's a lot of big gurus in the industry who are going to tell you you have to do it this way.
Ryan Nelson:
And we tried to follow that way at the beginning and it did not motivate us one bit because it was literally do nothing but pay off debt and if you do anything else, you're dumb and you're an idiot and you're a moron. That's what I was told, that's what we were told, that's what I read and that may work for some people. I have nothing against it. If that works for you and you do it, do that 100%. But it didn't work for us.
Ryan Nelson:
And I think once we found what worked for us and that wasn't sacrificing everything, that was still taking scaled back vacations, it was still going out to eat occasionally, it was still doing some of those things Then we were able to maintain and be able to continue to stay motivated. But when we were trying to cut every single thing out because we're going to do this as fast as possible, yeah, it took us eight years. Maybe it would have only taken us four, but four years is a long time to never do anything and that's what we would find ourselves. We do have great success and then boom, we're right back where we started because we'd have moments of weakness and be like we can't do this and we'd go spend a bunch of money. So once we found that consistency and what works for us and rewarding ourselves along the way, that totally changed it for us.
Brad Nelson:
Yeah, I would agree. I think that's probably the thing that I did too is I went full head on with getting out of debt and sacrificed a lot to do it, and life got really crappy really quickly because you weren't able to have any fun or do anything. And I think that's why, from a motivation standpoint, it's also good to reward yourself along the way. So do the things that you love to do, just put them in your budget, just plan for it, pay cash. There's nothing wrong with that. You work hard for your money and so and I agree, like Ryan said, even if it takes you a little bit longer to do it, at least it'll be a much more enjoyable experience, right, right?
Ryan Nelson:
Well, and the reality is is you did it, and I think that's where I get frustrated is I would quit smoking years ago. I quit cold turkey one day and I just quit. And then I had family who quit, but they at the time I don't know it was some pills or something you could take to help you quit smoking. It's like I wouldn't go to them and say that's just dumb, you should just do what I did Like. Is the point is is you quit? And if the point is, is that you still end up out of debt. Even if it took you longer to do it, you still won, you're still winning and you're still doing the right things. And that's why I get this one for me. Is that's why I think it's so important, no matter what you do in life, find what works for you, and don't you got to kind of shut out all the noise of what someone's telling you you should do? Yeah?
Brad Nelson:
And, speaking of noise, I think the biggest thing that you can do to stay motivated is seek out like support and accountability. Obviously, that's what we do here at Deferred Data. That's our mission is because we realize that that's the hardest thing for most people is staying consistent, staying disciplined and staying motivated and actually reaching their financial goals, because it's easy to get distracted, especially in today's day and age, right? So look for ways to have support and accountability. Obviously, this podcast it's one of the reasons why we do this show is to give you guys weekly content, start thinking about your finances. Obviously, a lot of things that we talk about are, you know, very beginner, for people who are living paycheck to paycheck.
Brad Nelson:
But when you're ready, if you feel like you need some more, obviously that's why we have roots here for our members and again, it's not to give you know. We give a lot of great education in there, by the way, but the big thing that you're investing in when you join something like that is the support and accountability. And we share studies. We share them in our Life Without Payments, masterclass and our workshop there, and they did a study on people who achieve their goals and the biggest group of people that achieve their goals 95% likelihood of achieving their goal, mind you, are those people who have set up accountability appointments in their life, so people that they're coming to, people that are expecting them to stick to their plan. They have an actual appointment. They have these people in their lives that are checking in on them and their progress and getting to where they want to go, and the more you can do that, the better off things are going to be for you, especially from a motivation standpoint.
Amber Taylor:
The accountability was huge for us, for motivation. But also I think you got to kind of let yourself dream a little bit and if you're finding yourself get lack of motivation or you're feeling like you might want to quit or give up, maybe write down all of your payments, just your debt payments outside of your mortgage. What would you do with that money when it's all paid off, when it's gone, Because now that's yours? Let yourself dream that could help you keep going and stay motivated to just get it cut out.
Ryan Nelson:
When I think the support and accountability side of things too is the world is not set up to be supportive and help you be accountable, because we are a debt-driven society. I mean, Brad told me years ago he wanted to get out of debt. Was I super supportive? Yeah, I mean, when Brad started this journey, I remember and again, I wasn't. I look back and I really wasn't trying to be mean or anything like that.
Ryan Nelson:
It's just the way the world works is, if you tell someone that I'm going to get out of debt, chances are your friends and family and this happened to us. People thought we were crazy. They're just like what are you talking about? Everybody has debt and so I think you've got to surround yourself. I mean, you are what you hang around. So if you hang around a bunch of people who are in debt and are going to just constantly be pestering you to spend money, that's most likely what you're end up going to do. So finding that group or accountable people that are kind of like-minded, super important for motivation, because the world will work against you when it comes to this.
Brad Nelson:
All right, guys, if you are ready to break free from living paycheck to paycheck. You want to reduce financial stress, build savings and finally pay off debt for good, but you're not sure where to start? Don't worry, we've got you covered. The Simplify my Money is sent each Sunday to your email. Now it is your step-by-step roadmap to better financial control. You're also going to be learning easy-to-follow strategies to manage your money effectively. Going to be learning easy to follow strategies to manage your money effectively, stress-free money decisions that will help you simplify your financial life with proven tips that actually work and gain the tools and the confidence to tackle your financial goals head on. Sign up for a Simplify my Money by clicking the link at the top of the show. First, we have hope.
Amber Taylor:
My second round emergency fund is almost at $2,000. Two more pay periods and I will hit my goal.
Brad Nelson:
Way to go, Hope. Congratulations to you, Hannah. I'm four days in and I just drafted my goal. Awesome Way to go, Hope. Congratulations to you, Hannah. I'm four days in and I just drafted my very first budget. Hannah, congratulations to you.
Kati Hatfield:
A big step. And Carla, after paying off her car last month, way to go. They just sent her a refund totaling about two payments. That's a nice little surprise to get, Awesome surprise.
Ryan Nelson:
And Gina cleaned up her budget this month and she tracked all of her expenses.
Brad Nelson:
As always, guys, congratulations to all of you guys who are taking a stand for your financial life and are wanting better. Hey, we get that. Getting out of debt isn't easy, but with our help and with your consistency and discipline, we promise you guys, this will be some of the best work that you guys do in your entire life. Thanks for joining us on today's show and we will see you guys on the next episode.
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