FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!

UPDATE: Here is a link to our Dropbox that contains Dave Ramsey reading our debt free e-mail on air to 5 million listeners. It would have been great to speak to him, but we're just as excited about it.

$0. That's the amount left on my student loans. After 25 months, we are so happy to announce that we are debt free apart from the mortgage. As I sit back and reflect on that thought, it just gets sweeter and sweeter. Sallie Mae no longer shacks up in our spare bedroom. The Old Woman has been kicked to the curb and is out of our lives! How sweet is that!

On one hand, it has been a hard 25 months. We've had to say "no" to a lot of things, furniture, painting the house, new cars, little toys here and there, eating out, bare minimum on groceries. On the other hand, it hasn't been as hard as we thought. We've still been able to take frugal trips to see friends within driving distance. We've celebrated debt pay-off milestones with occasional splurges (iPad, sectional couch). By sticking to a mutually agreed upon budget, we've actually lived pretty good. Sufficient for our needs you might say. Jayne and I were discussing this the other night. Managing your money well bleeds out into other aspects of your life. Not eating out very often has benefitted our waistlines as has sticking to a tight grocery budget. Giving every dollar a name has helped us realize that there are many things that really aren't that important to lead a fulfilling life. It has helped our marriage as we don't really fight about money anymore since we are so open with each other about each and every expense. Making a budget has been a key in that regard. I cannot stress enough how great having an agreed upon budget can be. Once you designate where every dollar goes, it honestly feels like you got a raise. It also helps the kids understand the importance of a dollar.

I loved Elder Hales' conference address from April 2009 entitled "Becoming Provident Providers Temporally and Spiritually". Here is one quote from it that sums up our feelings nicely during these last two years.

"When faced with the choice to buy, consume, or engage in worldly things and activities, we all need to learn to say to one another, “We can’t afford it, even though we want it!” or “We can afford it, but we don’t need it—and we really don’t even want it!”

All in all, we paid off about $87,000 including principle and interest. We could very easily lose control now that we essentially got a $3000/month raise. We have a plan though and will continue our frugal living and meeting new financial goals: beefing up our emergency fund, increasing retirement savings and kid's college. (On a side note, I am eternally grateful to my parents and grandparents for being wise enough to set money aside since we were young for college, we would have at least double the debt we did had it not been for their foresight, wisdom and sacrifice in that regard.)

But first we will celebrate, just a little bit. We've been wanting to take the kids to Disneyland for a long time now and in October, we will finally do that! It feels like we won the Super Bowl of finance so what better place to go than The Happiest Place on Earth right? We haven't really told them yet. I'd like to keep it a secret for as long as I can. They've been very involved in the debt pay-off. They rejoiced with us last Friday and have been telling all their friends, "We're debt free!" I'm hoping to get through to The Dave Ramsey Show to do our debt free scream sometime soon.

Now some of you may be reading this and think, "Well, I have 2-3x's" that much in student loans, there is no way I can be that aggressive." Maybe not, everyone's situation is different. But even though it may take longer, I think you can get them done quicker than you think. Heavenly Father truly opened up doors for us to make great strides in paying down our debt. It started with a full tithe. But don't fall into the trap that you need 15 or 25 years to pay them off. That's what the bank wants you to think. Think about all that money you could save in interest that you can use to invest or use to pay down your house. Drive that car longer. Who says you need to live like a doctor/lawyer/dentist or whatever just because you "deserve it"?

I highly recommend you read two books on finance. These two books changed my life. Dave Ramsey's My Total Money Makeover and The Millionaire Next Door by Dr. Thomas Stanley. Heck, I'll even give you a copy of the Dave Ramsey book if you want it. I have 3 extra lying around for that very purpose. At the very least go back and read conference addresses on debt like the one I mentioned. Make a plan for your money. I cannot begin to describe how liberating this whole process has been.