Chris and his fiancé have decided to pursue a journey of self-discovery and financial freedom in their trailer! Enjoy reading about their financial freedom journey!
My financial journey began about 10 years ago when I decided to attend law school. I realized half way through that I would not enjoy practicing law, but thought I was in too deep to not graduate. Chasing “better” jobs took me from St. Louis to Houston, and then to Austin where I live now. I have practiced as a tax attorney for the past five years, all the while knowing that line of work did not align with my goals or values. It took my dad being diagnosed with cancer at the age of 58 for me to decide I needed to take control of my finances. And it took my dad passing away a year and a half later to motivate me to not let my debt control my lifestyle or decisions.
My fiancé and I have been saving for about a year in order to travel around the US this summer in a teardrop trailer we bought from a retired friend. We are documenting our adventure at thesunsetseekers.com and keeping our minds open for future employment in order to find a lifestyle and employ more in-line with our values.
1. What kind of debt do you have? How much is it? How long have you been paying it off and when will you be debt-free?
My debt balance currently stands at $199,000 with interest accumulation. That consists of $150,000 in student loans from law school, $30,000 in student loans from undergrad, $15,000 in bar study loans, and $5,000 from an emergency loan. I also racked up $3,000 in bad credit card debt taking a totally unnecessary trip to Key West to run away from my problems because I hated my first job so much. I nearly lost a friendship over that because I committed to taking a trip I couldn’t afford.
I have been chipping away at the balance since 2012 and have managed to fully pay off a $25,000 car loan. If my current projections stand, I expect to be debt-free from student loans in 23 years. I am two years into my income based repayment plan that allows for loan forgiveness after 25 years. Enrolling in this plan allows us to step away from high-paying corporate jobs and take advantage of our good health and overall flexibility, knowing that next year’s required payments will be much lower.
2. Why did you decide to pay off your debt?
I tried to ignore my debt for a long time. I would say finally acknowledging that most of my emotional turmoil and stress was rooted in my debt helped me face it. I hate the feeling and fear of being trapped and chained to an office job doing the same thing over and over again forever. The realization that I could change that narrative was the motivation I needed to pay off debt.
3. What strategies are you using to pay off your debt? What was the craziest thing you did to get out of debt?
Considering I was in denial about my debt for awhile, the first strategy I used was registering for Mint to figure out how much debt I actually have. I had an idea of how much it was in total, but I didn’t know the exact number and I remember being pretty horrified when I saw the full tally. From there, I looked at my income and built my own budget that works for me. I set goals of when I want to have everything paid off and started working on the highest interest debt first.
I also downloaded Changed, an app that withdraws “round up” amounts from every transaction you make into an FDIC insured escrow account and makes a payment toward your loans when that account balance reaches $100. The app calculates how much you save in interest by making these additional payments, which is empowering.
As for crazy moves, I sold the drift boat I used to work as a fishing guide every summer through law school and undergrad to get caught up on my student loan payments. Looking back that was a terrible decision. I love being on the water and that sent me into a negative spiral of letting my debt control my decisions and then being depressed about my situation.
4. How has your family been impacted by your financial journey?
The biggest impact has been the emotional toll. At my lowest point, my family was worried about my mental health, something that began to deteriorate under the weight of so much debt. I remember my sister crying when my mom got a phone call early on from my student loan servicer because I had missed a payment.
As the oldest child, I try to hold myself to a higher standard and I clearly had not lived up to that. I also had to have a long conversation with my now fiancé about how my loans were going to affect our relationship. She has only ever had a car loan, so being in debt is stressful for her.
5. What’s the hardest part about getting out of debt?
The hardest part about getting out of debt is mentally accepting your past mistakes. I love Vicki Robin’s quote “No shame, No blame”. I wish I would have read and understood the steps of Your Money or Your Life much earlier in life, but if I had, we likely would not be having this conversation. Unfortunately, debt has become my burden to bear, but changing my mindset about debt was easily the hardest part. It’s very dangerous to tell yourself that this is how things are going to be forever and I believed that for a long time.
6. What are your goals once you’re debt-free?
My goal once debt-free is to continue accumulating wealth to help protect my family from the vulnerability debt forces upon you. I am also committed to continuous learning and developing new ways to support my family – currently my fiancé and two dogs. While we still have awhile before I am debt-free, the goal now that I am in control of my debt, is to stay in control and to seek more fulfilling opportunities.
It took me five years of working in tax consulting telling myself I had to do so in order to pay off my loans, to learn that this life is not the life for me. So we have saved basically a year of expenses and debt payments, and we are embarking on a journey of self-discovery and adventure. We are thrilled to see what happens, but it’s amazing to know I will not be doing the same thing over and over again, week after week, month after month.
7. How do you think your life will change by being debt-free?
My fiancé and I will be able to breathe easier knowing there is more room in the budget and a few more dollars in the bank. I will spend a lot less time checking those online accounts!