3 Listener Debt Payoff Stories

doing a Christmas special this year. We're doing a buy Nothing Day special, but I think you should go back and listen to it, at least the intro. Please. If you're if you're a Star Wars fan, you'll get it. If you're not, you won't get it, but she'll probably still be amused. Yeah, Christmas special, okay, just it's the episode that was closest to Christmas last year. Today is a little different. We're not re enacting any cool scenes, but we are bringing you the debt payoff stories of

three of our listeners. And these were the three bravest people that were willing to record themselves and send it in to the podcast. Amazing. It's yeah, it's so interesting. We hear that feedback all the time. We want to hear from listeners. We want to hear from them. We give the opportunity, and there's three brave folks who rose to the top in their defense. So we only talked about it in social media and in our Facebook group and in our club BFF, so we didn't really talk

about it on the show. But we do give everyone an opportunity with Bill of the Week, and that's much easier. So but this one, I think we are going to listen to some um debt free stories that you guys love, and if you want to, we'll give you the episodes for some other debt free stories that you can listen to as well. But first our sponsors. This episode is

brought to you by Continuing Education. Paying off debt is a marathon, not a sprint, and any runner will tell you that training is a prerequisite to finishing a marathon. Typically unless you're that girl who got what silver or bronze in the Olympics this past year for her marathon. But whatever, we are not her. We want to help you finish your financial marathon with this weekly dose of encouragement from the show but also educational resources in our

new digital shop. So we've got a ton of affordable workbooks, challenges, printables and all that that launches today to keep you motivated and growing on your journey to financial freedom. We will be adding more every month, but as this kickoff launch buy Nothing Day special, we want to give you through the end of the month a code for a fifty dollar credit to the store, and you just need

to use code fifty freedom. That's five zero freedom. If you get our emails, you'll see the code in your inbox and you can find the shop at Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash shop. So that should allow you to get one or two things for free, so you still are buying nothing. Oh yes, getting something for nothing still a great value. Also brought to you by Cheese. Yep, it has nothing to do with today's episode topic, theme,

or really anything else we're gonna talk about today. Cheese just really wanted to sponsor us, and we had to fit them in somewhere. Cheese, the desperate but tasty sponsor Cheese man. Okay, I mean it was it was tough, tore a. Where are we going to put Oh, everyone loves it. Everybody has nothing to do with this episode. But you know, you know what, now here's the tie in. Everybody loves cheese and everybody loves debt payoff stories. They

are the two most requested things. Like always, like I request, we get debt payoff story requests all the time, and I'm always requesting cheese. So that's the tie in. That's great. And now cheese is going to have to pay us more because we did tie it into the episode. So cheese, pass in cheese. That's fine. Pair it with wine even better. Oh heah. I'm still waiting for them to sponsor the show, specifically the Audi Wine Advent calendar, another thing we talked

I am, I am, but more obsessed. I really want the sparkling wine one that leads up to the New Year's That's the one I really want. Anyways, let's talk about debt freedom. So we have a lot of episodes featuring guests who've paid off debt, so you can cue these ones up. Get your phone ready. So episode one seventy nine, we talked to our friend El Martinez. Her and her husband paid off thirty three thousand dollars of debt by switching to living on just one income and

banking the second for their debt. So if you are a dual income household and want to learn that, key up. Episode one nine um Episode one fifty five is how budget Girl Sarah Wilson paid off thirty eight thousand dollars of debt on a low income. And Sarah was living on her own very low income and was able to pay off thirty thousand dollars and I think three years.

Her story is amazing. She is amazing. She has an amazed saying YouTube channel uh, and so she's living in financial freedom right now because as a result of paying off her debt. And so if you are single and or low income, episode one is a great one for you. And then we have episode one forty three how Lydia Sen paid off thirty six thou dollars of debt on one income. So she was a stay at home mom who also side hustle has four kids I think three to four, and they were able to pay off their

debt um with just her husband working. So if you have family and kids and you want to hear more of that, side Lydia is also just hilarious, Like if you should for sure follow her on Instagram and TikTok because it will be a delight in your life. So

that's episode one. So we kind of try to run the gamut on the stories that we tell on the show, and we didn't do a lot this year because we felt like we were really really got it down in but we will double the number of debt payoff stories we feature on the show next year, So get ready for Yeah two is going to be another year full

of really interesting debt payoff stories. So if you have a unique situation that you'd like to hear a perspective, a debt payoff perspective from somebody in a unique situation, I mean, we covered a lot of them in two, like high cost of Living, we had a nurse come on and talk about healthcare and debt payoff like we had so many But if you still have listened to all of them and haven't found somebody that you can

really resonate with, let us know in an email. Send us an email and we'll try and find somebody who sounds like you, looks like you, you know whatever, so that you can see more people, um more relatable people paying off debt And maybe even this episode will help with that. As we listen to some of you and get inspired by your stories and how you did it in this little snapshot. We love what we loved at

payoff stories. They're so inspirational and to hear it from a variety of perspectives and circumstances can really help us to see, Oh, no matter where I find myself, this is an aim. May not may not look the same, may not take the same amount of time with somebody else, but we can do it. You can do it. You can do it, yes, and we so we want to give you all that you need to keep you going on that journey. So let's listen in on our very

first listener debt Payoff story. Here we go. Hi, I'm Tiffany Little from Heiser, Kentucky and April of two thousands, not telling I really started the DIBt free journey. We had trotted a few times and things just always seem to happen and pop up, and we would, you know, change our minds and just go back to our old ways. But so far, since two thousand nineteen, we have stuck with this and we are very near to the end

of the road. So in this time we've paid off about fifty five thousand dollars in consumer debt, credit cards, all along student long things like that. Actually, next month I will be making my final payment on my van, and so we will be free of consumer debt and

only all on our mortgage. This has been a process of about two and a half years, and in that two and a half years, we've had a combined in come, starting out with about seventy nine thousand dollars and through some raises and rank changes in our jobs we are educators,

and so we're now at ninety nine thousand dollars. The turning point for me in really cracking down and sticking with this goal of being debt free was in a couple of years ago when our retirement system that we had, you know, we wanted to be teachers because there was just a great retirement plan and you're well taken care of. You have this insurance available, and you have these payments that you're you're going to be drawing your your retirement

checks until basically you die. They take care of you. And so a couple of years ago, the system is broken. Is still broken, but our governor, in an attempt to fix it, tried to enact some bills which would turn that great comfortable retirement plan into a four old one

K that you know eventually could run out. And so at that time I took that my future into my own hands and decided, I want to become debt free so that I can really invest in UM, my own retirement plan, and basically have myself set up well so that I will never have to worry about running out of money whenever I reached that point in my life.

So far in the present, you know, the opportunities that have are a reason from paying off our debt is basically just that we're not living paycheck to paycheck anymore. When we first started this journey, we were living paycheck to paycheck with maybe you know, a couple hundred dollars at the end of the month leftover. Probably not really,

We're gonna probably spend that too. But now whenever I go to UM, you know, we get paid, I go in and I pay my bills, and I'm looking at the end of all of the bills and I'm like, wait, how do we have this much money? Because I'm so used to having to write out my entire paycheck to pay off debt, and now that's not the case. So for anyone who is thinking about joining the journey, or if you're on the journey now, just remember that there's always gonna be bumps in the road. Things are going

to happen. You're gonna have setbacks, You're gonna have these times where you feel like you're going in reverse in your accruing at extra day. But if you just stue the course, eventually you will get to the end of the road and it is so very worth it. Wow, thank you so much for sharing that with us, Tiffany. That is a lot of money. Fifty dollars in consumer debt. Tiffany, well done, and thank you for being brave to share this with our audience. And man, what an accomplishment. Next

month we're celebrating with you. Potentially by the time this is airing, you are probably consumer debt free. Well done now with only your mortgage to go amazing. I also love to see how you've increased your combined income. It sounds like as educators, so probably both of you working in relatively earning jobs and yet still doing amazing stuff with your money. How incredible to hear. I know so many of our listeners are going to resonate with this.

I loved also the The inspiration behind the debt payoff was the retirement. I think it's so important that we don't rely on other people to fund our retirement, even if you do have a guaranteed pension, which is great, I am absolutely not against those. But two additionally, protect yourself with some like roth ira A or ira A just as a backup, because when somebody else controls your retirement, then you are at their mercy. Even if they don't

take it away altogether, but take it away partially. It it warps your entire plan for your future. And four one case are great, but when you're relying on something you know that's supposed to be guaranteed for so long and then they place it with a four oh one K, then you are ten steps behind because you could have been saving for that and and you no longer you

don't have that and what you were planning anymore. And so I think it's really important for educators, firefighters, police, military, regardless of what is supposed to be guaranteed to you have something additional, even if it's just a little bit on the back burner, so that you can have time

in the market to be just just in case. I also appreciate Tiffany, how you've described what it has afforded you, kind of being able to look back and reflect upon the step payoff journey, not just for the destination, but what you've learned along the way, and that now you don't need to worry about living paycheck to paycheck, That there are these habits cultivated that is allowing you to

live in just greater amounts of freedom. And then this final message so beautiful, to expect setbacks that they will happen, and stay the course. I think that is such an important message for all of us because it does take time. For most people, it takes years at least to be able to move from this point of recognition to making changes to actually achieving debt freedom. And so in that process,

life happens, circumstances change. Expect it. Don't allow that to knock you off the wagon for the rest of eternity. It's okay, it happens to all of us. Stay the course, get back on. Thanks so much, Tiffany, I'm sure you've encouraged so many. Yeah, and one last thing I'll say is that raising your income, your annual income from seventy nine thousand, tod is no easy feat and but people

think it's impossible, especially as educators. I know many teachers who have come to me and said, well, they can't pay me more so I and I, you know, technically losing money every year because the raises aren't enough to

keep up with inflation. So I get that. But there are other education adjacent ways to make money too, So you can still use your giftings, and you can use your time wisely to be increasing your income, even if it's just for a season, or maybe you're just putting in some time to create something that's maybe a little bit now, but it will work up to being you know, a more passive income or higher income stream later. So just being intentional with putting in the time and effort

that it takes to increasing your income. I love how debt payoff alerts people to the problem of their income and really gets them on the path to working and taking small steps to increasing income that they wouldn't have otherwise if they weren't trying to pay off debt like I like. I look at my mom for example, She's never had a reason to try and increase her income, so she her wages have been stagnant for years, if

not decades. So it is really important to be intentional and to just change the mindset from you know, the government controls my wage. Two, I control how much I make beautiful. Yeah, and that's incredible dollars. You both increased your income in a couple of years. It's amazing. That's amazing. Yeah. So congratulations, Tiffany. We are so proud of you, and I know that all of the rest of our frugal

friends are really proud of you. So if you see Tiffany in the Frugal Friends community on Facebook, give her a shout out one of the brave ones. Yes, let's get into our second debt payoff story. Yeah, hey, Jenn and Jill, It's Jocelyn from Delaware. So my debt payoff story. I paid off over thirteen thousand in credit card debt

and over ninety thousand in student loans. I started taking this payoff journey seriously around the end of twenty twelve, so from November twelve until August it took about ten months to pay off thirteen K and then once that happened, it took me from September thirteen until February twenty twenty about six and a half years. I think that's six

and a half to pay off thousand. The debt was mostly from graduate school, so I had about eighty thousand taken out to get my clinical master's degree in prosthetics and orthotics and about fifteen thousand from my undergraduate degree. Um. Of course, instead of going straight into work after grad school, I ended up racing as a professional triathlete for three years, which was back when student loan interest rates were very, very low, so that was around two thousand eight two

thousand nine UM. So that's how I ended up racking up the credit card debt was from professional triathlon, and that's also how I didn't quite make a dent on my student loans. I was able to, I think, defer them um and then just pay the minimum on another one. So being an approach triathlete does not pay very much

at all. It was also during that the Great Recession, so around twenty the prize money, purses and the sponsorships were really drying up, so of course I eventually ran out of money racing racing around the world, and I went back to work as a procetus orthogis. With that job, my earning started at around fifty thousand, and then eventually over six figures. As I gained more experience, I was

willing to move for new job opportunities. But most importantly, I learned to negotiate my salary to ask for what I deserved. So some things that really worked for me were deliberately moving to a lower cost of living area Delaware rather than staying in Washington, d C. Or moving back home to the San Francisco Bay area. I got better at negotiating harder for a higher salary and actually had my boss be willing to work out a deal where he helped pay off some of my student loans.

I signed a five year contract to get a ten thousand payment each year on my work anniversary that went towards my student loans exclusively UM. I was blogging about my debt payoff UM even though I kept it anonymous, and I was one of the o G listeners when Frugal Friends podcast was new. I remember the first episodes. I've called in a Bill of the Week a few

times and fairly active on the Facebook group. And I also invited Jenn and Jill to my No More Student Loans party last year that I do on Leap Day. They couldn't make it, but they gave me a shout out on the Leap Dave podcast, so I actually consider that way more awesome than going on Dave Ramsey's podcast and doing the debt free screen because it was so much cooler having been a huge fan of Frugal Friends podcast. So the best opportunity for me that's happened since paying

off debt is the birth of our first child. We've been trying for a couple of years. But coincidentally, that day of my no More student loans party was also the day of my last period, so my entire pregnancy and the life of our kid has been completely debt free. I mean there than our mortgage, the house payments, um. So this has really allowed us not to worry so

much about finances during my maternity leave. I didn't actually have to work full time during my pregnancy, which was you know, mostly during COVID anyway, and then when coming back from maternity leave just this past March. Um advice for others paying off debt it is absolutely possible, so know you're worth, follow your budget. Also, be flexible and willing to take new job opportunities that might require moving. Evaluate if you can move to an area with a

lower cost of living. That was a game changer for us. And always always always know your worth and negotiate your salary. Ask for more than what you think you should be getting, because you usually deserve more than what they're gonna offer you anyway. Thank you so much, Jen and Jill for creating this podcas Pest and this community. Love you guys.

Wow Jocelyn, Yes, it's been a pleasure too, from the very first episodes, seeing you in the Facebook group, seeing you pay off your debt, seeing you like give birth to your child, like I've I feel like we're part of your family. I really do. You're another frugal Joscelyn. You are an o G And what a compliment that this is way better for you than doing the debt free scream. I wanted to. I want it to be I want to do something like this more frequently. So

that is just affirming what I want to do. So thank you for affirming me. There's so many golden nuggets and what you've just shared, so Jenn and I are just going to go through it and highlight this awesomeness that you just shared with us, And thank you for calling it in you are so active all your bills of the week and how you engage in the Facebook group to now sharing this story so amazing. So for starters,

holy smokes. That's a lot of student loans. And I think that there's probably a lot of people out there who are going to resonate with this, even just for undergrad student loans. It sounds like for you there was you know, postgraduate school wrapped up in this a while back. But so many people listening, I know that's the average is getting up into the six figures as far as

student loans go. And then even your story to say that once you graduated, instead of getting right into your career, you chose to kind of pursue something that you're really good at, something that you're passionate about, to be a triathlete, Holy smokes, Jocelyn. But then to rack up that this morning swimming not for me, Oh my goodness, swimming, biking,

running and all of it back to back. Wow, we're standing And I was actually I was corrected because I was calling them bicyclists and my friend was like cyclists and I was like, dang it, I'm so not cool. Dang it. Anyways, I just had to. I respect your

triathleteism so much, Jocelyn, it's so cool. But then it's very that makes sense that you know how you were living then at the time to in order to support yourself and your expenses, having some credit card debt, so all of this is just it's so realistic, it's so relatable. But then to see how you got on track and you were able to start with that consumer debt, which

is probably where most people should start. Usually consumer debt has the higher interest rates and being able to knock that out in about a year from two thousand twelve to two thousand thirteen, and then taking the six and a half years to pay off that k in the student loans, which again a very realistic timeframe, and that's how it can take years to do this, especially when you're inching towards that six figure mark. Yeah, I mean

seven and a half years is no joke. But hey, like, honestly, can you remember the last like five years of your life? Like if you look, if you look back five years ago, so ten years ago, and so the part of your life five to ten years ago, like that five years, it's like, what did you do? Can you remember how like how it was like, eventually, that's what that series of time is going to look like to you, Like

I promise you. So it took us two years to pay off our debt, and it felt so long while we were doing it, and hindsight it feels like nothing, like our child is over two years old now, Like it's so crazy how it can be such an intimidating time frame when you're starting out, and then in hindsight it's very reasonable. But and it's seven half and a half years is still a long time. But Jocelyn, you've got like so much more than seven and a half

years left on your life. It's just the yeah, the part the ratio it is to the rest of your life is so nominal. Well, and now let's get into this next part of earnings. Thank you so much for sharing those figures. I know that's super vulnerable. A lot of times we can assume, all right, this person has their master's degree or beyond, so they must be making a ton of money. It's no problem for them to

pay this off. You shared that you started out at a fifty K salary that is very mid range, and it's you know, you increase the six figures, which well done. But I love the tips that you give that it is possible for anyone to increase income with some of these tips of building experience. Right, we can't just walk into some employer's office and say here's what I demand. We have to work towards that build up the skill set and the education and the experience. But then recognizing

our own value and negotiating. This is such a good word to put into practice, and you did it, not just on negotiating your earnings, but negotiating to have your employer help pay off student loans. Brilliant. I think that's a phenomenal tip for anybody listening in on all. Right, if your employer can't increase your salary this year, where else can there be room for negotiation? Being willing to live in a low cost area it can also help

extremely and phenomenally with that payoff. So amazing nuggets here. Yeah, I you know how I feel about income. There's just we have such a limiting mindset when it comes to how much we can earn. And Jocelyn, you did not get to six figures on accident. You worked for it. You and you didn't hustle like hustle culture, you know, like working seventy hours eighty hours a week. You negotiated, you got creative. You weren't afraid to ask, and that's

half the battle is getting creative and asking. And I love that you said, no, you're worth, but you didn't say ask for your worth because I hate the phrase like ask for what you're worth, because I am a hundred percent sure that there are so many people out there that don't know like what they are worth, and so they are worth so much more than what they think they are. So don't ever ask for your worth.

Just ask for what you want, ask for more than you think you're worth, because I assure you you are worth more than what you think you are. Um, but we have this, you know, this sense of humility that keeps us asking for less. And I do it too,

like I have to be honest. Like for one of our advertisers, they sent me the wrong person's email thread they sent they responded to me when they should have responded to somebody else, and I was able to see what this person was getting on their deal versus ours. And this person has I'm not sure what their background is, but they asked for God quadruple what we asked for, and they got it and they got it, and I

just didn't know because I didn't value myself. I didn't know what to ask for, you know, I just didn't know. And so now I know. So it's little by little asking and getting testing, continuously testing the limits because you do not know what you are capable of getting if you don't ask, if you don't go big, you miss

all the shots you don't take. Absolutely, and then this final and beautiful celebratory piece that the best thing since your debt payoff is having a child and entering into parenthood debt free without the worry and concern of extra financial stress and burden. And and the story about finding out learning that you're pregnant on the day of your celebration amazing. I did not know that piece, So all of us is so incredible, and we're celebrating with you, Jocelyn.

I know it's been a while since you have been debt free, but it is still fresh again and worth celebrating this massive accomplishment and continuing to celebrate what it has afforded you, and now being able to turn around and encourage others and saying it's possible. Know you're worth, do some of the hard things, and know that it's possible. I agree with Jocelyn A men. All right, So we got one more debt payoff story from a listener. Let's get into it. My name is Brittany. I live in Asheville,

North Carolina. I paid off sixty dollars in debt and just under five years I was making between twenty five and thirty five thousand dollars a year. During those that time, I was waiting tables. I moved to Korea to teach English for a year, and when I came back, I was I opened my own business, which is what I'm still doing now. Majority of my debt we student loans.

A little bit of it was card debt. The biggest turning point for me was when I looked at how much I owed after years of making minimum payments and realized I didn't make a dent in the over world debt. The biggest opportunity I think that it has opened up for me is being able to pay extra on the mortgage. My current plan is to have the house paid off by the time I'm forty, which will be fifteen years early. On the mortgage basically for anybody on their debt free journey.

My only advice is keep going and celebrate the little winds every time you get further in your payoff. If you pay off one small loan, you know, treat yourself to something. You have to celebrate the little things and make a system that works for you. It doesn't have to be all Dave Ramsey or all Susie Ormond. Pick out little things from everyone and make it work for you. That's my biggest piece of advice. Thank you, Wow, Brittany. That that is that is the dream that that so

many people listening to our show have. They're making a lower income. You sit here making twenty five to thirty five k per year waiting tables, and you paid off sixty five thousand dollars. And that's the place where people are coming from. It doesn't even matter if it's like you know that little and that much, but they're they're coming from a place where their debt is double what they make in a year, or more than what they make in a year, and it's it's overwhelming. And you

dug in and you did it. So congratulations, Brittany. I agree, Brittany, this is incredibly inspiring. I know so often this is one of the biggest barriers for people in debt payoff. Of well, that sounds all fine and good for people who make six figures, but I make very little money. There's no possible way and just throw the hands in

the air and move on living paycheck to paycheck. But you found a different route for yourself, and I really hope that folks listening can take this to heart for wherever you find yourself, that even when making to thirty five thousand dollars a year and your debt payoff would mean more than double what you make in one year, it's still possible. It's going to take a long time, and it's going to take hard word, and it most likely will include trying to find ways to earn more,

but it still is possible. And I love how you described what the prompt was for you to actually look at what you owe, the dent that you've made in it so far? Right, What did I used to owe? What do I owe? Now? Oh goodness, I've been making these payments and it's not decreasing the amount that I owed. I think so many of us that that is the case.

Maybe we choose to not even look at it, but if we do, that could be an incredible motivator of Okay, how do we actually kick this thing into high gear so that the money I am still paying actually makes a dent in this thing and someday I can find myself debt free and then beyond that, just what it's afforded you now being able to make extra payments to your mortgage and this new goal of paying off your house fifteen years early. That's gonna be incredible. And I

love that shift that does happen. That the debt payoff story doesn't just end there. It doesn't have to just end there. There's so much that we learn along the way that affords more and more for us in the future. So well done, Brittany. An amazing advice to keep going and to celebrate the little winds. I can't highlight that enough. We're not going to be able to keep doing this if we're not rewarding ourselves in small ways allowing ourselves

to see the progress. Congratulate ourselves for the progress that we've made. Incredible, incredible advice, Brittany, and well done. Yeah, sometimes we can get so done on ourselves for just the fact that we got ourselves into this quote unquote mess that it's hard to celebrate the winds when you're getting out of it. But I just want to push back on that and say, if that is what you're feeling, like, that's a lie. Your accomplishments to get out of debt

and to improve your life deserve to be celebrated. So please do celebrate your winds, even if they seem small to you, still celebrate them. You don't have to obviously spend money to celebrate them, but I but I want you to look back at the entirety of your journey every so often so that you can see, uh, the progress that you've made financially, mentally, physically, um with your relationships.

There are so many things. This is definitely a holistic it's it's paying off debt, but the changes are holistic. The changes are to everything, so you know, reward yourself, celebrate that accomplishment that you are changing the entirety of your life by doing this one small thing and focusing on it. And I also loved how you said, Brittany, that you can take what works for you, take you. No person is infallible, so no person's advice, including ours, should a be taken at face value or be be

taken in entirety. You should always look for the good and what somebody is saying and how it works for you, and leave what doesn't work for you. Just how there are very controversial financial gurus, they still have some good things to say. So I think we can, you know, accept what is good works for us and put back what does not, And so we hope you do the same thing with this show. Um, so thank you so much, Brittany.

Take the meat, spit out the bones, and sometimes spit out the fat if you're not into fat, so yeah, or just eat the whole vegetable. For sure. That's really my favorite thing to do. But besides that, my other favorite thing to do every week. None of it has to be thrown out, not a bit the bill. That's that's right. It's time for the best minute of your entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his name

is Williams. Maybe you paid off your mortgage, maybe your car died and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore. Duck bills, Buffalo bills, Bill Clinton, this is the bills of the week. I done, and Joe, this is Brittany Anderson, and I just want to say I am loving the show. I'm inventing all the episodes while I walk fields at work. I get the Scout corn for a living. But I wanted to share my

bill of the week. Uh. Recently our oven went out on our gas range and I bake a lot, so it was a big deal and we're talking about getting a new oven. And I just came across your repair and Maintenance episode and thought, hey, let's look into this a little further. And we watched some YouTube videos and found a common thing that goes out on um gas ovens is the ignitor at the bottom. So my husband bought a thirty dollar part, watched some YouTube videos, and

replaced it. So instead of spending thousands of dollars on a new range, we spent thirty bucks. And my oven is back up and working. So keep up the good work and have a great day. Thanks bye. Oh my gosh, I'm jumping out literally is oh my gosh, we just saved you thousands of dollars. I'm going that's so awesome that you just you got creative, like you didn't jump to like spending money to solve the problem. You thought you.

You just had this trigger that was like embedded in the frugal mentality to be like, Okay, before I go out and buy another range, let me just see if there's something I can do. And there was. They're not. There isn't always something you can do, but in this case there was, and it saved you a ton of money, and it saved probably saved a range from just sitting in a junkyard somewhere being stripped for parts. So there's so many good things here, Brittany. You've made my week,

possibly my year. Just I I'm so excited for you and well done that you didn't just take this as an opportunity to blow a bunch of money and buy a new new Range, which if it was broken forever, sure that might be necessary, but to problem solve and get your hands dirty and fix it and not spend months thirty dollar apart over a couple thousand all our new range. Wow, Britain. Love it so glad to be a part of you, this journey with you, Love this

journey for you. If you've got a bill that you think is going to make us just jaw dropped in celebratory amazement, visit or leave it for us at Bogle Friends podcast dot com, slash bill, you can visit it. You can leave it for friends podcast. Shook. Yeah, she is visibly shook. I can't even here. I'm so excited. I love problem solving and fixing and then it saved

you money. Who that's her language? Could job burday. And now it's time for thend jazzed like inside my mind, oh wow, we should be recording this, but we are not. So today's lightning round is we are going to share what we are most thankful about, thankful for about our debt payoff journeys. So you've heard our debt payoff stories in in other episodes, or at least parts of it. But I think it being the day after Thanksgiving, I think gratitude should last five days a year and not

just one day. And so let's continue this uh spirit of of gratitude because even in the hard things, there are things to be thankful for. And I think so much more like we can say, you know, in hard things that weren't our fault and we're like ultimately difficult and sad, there are still things that you can be thankful for in that and it's hard to find that.

So when we take something like paying off debt, which we know will have a positive outcome, and we are self imposing some of this challenge, this hardship for something better, for something and pentional, I think it's it's easier to

see what you can be thankful for. And I think if we train ourselves in doing more gratitude identification through stuff like this, then when you know other bad things happen that we can't control, then we're more open to seeing like how the changes can be more life giving or how we can find gratitude in those more difficult seasons. Gratitude is so important. It does carry us through. It helps us to see the good, the life giving, the beautiful,

even in the midst of difficulty. So yeah, yeah, this isn't it. Gratitude is an important part of the debt payoff process and then even ongoing from there. Yeah, it's important part of the like a frugal lifestyle, because when you are thankful for what you have, and you are thankful for what you have been through and what you are going through, then you don't idolize or envy what other people have and what other people are you know, look like they are not going through So it really is.

It's an integral part of the frugal lifestyle for sure. What about for you, Jen? What seeing as pieces of gratitude since your debt payoff? So obviously it changed the trajectory of my life. I was an acupuncturist and now I host a personal finance podcast, and it is allowing me to do the most life giving work, like watching people lay down the idol of consumerism and pick up the freedom of living in their true north. Is the

only thing I want to do with my life. And I didn't know that before, and now, like I get choked up thinking about it, like how much I want to do that and how often I want to help people do that? So that hold on, we should should have videotaped the Yeah, it really is like so deep, Okay, yeah,

I didn't expect that. Okay, well anyways, and then you are doing that, and I think our community absolutely resonates with that, like that they are saying, this is what we're doing for people, right like Brittany, we helped her not spend money on a arrange and and get that fixed and so so much more that yeah, you are doing it, You've done it. For yourself and you've been able to turn around and help others do that and

how meaningful and purposeful. Yeah, and I think this is this show has been the most significant source of that. There's not been. I mean, I've written books and those have been great, and and people have emailed me how they've they've changed their life, but like nothing in comparison to what we get from this show. And literally would not be able to do it without you, Jail, so take part in everything that I'm saying about, like the mission.

So yeah, and then it also just led me down a path of self discovery and intentional living, Like there were so many things about my life that I thought were not that were necessary. And people can say this in their twenties, but sometimes they don't realize it until maybe their forties or fifties, that so much of what

they thought was important was not. And so I was, you know, through this journey, able to realize it in my twenties and able to then say, Okay, if I don't care about this, then what do I care about? What is my life goal and my purpose? And it led me into that journey. So I am all of the blocking the friends on Facebook and all of the not getting to do the things that I wanted or thought I should be able to do, and really like not doing things that I did deserve. You know, I don't.

I don't believe in that thing is like, if you can't afford it, you don't deserve it. There are a lot of things that a lot of people deserve that they can't afford. But the choosing not to do it, it was all worth it. Thankful. That's me. How about you, Jeel, Well, you know, similar to you Jen. The things that I'm grateful for about the debt payoff journey and what it has afforded me, it's not materialistic. It is the intangibles. It's what it has created within my life and perspective,

beliefs and behavior that I'm ultimately grateful for. It's these more deep rooted you use the term true north, and that's really resonating with me. You know this, this whole process has allowed the important things to come to the surface.

It has been a bit of a refining process for me that I'm not sure I would have arrived at without the debt payoff journey and the journey of frugality and asking ourselves and one another the hard questions and so my my biggest There's so much to be grateful for with this, but I think some of my biggest gratitude pieces is how the debt payoff journey for me

has taught me simplicity and contentment. Throughout the way that I approached the debt payoff journey was in tinier living in non traditional living environments, which forced me into a more simple lifestyle which wasn't without its pain points, but has long term produced in me just simplicity across the board and deeper levels of contentment that I cherish and I have to work actively to maintain those pieces in me as I'm no longer in those exact situations Gens.

But my goodness, I don't know if I would have arrived here without that process and journey and and then beyond that community, I mean, holy smokes, Jen, I mean hopefully I don't get choked up here, But friendship with you, I think that the debt payoff journey frugality has brought

things into my life that wouldn't have happened otherwise. Like people comment all the time, you guys are actually friends, like yes, and I think deeper friends because of this, we would not talk weekly daily were most often we talked daily if it weren't for the community that we've built, what it has produced inside of us. I mean, I'm going on like a monologue now, Yeah, there's so much gratitude here, but I think I would highlight it's not materialistic.

It has just brought about a deeper awareness of the things that truly matter and have helped me to focus in on my values and to get at that more and more and invite others into that journey. So it's and this episode is like case in point of highlighting the voices of those in our community and how even this podcast has been a small part of those individuals journeys and my goodness, if that's not something to celebrate. Yeah, I there's just so much to be thankful for, Like

I cannot list everything. I'm so thankful for you, Jill. I'm so thankful for the show and the people around it who listen. We have tens of thousands of people who have listened to this show, and it baffles my mind then that is possible, and so we're so thankful for you. Without you, we would not have a show like without you listening, right, now we wouldn't we wouldn't still be doing this. Jill and I would just hang out. We wouldn't do we have a friendship as deep of

a friendship. Yeah, I mean it would it was Yeah, I mean, I just yeah, you are the reason we were we are able to do this. Like you may think you're just like a number, but like every number helps us get advertisers that support the show and help us turn down less life giving projects to do more of this for you. And so it's a it's a cycle that um god, I'm internally grateful for Thank you. Happy Thanksgiving m hm, So thank you for leaving your reviews,

listening everything you do. We hope that this has brought you some encouragement and inspiration if you're working to pay off debt, and just reiterating that to paying off debt is not necessarily a numbers goal. It's not something you do to come out on top mathematically. It's something you do to put yourself on a solid foundation to to live out your dreams, you know. And it has a financial component, and and it is this challenge that we can undertake that which by doing so, gets us closer

to who we want to be. And how we want to live, and so there's so much wrapped up in this journey that when people tell you it's not the best mathematical solution for you know, growing wealth, I mean, um, they might, they're not wrong, But if your goal is to live a full life over growing an arbitrary amount of net worth, then then we really feel like this

is an integral part to that journey. And so so we thank you for listening, um, and we thank you for your kind reviews like this one from Best Be You and it just happens to be five stars as inspirational podcast. Jen and Jill have inspired me to take charge of my finances. I love all the frugal real life tips along with the community they've built to encourage and support all of our winds and fails. That just reiterates like everything we've been saying, so thank you. I

think that's Allison, So thank you Allison. Wow. Yeah, that's such a common theme as the community component to this. It's it's cool, so grateful for you all. We also want to thank all of you are friends who share these episodes on social media. So when you share the latest episode on Instagram, we're adding you two our monthly drawing for every five tags and reviews we get each month, we're giving away fifty dollars for you to spend in the Frugal Friends shop. We're so excited about this shop.

So many goodies and digital products, and they're all aimed at helping you on this very journey, whether you're still in debt payoff or you're beyond debt payoff and kind of considering, where are your priorities, what you want to be working on now, check out the shop and let us just continue to be a support to you and

build community around you. Absolutely so, keep leaving us reviews where ever you listen to podcasts and sending us the screenshot to Frugal Friends podcast at gmail dot com, and don't forget to tag us on social See you next week. Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Syrian Jen. This feels like such a sacred episode to me, like you really got vulnerable in that lightning round. I know my goal is always to try and get you vulnerable and then

turn around and backfires on me. We're always vulnerable, which just tears don't often happen, but I think it's an indicative of how deep this goes for you in this specific area, and I resonate with you. I Yeah, I think it has brought up for me. Even just hearing you describes much gratitude and reflection on what this has provided to all of us. Yeah. I don't take for granted that I get to do what I love, and over seventy of people like statistically do not do what

they love. Uh, And so I think financial freedom allows you the opportunity to be in the thirty percent. And so I I love my business and the flexibility it offers me, and I want that for other people too. We can cultivate and you know, up that number to forty. I truly believe that. Yeah. Yeah, people just need to know that it's possible and receive the support around them to do it. Yeah. Absolutely thankful, thankful for you, and thankful for all of this. So grateful for you and

for our frugal friends. So beautiful, what a lovely episode. Yes,