When we first got married, Shawn and I both owed thousands of dollars in credit card debt. In addition to the stress it caused, it was delaying our lives.
If it had been up to me, I would have started a family right away, but Shawn had it in his head that, before we could have a baby, we had to have a house. And before we bought a house, we had to get out of debt.
We added up our salaries and bills, but there was just not much left over every month to chip away at our debt. Nothing like a biological clock ticking away to get a girl motivated to make some extra money.
I decided I could babysit, in addition to my full-time job. So, I made a business card and I put it all over Jersey City and Hoboken.
Was hanging out watching Barney on a Saturday night my idea of fun? No, but we needed the money, and it was something I could do on the side while working my 9 to 5.
Shawn took on part-time jobs, too. He taught himself the computer language HTML, which he used to create and manage a website for a friend’s business. And every Saturday and Sunday, he woke up at 6:00am to serve as the online sports editor for the Newark Star-Ledger newspaper.
Those jobs brought in a steady stream of extra income.
Being in debt really stinks, but getting out of it is not impossible.
Ultimately, there are two ways to improve your finances, make more or spend less. In some cases, like ours, we needed to do both.
Getting out of debt was liberating. Financial freedom isn’t free, but it is worth any and all sacrifices.
