We Did Our Debt Free Scream — Now What?

Those of you on any form of social media or group chat with me, you probably know by now that Tom and I got to do our “Debt Free Scream” this past Thursday.

We began our budget for February a few weeks ago, I told Tom that I think we were going to be able to pay off the last of our debt. You know what? He cried. Sobbing mess. No, not really. But we both got teary-eyed and took a moment to think about what in the world “debt free” would actually mean for us. We were toward being debt free for so long that the actual thought of it happening wasn’t something that had crossed our minds.

The instant change

Tom and I each immediately had a reaction as soon as we pushed the button to pay off our debt.

My reaction

For the first time in years, I was able to see clearly what I wanted. Tom felt stuck in his work the last few months and I felt obligated to work more.

Putting the kids in public schools would have been easy. Working a regular day job to help pay off our debt was something I could easily do.

I had started thinking of debt as a permanent situation.

As soon as we paid off that debt, I felt like I could breathe again. I realized how possible it was for me to homeschool the kids and travel with them…just like I had always dreamed.

All those things I had been doubting and second guessing, I was now able to see clearly.

Tom’s reaction

Within minutes of paying off our last debt (not including mortgage) Tom instantly started plotting a plan of how we could pay off our mortgage.

Here I am thinking for the first time in our lives we can really work at building a substantial savings and Tom is ready to take on a couple hundred thousand dollars of debt.

Don’t get me wrong, I love his enthusiasm…but give me a minute to just enjoy the moment, Buddy.

Do we plan on tackling the mortgage?

Yes!! I mean, we just freed up 30% of Tom’s take home pay … not including any money I make each month. Which means we can quite possibly begin to save over half of our income each month.

Just imagine were we would be without a mortgage payment!!

The long term goals

So what is next? Let me tell you:

• Build wealth
• Travel
• Make small changes to the house
• Add a patio
• Finish the basement
• …downsize again?

Honestly, it’s all up in the air right now…besides the fact that we know we are going to work on building up our savings.

Next month, we’ll be opening several different accounts to help us manage our money better and smarter from here on out.

The sky is the limit

No matter what happens, or where we end up, the one thing I know is that we have a major confidence that we can tackle anything this world can throw at us.