The Truth

Ever since Brian and I started dating, he wanted to make sure I was aware of the debt that he had. My first thought was, “Wow that’s a lot, that sucks.” (Obviously not knowing yet that I was going to marry him). As the months went on, I finally came to see that he might be the one. After we got engaged, debt was a little more of a subject to talk about. Since I was living under my parent’s roof for so long, I wasn’t used to paying for things myself. So the whole idea of not being able to buy ANYTHING I wanted with my extra money kind of frightened me. I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to live the life I thought that I needed to in order to be happy. Well, with lots of alone time praying and talking to God about what and where my motives were, I came to the realization that that’s actually not the life I wanted! The life I want is to worship and glorify Him in all that I do. Making money an idol and thinking that it was the one thing that could make me happy in life was stupid.

I’m not saying that everything went smoothly after God showed me what was true… Before we got married, we decided to do the envelope system with cash and only use our debit cards for gas and if our car breaks down, etc. After we got married, we needed to start doing things that married couples do, like grocery shopping :) Just the other day we went and it was hard for both of us. We wanted to buy the things we “wanted”, not “needed”. For example, I wanted to buy coffee creamer and he wanted to get some junk food. The funny thing is, we had milk at home for coffee and some left over snacks from our honeymoon trip. Its things like not buying the little extra things that make you realize that you don't need them at all. That’s when you count up the months in which you are not buying the things you want and see how much you are saving! 

The other day I went to lunch with my best friend and I knew that I would have to be careful of how much I spent. We went to True Food and I decided to order a $14 meal thinking that I would have leftovers to bring home to my hubby. Well, it turned out I ate the whole thing! It wasn’t very much, just a gluten free pasta dish and I didn’t even get a drink with it. I knew that it was a little too pricy to get, but I got it anyway. After I finished my pasta, a thought came to me… TIP! I forgot about adding tip into the whole thing. The bill came to about $16. When I left the restaurant, I felt guilty. I felt like I spent unnecessary money and I wasn’t even with Brian! Anyway, I came home and told Brian that I hated how I felt after spending that much on myself and told him that I don’t think that our new sacrifices will be too hard because of how I felt afterward.

There are so many ways to save money and use it wisely, you just have to find what way works best for you! Right now, Brian and I have a “debt jar” and any change or extra cash we make/find, we put it in and it’s the best feeling!  I would suggest that to anyone :) 

Thanks for reading my thoughts! I hope that someone out there can relate to what my feelings are and have been toward paying off debt. 


-Steph