Close your eyes.  (wait, read the next paragraph, and then close your eyes lol).

Now imagine your dream life with no debt.  Really imagine. What will that look like for you?  Are you stress-free, going on vacations, preparing for retirement, owning your home, giving generously to others, providing for your kids’ futures?  What would you do if you no longer had to give your paycheck to payback something you borrowed years ago?

If you have decided you are going to become debt free, it is vital you know your exact “WHY” when embarking on that journey.

This is such an important thing to know whether your journey will take 1-2 years, 2-5 years, or if you are like me, 7-10 years.

When you decide to pay off debt, you should be so driven, you can feel it in your bones.  I remember this aching feeling inside when I thought about our debt, and I knew I wanted nothing more than to gain control of our paychecks and our life.  I was DESPERATE.  You need a fire within to become ignited by this process.  If you are semi-committed and think it’s a good idea so you will see how it goes; you will not be successful.  You need to know your “why” and want that more than anything!

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I sat down three years ago and really figured out my “why.”  Since then, I have turned to it again and again during times of weakness.  Your “why” is going to be what keeps you going throughout the whole process, and will also remind you what to celebrate at the end.

Your “WHY” will get you started.

When you are first starting your debt payoff journey, you are going to need a kick in the butt!  This whole paying off debt thing will seem like a great idea, but actually starting to do it can be very challenging.  Something is going to have to be such a strong motivation to push you to want to get out of debt as fast as you can and to do whatever it takes to make it happen.  This is what your “why” will do for you!

Once you know what your motivation is for becoming debt free, do something with it so it is a constant reminder.  Whether that means making a vision board, writing it on paper to put on the fridge, putting a post-it in your wallet by your cash and cards or repeating it as your mantra every morning, just make it a constant reminder.  Getting started is step one and you will need a little extra push to do this.

You can also print this out to hang up as your reminder!

Your “WHY” will help you talk to others about your debt payoff journey.

Paying off debt isn’t what “normal” people do.  Most everyone is okay having a car payment for life or will justify taking loans for things because they are 0% interest for X amount of months.  People who don’t understand the process, and why you would even want to do this, are going to question you.  This may include your significant other, close relatives, co-workers or friends.  You are going to be so excited about starting this process when you decide to take the plunge.  You will be so motivated and focused, you will almost be able to taste the future your dream about.  Because you are super excited, this new journey in your life will likely come up in conversation with friends or family.  When you start talking about this, it will be a foreign language to everyone else because, to them, debt is a normal part of their life.  They won’t know how you could possibly function without it.

They will not understand your drive to become debt free, and at the moment they start to question you, you may find self-doubt creeping in.  This is when you MUST lean on your “why.”  Paying off debt is the only way to achieve your “why” and it is important to you!  Whether you convince people to see money the way you do or not, is irrelevant.  All you need to do is maintain confidence in the process.

When close friends and family plant small seeds of doubt about what you are doing, it isn’t because they want you to fail or think it is a dumb idea.  It’s because they don’t understand it.  You don’t have to convince everyone what you are doing is the “right” thing.  As long as you believe it is right for you, and keep your focus on achieving your goals, what they think doesn’t really matter.  Don’t doubt what you are doing.  Just focus on that “why” and continue on with confidence!

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Your “WHY” will help you stick with it when things get tough.

Paying off debt is super easy!…..said no one, EVER.  Changing your life to pay off debt is hard.  Most of the time, it really sucks.  I know because I am three years in, and we aren’t even halfway yet.  Whatever your timeline is for total debt payoff, you are going to meet many challenges along the way, and you will want to throw in the towel at some point.

When I say things will get tough or you will meet challenges, I am referring to everyday choices, as well as major life events.  Once you are on this journey, you will be changed.  Every purchase will be viewed differently.  You will have to decide if every single purchase is worth it or not.

Do you go to the movies with friends?  Or do you get them to come to your place for a $1 Redbox and popcorn for a fraction of the cost?  Do you go nuts on decorating the nursery for your first baby?  Or do you find things you already have to decorate the nursery with?  Do you swing by the drive-through at Wendy’s because you had a long day?  Or do you go home and find something to eat that requires a bit of effort?

Each day will put new choices in front of you.  It will be challenging every day as you are developing new habits and forming to the process.  In moments of weakness, you can focus on your “why” to help you make the smart decision.  Is the $4 at Starbucks going to completely derail your debt payoff plan?  Probably not, but the more you say no to those things, the more confidence you will gain to know you can do this!  You will believe more and more that you would rather be debt free than have a Starbucks coffee.  Eventually, you won’t even think about Starbucks anymore, and you get to put all that money toward debt payoff.

These little wins will help you have even bigger wins.  When your family invites you on a vacation that you could probably afford, but it will stall your debt payoff, what do you do?  This is one of those tough choices.  If you are focused on why you want to be debt free, you will know the answer to this is “no.”   While you have moments of suffering during your debt payoff, you can remind yourself this time of sacrifice is temporary.  When all of your debt is paid off, you can go on as many vacations as you want and not feel bad about it.

Focus on your “why” to find the strength to stay on track with your budget and debt payoff.  Tough decisions will determine your success in finding financial freedom.  Stand firm and focused on why you are doing this, and KNOW you will be successful.

Your “WHY” will make sure you enjoy yourself when you become debt free.

As is true with any journey, you will be a different person at the end than you were when you started.  I am not even halfway through my journey yet, and I am definitely different than I used to be.  The way you look at money, spend your money and look at purchases will be completely transformed.  

Staying on budget, saving money and being somewhat frugal will become a habit for you.  You will begin to look at items differently.  A $40 sweater will make you ask yourself if you really need it?  Could you find it somewhere else?  Could you get by without it?  By the time you pay off all debt, you may have a hard time easing up on your lifestyle.

Remembering your “why” will remind you what your hope was for your debt-free life.  This will create new goals and priorities of where you want your money to go.  This will then allow you permission to enjoy yourself.   The last thing you want to do is go through all the challenges of paying off debt and then not celebrate what you’ve done.

My husband and I find this happens to us even now with things we have budgeted for.  We have a Christmas fund that we save up for all year (this also includes birthdays, weddings, etc.).  At Christmas, we budget X amount per family member.  Even though we have this account fully designated for gifts, we find ourselves trying to come in under budget (usually by skimping on each other).  Then we can move the leftovers to next year and cut down on how much we have to save for the next Christmas.  We are constantly working an angle of how to save more money.

There is nothing wrong with changing how you handle your money because that’s what you should be doing as you go through this process.  It is also important to reward yourself occasionally and to relax for a bit after you have your debt paid off.  You’ve earned it at that point!

I don’t know about you, but my husband and I are going to Europe once we are debt free!  We have big dreams of being able to leave ridiculous tips for our servers at restaurants, giving insane amounts to our church and providing for our kids’ futures.  We can’t wait to achieve this, and this drives us to continue on with enthusiasm.

Take some time to think about what you want your debt-free life to look like.  Talk it over with your spouse.  Our favorite talks together are the ones where we dream together.  Whatever your dreams are, hold tight to them and never lose sight!  It won’t be easy all the time, but I know you WILL accomplish your goals.

What’s your “Why?”

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