(Part 1 of 5)
It’s no secret that the economy is in much better shape than it was eight years ago, unemployment is down, etc…
Yet I am still in debt.
I’ve been thankful enough not to have any credit card debt… mostly because I was terrified of them for most of my twenties. It was a lesson my parents made sure I knew. Don’t buy anything unless you can afford it.
That did not apply to college though. I had to go to college. It was expected. It was what my sister and brother did right after high school. And even though I was not historically the best student, I was a decent athlete.
The result? A 3 year stint at a private college that did not result in a degree, but did leave me with over $40,000 in student loans.
Bummer… I know.
Since then, I’ve used a combination of Clark Howard and Dave Ramsey’s strategies to bring that number down, but it hasn’t always been easy.
There were periods in my life when I worked three jobs. Then there was the time I took an unnecessary trip to the emergency room. Then there was a span of about two and a half years where both of my parents had major health problems. The stress of it all definitely took a toll.
And… sometimes my debt-free tunnel vision got a little sidetracked. It happens. My last (and first) post on this blog was in 2017.
Then the other day I came across one of my mom’s books, Clark Howard’s Living Large in Lean Times. Published in 2011, it was at the height of the Great Recession and people were desperately trying to figure out how to save more money and spend less.
At the time, however, I was a happy go lucky college kid more concerned with friends, boyfriends, and such to worry about my finances.
Boy, I wish I had.
I’ll be thirty in January 2020, and I’d like to get out of debt by then… meaning I have about six months to reach my goal.
I also want to see how well Clark’s advice holds up in what I like to call #TheClarkChallenge.
Let’s begin.
Owe No Money 