THE ARCHIVE
HOW WE PAID OFF OVER $100,000 IN DEBT
Last year, Tyler and I became debt-free. It was a long and difficult journey, but we did it! And it was definitely worth it. Together we had a combined total of $140,000 of student loan debt. We had plenty of discussions prior to getting married about the debt we were both bringing to the marriage and our plan for getting out of debt. We made the most progress between 2017 and 2019. During that time we paid off $92,283. Between 2012 and 2017, we paid off $47,717. We applied the same principles through the 7-year process, but there were a variety of things that really made a difference for us in the final 2-year stretch.
WE LIVED ON A BUDGET
For years we used excel to create our budget and we still do. We also keep track of everyday purchases with the Every Dollar app. Using and living on a budget allowed us to tell our money where to go. Because we knew where our money was going it was easy to make changes or make cuts in certain areas. Any money we had left went directly to paying off our loans. The more we could save the more we could pay off.
We created our budget using the 4 walls method. The 4 walls in your life are; shelter, food, transportation, and basic clothing. You need to be able to pay your rent/mortgage (this includes basic utilities,) you need to eat, you need to get to and from work, and you need basic clothing. Everything outside of these 4 walls is extra, and these extra things are luxuries.
When we created our first budget, right after getting married we definitely had more month at the end of the money. This was largely due to the fact that our student loan payments were more than our rent and at the time we were living in Burbank, CA… so rent was a lot.
Keep in mind that everyone’s budget will look different even when everyone is using the 4 walls method. Cost of living is different everywhere and based on region everyone’s salary will be different too. Focus on creating your budget around your 4 walls. Remember, everything else is extra and these extra things are a luxury. Once you have your 4 walls outlined on your budget, determine how much money you have leftover, this extra money can go to your loans.
WE LIVED WELL BELOW OUR MEANS
It took us years to get to this point, but it was a huge factor in helping us get out of debt. As you read above when we were first married we barely had any money, which is pretty common for married kids right of out college. But, about 4 years into being married we were making more money and we were able to live on less than 50% of our income, this meant that a majority of our income went to paying off our loans. This is what made such a difference for us between 2017 and 2019. Our debt pay off was a slow upward climb to start, but as we paid off more debt and as our salaries increased, we were really able to make greater strides.
Getting to a place where you can live below your means will look different for everyone, and I don’t want anyone thinking they have to get to the same place we did to make a difference for themselves. Remember it took us years to get to a place where we could live below our means and we were able to do that because we lived small and continued to create a budget around our 4 walls. We didn’t increase our lifestyle when we made more money, we saved that money instead.
WE SAID NO A LOT
We basically said no to anything that costs money, especially if it was kind of big or out of the ordinary. We said no to things like rock climbing, eating out a lot, going on day trips and things like that. This doesn’t mean we didn’t hang out with friends, it just means we found free stuff to do with friends. Something we did often was hiking, we hiked a lot. And we didn’t say no to all eating out invitations. We always went to invitations that were important.
I also want to point out that we didn’t say no to everything. When my brother got married in the Philippines, we made it a priority to go. And when my dad passed away, we made a trip to Portland. I do want to include that we were able to easily plan for these trips financially, because of how we were budgeting.
WE CUT EXPENSES
We were often called weird because of the choices we made to save money. I didn’t have a smartphone until 2017, at that point my business actually paid for it and Tyler didn’t have a smartphone until we were completely debt-free. We didn’t pay for any subscriptions, no Amazon Prime, no Hulu. We did have Netlfix for about 3 years, but we canceled that and still don’t’ have it now. We also lived very small. At one point we lived in a 325sqft tiny house and then upgraded to a one-bedroom apartment. We rarely ate out and had very small clothing budgets, which we got for our birthdays, haha! It was pretty extreme, but we had a plan.
*What NOT to do: There were plenty of times when we first started this process that we didn’t give our selves any fun money or personal money to spend. This lead to times where we would end up blowing money because we weren’t giving ourselves any wiggle room. Give yourself a little wiggle room and decide what’s important to you and what you want to prioritize. When we first allowed ourselves personal spending money we each got $25 a month. That’s not a lot, but it still allowed a little bit of spending money. It also meant that if we wanted we could save the $25 and save for something big.
WE USED THE SNOWBALL EFFECT
We followed the Ramsey Solution principles and used the snowball effect. This means that we paid off the smallest loan first and then worked our way up. This gave us momentum and helped us have a sense of achievement. We celebrated every loan we paid off and we felt like we were making progress with each win. We actually had a handful of different loans, all of different amounts. When we paid off one loan, we would take the money that we were paying to that loan and add it to the next one. By the time we got to our last loan, which was the largest, we were able to make significant headway because all the payments we were making to the smaller loans had all snowballed into one large sum that went to our final loan.
WE WORKED A LOT
As I mentioned above we made the most progress between 2017 and 2019. At this time Tyler and I were both working. Tyler’s job allowed him to work a lot of overtime and he was also working a second job. My jobs were always more sporadic then Tyler’s, but I had the most consistent work and made the most between 2017 and 2019.
RELATIONSHIP STUFF
TYLER WAS VERY PATIENT
When Tyler and I first got married, I understood his plan to get out of debt, but I wasn’t as passionate about it and I also didn’t have the same intensity as Tyler. It took me a few years to have the same passion as Tyler to get out of debt. Tyler was always patient with me as he waited for me to get on board with our plan and then he was understanding and patient, knowing that I was not going to move at the same pace or intensity has him. If Tyler could he would have had as many jobs as possible. I was not like that. I was always willing to work, but I understood the demand that Tyler’s jobs put on him, so it was important to me to have more time at home, to take care of our needs. Long story short, I didn’t work as much as Tyler, but that is what worked best for us.
HOW OUR LIVES CHANGED
What we are doing now and what we have planned in the next few months are a direct correlation of being debt-free. Right now we’re living in Vancouver and we would not have been able to make this move if we were still in debt. We also planned a trip to Maui this year, which we would have not been able to do if we were in debt. We said no to a lot for a long time so we could be free to create a different life for ourselves. While the big stuff has definitely changed, the little stuff is the same. We still live on a budget and we actually kept it the same, except now we have more fun money to spend. But we still stick to the same main principles, we live small, we live below our means, and we save. Getting out of debt meant we could continue to dream new dreams. Now we’re able to save money for things that are important to us, instead of having to give our money to someone else (being in debt is the worst, haha.) And I can’t finish this post without saying it was all because of Jesus. He provided the many different jobs we had, he gave us the disciple to stay with it, and he was with us when it was hard and we wanted to give up.
Oh man, these types of posts are so hard for me to write, but I hope our experience will encourage and inspire you to become debt-free! We read tons of different books during our debt-free journey, but if you are trying to get out of debt too, I recommend Total Money Makeover and Love Your Life, Not Theirs. Both of these books will give you a step by step plan to get out of debt and create a new relationship money. Let me know if you have any questions below! xo. Samantha
THOUGHTS ON MY STYLE CHALLENGE
My style challenge is doing exactly what I hoped it would do. While my daily documenting of outfits has slowed down… it’s too cold to get outside to take photos, I still plan to complete the challenge even if it takes me longer then I hoped. I’m not much of a rule follower so it’s not killing me that things are changing midway. I actually prefer it that way. I have a tendency to grow weary when I’ve been put in a box.
MY HOPES FOR THE CHALLENGE
I wanted to discover myself again. We spent a lot of years in New York just surviving and paying off debt. I rarely shopped and I didn’t really want to think about clothes because I didn’t want to spend money on clothes. By the end of our time in New York, I had basically forgotten what kind of things I liked and I even had a hard time spending money. I was conditioned to save not spend. The one time we did shop for clothes was on our birthdays. I recall many birthdays not knowing what to buy because I didn’t know what I liked. I usually just bought the things I needed.
I wanted to put my clothes to the test. Did I like everything I owned? Did everything fit me well? Was I only keeping things because I had them and not because I liked them? I really wanted to get to a place where I knew exactly what worked best for my body and what I liked most. I didn’t want to spend time guessing.
I wanted to have fun! It had been a long time since I really had a lot of fun with clothes and I wanted to get back to that.
WHAT I’VE LEARNED
I definitely feel like I’m finding myself again, even it’s just in the clothes I like. The one thing I absolutely love is seeing each outfit photographed. It has made such a difference seeing everything in photos. I’m able to reflect on whether I like each piece I’m wearing and if those items work well together. I know that my style will continue to change and evolve, but I’m glad that I’m able to figure out what I like again.
My favorite part of the challenge so far has been getting rid of clothes that weren’t working, which is something I really hoped for. When we traveled home for Christmas I took a bunch of clothes home to donate because I either didn’t like the fit or I didn’t like the style. There was no point in me keeping things that I didn’t feel good in.
CHALLENGE UPDATE
My wardrobe has gotten smaller, so my challenge has gotten harder, haha. Because I took items home/donated, I don’t have as many items to work with. Though I have replaced a few things. I’ll include a new list of items below.
It really didn’t make sense for me to include “summer” clothes in this challenge. It has been way too cold and raining.
I definitely won’t be completing this challenge is 100 days. This doesn’t kill me at all. Looking forward I really just want to create 100 outfits regardless. Plus, with our trip to Maui in the Spring I will actually be able to wear my shorts, haha.
UPDATED WARDROBE
Bottoms
1 pair of jeans
1 pair of black leggings
1 pair of joggers (I probably won’t wear until spring, bah!)
Donated bottoms
1 pair of jeans (donated)
1 pair of plum leggings (donated)
Tops
1 long sleeve flannel
6 long sleeve tops (3 of these are new/replaced the items that were donated)
3 Sweaters
3 Sweatshirts
7 short sleeve tops (Hoping to style these more in the Spring)
Donated tops
1 long sleeve flannel (donated)
1 long sleeve (donated)
1 sweatshirt (donated)
Outerwear:
Rain Jacket (Donated then replaced)
Down Jacket
Lightweight utility jacket
Vest
Shoes:
Merrell waterproof leather boots
New Balance Street shoes
Under Armour Running shores
Under Armour Crosstrainers
Leather Sandals
MISCELLANEOUS
2 summer dress (brought back for Maui)
6 pair of shorts
5 pair of workout shorts
3 pair of workout leggings
2 workout tops (took 2 back to the states, looking to replace)
CURRENT COUNT: 45 pieces of clothing (did not count shoes)
CURRENT NUMBER OF OUTFITS STYLED: 35
NUMBER OF ITEMS USED IN CHALLENGE SO FAR: 28
SHOP TODAYS OUTFIT
OVERALL
I enjoy the challenge to style different outfits, but I don’t love a deadline, haha. That’s a classic Samantha move on my part, I really don’t like being told what to do. I’m happy to keep the challenge going regardless of the timeline, because I would love to get 100 outfits. I love getting photos of each outfit, because I love seeing how each outfit looks. I’m really looking forward to warmer weather and changing things up with shorts. I prefer warm weather and wearing shorts anyways, so I’m excited about that. I do plan on replacing and adding a few items. I need to replace a few workout tops and I’ll be picking up a few things specific to our Maui trip…I’m sure I’ll do a post just for the things I find. I’m also sure that I’ll donate more items too. Each time I style a new outfit I think about if like what I’m wearing and how it fits…I’m already thinking about things I’m not 100% in love with. Okay, that’s all for now! xo. Samantha
A VISIT TO MAGNOLIA + MY FAVORITE PICKS
At the end of 2019 I made a bucket list… when I made the list I put 3 things on it, haha! 2019 was a tough year and it was difficult for me to think past some of the pain we experienced… and to be completely honest I didn’t want to hope for too many things either. One of the things on that list was going to Magnolia Market. When we were in the states for Christmas we had to make a quick trip to Texas for a wedding, you can read more about that here. We initially considered flying from Missouri, but between the cost of tickets and the actual travel time, we decided to drive. Once we figured out we were driving Tyler reminded me that we would drive right through Waco and I was over the moon excited.
We knew we wouldn’t have a long time there, just a few hours, but it was worth it for me. We decided to stop by on our way back to give us more time if we wanted. Tyler tried to get me to stop on the way there, but I said no. I didn’t want to drive by and halfway see it. I wanted to really experience it. To give our selves enough time at Magnolia we left Kerrville, TX at 6:00am. We made a small detour to drop someone off at the airport and we were to Magnolia by about 10:00am.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Usually, when I write these types of posts, I usually include a lot of different tips, like where to park, etc. But you can find everything you need to know on their website. We parked on their 8th street lot, which is currently closed due to construction, but check out their site for updates. We also arrived at a pretty good time too. Their operating hours start at 9:00am and we arrived at 10:00am. There were still plenty of spots in their free lot and it wasn’t too crowded.
A few things that stuck out to us the most… They really did create a place of community. I’ve seen plenty of pictures online, but I didn’t really get it until we visited in person. There were kids and families hanging out on the lawn playing games. There were plenty of food trucks (we bought food from three different ones.) There are plenty of places to sit and eat and there is lots of shade too. Their operations are also on point. Even though there were plenty of people visiting the Silos we rarely waited in line.
PICKING UP A LITTLE HOPE
When we walked through the Market, I wasn’t really sure if I was going to buy anything. We’re in such a weird season right now, buying something didn’t really make a lot of sense, because we wouldn’t be taking it to Canada, it would go into storage. Something I’ve been working through and letting go of is the idea that we might not ever have a normal life with a house to call our own. That might sound dramatic, but Tyler and I have worked really hard to hold everything really loosely and hold to Jesus tightly. If I never have a place that’s ours that I get to call home, that’s okay, because we have Jesus and that’s all we need. Now I’m not saying I don’t want or desire those things, but I need to be okay if we don’t. So, back to walking through the Market, I was standing in an aisle looking at some throws and Tyler asked me, “what are you looking at?” My reply, “I was thinking about whether I should buy this throw for a house we don’t have.” His response, “YES.” He didn’t even flinch, he picked it up… he didn’t even ask the price. 😭 Most things that we buy like that these days feels like hope. So I ended up with a throw and mirror for a house we don’t have, but with the hope of one we may have.
For fun, I put together some of my favorite things from the Market below! Including the throw we picked up and the mirror too.
MY FAVORITE MAGNOLIA PICKS
MAGNOLIA TABLE WAS PACKED
Before we actually made it to the Silos, we stopped at Magnolia Table. This place was busy! This is the one place I would suggest going and having lots of time. We would have loved to eat here, but we just didn’t have time. They do have a Magnolia Table food truck at the Silos, so even if you don’t eat at the restaurant, you can try some of the food at the Silos. That’s what we did. We had heard good things about the biscuits, so that’s what we got with strawberry butter and they were worth it!
Lastly, the Bakery was amazing! This was one place with a line, but while you are waiting you fill out a card for your order, so you’re ready once you get to check out. They get you in super fast. We actually got a bunch of cupcakes and cookies to take home for New Years Eve and they were so good! We tried 4 or 5 different cup cakes, but the Strawberries & Cream and the Lemon Lavender were our favorites! xo. Samantha
STYLE CHALLENGE RECAP SIX
The outfits in this recap were really fun… and yes, I’m wearing a t-shirt, but I took that picture on a day that wasn’t super cold. I’m not quite half way through this challenge, but I will say that I’m learning how versatile just a few pieces of clothing can be. Every week feels like a challenge and man, the weather in Vancouver has kind of been the pits, but I do love learning how each piece works together with different things and I love looking back over photos and really loving outfits I tried. And I keep trying to make mental notes of what items work best together, haha. I’m hoping as the challenge goes on that I will get better at really utilizing each piece in my wardrobe. I’ve also already decided on a few things I’m getting rid of… things that really weren’t fitting right or things that I just don’t love. With only so many pieces of clothing I keep whittling them down more, but I love that is happening too.
OUTFIT 27
TOP // VEST // LEGGINGS (OPTION 1, OPTION 2) // NEW BALANCE
I loved how all these items came together! Basically everything I’m wearing is a favorite of mine. I think I’m always learning towards a more athletic style and I’m not mad about it. :)
OUTFIT 29
TOP // BOTTOMS (OPTION 1, OPTION 2) // NEW BALANCE
I always see shirts tied really cute in the front or back, so I decided to give it a try. I liked ti!
OUTFIT 30
VEST // TOP (OPTION 1, OPTION 2) // JEANS // NEW BALANCE
I love anything paired with a hoody and my vest. This is pretty close to my everyday uniform, but I’m more apt to wear leggings then jeans.
OUTFIT 34
TOP // BOTTOMS (OPTION 1, OPTION 2) // NEW BALANCE
This one was super fun too. I love the front tuck with these leggings.
Until next time! xoxo. Samantha