Real Life Debt Busters: Dustin and Kristy
This is the latest entry highlighting people who are making the elimination of debt a priority.
Kristy Etheridge writes for FaithWorks Financial and has spent the last few months tracking down other debt busters. Now she’s sharing her own story. She and her husband, Dustin, started their marriage $35,000 in debt. Now there’s just one student loan standing between them and financial freedom.
Names:
Dustin and Kristy Etheridge, Charlotte, NC
Occupations:
Kristy is a writer and Dustin is a photojournalist.
Starting debt:
$35,000 in student loans, credit cards, medical bills and an auto loan
Debt paid off:
$29,000
Debt-busting motivation:
So many to choose from! But their main motivation was protecting their marriage.
“Marriage is hard enough without debt and other financial problems chipping away at the relationship,” Kristy said. “We knew that getting rid of our debt was the only way to keep money issues from causing arguments and coming between us.”
“If you live and operate in debt, you’re living outside of your means, and debt is going to follow you everywhere.”
They also wanted to have a solid financial foundation before buying a house and having children, and they knew debt payments were stopping up too much of their cash flow.
Finally, one of their debts was a large sum of money owed to a relative. “No matter how great a relationship is, owing someone money will always put a strain on it,” Kristy said. “We wanted to free ourselves from that obligation as soon as possible.” They’re happy to report they paid off that debt earlier this year and have no intention of borrowing money from friends or family ever again.
Debt-busting method:
They listened to Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace CDs and read The Total Money Makeover.
They also took pre-marital classes at their church, where their marriage mentors encouraged them to make a budget (neither of them had ever written down or followed a budget before). They keep $1,000 in an emergency account at all times, so when emergencies happen they don’t have to touch a credit card.
“We’ve had to pause our debt snowball a few times,” Kristy said, “like earlier this year when Dustin had shoulder surgery. We were upset about slowing down our debt payments, but we were able to pay our medical bills immediately and survive Dustin being out of work, without going further into debt. We know God was taking care of us, and we also know it was a huge help to not have things like car payments and credit card bills preventing us from paying our medical bills, which is what used to happen.”
Best thing about the debt-free journey:
“I think the best thing about the journey has been the amount of trust it has developed between Kristy and me, as well as between us and God,” Dustin said.
“It used to be hard for me to tithe,” he explained. “Now it’s second nature. When we first started paying off our debt and giving a tithe at the same time, I did have moments when I was like, ‘Man, we could be using this money we give to be out of debt quicker,’ but there has never been an instance when we needed money and God has let us down.”
Debt-busting philosophy:
“Debt is completely unnecessary,” Dustin said. “If you live and operate in debt, you’re living outside of your means, and debt is going to follow you everywhere.”
Dustin and Kristy’s philosophy is simply to live within their means. That means paying cash (or using a debit card) for everything.
If they don’t have the cash for something, they just don’t get it. Period.
First thing they’re going to do when they’re debt free:
Celebrate by spending a long weekend “somewhere tropical” to be determined. “And paying for it in cash…obviously.”
Bible verse:
Proverbs 22:7. The rich rule over the poor and the borrower is slave to the lender (NIV). The Message also says it well: The poor are always ruled over by the rich, so don’t borrow and put yourself under their power.
