Do your finances stress you out?
You’re not alone. We were there too.
Here’s our story of how we went from a hot financial mess to debt free and making our money work for us:
In our 20s, my husband and I made all the cliche mistakes.
We bought a big home on a large property, spent money without hesitation on our expensive hobbies (horseback riding, skiing, mountain biking, snowmobiling…), bought vehicles that were bigger and better than we needed, and payed for all the extras with a ridiculous line of credit from the bank. Yikes!
Despite having two decent incomes, we were sinking further and further in the hole, but it still felt manageable because we were making all the “minimum” payments (which barely put a dent in the debt!).
Fast forward a few years (and two kids) later, and we found ourselves down to one income so that I could stay at home with the kids.
We scrambled to cut costs, sold everything we didn’t need, and couponed like crazy, but it still wasn’t enough. We were making ends meet, but the prospect of having any savings, let alone retirement funds was completely out of reach.
And that’s when we knew we needed to make a big change.
We no longer cared about “keeping up with the Jonses”. We wanted financial freedom and relief from the constant stress of debt.
So we did something drastic. We made a BIG move.
We sold our home, even though we were taking a loss on it, and found a small house to rent in a nearby city (our friends thought we were crazy!).
But thanks to the equity we had built up over the years, we still earned enough from the sale to pay off our debts, and cover the moving costs.
We were starting again from scratch. And that’s when the magic happened…
My husband found a great job, our cost of living was drastically reduced, and suddenly we had EXTRA money at the end of every month. And we didn’t owe anybody anything!
For the first time ever our finances made us feel empowered, and so incredibly stress-free.
And the saving started to grow, and grow. The more we saved, the harder we wanted to worked for financial freedom.
Looking to create a stay-at-home income, I’ve turned my hobby blog, savvyhorsewoman.com into a profitable side hustle and have more projects on the go (read my income reports here, and blogging tips here).
Now 3 years later our money is working for us, gaining interest, and allowing us to spend on things that positively impact our lives (and not just more stuff!).
Through Money Dot Calm, I’m so excited to share our story, tips, research and advice to help you find your own relief from financial stress.
Check out the Recommendations page to find our favorite products and services that help save us time and money.
Update: We’ve recently purchased a townhouse and are working towards paying off the mortgage (5 years is the goal!). We’ll keep you posted as our journey continues.
Thanks for reading,
