My friend Dave.

Let me introduce you to my little friend - Dave Ramsey.

Dave hates credit cards. He hates auto loans. He hates debt. Dave LIKES people not having to stress about money and debt.

We've always had credit cards, and used them. What's the big deal? Everyone has credit cards. We have also always had two auto loans... sometimes two auto loans and a trailer loan and a motorcycle loan. What's the big deal? We can make the payments.

We tried a few times to reduce our debt, but it was all very daunting and it seemed just as easy to continue making the payments. When Justin and I decided to move to Ohio, it made sense for me to be a SAHM once we got there... childcare is for real expensive, people! And, with plans for a smaller mortgage and the very real possibility I wouldn't find a comparable salary there, we would just suck-up the income loss. But that meant we were going to have to eliminate some of this debt.

I had a three year plan. Pay off ALL of our debt!! Let that sink in for a moment... two car loans, trailer loan, motorcycle loan, credit cards. So, we did what our friend Dave suggested.

Our debt was officially holding us back, and that just wasn't going to work for us. We started selling things. We were actually selling so much stuff that my cousin approached me, concerned that we were in financial trouble. And we were! We weren't in trouble because we couldn't pay our bills; we were in trouble because we were living to pay our bills.

Good-bye dirt bike. Good-bye quad. Good-bye Coach handbags that were sitting in my closet. And the moment I knew Justin was really serious was when he chose to sell his motorcycle.

Boy, she was a beauty. She was on the pay-off schedule and we could have kept her. However, he said that the money we could make from selling her would get us that much closer to our goals. So, our tax return paid off the bike loan... and the bike sale paid off another debt. And - just like that - $8,000 in debt... GONE. It was amazing, and I felt like we were breathing fresh air for the first time!

I noticed other changes, too. Our house was feeling a little empty. We'd sold furniture, kitchen stuff, clothes... and it was like our house was taking a nice, deep breath, too! (This was playing in nicely to that book, the Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, I loved so much!)

All in all, by the time I found out I was pregnant with Skyler in June, we had paid off $14,000+ in debt in 2017 alone. Then, with the pending arrival of a new baby, we had to reconsider our move. It was decided that the baby really had some divine timing, because - with our debt pay-off success already - we could justify pushing up our move 2 YEARS, so that I could stay home with baby from the beginning.

This is not our starter home; this will be the 3rd house we've sold, and we've upgraded with each house move. Thankfully, with the current market, we were in a prime spot to sell. The sale of our house will allow us to further our debt pay-off goals and comfortably go forward on 1 income. With that said, here are my home buying tips that I use to ensure a good sale in the future:

1. If you buy new construction, ALWAYS buy during phase 1 of the neighborhood; you pay the lowest price.
2. Buy the biggest lot, the corner lot, the house with the widest front elevation.
3. Everything you add to your house, should be add with resale in mind; even if you're "never" moving.

It's so nice to see that hard work and sacrifice really do pay-off! Years of working 70+ hours a week, commuting 2+ hours a day, and pushing through when we wanted to give up... 10 years after marriage, we are headed towards a simpler life!

So, if you're ready to be brave and tackle your debt... or just turn your direction towards financial freedom, I highly suggest meeting my friend Dave. (Just click on his name!) If you're looking for more support, I suggest joining Jenplans.com's Facebook group. It's a great place to get advice, encouragement, and share your successes with people on the same journey!

I'm going to leave you with my favorite Dave tips!

** There is no boasting or horn-tooting about this post. This is our story, and we hope that it inspires others to dig in to dig out of debt! Living pay-check to paycheck sucks, and you don't have to do it! Meet Dave, follow the steps, get a 2nd job, whatever it takes! YOU CAN DO IT!