Episode: 358 - Financial Anxiety No More: The Path to Calm
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We often think of debt as a numbers game—how much we owe, what the interest rate is, and how quickly we can pay it off. But if you’ve ever laid awake at night wondering how you’ll cover the bills, snapped at your partner over spending, or felt ashamed of your financial situation, you already know: the emotional toll of debt runs deep.
In this week’s episode of the Debt Free Dad Podcast, we got real about financial anxiety—what it is, how it shows up in our lives, and what you can start doing today to take back control.
Debt Isn’t Just a Money Problem—It’s a Mental Health Issue
Most of us have felt the weight of money stress at one point or another. Whether it's worrying about making rent, juggling bills, or wondering how you’re going to afford an unexpected expense, that stress bleeds into everything—your relationships, your job performance, your parenting, your sleep.
In fact, surveys show that:
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70% of Americans say money is their top stressor.
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One in three people say financial anxiety has harmed their mental health or relationships.
And it’s not always obvious. As Brad pointed out on the episode, “Sometimes the stress is so under the surface, we don’t even realize it’s our finances causing it.” But it is. And it’s affecting more of your life than you probably realize.
Real Talk: What Financial Stress Feels Like
The co-hosts shared their own experiences of being financially overwhelmed:
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Brad remembered lying awake, stressed about upcoming daycare bills while already drowning in car payments and credit card debt.
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Amber talked about the guilt and resentment that surfaced when small school expenses felt like breaking points. “It wasn’t about the $10,” she shared. “It was about everything else that was piling on.”
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Kati joked about being mentally prepared to live in her car because she couldn’t see a way forward with her bills—but the fear underneath was very real.
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Chris recalled the shame and self-blame, stuck in a cycle of avoiding the issue while knowing deep down he needed to change.
Sound familiar?
It’s not just you. So many people are stuck in what Brad calls the financial misery cycle—avoiding their money, spending emotionally, and then sinking deeper into stress and debt. It’s a vicious loop that keeps you stuck.
The Turning Point: Choosing to Face It
The good news? The moment you decide to face your finances, even if it’s scary, is the moment things start to shift.
One of the most powerful takeaways from this episode was this:
“Progress with your finances isn’t just about numbers—it’s about having the courage to face where you’re at.”
That’s where the real wins begin. You might not have paid off any debt yet. Your savings might still be at zero. But deciding to open your bank statements, track your spending, or build your first budget? That’s huge.
Here’s what helped the hosts reduce their financial anxiety:
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Amber: Creating a budget gave her clarity and direction. “I just needed a plan,” she said.
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Kati: Staying away from temptation—like Target and online shopping—helped her curb impulse spending.
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Chris: Letting go of self-blame and starting small, manageable behavior changes made the biggest difference.
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Brad: Realizing his money was there—he just wasn’t paying attention to where it was going.
Why Community & Accountability Matter
You don’t have to do this alone.
When you’re surrounded by others who get it—whether it’s a partner, a coach, or a group like Roots—you stay motivated, encouraged, and more consistent. “We wouldn’t have paid off $54,000 in 20 months without the check-ins and community,” Amber shared.
And as Chris pointed out, even if you’re not ready to tell the world what you’re working on, having just one person to talk to makes a big difference.
Start Small, But Start Today
Here’s the bottom line:
You don’t need to overhaul your entire financial life in one day. Start with awareness. Pick one thing—maybe it’s printing your bank statements and highlighting spending patterns. Maybe it’s building your first budget. Maybe it’s just talking to someone about what’s going on.
As Chris said in the episode:
“You are where you are because of the decisions you’ve made—but that also means you are the solution.”
Financial anxiety might not show up on your credit report—but it can hold you back just as much as your actual debt. If you're ready to reduce the stress and get your life back, taking even one step in the right direction today can change everything.
Resources Mentioned
The Totally Awesome Debt Freedom Planner https://www.debtfreedad.com/planner
To learn how to take the stress out of your finances so you can breathe again, follow this link: https://www.debtfreedad.com/lwp-masterclass-opt-in-page-podcast
Connect With Brad
Website- https://www.debtfreedad.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/thedebtfreedad
Private Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/debtfreedad
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TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@debt_free_dad
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@bradnelson-debtfreedad2751/featured
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Transcript
Brad Nelson:
Let me ask you something have you ever felt like your debt isn't just draining your bank account but also your peace of mind, Like the stress of money is following you around all day, messing with your sleep, your relationships, your mood? Today, we're going to be diving into something that doesn't show up on your credit report, but for a lot of people, it's the most painful part of being in debt financial anxiety and if you've been feeling overwhelmed, ashamed or like you're stuck in a never-ending cycle of stress and spending, this episode is going to be for you, Because here's the truth Getting out of debt isn't just about budgeting harder. It's about understanding the emotional toll it takes and learning how to take your power back.
Announcer:
You're listening to the Debt-Free Dad podcast with Brad Nelson. Brad and his co-hosts experience the anxiety of living paycheck to paycheck before learning the fundamentals of financial success. They are now on a mission to empower regular people to pay off their debt for good and enjoy happier, less stressful lives. Keep listening for inspirational interviews, tips, tricks and practical advice to less stressful lives. Keep listening for inspirational interviews, tips, tricks and practical advice to gain financial freedom.
Brad Nelson:
Hey guys, welcome to today's episode. My name is Brad Nelson, founder of Debt-Free Dad. I paid off about $45,000 of debt. I've been debt-free now for more than 12 years. I've also been fortunate to help thousands of other people save and pay off tens of millions of dollars with the work that we do here at Debt Free Debt.
Chris Hawkins:
And my name is Chris Hawkins, and my wife and I started our journey 20 years ago, in 2005, and it took us three years to pay off just under $100,000 worth of debt, and we've been debt free except for our house now ever since.
Amber Taylor:
And my name is Amber Taylor and I have been living debt-free outside of my mortgage since 2018 and we paid off $54,000 in just 20 months and I'm Katie Hatfield and I am still paying off my debt and in seven years I have paid off $224,619 on a single income.
Brad Nelson:
I can't every time. Every time you say the number Katie, it just keeps going up and up.
Brad Nelson:
It's awesome. So, after listening to this episode, if you're ready to take things to the next level, you want to break free from living paycheck to paycheck, you want to reduce financial stress, you want to build your savings and finally pay off your debt for good, but maybe you're not sure where to get started, we've created some incredible free resources to help you get there, and we'll be sharing some details about how you can get started with those later on in today's episode. So, guys, as we kick off this conversation about stress and anxiety as it relates to finances number one, I feel like this is probably an area where most people I think a lot of people can recognize like my finances are stressing me out, they're causing me anxiety, they're causing me to lose sleep, but sometimes they're so like under the surface, you don't really feel that that is the direct thing that's causing it, right? Some people might say like I'm so stressed out about my finances, but what do we do? We focus on what Numbers? We focus on math, we focus on all of that other stuff, and it's crazy, I mean, when you look at some of these statistics right now, 70% of Americans say that money is their number one source of stress, according to the APA Stress in America survey, and debtcom, in June of 2025, reported a spike in financial anxiety, especially among people with, obviously, credit card debt, medical bills and unstable income, and one in three say financial stress has damaged their mental health or even going on to their relationships.
Brad Nelson:
First off, guys I mean you guys talk about it. I mean I know what those feelings felt like. I remember losing sleep. I remember, especially when my first son we were expecting my first son and I remember thinking about the car payments that I had, the credit card bills that I had, how I was barely just getting by as it was, and then I started figuring out what daycare was going to cost. Man, you want to talk about losing sleep and stress? I was one freaked out guy. I was like how are we ever going to make all of this work? And it affected everything. It affected the relationship I was in. It affected me eventually, as Noah was born, being a parent. It affected my ability to work, just how I showed up at work. It just affects everything and I don't feel like a lot of people can really put their finger on how much that financial stress really impacts all of the other areas of their life.
Amber Taylor:
Yeah, it was incredibly stressful. I remember the snapping at my loved ones. I was just this close to being at the edge and somebody asked me for I need lunch tomorrow or this school trip is happening. I was like we don't have the money for that. Why do they always send us all this stuff all back? To back, and meanwhile it was so much more than just the $10 for the school activity.
Kati Hatfield:
I know when I was first getting out of debt and just looking at the numbers of what I owed was sickening to start with. But then I was in a position where I was taking on a new car and a payment I could not afford and I'm just like, all right, maybe I'm going to end up living in my car, Like that's just how this is going to end up, because I don't know how I'm going to afford this and I'd come to terms with that. But it's much easier to live in your car on the beach in Florida than winter in Wisconsin. So I was like we'll make it work.
Chris Hawkins:
For me, I think, the anxiety was more of feeling ashamed of myself and why was I in the position that I was in and knowing that I should be doing better, could be doing better, and that I needed to change. I needed to do some things differently, and so that's where a lot of my stress and anxiety came from was really being mad at myself. Now all that other stuff was underlying. It was all there, but maybe for me it was just kind of another level and fortunately it's that same anxiety that we always say you've got to get tired of being tired. Eventually I got tired of being tired and it took me two times of trying and failing before the third time I finally kind of figured it out. It was that desire to not end up like most people, I think.
Brad Nelson:
Yeah, well, I think the other part was that and we talk about this a lot on the podcast you sit back and you look at what everybody else especially with social media and everything else that's out there now.
Brad Nelson:
I mean, it's easy to look at what how is everyone else being able to do all this stuff? But yet I'm so broke, like what am I missing, right? And it's easy to like isolate yourself and sit here and think I must be the only one who's struggling. I must be the only one who doesn't have this figured out, because everyone else looks like they're doing great, they're going on vacations, they're driving the cars, they got the bigger houses, they got the great lawns, their kids are in sports. It's like they just have it all figured out. But the reality is, like we all know, most of them have just like a really nice wrapper on the outside, but on the inside they're struggling just as much as everybody else. But I feel like that was one of the harder parts for me is feeling like I'm just failure, because it just seems like everyone else was getting it except for me.
Kati Hatfield:
Yeah, I always felt like I look like I have it all together. Everyone thinks my life is, you know, going great and I have a big smile on my face. But when I get home and I shut the door, I'm just like, oh, I can't believe. I pulled it off again for another day and, yeah, being single especially, I didn't have anyone to talk to about it or confide in, because, yeah, it's embarrassing and it's not fun to deal with, especially by yourself.
Brad Nelson:
It's not fun to deal with, especially by yourself.
Brad Nelson:
Yeah Well, and I think you also get yourself into this cycle. A lot of us have been there and I see this time and time again with even people who join Roots or people that I talk to is that you get yourself into this almost financial misery cycle I like to call it where you know your situation is bad, you know it's not good, but then what we look for is like ways to cope with it, and the ways that we cope with it only make the situation worse. I'm going to impulse buy here. I'm going to spend a few dollars here. I'm going to make this purchase to make me feel better. Here I'm going to go out to eat and celebrate a little bit just to take my mind off that constant stress that you're feeling all the time. But the reality is is in the back of your mind. You know it's only digging a deeper hole, and so many people get stuck in that misery cycle of this, this repeat pattern of behaviors that are just consistently keeping them in that stress.
Chris Hawkins:
Yeah, I think for me. I eventually had to stop worrying about what other people thought about me and we've talked about that on this podcast a lot. I've had to realize that if I'm the problem, I'm also the solution.
Chris Hawkins:
And we've mentioned several times on this podcast, the book the Compound Effect, and one of the things I love about that book is it tells you to start analyzing all the bad habits that you have Okay. Start analyzing all the bad habits that you have, okay, and then pick three or four of them and just try to stop doing those things while at the same time pick up three or four positive habits, right? So for me, it was a matter of stop doing the things that aren't getting me where I want to be going. And it wasn't easy, it was hard, but eventually I got to the point where I didn't care what other. And it wasn't easy, it was hard, but eventually I got to the point where I didn't care what other people thought about me, and that was a big part of the game for me.
Chris Hawkins:
That was a big victory for me is you know what happens behind closed doors at my house and, amber you mentioned, sometimes you snapped at people.
Chris Hawkins:
I mean, when you've got financial stress, there's arguments, there's disagreements and nobody's happy.
Chris Hawkins:
And eventually I got to the point where I realized that it wasn't just happening behind my doors, it was happening behind a lot of other doors, so much so that when I eventually got out of debt and started doing financial coaching. You kind of realize how bad it is for a lot of folks is for a lot of folks, and as a teacher I would tell my students on the first day of class that just because somebody has got a nice car, a nice house, a well-manicured house, maybe has a pool in the backyard, they look like they're living the life, they look like they're happy, but you have no idea what's going on on the other side of that front door and very often it's quite the opposite of the show that they put on. Yeah, so you felt like that you're not doing something right and everybody else is doing something the right way. And what am I missing? What am I doing wrong? And you do feel guilty, you do feel ashamed, but as soon as you can let that go, it's the biggest gift you can give yourself.
Amber Taylor:
I'm in a relationship and when we were going through this and we were in this cycle of, just you know, impulse spending, buying this, buying that we're voiding bills, whatever we would guilt each other Like, well, you got this last week, so now I deserve this this week, yeah, and we would do it back and forth so much and we could never get ahead. It was just wild how much we did that to each other.
Brad Nelson:
Well, and I think the other thing too is that the stress alone not only with what we're discussing and you get in this cycle of like, say, impulse spending, emotional spending, spending to make yourself feel better is a lot of people also fall into the avoidance cycle too. They avoid it. And I actually have a personal friend right now that I've been talking to. They know what I do and just been chit-chatting on the side a little bit. They've been asking questions and things, and I've come to discover that they have some substantial bills that they have just been avoiding, like just ignoring it, and I was trying to explain to them. It's like a toothache right as it starts out small, but eventually it's going to get really, really big, it's going to get even more painful the more that you avoid it. And so I've been trying to say let's tackle this one little piece at a time, like, what can you do, what are you able to do? Because the more you avoid your particular situation, it's just only going to get worse. And we find this with people who join Roots, who are in their older years, and they are the first people to tell me Brett, I wish I would have taken care of these problems a long time ago. I wish I would have started sooner. I wish I would have started saving earlier. I wish I wouldn't have taken out all of this debt, because now I'm in my older years and I've avoided all these years, and now I'm just stressed beyond belief and it's just causing my life so much grief all the time. And so the natural habit for a lot of us is to stick our head in the sand and just pretend it doesn't exist. But the reality is is eventually the problem is gonna get so big where you have no other choice but to face it, and at that time it's gonna be really, really hard. So the reality is, when you're getting started, you're facing a lot of these stresses.
Brad Nelson:
Progress with your finances isn't just about numbers. It isn't just about math. Some of the best progress that you can make is just coming up with the courage to stand up and say I'm going to face this, I'm going to start doing something about my finances. Chris, I mean you were kind of talking about that. Eventually, you just were like this is such a big problem, I've got to deal with it, I've got to handle it, I've got to face it, and sometimes those are the biggest wins is making the decision to say today is the day I'm finally going to do something about it.
Brad Nelson:
And the reality is, guys, when we have people go through roots or people who start working on the stuff that we're talking about the savings numbers, the debt payoff numbers come later, but what comes first is less stress, it's less worry, it's less anxiety, because once you actually get on a plan, you face your issues, you start figuring out where exactly you're at, you develop a plan of how you're going to attack it. It's amazing it doesn't all go away, but it's amazing how much of the anxiety and stress does go away, because you're no longer guessing about what's going in, what's going out. How are we going to cover this? How are we going to cover that? Because you actually have a game plan of how you're going to start to finally tackle these challenges that you're facing.
Kati Hatfield:
Especially when you have that savings account where it's like, oh, I have the money to pay for whatever emergency, Like this year. I've had my colonoscopy because you hit 45. I have to get my wisdom teeth taken out, I have some other stuff coming up and I'm just like I can write a check for it and not even blink, not even stress, like I would have several years ago. It would have just been a completely life altering, chaotic, stressful mess and I would be like how am I going to pay for this? I need to do this, but how am I going to pay for this? And now it's just whatever next. So it's much easier the more you work on it.
Chris Hawkins:
And I can't reiterate enough you are where you are because of the decisions that you made. And as soon as you let all that go, recognize that, if you're the person that got you there, you're the person that can fix it, and focus on the small, simple, little victories and, as Brad has said, focus on the behaviors. Forget the math for a while. Yes, the math is there and, yes, the math can be beneficial, but you've got to fix you and that comes with the behaviors and that comes with small things, to begin with, learning and figuring things out. Sometimes you're going to fail. Learn from those, Step back up, Try it again.
Chris Hawkins:
Eventually you're going to get more and more victories and eventually you'll get to the point where you have no debt. You've changed who you are. You've changed your habits. You've changed your mindset, your outlook, the why that we always talk about. Then you can focus on the math and then the math becomes very important. The math becomes, in a way, very, very fun. But that comes down the road, after you change who you are and you change your behaviors, and part of it is just you've got to accept that you are where you are, that you can't go back and change things, and if you focus on the past, you will never, never make the changes that you need. So you know, as a financial coach, our job is to always tell people. All I can do is help you moving forward.
Chris Hawkins:
I can't help you unbox or undo anything that you've done in the past. But if you will focus on improvement, 1% change every day, try to get 1% better at something every day, eventually you're going to get there. Then you can focus on the math. And I'll say this it doesn't mean that from time to time you're not going to have some level of anxiety or something that comes up. But with new behaviors, with new habits, they don't become as big of an anxiety.
Chris Hawkins:
And you know, I had, a couple months ago, lost two vehicles. I think I talked about that on a podcast episode. I lost two vehicles and one of them was a pickup truck that I really needed to replace. But I haven't done it yet, partially because I've just been running the numbers, running the math, taking my time, being patient, not rushing into a decision, and those are the types of things that you learn the more that you do this. And tomorrow I'm going to finally go buy a used pickup truck that I'm going to pay cash for. I already have the cashier's check, money's in the bank. Those are the types of cool things that you can do, but, as Brad has said, you've got to start off with the small things and you've got to let go. Stop blaming yourself.
Brad Nelson:
Yeah. So I want to put you guys on the spot just a little bit and just ask you if you can go back and say you had to start completely over and again we're talking about stress, we're talking about anxiety. If you could give one piece of advice that helped you reduce most of that stress and most of that anxiety practical things someone could take away from this episode today and say start doing and say 30, 60 days from now, they would start feeling better. What do you think?
Amber Taylor:
Definitely a budget, Like it just gave me a plan. It told me where my money was going. So Like it just gave me a plan, it told me where my money was going. So for me it was a budget. But I'm very analytical and I need to see the things.
Kati Hatfield:
I had to stop going to Target on a regular basis. So, whether it's Target or Costco or whatever your downfall store is, just stop going there Like if it's in your house. If you can use the food that you have in your fridge in your pantry. Stop going to the places where, or going to the website where, you spend a little too much money and stop hitting submit order.
Chris Hawkins:
And I kind of already said it a couple of times, but I think, on the negative side, stop beating yourself up. And on the positive side, a budget simply is probably the number one priority. Yeah, but don't overcomplicate it. That was the mistake that I made is, I am very analytical too, almost too analytical, and it really has served me well. But at that time where I was at that time, being over analytical and overcomplicated cost me about a year and a half of having to restart twice before I finally figured it out.
Brad Nelson:
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I think budgeting is huge. I think, when I first got started, though, I think the biggest thing that helped me before I even got my budget done was and I talk about this all the time like a broken record is I started really just looking at where my money was going. I wasn't paying attention, and yet I convinced myself over and over again that I was broke. There's no way I was ever going to get ahead, there's no way I could save, there's no way I could get out of debt. The reality is, the money was there. It was just going to priorities that really weren't my priorities. It was just careless spending, and so I think for a lot of people, it's hard to do, it's hard to face, it's hard to look at, but go back over, print out the last three to six months of your bank statements and see where every single dollar has been going, and I can guarantee you just about everybody who does this is going to find some sort of money that they could have saved, they could have made better decisions, they could have done better things. Again, what you're not paying attention to, it's just easy to ignore. It's just easy to forget that you had those dollars to begin with.
Brad Nelson:
So I think for me that was the biggest part. That was like holy crap, there is hope, like I have actual money. I just like Chris you mentioned behaviors Like I just need to behave better. I just need to. I just need to work on this more and have better habits, create better habits. Stop doing this.
Brad Nelson:
Like Katie you said, don't go to target, right. You know, you have to have that awareness around it and I think once I started to realize that there was possibilities there, it was like a breath of fresh air, like I can do this. It's going to take some time to get out of it, but it is possible for sure. Can you guys talk a little bit Now? I know Chris, me and you, we kind of went through our debt-free journey a little bit differently than Amber and Katie. But can you guys talk a little bit about just the power of accountability and just community? Even, chris, I mean just surrounding yourself with people who have, say, like-minded goals, and me and Chris especially, we've been friends for a long time. We started financial coaching together, but I know Amber and Katie, you guys went through Roots. You guys have been doing this for years. Can you guys share your experience with that and just how that relates to the stress of going through this say alone versus with other people who are dealing with it.
Kati Hatfield:
I definitely needed the accountability because I didn't have a partner or someone that I could talk to and I felt embarrassed to talk to my friends and family. So joining Roots was like, okay, I'm not the only one in this situation, these people are in the same boat and we're all fighting for the same goal. And we might as well bounce ideas off each other and cheer each other on, and that encouragement was the key piece that I needed to get to paying off $224,000 plus in debt over seven years. Yeah, it takes a long time, but I'm doing it and I'm proud of it. And also tracking making sure that you're tracking your progress is huge. That number still blows my mind all the time.
Chris Hawkins:
Well, I mean, for me, I was figuring things out day to day. I had not read any books, there was no course that I had taken. I had read one book and it had just come out at the time a popular seven-step method that a lot of people may be familiar with, and I simply kind of focused on the first two emergency fund and then getting out of debt. You know, that book told the story of a lot of other folks who were in the same situation and boat that I was in, or we were in, and that was sort of how I realized that I wasn't alone. But for me, the only real accountability partner that I had was I sit down with my wife and I said I'm just tired of being in debt and here's a plan. And she bought into it and that made it easy to do. So I sort of have one person to bounce things off of, but I certainly didn't have a community. I wish I had had a community, I wish I had had a course, I wish I had had a lot of the things that you offer, and maybe that's the message to those of you out there listening If you're not sure, what do you have to lose? Try something different. Join the community. You'll find out that you have other people who have the same problems that you do, but you're all working together to get out of debt, to build wealth, and I think you can do it significantly faster than perhaps I did, simply because you have that community.
Chris Hawkins:
But in terms of asking me who my accountability was, it was simply my wife. That was it. We weren't out there telling everybody what we were doing, right, because we knew if we did, they'd tell us. You know, that's kind of a dumb idea, so we just sort of kept it to ourself until we got to a certain point.
Chris Hawkins:
I found myself making my own laundry detergent one time and my brother laughed at me about it. Right, you know, we laugh about it now and I don't have to make. I make my own laundry detergent. But you know, eventually my brother came to me it's very similar story to yours, brad and he needed help. He needed a lot of help and we had to spend several years helping him get out of trouble. So I became his accountability partner, along with my other brother who called me for financial advice, and a lot of other people had somebody here today just asked me hey, a lot of other people had somebody here today just asked me hey, can I sit down and talk to you about money? So I sort of have become somebody else's accountability partner. But I didn't really have one.
Amber Taylor:
Yeah, for us, like I did this with my husband, but having the community because we joined Roots, we seen Brad's seminar and we joined Roots. And then it was the regular check ins because we had these weekly meetings and we would check in online and we would share how we were doing, share our success, and it really just helped us keep going and stay motivated and seeing other people that were kind of doing the same thing. But definitely that check-in, I don't think we would have paid off $54,000 in 20 months had we not had that.
Brad Nelson:
And crazy it was what seven years ago you guys are on your. Yeah, I just saw the Facebook reminder or memory come up that you guys did it seven years ago right.
Brad Nelson:
Seven years, man, where does time go. But anyways, yeah, great stuff. If you're again tired of financial stress, you want to break free from living paycheck to paycheck, you want to reduce a lot of that anxiety, you want to build a savings and finally pay off your debt for good. But again, maybe you're not sure where to get started. Obviously, you got to start with our podcast, but we've also got some incredible free resources for you, including our newsletter, and it is your step-by-step roadmap to better financial control, so you'll learn easy-to-follow strategies to manage your money effectively. You're going to get stress-free money decision-making that's going to help you simplify your financial life with proven tips that actually work, and you're going to gain the tools and the confidence to start tackling your financial goals head-on. If you want to sign up for this newsletter called Simplify my Money, all you got to do is click the link at the top of the show notes. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, let's talk. Let's talk about that baby.
Chris Hawkins:
Let's talk about your money. Let's talk about all the good things, all the bad things that may be. Let's talk about that. Let's talk about that.
Amber Taylor:
Turn into a debt-free dad, Turn into a debt-free dad and that's how I mean this time for the celebrations of the show. First we have Misty. The credit card we've been working on paying off is down to just $82. The plan is to have that paid off before the end of the month. Then snowball what we were paying on to the next step.
Brad Nelson:
Yeah, awesome when Misty and Max says I finally got my state return. I put it straight into the emergency fund, bringing my emergency fund total to $1,076. Also did some pet sitting last weekend and earned an extra $250. I put this towards getting some bills paid off, starting to feel like I can finally breathe again. Max, awesome, awesome wins.
Chris Hawkins:
And Mary says well, not a whole lot's happening and that's a good thing. My win would be just staying steady.
Kati Hatfield:
Yeah.
Brad Nelson:
And a lot of people would overlook that, right Like nothing really happened this week. But honestly, staying steady, staying consistent, is a great win. I love it.
Kati Hatfield:
And Claudia Ann stayed within her grocery budget and no eating out, no use of credit cards for six months. Way to go.
Brad Nelson:
Yeah, that's awesome. And then, last but not least, is Holly. I got a side job cleaning houses for some extra money, holly, I love it. Income producing activities Great job. So again, as always, guys, congratulations to all of you guys who are taking a stand for your financial life and you're wanting better. Hey, we get that getting out of debt. It's not easy, but with our help and with your consistency and discipline, we promise you guys, this will be some of the best work that you guys do in your entire life. Thanks for joining us on today's show and we will see you guys on the next episode, on the next episode.
Announcer:
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