Author of Slaying the Debt Dragon (our m challenge book for February) Cherie Lowe, together with her husband, Brian, paid off $127,482.30 in a little under four years! She wrote about the ups and downs of their debt-slaying journey on her popular website, www.QueenOfFree.net. Cherie so so inspirational – I loved reading about their journey towards slaying debt and am so excited to be sharing her expertise with you today. Be sure to snag her book for our discussion next week. In the meantime, here are some motivational words from Cherie!
Hi my name is Cherie and my family paid off over $127K in debt in four years.
Wait. Let me start again.
Hi my name is Cherie and I’ve made some pretty ridiculous money mistakes.
I’ve purchased more than I could afford, wracked up debt, and simply not paid attention.
I’ve been angry with my husband over what we could and couldn’t spend, overindulged my kids, and believed the lie that just one more dinner out/cute outfit/gift for someone else really couldn’t hurt.
I’ve felt guilty, ashamed, overwhelmed, and stupid for my own decisions. And then I crawled into a place of hopelessness where I quietly tucked away the mistruth in my heart that we were the only ones.
No one else could have made this many mistakes.
No one else could feel this out of control.
No one else could have been that dumb with money.
Those emotions locked up my soul in a dungeon where I couldn’t find the key. Tightly gripping my heart, they paralyzed me from starting to find a way out.
Personal finance is personal. Money is emotional. You can have free budget printables. You can have a rock solid strategy and all of the best information to guide your journey. You can even have the wherewithal and guts to get out of debt. But from my experience it takes even more than that.
Unless you slay debt, it will never truly be gone. Here’s the difference. If you merely get out of debt then you can get back into debt again. But if you slay debt, it is vanquished, dead at your feet, never to come to be resurrected.
Want to know the good news I already know about you? You have what it takes to be successful with money and slay your debt dragon. You are smart enough. You are strong enough. And while it might not seem to be true right now, you have the resources to complete your epic battle.
My main purpose in writing Slaying the Debt Dragon: How One Family Conquered Their Money Monster and Found an Inspired Happily Ever After was to spread hope. I didn’t want anyone else to believe the lies I bought into. I didn’t want anyone else to feel alone. Instead, I wanted to remind fellow debt slayers of some of the things they already knew and provide practical tools to guide their journey. I wanted to share what I learned from our days of battle – the good, the bad, and the ugly – so that others could find victory from our mistakes, encouragement from our story. From what it looks like celebrate your child’s birthday when living on a tight budget to how to manage your meals more effectively, from the essentials of communicating well with your spouse about money to realistic budgeting methods, you can begin your very own financial happily ever after.
I love this paraphrase of a G.K. Chesterton quote:
Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.
Your dragons can. be. beaten. There is a way out. Hope abounds. Step into your story. The greatest adventure is just about to begin.
Pin It