Master Consistency to Eliminate Debt Fast: Stop Restarting Your Debt Payoff Plan | 104

0:00 Right. You want to know how to fail at paying off your debt? Not being in the right mindset. Even if you have the best plan, most people don't fail because they picked the wrong spreadsheet. They're going to fail because they weren't mentally prepared for what debt payoff actually requires. This isn't about math. Today we're going to talk about the mindset endurance game of paying off all of your debt. And if you don't prepare for this mentally, you're going to restart over and over again. And we know restarting things can be exhausting, right?

0:33 Hey there, I'm Jules the budget nerd, and welcome to the Debt Rebel show. This is the place where working families like yours learn how to stop living paycheck to paycheck, crush debt for good, and build a life where money actually works for your family. In about 15 minutes, I'll share practical family budgeting tips, tough love strategies, and actionable steps to move toward debt free living without the fluff, the shame, or the confusion. And I know a thing or two about this. My family and I have eliminated over $107,000 in consumer debt, and that was after I got my degree in economics.

1:08 So stay tuned. This is going to be a great episode. So grab that coffee, your planner, whatever you need to make this a great experience, maybe a snack if you're like me and let's make your money work for your family, right? So today we are talking about getting mentally prepared for debt payoff because it's a, it's a marathon, right? Depending on if we have maybe we have $10,000 in debt or maybe we have over $100,000 in debt. The number for this doesn't matter because it is about a mindset shift.

1:44 And today we're going to talk about some of the blocks that are quietly sabotaging your progress and what to do about them. So first one is the all or nothing thinking. So if we can't, you know, pay, pay the full $2000 that's owed on this card, then what is the point, right? Or maybe we overspend one time and then we blew it. And so we just, you know, can't want to cancel the whole thing or maybe a holiday expense comes up and we're like, you know what, we'll, we'll get started again in January, right?

2:18 So The thing is intensity can feel productive, but consistency is what's going to win in this circumstance when it comes to paying off your debt. How about the whole comparison thing? Now, this is one that I find happens a lot. And even for myself, the whole thought of we should be further along than we are by now, right? So maybe you have friends that are buying their first home, or maybe you see people online, they're like, hey, I paid off $40,000 in six months. Or maybe we just have our own unrealistic expectations about how long it's going to take.

2:54 Now the reality is every single one of us have a different starting spot in this journey. We have different income and we have different expenses. So don't let the timeline kill your momentum because that time is the time that it takes, right? We'll talk a little bit more about that in a second on how to speed that up. But the other thing is the shame spirals. So when the month doesn't go as planned, so maybe you had planned on, you know what, I'm going to be able to put an extra $100 towards a specific debt this month.

3:25 And so we, you know, we start feel like things aren't going as planned, then we stop, then we avoid. So when things don't go as planned, we avoid checking our bank balances or we stop tracking or we mentally just quit because we feel like we're financially not in it. And this is where debt payoff become, this is where debt payoff becomes like a personality test instead of a process that we're following. So all of these things I feel like for myself and my husband and I are things that we we fell into.

3:59 So if you're new to the show or haven't had a chance to listen to that, the first episode, our story starts. I have a degree in economics and we got into $107,000 in consumer debt. And then Fast forward to this last year and I was diagnosed with ADHD and understand now a lot of the struggles that I had were because of that. But just because we know things doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to be as easy to apply. And so and our timelines are going to be different because it took us six years to pay off $107,000.

4:34 Now I've seen stories online where people are paying that off in 10 months or maybe they're going to be paying it off in a couple of years. But it took us, it took us six years to pay that off because we started and stopped a lot. We didn't have help. We would have things that came up. We had to deal with unemployment. So there was all kinds of things. Some things were in our control and some things were out of our control. But what I want you to hear me say is knowing the plan and sticking with it is so important because there are going to be times where you're afraid that the money that you have planned for, you know, putting towards a debt, you're going to have to scale that back because you know what, you got your maybe your hours were reduced or you got laid off from your job or you were furloughed and you need to use that money to pay for food for your family or to pay your mortgage.

5:26 So there are things like that that will come up and that's natural when you know the plan and you're and you follow through with it. And when you have to adapt and adjust, then it's going to feel a lot more, you're going to be a lot more empowered in that process when you know, versus the not getting started or and not being prepared for what things could come ahead. And I will say for us, some of the biggest leaps of faith and some of the scariest moments in our process where when we would have to, you know, we would put those bigger payments on things and go, OK, that once this money is spent, it's not it's not available to us anymore.

6:04 But those were the the moments where things change the most for us because it was like 11 success became another success. And then we would find, you know, we would say, hey, OK, let's reduce, let's reduce our spending in this area so that we can have a little bit more. You start to get very, very excited about the possibilities when you see when you start to see that number decrease. So the one thing that I want you to hear me say is if you are feeling, especially when you get started in this process, if you haven't already, that emotional resistance that you feel is normal.

6:42 So sometimes our motivation will dip one month or maybe you know, something comes up. I know for us, we decided in our in in our journey that we weren't going to buy gifts for each other. And so that was one way we were going to be able to save money and focus on our common goal of becoming debt free. I remember right coming up, I think it was Valentine's Day or my birthday. Either way, it was a gift giving holiday and we decided not to get each other gifts. And I really, I really wanted something and it wasn't, it wasn't something big.

7:12 I just really wanted something small for my husband. We had a conversation about it and how that would honor our goals and what was important to us. I had to and wasn't my birthday. What was it? All right, so I want to talk about the emotional resistance that we can come up against when it comes to our debt elimination journey. And there are going to be times where you know what, you might not necessarily feel like continuing on or you're going to feel like you want to quit, but you're like, I need to stick with this.

7:41 So there's going to be some internal debate. And if you're doing this with with someone else, there's also could be a conversation that you both have together. I know one year we had to excited that we weren't going to be getting gifts for each other. And I think it was Valentine's Day. I can't remember what holiday it was, but we were going to be exchanging gifts, my husband and I, and we've gone several months without getting each other anything. And it came up and I was like, I really want, I want to get him something and I would really love it if he got me a gift too.

8:12 And so we talked about it and we decided that this, this small adjustment would happen for this holiday only so that we could, it was going to help us not, not help us indulge just this just a tiny bit, but also keep the momentum going that we had. And so I want you to hear me say that sometimes those things are going to happen like that. And, and it's OK because there are going to be times where you know what you, you don't, you're not necessarily going to feel like following through with it, but keeping focused on why you got started in the 1st place is going to help when those moments strike.

8:47 So, so make sure that you hear me. So remember, resistance does not mean that you're on the wrong path. It just means just like when we're in the gym and we're stretching, we're making it, we're making that muscle stronger. And so this, this is part of the journey that happens. But I want to encourage you to continue to move through that as you work to eliminate your debt. And I want to share a story of one of my clients because this is a perfect example of how how she moved through something that could have been very challenging, especially with a large outgo of money, because she was working really hard through her her debt snowball.

9:29 The her and her husband were the next one. They were working off, was paying off their car and in the process of eliminating that day, they were affected by the recent government shutdown here in the US. And that is very challenging when you start to think, OK, I'm not sure when my next paycheck is coming in and you have this money set aside to pay off her car. What, what should you do? And so in, you know, in her scenario, she held onto it until that was over and then and then paid it off. And just recently sent me a message and said it's done.

10:06 She has the title to her car. And it was an amazing, amazing celebration for her and her family. But sometimes those things are going to happen. So keeping focused on what the priority is. And sometimes we have to pause those things and take a step back and go, OK, the priority is making sure that your family is fed and that they have a roof over their head because that the momentum is going to come from your focus and not from the intensity. So for her and her family, that was keeping the keeping the priorities of their basic needs and then their debt elimination after that.

10:40 So that's where they're momentum came from. It is coming from having a focused plan and not being super intense about it. So how are some ways that you can keep that momentum going? Like I said, having one goal at a time. So this is really helpful because you not have to having one goal at a time is going to help you from trying to basically when it comes to a setting your goals, it's not like it's not going to be like herding cats, right? So we're going to be focused on one thing. When that goal is done, then you can move on to the next thing.

11:10 The other part is celebrating the small wins. Those tiny payments that you make on your debts are going to count just as big as the big just as much as the big ones do. So tracking that progress will help you build that confidence and then giving yourself a realistic timeline. So each person then each couple is going to have a different timeline for what it looks like for them to eliminate their debt. Like I said, our incomes are going to be different, our debt payments are going to be different, and then our our timelines are going to be different based on our lives, right?

11:42 So there's so many factors that play if you knowing that putting a realistic timeline in place is going to help you keep that momentum going. And then like I said, just celebrating those milestones. That's why tracking it is important. So you know when those celebrations are going to come, when you've paid off that first debt and then you can move into that second one and rewarding yourself for that progress and creating that rhythm and acknowledging the growth that comes from from this process.

12:08 So we're going to shift from that urgency to consistency because urgency is what burns us out, but consistency is the thing that compounds and keeps this process going at a more manageable rate. All right, So what are the practical steps for preparing for debt elimination? 1 is knowing your total debt, 2 is picking that strategy and whether it's the debt snowball or the debt avalanche. So and picking a strategy that's going to work for you. I love the debt snowball. That's what our family is putting your smallest debts, you're going to list them in order from smallest to largest.

12:47 This is going to give you the big psychological wins that are going to be helpful. Pick one and stick with it. If you need help deciding that, check out episode 96 of the show where I break those different strategies down and help you decide which one works best for you and your family. And then a set a realistic monthly target. So this isn't the best case scenario number. This is a sustainable number that's going to help you so that your debt pay off. This is going to be that sustainable number.

13:20 Your debt payoff fails when the payment plan that only works on perfect months. Because if your family or if your your finances or anything like mine, there's no such thing as a perfect month. And then let's set up some X. And then The thing is to expect that emotional resistance. So there's going to be months where it's going to be boring. There's going to be months that are load motivation for you. There's going to be months where unexpected expenses pop up. And then there's going to be times where we're going to fall into those comparison traps.

13:56 And so recognizing those triggers and planning for that resistance ahead of time so that when it comes up, you can just respond to it instead of react to it. So you don't need perfect motivation. You need a plan. And that debt payoff is not a personality test. This whole thing is a process. It's a journey, and it's a process that works better when you have support. So if you are serious about paying off your debt this year, I don't want you to do it alone. That's something that my husband and I did, and that's one of our biggest regrets is that we didn't have the support because support is going to change the speed at which you make progress.

14:31 That's exactly why I created the Alliance Coaching membership. So we get to build your plan step by step, help you adjust when life happens, and keep you from restarting over and over again. And the best part, we get to celebrate the milestones together because momentum isn't built in isolation, it's built in accountability. So if you want to stop restarting and start addressing in your debt elimination journey, I linked the info in the show notes for you. You can also find it at debtrebelpodcast.com and join us inside the Alliance coaching membership.

15:04 All right, we'll see you in the next episode. Thank you for tuning into the Debt Rebel show today. Ready to take your family budgeting to the next level? Stop that paycheck to paycheck grind and start living debt free. Head over to my website, debtrebelpodcast.com. That's DEBTR edelpodcast.com to grab resources, tools and tips to make it happen. And don't forget, subscribe, leave a review. And if you know another family that will love hearing today's episode, it would be such a gift for both of us, your friend and me.

15:42 If you share this episode and remember your debt free life starts with one brave step and I'm cheering you on every step of the way. We'll talk soon. Debt Rebel.