We Are Deep In Debt... How Do We Get Out // Hump Day Q&A

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You know what time it is, sweetie?

It's hump day. Q and A time.

Hump day.

Q and A. Hump day Q and A.

Welcome to the Naked Marriage podcast. Hump day Q and A. We love answering your questions. So every Wednesday we're dropping a special podcast episode focused on one of your questions. You can submit your own marriage related question online@nakedmarriagepodcast.com or by sending us a message on Instagram. Aveandashleywillis. We've got a great question today, so let's dive in.

Hey there. Welcome back. We have a really good question today that I think many of us, if not all of us, can relate to on some level. And it's this question. We are deep in debt. How do we get out? Man, we have been there, right, sweetie? I mean, as you know, this is part of our story. We were deep in debt and, and we really wanted to get out. And we didn't know at first. We were like, how do we get out of this? And so, I mean, number one, I think recognizing that being deep in debt is not good for you and is really like a prison of its own is the first step. You know, don't keep on getting more debt. I mean, that's number one, don't keep on adding to the debt. And I would say, number two, and Dave can add to this too. You got to get help. You know, I know for us it took, it took kind of really looking at everything that was coming in, everything that's going out, and then thinking like in maybe some different ways and how can we reduce this debt? And I know, I mean, you know, it looked a lot of different ways. It looked like having a budget. It looked like, you know, making sure we're not getting any new credit cards. I know that for us, we got into real estate. I mean, this is, I'm just going to give specifics. Like, we got into, we took the money that we did have and invested in a home that we could flip. And through that flip, we were able to make a significant amount of income that cut down that debt. And we did that several times over. And that really helped us. Now, that may not be Something you can do. But there's other ways, like through Dave Ramsey's resources, like Financial Peace University and you can use their app everydollar. There's other resources out there too that can help.

You know, I think our pastor Marty Baker always says there's money laying around your house. You know, times where things are lean, he says, look, look for stuff to sell. You probably got stuff in your house, in your attic that is worth something to somebody, right? And even when they were in a really time, he, he pulled out this, this saxophone that he had played in school and band his parents had bought for him years ago was still in good condition and he sold that. And he was shocked at how much he got. I mean, he made like $3,000. I think this was years ago when his family was really lean and, and it was a life changer for them. And now years later, his kids are all grown. And just a couple Christmases ago, as a way to kind of honor him and thank him for all the sacrifices he'd made, they went together and they bought him a saxophone.

So sweet.

And that's just one of the most meaningful gifts. But it was just, the whole story's a reminder that like sometimes we have to, we gotta sell stuff. Sometimes we've gotta sell the vehicle we have and get a little bit junkier of a vehicle.

We have done that.

We've done that over and over, multiple times. I'm telling you, one thing better than a new car smell is a paid off car smell. And I drive a car right now, it is old as dirt.

It's as old as our marriage.

It's a 2001 Toyota Avalon with 273,000 miles on it. And I'm so proud of that thing. Every time I turn the key and it turns on one more day, I just smile and I feel like I'm winning it life. I got one more day out of this thing. So, yeah, I think sometimes we get in debt because we're trying to create this standard of living to impress people somehow. And it's just, you know, that's just dumb, frankly. I mean, we need instead to, we need to fight for peace. We need to have peace in our lives, in our homes, we need margin in our, in our budgets, in our time. The stuff that we're buying, man, like none of it's as nice as just the peace that comes from not having to lay in bed at night thinking about the debt hanging over your head. And we've been there early on, like Ashley said, we, we made hardly any Money. We weren't smart with money. Debt came fast and then it's just a snowball in the wrong direction of interest and more debt. And we slowly started getting out of that. And I'm just telling you on the other side, I never want to go back. I will drive an old car. I'll do whatever. I just never want to go back. So there are so many resources we've given you. Just a few. Xomarriage.com, we have. We have some great resources from some money experts that have written and shared things right on our site. We've done other podcast episodes and interviews with some Christian money experts. There's a lot out there. So just don't think you got to figure it out on your own. And don't feel like your net worth is a reflection of your self worth. Don't feel like that God loves you more when you are out of debt or have a bunch of money in the bank or. Or that you're somehow more valuable. That's simply not true. Your soul is priceless. Whether you owe a million bucks or have a million bucks, your soul is priceless and you can't take any of it with you anyway. But God wants us to live in the freedom that comes from not being shackled by debt so that we can be free to do all the things he has for us.

That's right. Freedom is wealth. You know, having the freedom to not worry about money, I think that's the main thing. And also, you know, not worry about money when you don't have a lot of money. But. But also not be obsessed with money when you do have a lot of money.

Exactly.

And so just pray about that too. You know, I'm telling you all, we, in those extremely lean times, we would pray specifically about our finances. And we still do. But I remember really praying specifically like, lord, help us get out of debt. And I'm telling you there were moments where he miraculously would provide and it really can broaden your faith. And so, you know, definitely pray about it. Cause I'm telling you, God wants you to have freedom from debt.

Really does. Guys, great question again. You can follow us on Instagram aveandashleywillis. Submit your questions there and look at the calendar of upcoming events@xomarriage.com we would love to meet you at one of our live events. They're always so much fun. We love meeting you there. So get that on your calendar too. God bless, guys. I'll see you next time.

Thank you all so much for listening. To today's episode of Hump Day Q and A. We love getting your questions and we want to answer your question. So. So if you go to nakedmarriagepodcast.com, you can submit your question right there, or you can follow us on Instagram aveandashleywillis and you can give us your questions right there by giving us a dm. So we'll catch you next time on Hump Day Q and A.