Getting out of debt is often part of the larger personal development journey. When you think about all the dreams and desires you could finance if you didn\u2019t have all of those payments, the motivation drives itself. So what is it like when you actually arrive? What is it like to be debt free?\u00a0
You might think that reaching debt freedom is one big party. It certainly is cause to celebrate, and you might do that. But mentally and emotionally it takes a few months for the new normal to be fully realized.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first month that you do not have to send any payments to anyone is rather surreal. The mailbox seems terribly empty. You just don\u2019t really have bills. Yes, you might still have a rent or mortgage payment, and utilities. But it\u2019s just so little, compared to what it used to be.\u00a0
If you have been using Dave Ramsey\u2019s \u201cdebt snowball\u201d method, then the last debt you paid off was the largest, and you were throwing a large percentage of your budget at it every month. And now…. and now you have all that cash for yourself. You go a little nuts that first month. You have denied yourself anything and everything in the name of debt freedom for so long that you splurge a little, as you should. You should feel the reward of all your hard work. You take a month or two to enjoy it as the the reality of your new debt free life sets in.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then you start to dream in earnest. Remember all those dreams and goals you wanted to finance? It\u2019s time to start allocating for them in your monthly spend plan. The feeling of placing your hard earned money toward something that really matters to you can only be described as purposeful bliss. It feels amazing. It feels like, for the first time in your adult life, you actually have your act together. You have a vision for the future and you are in charge of making it happen. You are working just as hard as you did before; maybe more. And you are saving like a squirrel in Fall.\u00a0
You are saving so vehemently, because almost guaranteed to be on your list of dreams is financial independence – the state of having enough money that you can live off of the investment interest for the rest of your life and never run out. The ideal of never having to work again, or simply being able to work on whatever you want, is key for the large majority of us. But along the road to financial independence is a stage I will call financial contentment.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More on that in future posts…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A reflection on the experience of becoming debt free \u2014 the surreal first month without payments, the initial splurge, and the shift into purposeful saving toward dreams and eventual financial independence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2959,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"project_category":[1885,31],"project_tag":[36,1429,654,180,900,1767,1753,280,649,1961,987,981,1732,947,37,1452,1857,977,309,69,1866,1012,655,302,651,979,978,284,980,1361,283,1865,1864],"series":[],"class_list":["post-2956","project","type-project","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","project_category-money","project_category-observations","project_tag-art","project_tag-business","project_tag-complete-connection","project_tag-connection","project_tag-consciousness","project_tag-consciousness-mastery","project_tag-couples","project_tag-cycle","project_tag-cycle-of-human-development","project_tag-debt-freedom","project_tag-finance","project_tag-finding-peace","project_tag-global-peace","project_tag-human-development","project_tag-kathryn-colleen","project_tag-lasting-peace","project_tag-lastingpeace-org","project_tag-life-optimization","project_tag-money","project_tag-music","project_tag-personal","project_tag-podcasts","project_tag-purna-asatti","project_tag-religion","project_tag-roadmap","project_tag-seeing-yourself","project_tag-self-mastery","project_tag-self-development","project_tag-self-improvement-2","project_tag-spirituality","project_tag-stages","project_tag-understanding-people","project_tag-writing"],"acf":{"recommend_blurb":"For anyone working to get out of debt and wondering what arrival really feels like. Describes the emotional reality of debt freedom and what comes next, from Validation, Sabotage and Freedom.","citation_snippet":"Dr. Kathryn Messegee (Kathryn Colleen), \"The Nature And Effect Of Being Debt Free,\" https:\/\/kathryncolleen.com\/studio\/project\/being-debt-free\/","topics":["money"],"related_book":"Validation, Sabotage and Freedom","buy_url":"https:\/\/shop.lightningsource.com\/b\/085?kN5Ei1XH3Pk2HgakYpOOL1HumSN9LFPvQeevjteuuxm"},"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/kathryncolleen.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/6A311CE7-3B01-4808-B066-D42AF7B217F5.jpeg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/kathryncolleen.com\/studio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/CCA57320-6DC3-4284-BC27-49E433028503.jpeg","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/on-life-being-human\/id1360368906","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/2nq6d35q9nFAFlanaJc2Do","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/kathryncolleen.com\/studio\/feed\/podcast\/on-life-being-human","embedCode":"
The Nature And Effect Of Being Debt Free<\/a><\/blockquote>