10 months. It's been 10 months today that we pulled away from our house on Swanson Road for the last time. I don't know if you have ever moved out of a home that you've raised your babies in and possibly even built, but pulling up to grab one last thing before pulling away broke me. I remember sitting in the passenger seat, (exhausted from moving all night long and driving an hour south pulling a trailer in the foggy dark), I had fallen asleep leaving the bank and when I opened my eyes I saw the new little family jumping out of their cars and running into the house. My heart burst and I cried thinking to myself... That was my house. That is where I brought my babies home. That is my neighbor who I love. That is my front door. That is my backyard. Ya'll I am sobbing just writing this.... But it's not mine... It's theirs now. We have a new plan and a new life and it's going to be beautiful...right?! Right! I needed someone to tell me things would be okay. You might as well have asked me to jump out of an airplane that was on fire. That's how scared I was deep down. I knew we were making the right decision. I knew as we pulled away from making our last stop, that there was no looking back. Looking back hurt too much. Looking forward gave me such hope. Forward: Hope. Fast forward to today. You're curious, is this kind of life for you? Is selling everything and living small something you can handle? Will your kids be okay? Will it be worth it? It has everything to do with your end game. I had someone once tell me they could never do what I do and that they would never live a camper. They're perfectly fine selling their home and building another and owing twice as much as before. I'm happy for them. Why? They know what they want, they know their limits, and they are in a place where owing twice as much means they are making twice as much. (I hope) Our end game is probably much different that most people's end game. We have the desire to owe nothing on our home so that we can owe nothing on our cars, and pay back every dime of our student loans. All so that we can send our children to college and let them graduate debt free. Instead of asking you, what would an extra $500 a month do for you and roping you into some MLM business, I'm going to ask you...what would not having a mortgage or rent payment do for your family? Then tell you to work for it. Plan for it. ,I was going to get into the business of talking about debt freedom and how, but instead maybe take a look at Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace program. It's one of the methods we used and studied, it's the reason we decided to do something different. We had a great start and we had plenty of help and support, but it was time to get out of debt. I taught school full time, my husband had his own business, and I picked up a direct sales gig that ended up matching my teaching salary within a few months. That year we paid off over $30,000 in debt and got a real taste of what was possible and the freedom we could have. We took Dave's course and still failed to apply all that he taught us other than stay focused on paying off debt. Maybe if we did it by the book we'd be better off today, but I'd say, were are in a pretty good place. The biggest question people ask me is, how do we do it and do you think we can? Those are such loaded questions aren't they? They're legit though. Aren't you wondering? I do want to share with you how we manage, the biggest trials we've been through, and what we did to over come them; all so you can foresee possible greatness in the adventure and not be naive about what could go wrong. Can you do it? That depends on you and your willingness to live an adventure for awhile.
I have to keep reminding myself this is part of the journey.
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About Us: Our adventure as a family of 7, building our dream home debt free in the wilderness of Georgia.
I'm Aimee, former Early Childhood Educator and Reading Specialist turned author, speaker, blogger, and mom of 5. This website is meant to inspire & equip parents of little ones to promote early literacy & language development at home. You will also find fun crafts, devotionals, and recipes to explore..
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March 2020
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