"If you have stability and safety you're better off than the majority of the population of the world." That realization is a true help in learning the lesson of contentment--thanks for the reminder.
Back in April of 2022, our family found ourselves in a place where things had got so tight I didn’t know how we were going to pay our bills in May! That is when I looked up Dave Ramsey because something had to change. It was hard for me mentally because my kids were teenagers and I was concerned I waited to late and that I was going to ruin their last couple of years of high school so we didn’t go quite as scorched earth as he says you should but over night our lives did dramatically change. In my budget I did always keep a kids fund because my kids played sports, and had homecomings, and proms and all the burnout and senior stuff coming up that I knew I wanted them to be a part of. Today we have one debt left to payoff and our finances look so different! It is so nice on the other side of the hard.
Oh my gosh Lydia I was an extreme couponer raising my daughter. I had 4 neighbors give me their Sunday inserts and I printed coupons too and I had a ton of free food. It was incredible lol 🙋🏻♀️ I had a big binder I carried with me I had a pt job and was in my nursing program
you are soo funny Lydia i love your saving tips I bake the same way my sour dough can break my husbands teeth but I love it You guys are so encouraging to know that we can get through tough times!!!
I am in debt, I lived so frugally for so long when money was so tight. But now I splurge on little things that I could not afford before-like Bath&Body, when you are in survival mode then have Breathing room you forget that the debt is still there. I need to work on that. I loved this video to remind me.
After college when i moved out on my own, i didnt have any cable or internet. I would watch dvds mostly lotr extended edition over and over again. That lasted 2 years while my boyfriend and i saved to buy our first house.
Lydia, I'm so glad that you and your family were able to make this journey together. Such an amazing blessing! You deserve it. Thank you so much for sharing, and for always being positive and encouraging to your audience. So many UA-camrs have an "I woke up like this" approach which can make others feel like failures for real life struggles. Keep ministering to us. Thank you. 🙏🏾♥️👍🏾👍🏾
Thank you for sharing your story. Even though the numbers were different for me when I was in debt, the situation was the same in terms of what needed to be done. I have always appreciated your role in my journey to living debt free. Your encouragement that anyone could find a way to become debt free kept me going. Not going out to dinner at all and only buying the absolute necessities worked for me too, and I was able to follow your example. My husband and I cannot believe how amazing it is to live debt free. We would never go back to using credit cards and lines of credit for our expenses. Thanks again!
I tried cloth diapering for my boy (environmental and health reasons) but I gave up soon. It was just not for us. I felt sooo guilty. But as I had a lot of cloth diapering supplies, which were not cheap, I gave them away to a nice lady who wanted to try with her newborn. She succeeded. I was so happy. At least someone used it up. Maybe if I stick longer, I would succeed too. But I had a lot of trouble with breastfeeding, which resulted in me pumping out my milk for a year. So, something had to give. I chose what is more important. At that time, feeding baby with my milk seemed more important then persisting in cloth diapering.
Very good tips, thanks for sharing the details of your journey. We are also a low income family, mainly because our youngest child has complex special needs.
(Watching this in 2024 with a $300 / energy bill on a 1400 sq foot house with new windows, doors and roof. Sigh.) You and I are around the same age and I was telling my kids yesterday at the grocery that I remember, during the recession, when canned food was $.49, box mixes were $.99, etc. The inflation now just sucks and I’m sure every generation says that, but whew.
I'm having difficulty downloading your debtfree spreadsheet. If this is a .pdf file, then why do I need to add the new extension? Even after I installed the extension, I could not find your file. Please help.
It’s not a PDF- It’s a google doc SPREADSHEET. You open the doc in google doc and copy and paste it. The instructions are written at the top of the document. It’s not a .pdf file. There is no extension.
It's so much work. Hours and hours each week and I would stress about not having enough diapers clean for both of them. The mental load and the time were absolutely not worth it for me.
@TheRealLydiaSenn I made hourglass shaped flannel diapers of double layers, to stand up to the repeated bleaching. I would eventually rotate 6 - 7 dozen for 1 child. Flannel then came in extra wide widths compared to cottons.
I think many people are in the middle of what you just described but I think there are going to be many many more that will be having to live this way .. soon very soon. sadlyl
Absolutely agree that frugal journeys are individual. I just climbed out of cc debt when I lost a job this past January (lack of snow resulted in virtually no snowmobile season for me to work) so I am feeling so grateful that I was able to pay off debt quickly and only have a low mortgage left as debt. I also was able to buy a used car which is much cheaper on gas and a newer model for cash. But every day I do as you’ve said, cook from scratch, and watch the Pennie’s. Working on building up a nest egg again.
Hi friends. I'm resharing this older video in the hopes that someone who needs it can see it. I know how hard and discouraging being in debt can be.
"If you have stability and safety you're better off than the majority of the population of the world." That realization is a true help in learning the lesson of contentment--thanks for the reminder.
Back in April of 2022, our family found ourselves in a place where things had got so tight I didn’t know how we were going to pay our bills in May! That is when I looked up Dave Ramsey because something had to change. It was hard for me mentally because my kids were teenagers and I was concerned I waited to late and that I was going to ruin their last couple of years of high school so we didn’t go quite as scorched earth as he says you should but over night our lives did dramatically change. In my budget I did always keep a kids fund because my kids played sports, and had homecomings, and proms and all the burnout and senior stuff coming up that I knew I wanted them to be a part of. Today we have one debt left to payoff and our finances look so different! It is so nice on the other side of the hard.
Oh my gosh Lydia I was an extreme couponer raising my daughter. I had 4 neighbors give me their Sunday inserts and I printed coupons too and I had a ton of free food. It was incredible lol 🙋🏻♀️ I had a big binder I carried with me I had a pt job and was in my nursing program
you are soo funny Lydia i love your saving tips I bake the same way my sour dough can break my husbands teeth but I love it You guys are so encouraging to know that we can get through tough times!!!
Thanks Lydia. I feel that hearing paying-off-debt stories really help others to see that there's light at the end of the tunnel.
I really enjoyed your frugality story. Love your channel!
Thank you so much!
This is exactly what we make. Working to get out of debt
I am in debt, I lived so frugally for so long when money was so tight. But now I splurge on little things that I could not afford before-like Bath&Body, when you are in survival mode then have Breathing room you forget that the debt is still there. I need to work on that. I loved this video to remind me.
After college when i moved out on my own, i didnt have any cable or internet. I would watch dvds mostly lotr extended edition over and over again. That lasted 2 years while my boyfriend and i saved to buy our first house.
Lydia, I'm so glad that you and your family were able to make this journey together. Such an amazing blessing! You deserve it. Thank you so much for sharing, and for always being positive and encouraging to your audience. So many UA-camrs have an "I woke up like this" approach which can make others feel like failures for real life struggles. Keep ministering to us. Thank you. 🙏🏾♥️👍🏾👍🏾
Thank you for sharing your story. Even though the numbers were different for me when I was in debt, the situation was the same in terms of what needed to be done. I have always appreciated your role in my journey to living debt free. Your encouragement that anyone could find a way to become debt free kept me going. Not going out to dinner at all and only buying the absolute necessities worked for me too, and I was able to follow your example. My husband and I cannot believe how amazing it is to live debt free. We would never go back to using credit cards and lines of credit for our expenses. Thanks again!
Thank you for sharing your experiences Lydia 😊
I tried cloth diapering for my boy (environmental and health reasons) but I gave up soon. It was just not for us. I felt sooo guilty. But as I had a lot of cloth diapering supplies, which were not cheap, I gave them away to a nice lady who wanted to try with her newborn. She succeeded. I was so happy. At least someone used it up.
Maybe if I stick longer, I would succeed too. But I had a lot of trouble with breastfeeding, which resulted in me pumping out my milk for a year. So, something had to give. I chose what is more important. At that time, feeding baby with my milk seemed more important then persisting in cloth diapering.
I love your videos. So thankful for you ❤
Glad you like them!
We only have a mortgage as debt now and it has been through a lot of hard work! I love your financial videos❤
Always glad to watch your videos. Thanks for sharing with us.
Glad you like them!
I am south Alabama as well. We moved from Maryland to here and living expenses way down
Very good tips, thanks for sharing the details of your journey. We are also a low income family, mainly because our youngest child has complex special needs.
I'm missing Old Country Buffet in Maryland,every Sunday after church, and the friendship of the group 😢
I was working for the state of kansas and take home was 400 to 435 a week. Took advantage and went to work private sector
(Watching this in 2024 with a $300 / energy bill on a 1400 sq foot house with new windows, doors and roof. Sigh.)
You and I are around the same age and I was telling my kids yesterday at the grocery that I remember, during the recession, when canned food was $.49, box mixes were $.99, etc. The inflation now just sucks and I’m sure every generation says that, but whew.
I'm having difficulty downloading your debtfree spreadsheet. If this is a .pdf file, then why do I need to add the new extension? Even after I installed the extension, I could not find your file. Please help.
It’s not a PDF- It’s a google doc SPREADSHEET. You open the doc in google doc and copy and paste it. The instructions are written at the top of the document. It’s not a .pdf file. There is no extension.
Question regarding cloth diapering - was it the business of managing cloth diapering for two kids at once what made you decide to stop doing it?
It's so much work. Hours and hours each week and I would stress about not having enough diapers clean for both of them. The mental load and the time were absolutely not worth it for me.
@TheRealLydiaSenn nods.
@TheRealLydiaSenn I made hourglass shaped flannel diapers of double layers, to stand up to the repeated bleaching. I would eventually rotate 6 - 7 dozen for 1 child. Flannel then came in extra wide widths compared to cottons.
I've never invested in real estate(norcal)plus I am not married so a middle class income might as well be a trust fund.
Hey there, great video.
I think many people are in the middle of what you just described but I think there are going to be many many more that will be having to live this way .. soon very soon. sadlyl
Absolutely agree that frugal journeys are individual. I just climbed out of cc debt when I lost a job this past January (lack of snow resulted in virtually no snowmobile season for me to work) so I am feeling so grateful that I was able to pay off debt quickly and only have a low mortgage left as debt. I also was able to buy a used car which is much cheaper on gas and a newer model for cash. But every day I do as you’ve said, cook from scratch, and watch the Pennie’s. Working on building up a nest egg again.