We're back!

We're back — and there's a lot to talk about.

After taking some time away, Matrimony and Money is returning with a renewed purpose, a clearer mission, and everything we've learned along the way.

In this episode, we're pulling back the curtain on why we stepped away, what that season taught us, and why we felt called to come back now. We also share where this show is headed — and who it's really for.

If you're a couple navigating the stress of debt, trying to get on the same page financially, or just looking for a community that understands what it's like to build a life and a financial future together — you are exactly who we made this for.

Matrimony and Money has always been about more than budgets and payoff plans. It's about the couples behind the numbers. The stress you carry quietly. The conversations that are hard to start. And the freedom that's possible when you stop going at it alone.

We're grateful you're here. And we're just getting started.

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FREE RESOURCE:
The Couples Money Date Guide — the exact step-by-step conversation format Sherman and Cristina used before paying off $203K. Download free at the link below.
matrimonymoney.com/links 

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As seen on The Dave Ramsey Show · Fox News · Fox Business

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

All right, guys, here we go. Another episode of the Matrimony and Money Podcast. This is the Matrimony and Money Podcast. Now, I know it's been a while. It's been a couple years or so, I believe. And you know, it's been on my heart to get this really going again. But, you know, life, I would just say life was in the way. But nevertheless, we are back, right? We're gonna be talking marriage, money, debt freedom. I don't even believe that we even recorded an episode after we went on to the Dave Ramsey show after paying off that um big amount of debt. You know, so I'm excited to really get back going so that we can start helping people uh because our debt payoff journey was like it was incredible. It was very hard. Um it was, you know, it was all the things, you know, because if you guys don't know, if you're new here, we paid off $203,000 of debt in 27 months. Most of it was school debt and things like that. I don't want to say things like that. Most of it was school debt. Uh I can't even remember the couple small things, but you know, again, our income continued to increase during that time. Our overhead was really low. Uh, we were still renting back then. We've since built the home and done some other cool things, but I really wanted to come on and just really say, we are back, right? So you'll be able to tune in consistently. I am going to do my best to have Christina on here with me as often as possible because I believe that she really brings so much to the table that I just don't have that you guys would really get a great amount of you know wisdom and fun and knowledge. And I just and I just believe the podcast will be better uh with having Christina on here with me. So again, I'll do my best. Uh, if you're listening to this and you know Christina, reach out to her personally and uh tell her to get on the podcast consistently with her husband because he wants her on the podcast with him consistently, guys. So, you know, we are going to be talking about like money, right? Yes, but we're gonna be talking about marriage, uh, you know, raising the kids, it's just things that many couples may not have an outlet to talk about. Like we're gonna be raw, we're gonna talk about all of the things. And when you like the episodes, make sure you, you know, follow us, share the episode, all of those things, because we're really gonna try to build a community around this because honestly, for me, for all of the couples, or anyone's per se, but especially the you know, the married couples, if you want to be debt-free, right, like you can do it, right? I know for a fact that you can do it. And money gets this weird or bad vibe at times, but if you start communicating about the money clearly and often, it will change everything for you guys. I don't believe there's a necessarily perfect way to do it. Um, many people do it differently. So when we're talking on here, we're gonna be given the ways that have worked for us, right? We're not saying the way that someone else is doing it is wrong and this and that, but we're talking about for us. Again, people they'll see our store and just, you know, they'll just simply do the math and say, well, of course, you you must have a very high income. You paid off $203,000 in 27 months. And yes, our income definitely increased over that time. But I remember Christina and I sat down with the kids talking about the plan. And based on our income at the time when we first started, the plan was for us to pay off the $203,000 in about five years. Right? So we were in for the long haul. We were like we were ready to go, um, and just God showed up for us and increased our income, and it just went crazy. Uh also the student loan, you know, that was during the COVID times. Uh the student loan interest stopped completely, which was a huge help because every dollar that we put in actually went to the principal. You know, and now if you have student loans now, obviously you have to, you know, you have to try to beat that interest. And again, when I talk to people, again, what really kicked this off, when I talked to people, someone reached out to me through my company that I run. He's a client of ours, and he reached out asking specifically about personal finance help. And he talked about, man, I know your story, this and that. And that really just motivated me because I was like, man, there's people still out there that would love to hear the things that we've done, how we did it, and could just be an encouragement and a blessing to others. So I was like, all right, no more. I'm gonna stop procrastinating, I'm gonna get back into it, I'm gonna stick with it long term because I know that this will be a blessing to many folks. Because again, I always, you know, jokingly say if you become debt free and you hate it, right? It's easy to go back into debt, right? But I can tell you from being on the other side, once you become debt free, you will probably never go back, right? Just because there's so much freedom, right? You basically get to keep every dollar that comes in. You're not stressed out about uh, you know, quote unquote paying the bills because there's going to be excess, you know. Um, even when you're paying down your debt, right? There will be sacrifice, guys. I don't, you know, I don't hide that from you guys. When we were doing it for the two years or so, it sucked. Right? It wasn't great at times, it was frustrating for me at times, frustrating for the family. We wanted to do things, we wanted to go out and do stuff, and we just said no. But the feeling of making that last payment made all of the struggle, quote unquote struggle, worth it. Right. And now, years later, like I told you, we've we built a home and stuff like that, and it's just great to be over here. So as we're getting back into the swing of things, guys, always ask questions, leave comments because we really want to help you, right? We'll learn from you guys. Hopefully, you guys learn from us. So we're gonna stop there. I just want to let you guys know that we are back. We're going to have episodes up consistently. I believe we're gonna do the weekly format. I don't know exactly what day yet, but I'll keep you guys posted. So I'm excited to be back. And as always, tell a friend to tell a friend to tune in next week. All right.

SPEAKER_01 7:56

Thank you for listening to the Matrimony and Money Podcast. We hope you enjoyed. And of course, feel free to hit that subscribe button and leave us a review. Now, to be a part of this show and get your financial and marriage questions answered, send your emails to matrimonyandmoney at gmail.com. That's matrimonyandmoney at gmail.com. Until next time, we bless you with a thriving marriage and the ability to build generational wealth. Oh yeah.