Ep. 11 How We Paid Off $203K of Debt in 27 Months

We did it. $203,000 gone in just 27 months — while raising three kids and running two businesses.

In this episode, Sherman and Cristina share the raw truth behind their debt-free journey. From the scary first budget meeting (it looked like five and a half years at first) to strict cash envelopes, surprise flat tires, and fighting lifestyle creep when income started rising.

Sherman opens up about the final big payment — how he hesitated, almost backed out, then cried alone at the computer when it finally hit. Cristina talks about the real sacrifices, the unexpected expenses that shocked her, and how they stayed content instead of trying to keep up with everyone else.

They also talk about the faith side — how God saw their hard work and multiplied it in ways they never expected.

You’ll walk away with four simple, practical steps that actually work:

• Zero-based budget (every dollar has a job)
• Track your spending and plug the leaks
• Increase your income
• Set regular money dates with your spouse

If you’re feeling stuck in debt, this episode will fire you up. Your comeback story could be next.

🎧 Listen now and start your own debt-free journey.

Grab our free Money Date guide at matrimonymoney.com

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

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

But I was like, man, am I really gonna make this one big final payment? It's gonna suck. I knew we were talking to one of my best friends. He was like, man, just do it. What are you talking about? You've come this far, you're almost done. Just do it. And I just couldn't do it. It took me. But then one day I woke up and I said, bro, what are you doing? I paid it. And instantly I was pissed off that I had paid it because I couldn't stop it. But then, like two days later, when I saw hitting, uh, Stanley made shot with his email with like competing. And I remember thinking, like, oh my gosh, I can't believe we did it. I remember sitting there at the computer, like tearing up by myself on a checker scene. And I remember just thinking, like, I've changed, like, I've changed something for my family.

SPEAKER_01 0:40

I think God also sees what you're doing and blesses that. Like, makes it multiply. God's a multiplier. He sees your heart, he sees your intent. He's just like a dad, right? Like he saw what we were praying for, what we were trying to do, and I think God has a lot to do more with it. Because it is miraculous how quickly things change all of a sudden.

SPEAKER_00 1:05

Another episode of Matrimony and Money. Excited for you to join us. My trusty sidekick, um, Christina here with me. So, guys, today we're gonna we're going to talk about something um that's you know very near and dear to us, but it like it's motivational for a lot of people. Like when we look back at it, it's motion motivational for us. So many people still ask us when it pops up somewhere, somehow. Um, you know, so we're gonna talk about how we paid off $203,000 in 27 months with three kids, uh what, two businesses, just getting it done. So I'm excited about this one because we'll get to, you know, we're starting to get to dive into it because people ask so many questions around that. Um, and if you're watching this on YouTube, you see I'm like I'm feeling good. I'm in cool mode today. You can't see what you can't see what I'm doing unless you're on YouTube. So go to YouTube. And if you are on YouTube, you see what's going on. So what are you doing?

SPEAKER_01 2:10

Hey, hey, hey, just what do you mean they can't see unless they're on YouTube?

SPEAKER_00 2:14

You can't see a podcast. So you have to watch it. Oh there we go. All right, all right. So, guys, let's jump, let's jump right into it. So, before we get started, I want to be crystal clear. Um when Christina and I decided enough was enough, right? Our income, like we sat down, did the numbers, okay, based on our income. Um, once I I finally over that the whole time I finally dealt with Sally with Sally May, got all the numbers. I was depressed a little bit, but nevertheless, I did it, so you have to do it. Um, we're like, okay, how long will this take based on our budget? And it was supposed to take about five and a half years, and I remember that being freaking depressing. I was just like, man, this is gonna suck. This is gonna be a long, long journey. However, I knew, you know, short-term sacrifice, a lot of times, equals long-term success. So, like, we were willing to do it. So we sat down, we came up with a strict budget. We were like, okay, what does our budget look like? How much extra can we put towards the debt each month? So, fast forward, we did the math, came up with the numbers again, guys. I'm sorry, it's been years ago. I can't remember the exact numbers, but let's we actually found that budget sheet somewhere. Yeah, I don't know where it is now, but we'll just play with it. Let's just say we don't want to rule in we need it, you know, just say we needed four thousand dollars per month. I don't know what it was. So everything more, everything over $4,000 went strictly to Sally May. And that's what we did. So we know $4,000 was the base number, everything over was, you know, sort of money in the bank or money to Sally May, right? Just to get out from under. And I would say pretty much it just happened after I would say after two or three months, we started in this new business because things changed, and we started having a little increase from the beginning, I would say, like it was a little increase, and then sort of like our snowball method, that increase just continued to sort of build and grow and grow and grow. And the next thing that I knew, we were making huge payments um on this student debt, which was at a great time as well, because they had paused the student loan interest. So for me, when I was logging in and paying it, that was super motivating because before, when you I mean, if you have student loans not having been passed, you know, you log in, let's just say you pay $500, you're thinking, okay, it's gonna go down by $500. But then when you log in and see the interest that eats it up and how much you pay, you're like, oh, that went down by $62, even though I paid them $500. That sucked, right? So for me, I was uber motivated to like get this done because also I didn't know how long they were going to pause the interest. So I was like, well, if I can get this done in, you know, whenever they take it away, that'll be great. But again, I didn't think that would happen because we had already done the math and it was like five and a half years. I know they weren't going to pause the interest for five plus years, but I was just willing to get to work, right? So our first so the first thing we did, we lived on a strict budget. We didn't play around, right? We say, okay, strict budget, this is what it is. So I challenge you guys. The first thing you need to do, you need to sit down and know all of your numbers, right? You need to come up with a budget that you are actually going to stick to. And it's okay. Even for me, like I'm the I'm the numbers, it's okay, like it'll probably take you two or three months to figure out exactly what it is. Um because these things come up, but you need to know what those numbers look like so that if and when you have increase, that money just doesn't go out the door. Because that's the easy thing to really happen. Once you start making more, you just start spending more, you know. Um, so when we were living on the, you know, when we hit when we had a super strict budget, what did you think? When I well, I know what you thought, but how was it from your end? Because on my end, it was all like I was excited, it was sort of like a game.

SPEAKER_01 6:57

I was used to the cash envelope system, so that's how I started. I took out all the cash that I could actually send, and then I put it, I worked with the bank and put it into different envelopes. And I was more surprised by the things that I didn't predict, like a flat tire or um an oil change. Didn't think I would need an oil change within the first few months. So different unexpected things, that's why he's saying take a couple months or a few months to kind of iron it out what your budget really is, because you have to save for car maintenance, you have to save for an appliance going dead. Um, obviously you pray and hope that you get blessed. But if you're really preparing for a rainy day and really budgeting, you're budgeting for the um, you know, for the unexpected costs that come up with having a family. Um, and if you have pets, a pet and stuff like that. So for me, it was just more surprising to see the things that um after several months that I wasn't prepared for. I wasn't prepared for a nail on the tire, I wasn't prepared for a kid hitting their head on a post and me having to spend extra money on you know medical expenses, etc. So um that's what I took away from that was how shocked I was by yeah, just yeah, yeah. Because um Or like, gosh, you predict it's gonna be something, and then you're like, what? How come we're already done? And it's only the first two weeks of the month, um, stuff like that. You grossly underestimate how much you spend.

SPEAKER_00 8:32

No, for sure. And I think, you know, I believe that's one of the biggest things why it normally takes a couple months because most people, if you've never really tracked your finances, you don't know. Like you assume you know, you don't, but you really don't.

SPEAKER_01 8:44

You think it's 20 here or $40 there, and then it's like I could have gone to something else.

SPEAKER_00 8:50

Like, yeah, yeah, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_01 8:52

It's not just 40 here and 20 there, it adds up to a lot.

SPEAKER_00 8:55

Correct. If you're not tracking your finances, it is you're spending much more money than you could even imagine. Even if you don't, you know, even if you don't make a ton, you're just spending more money. Because I remember Christina, one of her things was, you know, when we had the cap the cash envelopes, first of all, she was always freaking out about losing one. Well, keep up with it, don't lose it.

SPEAKER_01 9:16

But yeah, on the other side, there's better ways now.

SPEAKER_00 9:20

My wife, she enjoys spending money, right? However, during that season, there were so many things that she passed up because it feels different when you have to give away the cash and there's nothing else in that envelope. He's swiping the card is like it's just different. Like when you have those envelopes, I remember you saying, ah, I don't think.

SPEAKER_01 9:41

I remember calling him from stores, like if I was gonna get any like lipstick or something, it'd be like, Where's the money go? And having like the list, and that's another thing. Um each envelope I kept the list. So I started. And then I'm like, wait a minute, why are we down to two dollars? What's going on? So I would have that list for that month, and I'd be like, Oh my gosh, did I really spend X amount of money? It was always so disheartening. And being like, We can I pull this from the we don't have a flat tire this month. Can I put it pull it from the car payment budget? Because you know, like the car maintenance budget doesn't need to be so then when something pops off and you need four tires and it's like six hundred dollars, you're gone, you know.

SPEAKER_00 10:25

And that's one of the big reasons, guys. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 10:27

That was very tempting because it's just cash. It could find its way in another envelope rather easily.

SPEAKER_00 10:32

And I think that's one of the things, you know. I know specifically, uh, well, we're all like the whole Dave Ramsey protocol. You save up a thousand dollars and everything else goes goes towards the debt to sort of keep you now. If something catastrophic happens, obviously thousand dollars isn't gonna do anything. But for most people, that thousand dollars gets you through, oh, I got a flat tire, oh, this happened that thousand dollars. So you so you can still stay on track, pay off your debt, the thousand dollars you have to spend $500 of it while you'll replenish that, yeah, and then you get to stay on track because if you don't have that little buffer, and well, what happens is that situation throws off everything for that month, and now you're off track and you're it's just oh well, well, I'll get back on the card. Where does it come from? Correct.

SPEAKER_01 11:19

Where does the money come from? Correct.

SPEAKER_00 11:20

I'm gonna get back on track next month or this month, and then the next thing you know, um, because I know and you're negotiating, putting things back on a credit card.

SPEAKER_01 11:28

Hey, this is an emergency. I didn't know that this was gonna happen, and now you're back in your cycle again. Well, you yawned a lot during this podcast.

SPEAKER_00 11:37

Yeah, I work a lot, tired. Um and you know, I know that a lot of times when people want to get started, the most difficult thing is to actually just do it, right? Like Nike says, This podcast is sponsored by Nike. No, it's not, but I'm just saying, like, just do it because I know people, I remember specific people pop in my head right now. I remember because we were sharing our journey with everyone, and the reason I was doing that for me, it was strictly for accountability purposes. So I wouldn't start this and go, I'm not gonna do it. Man, you told you told too many people, bro. You cannot go back on your work. So I was sharing it with everyone, but there's specific people that I remember talking to. They wanted to do it, telling me about their debt and stuff like that, but it just didn't get started. And now, years and years later, we've been debt-free past that great time, but they're still living in that cycle.

SPEAKER_01 12:35

So if that's not a great time, but a time Let's have hey, it was a great time, great memories.

SPEAKER_00 12:40

It brought us closer together, made our kids understand.

SPEAKER_01 12:43

We only have each other. We couldn't afford to have friends.

SPEAKER_00 12:48

Well, hey.

SPEAKER_01 12:50

Of course it brings you together. You ain't got nobody else.

SPEAKER_00 12:53

But like, you know, like I like I do believe that you know, some of the tough, tough choices we had to make, like we had to miss certain things. Like, we couldn't miss a lot, we couldn't go to certain places, you know, we couldn't really go on vacations. Oh no, like we definitely can't go out to eat. But shout out to our friends, right? When you surround yourself with the right people, you know, there's some of our friends that invite us to stuff. I'm just gonna tell them, man, we're trying to get out of there. Like, we cannot go, blah, blah, blah. And they're like, don't worry, show up. I'm I'm gonna take care of stuff, right? That was not our or it's no offense. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:29

No big deal.

SPEAKER_00 13:30

Yeah, no big deal. We just tell them we can't go. But I wanted to be totally open and transparent with folks so that again, kept us accountable. So, like, hey, like, we just can't afford to go right now, it's not in the budget. We have to pay off this. And I believe that's one of the biggest things that holds people back. They sort of want to hide it and oh, act like things are better than they are. But at the end of the day, it is what it is. It is what it is. People want to see you succeed, your closest friends. So just tell them what you're doing.

SPEAKER_01 13:57

I think for a wife, when you see your husband, if you're married and you're struggling, your husband's struggling, and he's the breadwinner, when you see that and what it does to him and the family, that's not fun. Like in any season, we can go through like the earlier seasons or now if business is slow or whatever, those are not fun seasons. So for a wife, it's easy to be like, I just don't want to cause that much more stress. Like the more I do, the more it's gonna be a burden to him. So it kind of makes you think um twice about spending money and doing extra things.

SPEAKER_00 14:34

Yeah, it and you know, sort of jumping.

SPEAKER_01 14:37

If you're a considerate person, I feel like I am.

SPEAKER_00 14:40

At times. Maybe um sort of jumping back to the budget, right? And the making the payment. So now here's one of the big things. Because I remember when we went on TV and shows and all that, a lot of comments people would say, Well, if I made that much money, I would be able to do that too. But we know that's not necessarily true because regardless of how much money you make, it's your habits. It's your habits. So if you were, let's just say you only had an extra $50 per month. Well, you would put that extra $50 towards the debt.

unknown 15:14

Right.

SPEAKER_00 15:14

Or if you had an extra $5,000, would you do that? It if you don't do the extra It's your habits. Correct. If you don't do the extra when you have a hundred extra, you're not gonna do it extra when you have ten thousand extra. That's just not how it works. So how did how do you think I'll let you go first? How do you think we avoided lifestyle creep, which can be a killer for most folks?

SPEAKER_01 15:38

What do you mean how we avoided it? Yeah, like we just had a budget and there wasn't you mean like keeping up with the Joneses?

SPEAKER_00 15:44

Yeah, I'm saying like how do we because so I just don't think we've ever I don't think I've ever struggled with that.

SPEAKER_01 15:52

I don't think we ever struggled with looking um like I told somebody the grass is not, you know, they were saying the grass is not always or greener on the other side. I wouldn't know. I wouldn't know the difference because I never looked. And by that I mean, of course, you see other people doing more and being blessed and growing and whatever, but I was more of a cheerleader to that and encouraged by that than looking at it in lust. And um I think that is owed to contentment. We were just always content with what we had, and during those seasons, I think that's what helped us avoid get the lifestyle creep, or you know, like it's just we were content, we were happy. It wasn't we we had already gone through so much during that time anyway. So for us, it was just like that's great for you. I know one day it'll be that way for me. So it was more encouraging than we had to keep up with that, or they're doing it and we're not doing it. I just we just didn't struggle with that because we just didn't have it, so it's different.

SPEAKER_00 17:00

It's all what I'm talking about. Well, what about it?

SPEAKER_01 17:02

Well, when we started when we started to have well, and and that's to my point. I convinced myself that we didn't. So I wanted, I think I lied, I was in denial and I lied to myself so that I wouldn't be tempted. Like I kept my same budget sheets, I kept my coupon book, I just went on business as usual so that I wouldn't get used to a different manner of living. Because if you've owned businesses, you know enough. By that point, we had owned a business for a long time. You know enough that it ebbs and flows. So you one month you're great, the other month you're not. So I'm not saying I was pessimistic, I'm just saying I was realistic and that maybe it'll go great for a few months, and then it, you know, like the Bible says, Joseph's story, right? Seven years of plenty, seven years of black, you know, you're just waiting for the bottom to fall out, but not that God can't do it, but just being realistic and mindful. Let's not overdo ourselves. And I think we just had lived in that lifestyle for so long. It wasn't a temptation to go from living a certain way to then you're out spending money all day, every day, and taking vacations every day. That doesn't, to me, it doesn't happen organically. Like maybe if you win the lottery or something more sure, but not when you're building a second business and starting to see it grow, you're almost waiting to see what what's gonna happen here, what's gonna be the normal.

SPEAKER_00 18:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:28

So we were anticipating the new normal and we didn't know what that was. So while you anticipate, you stay still, you don't do anything.

SPEAKER_00 18:36

And uh, even for me, like I just wasn't very cautious. Um I wasn't going to uh and mind you, there was a worldwide pandemic at the time. So yeah, I wasn't going to um just spend more money again. Once I sort of say something, I like I want to see it through. So for me, um, it was just I need that again. I need that four thousand dollars per month. Everything else goes over there. It doesn't matter how so I wasn't tempted, like just the way I'm wired, when something hits by a count, it's like we were excited, we just weren't. Yeah, it was definitely great to see, but I just wasn't. It was just it's going here, it's going here. Yeah, this goes here, like this is what it is. Just because I knew, you know, like once I started going, dealing with it, it was just like the sooner I the sooner I get finished with this, right? The better it's gonna be for everyone. And that's what really um kept me motivated. I I didn't want that's why I didn't let anything like the lifestyle creep just didn't uh creep in with me. Like Christina said, she was great. There was no like, oh making all this extra money, can we do this? It was just no, we're gonna keep doing the same thing until it's over with. And you know, after a while, I think for me, you know, we're doing it about 12 months. I basically how to explain this, I sort of fell behind a month in the payments. When I say fell behind, I just mean instead of me having the thousand dollar emergency fund, again, this is what I did. That's I just instead of me having a thousand dollar emergency fund, I basically got rid of the thousand extra thousand, I just put it on there, but then I wouldn't make the payment until the next month hit. So let's say I was gonna pay, just make your numbers up, I was gonna pay ten thousand dollars. I would just wait until that next check hit, then I'll put that ten thousand so then I had that extra sort of sitting there because I was worried about like, well, what if this emergency happens, you know? Again, emergency.

SPEAKER_01 20:29

So we all had our we both had our realistic kind of fears.

SPEAKER_00 20:33

Yeah. Yeah, like nothing, nothing ever happened during that time. And like even like always, me personally, whenever I see the 27 months and I do the math, like, oh whoop, but then I probably I probably sat on, I want to say I probably sat on about 50k for probably three months, just because I was just like, I was excited, I was pumped, but I was like, man, am I really gonna make this one big final painting that's gonna set it? I knew it's all to one of my best friends. He was like, Man, just do it. What are you talking about? You've come this far, you're almost done, just do it. And I just couldn't do it. It took me, but then one day I woke up and I said, bro, like, what are you doing? And I paid it, and instantly I was pissed off that I had paid it, could I couldn't stop it? But then, like two days later, when I saw it hit and uh Sally me shot me his email with like confetti, and I remember thinking, like, oh my gosh, I can't, like, I can't believe we did it. And um, like I remember sitting there at the computer, like tearing up by myself, I don't tell Christina and I remember just thinking, like, I've changed, like, I've changed something for my family. Like, I've changed something for my family. For God's health, yeah. And it was just a great time. Um, so I want to give a few practical steps. I would say, number one, you have to get on a zero. Base budget, right? You have to do that. If you don't know what it is, just Google Zero Base Budget, Dave Ramsey. It'll help you, right? Um, every dollar has to have a job, right? Um so that's one. Two, you have to track your spending, right? Track your spending, and then figure out the things you can cut, right? I know we always talk about eating out, we just know that's a big one for most people. So, you know, track your spending, figure out the little holes that you can cut because the extra three, four hundred dollars a month goes a long way when you're trying to get out of debt, right? And that just um that just helped you get out of that faster. And then a big one, you have to increase that income.

SPEAKER_01 22:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:44

Right? You have to.

SPEAKER_01 22:46

Um even if it's just for a season, correct, depending on what your goals are.

SPEAKER_00 22:51

Correct. Like, again, this is not most people, you know, like looking at now, and most people, I know Dave Ramsey and his team at Rams Solutions, they keep up with all this. Most people get out of debt in about two years, regardless of what the amount is, right? Most people. Which that's look because I remember hearing, I'm just like, well, we're gonna be one of those people on the far end of but it, but it doesn't matter, we're gonna do it. And for us to do it in about 27 months was absolutely mind-blowing. And everyone has the same story. I don't know, like I just got gazelle intents, and then I started finding ways to make money. I started finding ways to sell stuff, and I almost sold one of the kids for 30 grand. Like, you you get so focused on like making it happen.

SPEAKER_01 23:34

I think God also sees what you're doing and blesses that like makes it multiply. God's a multiplier, He's He sees your heart, He sees your intent, and He like if you He put someone in your heart, and you know, He's just like a dad, right? Like he saw what we were praying for, what we were trying to do, and I think God has a lot to do more with it because it is miraculous how quickly things change all of a sudden. Like it's not to anybody's credit. I don't like when they interview, used to interview us, I didn't want to do any of the interviews because everybody always wanted to give us credit. Like we had some magic potion. Everybody else is doing the same thing that we were doing. Um, maybe not as intense, maybe not as devoted.

SPEAKER_00 24:18

Maybe it would do the same thing I was doing.

SPEAKER_01 24:20

Maybe not as devoted, but um, I think God is the one that provides the increase. And that's always been a strong belief of mine. There were things that happened during our season um that were just outside of anything we could have done or anything that made us so special. Like I don't think we were that special. I just think he saw our faithfulness, he decided to bless it. He saw our, you know, prayers, our cries, and he honored that. And we were good stewards and diligent to what we were being called to do. And I think that sums it up for us.

SPEAKER_00 24:56

Um, and a big thing is as you are increasing your income, again, I'm gonna challenge you guys, it's very important to live below your means.

SPEAKER_01 25:06

Right, it's all action-based, right? Like you have to do the work. Like God can call you do whatever, but if you don't do the work, it's not, you know, just because he has a destiny for your or goal for you or purpose for you. If you do nothing with that talent, gift, call on your life, then it'll come to nothing because you're not doing anything. So yeah, it definitely takes us. We sacrifice a lot, we cried a lot, we sweated a lot, we didn't sleep. Um, half the time we didn't even eat, we were just so driven and focused. But it's not anything special, right? It just takes determination and a conviction to actually do what you're being called to do. If you feel that adamantly about it, you'll do it.

SPEAKER_00 25:49

For sure, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 25:51

You'll find a way.

SPEAKER_00 25:52

Um and you'll help you. And then I would say, you know, after you increase your income and live below your means, the final practical step I'll give you is set those money dates. Set those money dates so you and your spouse can be on the same page consistently, right? It makes sense rather just Yeah, it makes everything easy. Dump it in the pot and just forget about it. It makes everything easier.

SPEAKER_01 26:17

I like to live in denial. I know, so that everyone's I just make up my own world and my brain, and then that's the way I function and stay so content and happy my whole life.

SPEAKER_00 26:28

Yeah, so because it just makes everything easier if you guys are on the same page and you know again, like I don't believe it's fair for like one spouse to deal with all the finances. There's just stress that comes with it. There's just stress that comes with it. So that's why I like to talk about it because I'm okay with handling it, but I want to but like I want to talk about it with you. I want to talk about how things are going.

SPEAKER_01 26:51

I'm for the wife that's like, hey, can we go on this trip or do this? No, okay. No, no, we don't need to talk about it.

SPEAKER_00 27:01

No, that's true. But I I still like I want to talk about it. Like, I need to talk about it. I need to figure this out.

SPEAKER_01 27:06

What's here to talk about? We don't have money to go to Europe and stay for three months. Fine. No, then I won't ask you.

SPEAKER_00 27:14

We do have money to go to Europe, and we could stay for three months, but that wouldn't be.

SPEAKER_01 27:18

No, this is I like to be the sea told no. I'm that type of person.

SPEAKER_00 27:21

No, no, no. I want to tell you I'm gonna go to the city.

SPEAKER_01 27:26

Can I eat this? Yes. Okay, I'll save my diet. No, no, I just want to be told that's why I want a chef. Because that chef, this is what my goals are. You figure it out, and whatever you put in front of me, that's what I'll eat, and I'll be content. I just thought it was evil.

SPEAKER_00 27:40

Yeah, there's nothing wrong with it. But set those money dates so that you guys can get a big deal.

SPEAKER_01 27:45

But then you tell me no, and then you're going to on a boys' trip to I don't know, St. Lucia.

SPEAKER_00 27:52

I don't know what snowboard.

SPEAKER_01 27:53

Or snowboarding in Colorado, then let's rewind here. Why did we not have money for this? Well, we have money for that.

SPEAKER_00 28:00

Well, if we sat in and talked about it, you would have known. You would have known. I've been sending aside money for the last time.

SPEAKER_01 28:05

Don't try me like that. Just feel like you'll try me like that.

SPEAKER_00 28:08

So, hey, you gotta get up, guys. So there, the four practical steps. One, get on a zero-based budget. Every dollar has a job. Two, track your spending, right? Cut the leaks, figure out where you're just spending money, where you shouldn't be. Um, increase your income and live with below your means. And four, set those money dates so you guys can stay on the same page, right? That's important.

SPEAKER_01 28:34

So if you're single, get with somebody that's your accountability partner that can hold you to it.

SPEAKER_00 28:40

Correct. Um, so like if you're drowning in debt, like feeling stuck, right? And you want to build like real wealth for you or you and your family, you can grab the free money date guy on our website, www.matrimoniemoney.com, right? And start your own comeback story, right?

SPEAKER_01 29:02

Start it because you can motivate some people. We should post like people's comeback stories. That should be like a thing, like a series, the comeback series.

SPEAKER_00 29:12

Okay, you're the creative director. All right, so reach out to us with your comeback story, and we can talk about it. Motivate some people. Because here's the thing your debt free screen could be next. It's a beautiful thing, I'm telling you. It's a great very, very liberating. So, guys, we're gonna get out of here, and as always, tell a friend to tell a friend to tune in, and we will chat with you guys next week. Alright.