389. How Paige Paid Off $51,553.34 in Less Than 3 Years on One Income

After nearly three years of hard work, setbacks, side hustles, and sacrifice, Paige is officially debt free.

In this episode, Paige shares how she paid off over $51,553.34 in just 2 years and 8 months on a single income. From budgeting and accountability to overcoming emotional spending and building a successful dog-sitting side hustle, she opens up about what really helped her change her financial life.

If you’ve ever wondered whether becoming debt free is actually possible for you, this episode will give you hope, and a real plan to start.

Transcript

A Comeback Worth Celebrating

Brad Nelson 0:00

Hey guys, we are back and in a big way because almost three years ago, Paige was struggling with debt, feeling stuck, overwhelmed, and unsure if she was ever gonna get out. I'm sure some of you listening to this might be able to relate pretty well with those feelings. Well, today Paige is back and she is here to celebrate an amazing milestone. And in this episode, we're gonna be bringing Paige back on the show. And Paige has joined us on two other episodes sharing her journey. And we're not just gonna talk about the struggle, but we want to be able to take some time and celebrate this amazing milestone that Paige has reached. We're gonna break down what actually worked for her, and we're gonna talk about what life looks like right now on the other side of her debt journey. Now, if you've ever wondered, can I really do this? Can I really get out of debt? I'm telling you, this episode is gonna be for you guys, and I can't wait for you to hear this.

Announcer 0:54

You're listening to the Debt Free Dad podcast with Brad Nelson. Brad and his co-hosts experience the anxiety of living paycheck to paycheck before learning the fundamentals of financial success. They are now on a mission to empower regular people to pay off their debt for good and enjoy happier, less stressful lives. Keep listening for inspirational interviews, tips, tricks, and practical advice to gain financial freedom.

Brad Nelson 1:21

Hey guys, welcome to today's show. My name is Brad Nelson. I am the founder of Deaf Free Dad. I paid off about $45,000 of debt. I've been Deaf Free now for more than 13 years outside of my mortgage. I've also been fortunate to help thousands of other people save and pay off tens of millions of dollars with the work that we do here at Deaf FreeDad over the years. Now, guys, after listening to this episode, if you are ready to take things to the next level in your own financial life, you want to break free from living paycheck to paycheck, you want to reduce a lot of the financial stress in your life, you want to build savings, maybe finally pay off debt for good. But maybe you're like a lot of people, including myself at one time, you're not really sure where to get started with all of this. Well, we've created some incredible free resources for you here at Defree Dad, and we'll be sharing some details about how you get some of those later on in today's episode. So I want to introduce Paige to you guys. Now, like I said, Paige has been on our show two other times, once very early on in her journey, and once kind of midway through her journey. It was actually a little over a year ago that she did her second episode here at Defree Dad. But Paige is now 27 years old. She is a competitive bowler of over 11 years. And she also says she's a proud dog mom to three dogs, Ruby, Scooby, and Buddy. And when she's not competing in tournaments, you'll probably find her cheering on some of her favorite banana ball teams. Banana, Savannah, bananas, those guys are blowing up right now. She especially loves the party animals and the firefighters. I'm sure a lot of you guys out there have seen the TikToks and Facebook reels of all those guys and doing their games and stuff. It's it's crazy what uh they're doing. So I'm sure Paige loves seeing all that. But what makes Paige's story so powerful isn't just what she is, it's what she's accomplished. And you guys, and what she's just accomplished in two years and eight months since joining Roots is quite honestly just uh outstanding. It is it is amazing, and I'm so excited that Paige is here with us today. So, Paige, welcome back to the Deaf Free Dad podcast. And we're not going to make you

The Exact Day Paige Went Debt-Free

Brad Nelson 3:20

wait for this entire show, but you recently, like I said in the introduction, you've achieved an amazing milestone in your life and especially in your get out of jet journey. Can you share with us right away what you have achieved?

Paige 3:33

I am debt-free. There you go.

Brad Nelson 3:35

Yeah, that is so awesome. Now, you recently just became debt-free as we're recording this. It's early May. What was the actual celebration date of you reaching that?

Paige 3:45

I think it was April 9th.

Brad Nelson 3:47

Okay. So it's been about a month. And can you share what was the amount that you paid off and the amount you saved in the time? Because it's been about two years, eight months since you joined Root. So, what was the total amount that you were able to pay off in that period of time?

Paige 4:02

So, in two years and eight months, I paid off $51,553.34.

Brad Nelson 4:10

Wow. When you look at that number, can you even believe that?

Paige 4:14

No, not at all. Like on a single income, I only work one job, and I never thought I would have done that, especially in less than three years.

Brad Nelson 4:25

Yeah. It's incredible. You know, I told you right before we hit record, I went back and I was listening to some of the previous podcast episodes that we've done. I went through and read through some of the text exchanges that we've had over the last couple of years and just some of the things that you've gone through. And uh crazy enough, just last year, I'm gonna bring this up. You were just here a little over a year ago, and I don't know if you know this, but in April, I think we released this episode back in 2025. And at that time, you had paid off $24,285. And here you are, just a little over a year later, paying off over fifty thousand dollars. That means in this past year, it's twenty-five thousand dollars that you've paid off. I mean, that's an incredible year in itself, but just the journey altogether. I mean, that's that's crazy.

Paige 5:08

Yeah, that's absolutely insane. I cannot believe that.

Brad Nelson 5:11

Not only that, but like a year ago or it was a little, it was about a year ago, I think, or or not too long ago, but you had to buy yourself a car, and unfortunately, you mentioned you had to go into debt for that, but you put that in here and you paid that all off too.

Paige 5:23

Yeah, so back then when we did the second podcast, that's actually when I bought um a brand new vehicle, like brand new, and it was like for $27,000 or something like that. I ended up totaling that car, which in the long run ended up being a good thing for me because then I just got another loan out just for $9,500. And I got my car paid off. My my car I currently have. I paid that off the $9,500, I paid it off in less than eight months.

Brad Nelson 5:55

Yeah, that's incredible. Would you have ever thought, like when you first started this, that you'd ever be able to even achieve paying off a car in eight or nine months?

Paige 6:03

No, like it was a

Why Accountability Kept Her Going

Paige 6:05

36-month loan, and I paid it off in eight months.

Brad Nelson 6:08

Yeah, yeah, that's awesome. So, can you talk a little bit about how it has been feeling the last month or so? Is it a little surreal still? Like I said, it's been about a month since you've reached Dev Freedom. Has it settled in at all that you're there?

Paige 6:23

No, I think I'm still in kind of denial. I I actually got a scare the other day because my grandma accidentally has my email on her Sam's Club credit card that she signed up for. Oh my gosh. Yeah, I all of a sudden got an email saying that the minimum payment due is $28, but you owe $590 something dollars. And I was like, wait, what? I thought it was I thought it was my TJX card for a minute, my my TJX credit card. And I'm like, I haven't used that in a long time, like over a year. And I I then looked at it closer and it said Sam's Club. And I was like, oh my gosh, that is my grandma's credit card, not my credit card. So it's it kind of gave me a scare for a minute, but no, I'm still in complete denial. I just I've been bowling more, I've been bowling almost every single weekend, and I want to be debt-free before my league started. My league starts tonight, my summer bowling league starts back up. So I'm excited to bowl my first league debt-free. And um, but I'm still no, I'm honestly still in complete denial because it just doesn't feel real. It was crazy because I already had $2,400 in my dog emergency fund, but I was just able to put my dog sitting money that I got this week, which was $700. I was able to put $400 of that into my Cedar Point fund and then the other $300 into my Tennessee fund. So now I was like, wait, I don't have to put my dog sitting money to debt anymore. Like, this was my first dog sitting gig that I got that I actually got to keep the money.

Brad Nelson 8:00

Yeah, isn't that and that's crazy, right? And now it's all yours. I mean, what a great feeling. I know when you first got started with Roots, you originally started with just our Tet Freedom Planner, and I think you you know, you eventually decided to join us in Roots, and you had made several comments that you knew the journey that you were on or that the position that you were in, it wasn't going to be sustainable. I know, like you said, you love your dogs and you had some situations go on with your with some dogs, and you know, that puts you into some debt. Can you talk about that journey since then? What were some of the big things that you felt? Because a lot of people were listening to this, like, how does a single girl in two years and eight months pay off over fifty thousand dollars on their own, especially in today's day and age, you're in 2016? This is unheard of. So, can you talk about what were some of the things that made the biggest difference for you over the last two or three years or so?

Paige 8:50

Honestly, I I think it was just on your course was amazing. Like, honestly, me joining your course was probably the best thing that I've ever done before I joined your course. I was listening to your podcast. So I listened to like probably a hundred or so episodes before I decide, you know what, screw it. I need to join Roots and go from there. But that was that has helped me tremendously. But honestly, I believe it was the roots of personal finance, like that was a big thing, and the accountability. The accountability was absolutely amazing. Yeah, I don't know what I would do with without that. I mean, and that's why I think even though now I'm debt free, I'm probably gonna stay in it for a little while and stay with you guys because I just I'm kind of scared.

Brad Nelson 9:39

Yeah, scared. You know, we talk about it a lot. Just because you're debt free doesn't mean you don't have to follow the rules anymore. It's like you just said, you know, now you have all this extra extra money. You know, it's easy just to start spending and spending and easing up on the budget a little bit, which is fine. You should have some time and celebrate. You've earned it, right? Take some time, spend some money, go out and have some fun. You've earned all of that. But at some point, too, then it comes down to okay, we've now reached that free. What's the next step, right? And so you mentioned accountability is huge. Like for some people, that's a weird thing. So when you say accountability, what do you think helped you the most? Because for a lot of people, like finance is a scary thing, and now having a group of people, you kind of have an accountability team, an accountability partner almost that can be a little weird to people. So, how did that how do you feel it helped you the most, the accountability side?

Paige 10:28

I I honestly think it just made me feel really good. Like every time that I would make a post on the roots or like when we were doing the celebrations and and just having people, even when I went downhill, because obviously I wasn't perfect in the two years and eight months. Like I did, I I did relapse a little bit, went back into my shopping addiction and uh used my credit card a little bit. So it wasn't perfect, but the people in there were so great, they were like, you know what, you got this, just just start all over. They were just great. It's nice because the people that are in roots, they're they understand, you know what I mean? Like it's not just regular people, like they they understand because they're also in debt.

Brad Nelson 11:16

Yeah, yeah, for sure. And you're right, so many people feel like it's like a diet or a health journey, you know what? You're gonna have some days where you're gonna eat some of the junk food where you overeat or where you don't get to the gym. And it's the same thing when it comes to your finances, like you said. Like there were some days that you messed up, some days you use your credit cards. It's those things happen, and it's totally gonna be okay. I think the key is, and like you mentioned, the accountability is what kinds of kind of gets you off the floor and brush yourself back off and and really get

Budgeting Without Guilt Or Shame

Brad Nelson 11:45

going again. Let's talk a little bit about budgeting because for a lot of people, budgeting can be a very overwhelming thing. It is it's probably one of the things that a lot of our, especially you know, our new members especially struggle with the most as you're getting started because it's such a learned habit. But can you share how budgeting your money really kind of helped you over the last few years get to where you are and what your thoughts are about budgeting now?

Paige 12:06

Yeah, but budging was the best thing that I have done because before I started budgeting, I wasn't paying attention where my money was going, and I was spending way too much on shopping or bowling, or and I wasn't budging for it. So ever since I started that budget platform, by the way, I still use that same budget flat platform that Amber made a while back. Yeah, the spreadsheet, yes, love it so much, love it so much, and I use that spreadsheet every single month, and I actually enjoy doing it now. I enjoy making a budget because especially now that I don't have any more debt, it's like it's a lot more fun. Yeah, in the little in the little debt area on it. Literally, I don't have to put anything. Like I don't have to put any money budget for that now. But I just really I I really love that budget platform and being able to control my money when I know when I know where it's supposed to go and what I'm able to, what I'm spending on spending money and what I'm spending on bowling. Just last month, now that I'm debt free, I spent like $700 and something dollars on freaking bowling last month. I was like, whoa, but I had it budgeted for.

Brad Nelson 13:28

Exactly. But you did have a budget for it, and yeah, it's a larger amount than definitely what you're used to. And I want to ask you about that next. But the point is that you budgeted for it, you had the money put away. There should be no guilt in it. Enjoy it, right? Especially because I think Ing mentioned in the past, bullying is an important part of your life. You've been a part of it for a long time, you're good at it, you compete with it, but it was also one of those things that you knew you had to sacrifice a little bit to get to where you are. How did that play a role? Because that is something a lot of us struggle with is you know, especially when we're starting out something new, you know, if we're getting out of debt, if we're gonna go on that diet or go on, we always we tend to focus on everything that we can't have anymore. And obviously, you had to cut out something for a little while that was really important to you. Was that sacrifice worth it in the end?

Paige 14:14

Oh, yeah. It most definitely was, even though I sacrificed because the sacrifice that I made, if people haven't listened to my other podcast, the sacrifice that I made was going to just one league a year instead of doing a fall, winter, and spring league and then a summer league. I was only doing a summer league. I still bowled in the fall, winter, and spring. I still bowled tournaments and nine pin no taps and stuff like that. I just wasn't bowling league weekly. Um all the money that I would put towards league was going towards debt. So I did have to make that sacrifice, and it was a very hard sacrifice, by the way, because I love bowling, it's my life. Yeah, uh, I've been competitive bowler for over 11 years now, and I love it so much. So, yeah, that was a major sacrifice, but I don't regret doing it because I did that. I got my debt paid off even quicker.

Brad Nelson 15:07

Yeah, yeah. And now you get to go out and just enjoy that much more. And again, being able to pay cash and not have to worry about debt anymore. What an amazing place to be. Uh,

Shopping Triggers And A Reset Plan

Brad Nelson 15:20

I'm so excited for you to get back to it, and uh, I know you're gonna enjoy it a heck of a lot more. One of the things I wanted to talk about, because you've mentioned it over the last several episodes that you've been on, and I know we've chatted about it, but you've mentioned that shopping was kind of a coping mechanism and spending money, and I'm sure it's still probably something that you struggle with. I know I've struggled with certain things, still, even being deaf free, even being deaf free for this many years, is still something you gotta think about and make sure you're you're not letting it kind of seep through the cracks and get at you, right? Like I like to spend money when I get bored, and I know if I get bored, I'm gonna spend money, right? So I have to keep myself busy. But you had mentioned you have this shopping coping mechanism when things get stressful, you shop, you spend money. Can you talk about your relationship with that now versus when you first started and how that's improved over the years?

Paige 16:07

So, yeah, when I first started, my shopping addiction was really bad. Actually, out of that $51, uh $553 I paid, probably $10,000 of it was probably shopping money. It was pretty bad. And actually, I think what started it to help me like it the behavior module was huge. But I think the other thing that really helped me was when we were doing the weekly challenges, and it was the declutter month.

Brad Nelson 16:42

Oh, yeah.

Paige 16:42

Um that one that one helped me tremendously. I was literally so focused on trying to find anything in the house that I literally could sell. I was like, I don't need this anymore. And also now that I'm debt free, I'm gonna try to get a place of my own, but every place is so expensive. So if I want to get a place of my own, it's probably only gonna be like a one or two bedroom. And right now I'm living in a three-bedroom house, like with a basement and all that. I need to get rid of a lot of stuff. So I was really focused on doing that. And I told myself, because I spent all that money in debt buying that stuff, that I would put every single penny of the money that I sold. So every time I sold something, I would put that amount of money into my savings, and then once I got my savings built up to a certain amount, I would pay it towards my debt. So I didn't keep any of the money from the stuff I was selling, I put it all towards my debt. So the combination of the selling and the dog sitting, and then my full-time job was how I was able to pay off all that amount.

Brad Nelson 17:56

Yeah, that's one thing I will definitely give you tons of credit on is over the last two years in uh eight months, is that you were doing a lot. Like you're selling stuff, and I also want to talk to you a little bit about the whole dog situation you have, not just your dogs, but you have this little side gig that you do, and you've made some considerably good money at it. And what I like about it is it worked for you, and you found a way to make money at it, and you

Dog Sitting As A Debt Payoff Engine

Brad Nelson 18:20

use that money to pay off your debt. So, can you talk a little bit about what you decided to do outside of your normal job?

Paige 18:26

Yeah, so I decided to do dog sitting. I have a major passion for dogs. Obviously, I love my three dogs, but I also love just dog sitting other people's dogs. And I've had the dog sitting business for probably well, since I was 16 and I'm 27 now. So I've had it for a while, but I wasn't really focused on building new clients and doing it monthly and stuff like that. I would just do it when they needed me, but then I decided that that could be some extra income to put towards my debt. So I also made a commitment to myself that all the money I was making from dog sitting would go into my savings and it would go towards my debt. I would not spend any of it on shopping, I would not spend any of it on bowling. It just automatically went straight into my savings and then it went to my debt. But like I said, now it's different because I I'm currently dog sitting at a house in Alton and they paid me $700 and I get to keep all of it. It's completely different than what I normally have to do because normally I have to put it in my savings and then it would go to my debt.

Brad Nelson 19:41

So and now you get to keep it for yourself. Now, can I just ask quickly when you charge $700, is that just for like a week or how many days do you are you there?

Paige 19:48

So it depends. Basically, if you have two dogs, it's $60 a day. And then if you have three, it's $75 a day, and then if you have four, it's a hundred dollars a day. Uh the ones I'm currently watching right now, they have three dogs and a cat, so four pets. So I'm watching them for seven days. So yeah.

Brad Nelson 20:09

Yeah. Yeah. That's that's a good chunk of change, though. And you're right. Now you get to keep that money. Did you by chance ever calculate how much money you've made from that business that you've put towards your debt?

Paige 20:21

I believe out of the 51,553, probably around like 30,000 of it was probably from dog city.

Brad Nelson 20:29

Wow. I'm glad you shared that because I just want people to think it's not always just cutting everything out of your budget. Yes, those things definitely do help. But on the other end of it, it's what can you do to create income-producing activities? And again, like you've mentioned, you've sold stuff around your house, you've taken on extra work, and you're running this side gig. You've done so many things to help you get out of debt. And I just want to be very clear with people is this is why Paige did this, this is how she did it. It wasn't that she just got on a budget and magically all this stuff got paid off. Yes, that stuff all helps, but it was a combination of a lot of activity that you've done over the last several years.

Paige 21:09

It's very hard for people to do dog sitting as a side gig because I'm lucky that I live with my dad. So when I dog sit for other people's dogs, basically my dad takes care of my dogs.

Brad Nelson 21:21

Right.

Paige 21:22

So I'm able to do it currently, but I also want to enjoy dog sitting as much as I can right now because whenever I move into a place of my own, I probably won't be able to dog sit anymore just because like my dad's not gonna be here forever, and he's usually my go-to to watch my dogs. So sooner or later, I'm probably gonna have to not be able to dog sit anymore. But I'm enjoying it while I can right now because I I have my dad to watch my dogs. And it it wouldn't be a problem. Like I people ask me, why don't you dog sit in your own house? And I always tell people, I said, the reason I can't dog sit in my own house is because of my dog Ruby. She is dog reactive. Any dog she does not know now, she will attack because she's worried they will attack her. And basically I took her to a dog therapist and everything, and they told me there's literally nothing you could do for her, just love, love on her and give her all the attention she can get. She was very special because she was my first foster. She was my first foster and I failed and kept her, which I don't regret in any way. But like I said, I can't do dog sitting at home because of her.

Brad Nelson 22:38

Right, right. Well, and I think what you're pointing out though is that not like dog sitting doesn't work for everybody, but there is opportunities out there based on your current life and based on your current life situation. Everyone's situation is going to be a little bit different. And sometimes I think thinking outside the box in this day and age, all of us have a phone, and there's so many different opportunities out there just to make money on your phone, whether it be bookkeeping services or like you said, dog watching. And I mean, there's so many different things that people have done, even in the roots community, just to make some extra money. It's incredible. And again, the reason why I point that out is because it's played such a significant role in helping you get out of debt faster. Because the faster you get out of debt, the better it is, right? That's that's the that's what's great about it.

Paige 23:19

Well, the thing is, like I also now I don't do it as often, but I do door dash too. Um I haven't been door dashing right now because gas is almost five dollars. Yeah. So I I'm not door dashing right now, but I also do door dashing and I used to put that extra money towards my debt. Right, right, right. So I would rather just stick with dog sitting and like I said, I have such a huge passion for dogs, it's just it's unbelievable. So that like suits me. And honestly, it's so much easier than working at Amazon. Like Amazon's such a physically demanding job anyway. It's taken a toll on my body. I've been there for four years now, and it's taken a toll. And so when I dog sit, I don't have to work as much. Like next month, for example, I'm always busier in the summertime. It's always been that way with pet sitting. People like to travel in the summertime. Next month, I'm pretty much full almost fully booked. I think I'm gone from my house for a week and a half, and then I'm home for two days, and then I start pet sitting again, and I'm gone for a week and a half, and then I'm home for two days. So, you know.

Brad Nelson 24:37

Well, that's the cool part now is that now that you don't have any more debt, you don't really care to work at Amazon. Now you have opportunities to say, what does Paige want to do next? Right? You have bills to pay, you have things to still pay for, you still have some responsibilities, but not nearly as much when you're having to pay off credit card debt and all this other debt and all these other payments. So you don't have a car payment anymore. And it frees up and gives you the opportunity to now look at all of your options. And you can say, Hey, I don't really care for this work anymore. I really enjoy doing this over here. And I'm not saying it happens overnight, but you can also start to explore opportunities of how can I get more into this work and replace the income over at Amazon and now be able to do more of the things that I love. And that is what financial freedom ultimately gives you is more choices, more options, more flexibility because you're just not suffocating from all those payments anymore.

Paige 25:28

Well, and that's the thing, and I probably will stay at Amazon probably for the rest of my life, just because I'm never gonna find another job that does VTO, which is voluntary time off, and PTO and vacation, and VET, which is voluntary extra time, and then they do shift swaps and shift covers. Like today, I did a shift cover, so I don't have to go to work today. Like I was supposed to work today, and I did a shift cover because I had bullying tonight and I don't want to work before bullying because I don't want to hurt myself before bullying. So I'm like, I'm just gonna do a shift cover. I will never find another job that's like that, especially a dog boarding job, because I've worked at a lot of dog boarding facilities, and it's very hard to get a day off at a dog boarding facility. So I will probably stay at Amazon, but I don't have to overwork myself anymore. Some weeks, if I want, I only have to work 20 hours. You know, I don't have to work my normal 30-hour shift. When I was getting my debt paid off, I was working sometimes 50, 60 hour weeks just to put the extra money towards my debt. Now I don't have to worry about that anymore. So I can get to a point where I literally, especially when I'm dog sitting, I would rather be home with the dogs. So I could just say, you know what, I'm just not gonna go to work today.

Brad Nelson 26:46

Yeah.

Paige 26:46

You know what I mean?

Brad Nelson 26:48

So what's the next

Trips, A New Home Goal, Next Steps

Brad Nelson 26:50

steps for you? You know, now that you're debt-free, like what are you what are you gonna focus on next, do you think?

Paige 26:55

I do want to get a place, um preferably closer to work, but like I said, it's very expensive. It's probably gonna take me a while. I have tons of trips coming up this year. This month we're going to Indianapolis for the party animals, the banana ball game. Yeah, and then and we're doing that. And then next month, we don't have anything because I'm booked with dog sitting, but then July, I'm more open and flexible. So July, I have the banana ball game, the firefighters against the Savannah Bananas in Chicago. So we're going up there, and then in August, I have the St. Louis banana ball game, the home game of the bananas versus the coconuts. So we're going to that game. And then September we have our trip to Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. Because my boyfriend said to me, He's like, now that you're debt-free, he's like, Where do you want to go? What's the one place that you want to go that you haven't been able to go to because you've been in so much debt? And I said, I have not gone to Cedar Point since 2019. I want to go back to Cedar Point. So we're going to go to Cedar Point, but we're also going to go watch my party animals play out there that same week in Ohio. And then in uh October, I have to go to Tennessee for my brother's wedding.

Brad Nelson 28:19

So you got a lot of stuff coming up, but a lot of fun.

Paige 28:23

Yeah, I know a lot of trips, a lot of trips. So um, that's why I already have 300 in my Tennessee fund and 400 in my Cedar Point fund because I'm like, I've got to get these funds built up.

Brad Nelson 28:34

Yeah.

Paige 28:35

But after that, I'm I am going to just try to save some money up to get a place. That's that's my all-time goal.

Brad Nelson 28:43

I love that you're taking some time, like I said, to have some fun. Sometimes one of the mistakes that we can make is going right to the next goal and focus, focus, focus, focus. And all these little trips and all these little things are little goals, but they're fun. And you deserve to have several months of fun because of all the hard work that you've put in. And I hope you get to enjoy all of those experiences. And that's the cool part about it. It's not stuff, it's experiences, which I think is great, which is just going to create a lot of memories for you. So, last question before I let you go today, Paige, is this is that if you had to go back and meet you again two years or yeah, two years, eight months ago, and give them one piece of advice. What would you say now, having gone through all of this over the last couple of years? What's one piece of advice that you would share with yourself?

Paige 29:27

I would have told myself to start sooner instead of instead of just listening to all those podcasts of the first three or four months. I should have just started immediately. But I was kind of questioning it, and I was only questioning it because I have signed up for other stuff in the past to help get my debt paid off, and it just didn't work. And so I was kind of questioning it a little bit. So that's why I listened to your podcast first. And I just wish I started sooner. That's my biggest regret is I wish I started sooner. But like I said, my goal was to be debt-free before May. I got debt free before May. So yep. So there. So now, yeah, that that's just my biggest regret, though. Like I wish I started sooner. And I know a lot of people say that because I've listened to a lot of your podcasts, and a lot of them say, We I wish we started sooner.

Brad Nelson 30:19

Well, once you once you get on something that works, it's man, I wish I would have just started sooner, right? Because it works, you know, and it it takes a little time. I know it it took you some time. There were some times where you had some doubt. I'm going through a lot of stuff in my life, and this isn't going right, and this isn't going right. You and you feel like you want to quit. And I would just keep encouraging you, just keep at it, keep at it. Eventually, things will start falling your way. And here we are, two years, eight months later, and you're completely debt-free. Uh, I just want to say huge congratulations, T. I'm so, so proud of you, and uh, you've come so far. You should be very proud of yourself. And at 27 years young, you have a whole life to live now. And man, what an amazing opportunity you've created for yourself by putting in these couple years of hard work.

Paige 31:04

I know. I remember my first podcast, the title says how this 24-year-old. So, yeah, so that was that's just huge. And like I said, I'm excited now because this month I budgeted $500 for bowling this month, and like it's not gonna hurt me, you know what I mean? I'm able, even though I only have one dog sitting booking this whole month, like if I have to, I could work extra hours at Amazon, right? But it's not gonna hurt me, you know what I mean? I have $500 for bowling, and I don't even think I'm gonna spend that in bowling this month.

Brad Nelson 31:37

So yeah, awesome. Thanks for joining us again today. I know for sure anyone who's listening to this, I'm sure you've encouraged them to get moving and hopefully prove to them like, hey, this stuff's still possible for everyone that's out there. You just got to put in some of the work, and you've proven that it does work. So thanks so much for being here today, Paige. I appreciate it.

Paige 31:55

No problem, and it's because of you, Brad. I couldn't have done this without you. I appreciate that. Your help has been tremendous.

Brad Nelson 32:04

Yeah, I appreciate that. These are the most fun episodes that we do. It's just all the work that we put in to help you guys out and to have someone come in and see that it's worked for them so well. It's it's my favorite part of what we do, and so uh it's awesome just to be able to see you do it. And I I told you you'd get there one day, and here you are, and uh it's it's so awesome.

Paige 32:22

I know, I still remember those old messages that we were messing back and forth, and I told you I don't think I can do this, and you know, just going back and forth, and you kept motivating me, and I was like, I don't think I'm gonna be able to pay it off, and then here I am.

Brad Nelson 32:37

Yep. Yep, awesome. Well, I'm excited for you. I'm excited to see what's next, and glad you're gonna stick around to roots so we can see that. But again, thanks

Start Sooner And Get Support

Brad Nelson 32:45

so much for being here. All right, guys. Now, if you are someone like Paige who's just getting started, you're ready to break free from living paycheck to paycheck. You want to reduce financial stress, you want to build savings, finally pay off your debt for good, just like Paige talked about here on today's episode. Again, but maybe you're not quite sure where to get started. Well, don't worry, we've got you covered. Simplify my money is sent to you each and every Sunday to your email. And uh simplify your money, simplify your money is just a step-by-step roadmap to uh help you with better financial control. You're also gonna learn some easy-to-follow strategies to help you manage your money more effectively. It's gonna help you make stress-free money decisions. These stress-free money decisions are gonna help simplify your financial life with proven tips that actually work, and you're gonna gain the tools and confidence to tackle your financial goals head on. If you'd like to sign up for Simplify My Money, all you gotta do is click on the link at the top of the show notes or head over to debtfreedad.com, and we're happy to get you on our newsletter list. Hey guys, thanks for joining us on today's episode, and we will see you guys on the next show.

Announcer 33:51

Thanks for listening to the Debt Free Dad podcast. Connect with us on Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. Just search Debt Free Dad. If you found value in today's episode, please leave us a rating and review. We so appreciate it. For resources, show notes, and links mentioned in today's show, visit debtfreedad.com. Catch you next week.