Debt-Free Success Story: Check Out How This Couple Paid off $147,000 in 3 years

127 Shares

Last Updated on August 4, 2019

Today, I’m sharing another debt free success story with you. I’m excited to introduce you to the Boyces also known as Josh and Jess. They live in Florida (not too far away from me in the Tampa Bay area). I reached out to them on Instagram after learning of their story. They had six-figure student loan debt to the tune of $147,000.00 and have paid it off in three years! As you may know, I have six-figure debt. Their story resonates with me and I wanted to showcase them on the blog so that others can see there are multiple individuals out there who have six-figure debt. You are not alone!

Many of us grew up with the notion that debt is normal and it should take 30 years to pay it off. Right? Well, I hate to tell you this; but you’re wrong. If this is your current mindset, change it right now! Yes, we’re accustomed to this mindset – however, that doesn’t make it right. Like many millennials, we decide to attend college after high school and give no thought to taking out student loans. We don’t read the small print, we sign on the dotted line to get books, tuition and room and board paid for. We were focused on graduating and obtaining a degree.

Josh & Jess can attest to this. They decided that they were tired of living up to society standards. They wanted to make a change. So they decided to read books and listen to podcasts that talk about budgeting, finances, and anything and everything fiscally related.

Guess what happened? They started applying those lessons to their daily lives and three years later. They found themselves debt-free!

I hope their story will encourage and motivate individuals who think that becoming debt-free is impossible.

Complete the sentence “I knew I was debt-free when….”

we finally saw the last student loan payment clear.

Tell me a little about yourself?

We’re Josh & Jess – Josh is a financial coach and Jess works in education. We live in St. Petersburg, Florida and became debt-free almost a year ago after working diligently at it for 3 years. Jess was able to take her dream job in August 2018 and Josh was able to leave his 9 to 5 to coach full-time. We love to be outdoors and can often be found listening to live music at the beach. We are huge football fans (Go Steelers!), love reading, and helping others. One of our favorite hobbies is travel hacking, get to experience fun and new places for a fraction of the cost.

What did your debt consist of and how much did you (or do you) owe?

Our debt consisted of student loans, 2 brand new cars, furniture, and credit card debt. We owed $147,000.00.

At what point did you realize you wanted to be debt-free?

We moved to a new place and met neighbors who had retired in their 40s due to wise financial decisions and have been traveling ever since – we knew that we couldn’t replicate that while being in debt. We made a decision in March 2015 to do all that we could to get out of debt as quickly as possible.

How did you make additional money to clear your debt?

We sold one of our cars, took on additional odd jobs (baking, tutoring, freelancing, dog sitting, etc.) and put every penny that was earned onto debt.

What was the most difficult challenge you faced in eliminating your debt?

Criticism from others – debt is “normal” and going against the grain of social norms was strange to those around us. Another challenge was learning to say no to things that we did not value.

Now that you’ve reached this goal, what’s next for you?

Continuing to maintain a 60% savings rate while only pursuing opportunities that really align with our hearts. We want to never make decisions based on money but do what we want, when we want.