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My interview with John Stossel aired on Fox Business and in that interview, I shared how I have lived for 33 years without a credit card. Most people don't believe that this is possible. But it's true. I've never had a credit card and I've never had debt. Yes, for real. My grandpa raised my dad to never go into debt for anything but a mortgage. My dad not only embraced this belief, but then he took it further. When I was a young girl, my parents paid off their mortgage and began saving everything they possibly could in order to buy land and build a house in the country. After a few years of scrimping and saving, they sold our house, we moved to an old trailer out on land they had bought, and my dad was the General Contractor for our debt-free house-building project. Seeing the sacrifices that my parents made and seeing the freedom that being debt-free gave them and the stress it relieved from their lives inspired me to commit to never go into debt. My husband and I went into marriage with an audacious goal for him to go through law school debt-free. This was a much harder to actually follow through with than we could have imagined, but our firm commitment to a debt-free lifestyle inspired us to make many short-term sacrifices in order to achieve long-term benefits. After law school, we decided to continue our commitment to living debt-free and we set another big goal: to pay cash for our first house. We knew that if we continued to live very simply and save as much as we possibly could, this goal could be a reality in the next 5 years (it helped that we lived in Kansas at the time, where housing prices are very reasonable). Hitting that goal in less than three years was almost 100% thanks to the huge increase in income we saw from this blog. However, we both feel like had we not set the goal in the first place and had we not been so committed to a debt-free lifestyle, we would never have been so inspired to work very hard at growing this online business nor as motivated to think outside the box and look for passive income streams. 
We look back at the last 12 years of our married life and have zero regrets that we've chosen to live debt-free. It's allowed us much more flexibility to make business changes and life changes - like our big move to Nashville last year. It's also allowed us to be able to continue to live simply so that we can invest our money in priorities that matter to us as well as be in a position to give generously. I prefer to use cash and rarely swipe a debit card for anything - except for online business purchases, gas purchases, and travel expenses. Some people think that I'm dumb for choosing this lifestyle. I've been called names. I've been told I was crazy. I've been reprimanded over and over again for missing out on so many credit card rewards. And here's the thing: I own that I'm weird. I own that the choices I've made personally and the choices our family has made are not for everyone. But I hope that our story challenges you to think outside the box. I want to inspire people to not just fall in line with whatever everyone else does or feel like debt has to be a normal part of everyone's everyday existence. Because it doesn't have to be. 
You don't need to do what we've done. You may choose to use a credit card or get a mortgage. You might have found a way to meticulously track your credit card expenditures so that you are actually spending less and earn big rewards that you use to further lower your costs. You might find that you have more self-discipline when you swipe a card than when you carry around cash. Instead of using cash, you might choose to track your spending through an app like Mint.com, EveryDollar.com, or YouNeedaBudget.com. I'm a big advocate of doing what works for you. And if you're responsible with your spending and you have found a system that works for your family and keeps you organized and (mostly!) stress-free, than I say to stick with it. But if you are struggling financially and you are feeling discouraged and disorganized when it comes to finances, I encourage you to not just keep doing whatever it is that you're currently doing. If you want to see change in your life and finances, you have to do something different than what you're currently doing. If you're new here, I'd love to for you to sign up for our daily email newsletter here where I share money-saving advice, tips, tricks, and great deals. In addition, if you're looking for practical ways to save more money, check out my series on 52 Different Ways to Save $100 Per Year. My passion is to challenge people to live with intention in all areas of your life and finances. You aren't stuck, unless you choose to be. So begin today to make wise financial choices. Be willing to make those short-term sacrifices. Be okay with going against the grain - even if others think you're weird. Your hard work and effort and sacrifices will pay off. And I'll be here cheering you all the way! | 
