What I've Been Willing To Give Up- and What I Haven't- to Conquer Debt

I love a good debt payoff story, and the more extreme it is, the more in awe I am. If you are living in your car, dumpster diving, working three jobs, etc. in an effort to get debt-free, you’re my hero.

But that’s not us.

Part of me really wishes I could go full speed ahead on this debt payoff plan, and make the drastic changes that would be necessary to make it happen in a relatively quick timeframe. But I’m not young, and I have a family, so there are only so many changes I’m willing to make. I especially don’t want my son, who is 7, to have to make a lot of sacrifices to pay for his parents’ money mistakes.

Things We Won’t Give Up-

Our Home: We bought our house a year and a half ago, upgrading from a small condo. It’s a lovely 3 bedroom colonial on a quiet street with great neighbors, in a good school district. It’s not an extravagant house by any means, but we could certainly have been fine with less. But we LOVE this house- the room for our frequent guests, the big yard for our son and dogs to play, our neighborhood, the school, the short commute to work. Everything about it has improved the quality of our lives dramatically. So we have no plans to move anytime soon, despite the cost.

Son’s Activities: We do not want to give up any extracurricular activities that we feel are enriching for our son. Right now, he is involved in a weekly gymnastics class, as well as a weekly math class (he’s a math whiz!). These activities aren’t cheap, but he loves them,  we feel that they are good for him, and I'm willing to delay debt payoff for them.

Good Health Insurance: Sadly, we do not get benefits through our work, so we are stuck paying out of pocket for health insurance. Because our son has a chronic medical issue that requires ongoing treatment, we pay for the Cadillac of health insurances, and boy does that come with a high price.

Life Insurance: I really hate paying for this. It just annoys me so much. But the reality is, if the worst ever happened, I want my family to be protected. So, I begrudgingly pay this bill every month.

Family Pizza Nights: We have a tradition of Wednesday Family Pizza nights. We get pizza from the same place, and always eat together as a family. My son LOVES this night, often saying it is his favorite day of the week. Relatives also often come for pizza night.

Things We DO Give up-

Cable: This was a tough one for me. I used to watch a lot of cable news. But get rid of it we did, replacing it with Netflix.

Going Out: We now almost never go out to eat, grab a coffee, go to the movies, go to a concert, etc. We eat and entertain ourselves at home. I thought it would be horrible to give up my morning stop at Dunkin Donuts, and at first it was. But it is amazing how quickly you adjust to your new normal. We’ve probably only gone out to eat twice in the past 6 months, a major reduction. Life goes on, and we don’t think about it too much now.

Clothes: The only one who gets new clothes around here is our son, who is growing at a phenomenal rate. But I buy only very reasonably priced items, and only just what he needs. I do not buy any clothes for myself at all. This isn’t actually that hard for me, since I despise shopping, and am not overly interested in what I wear. I am also lucky to get great hand-me-downs from family and friends, and I have absolutely no shame in taking them!

Hair Styling: Since I started to approach and then crossed over into my 40s, I realized that, yes, those lighter hairs growing in were gray hairs. So I started coloring my hair with a professional hair stylist, every 6 weeks. And, I looked great! But, I couldn’t continue to justify the cost. Now, I color my hair myself, let it grow long, and plan on getting it cut only every 6 months or so. I’m sure I wouldn’t have said so in my twenties, but now there’s no question now that financial security is worth more to me than beauty.

Random Kid’s Activities: We used to spend a fair amount of money taking our son out bowling, to indoor bouncy house jump parks, etc. Now, we look for free activities to keep him entertained and excited. My son and I have developed a real affinity for hiking, and I can’t think of any paid entertainment that can match the beauty and feel-good exertion of a mountain hike.

Grocery Delivery: Oh, Peapod, how I loved you. As a full time working mother, time is short, and grocery shopping is a time-intensive chore. With Peapod grocery delivery, it would only take me 5 minutes to complete my grocery shopping online, and those groceries would magically end up right in my kitchen. But since groceries were a major area of budget fail, my love affair with Peapod had to end. Our discount grocery store is a 20 minute drive away, and always insanely crowded, but I can’t beat those cost savings, so make the trek I do.

Shopping: Again, I’m not much of a shopper, but looking back I still see that I would pick up random items here and there most of the time I was in a store. Like, I’d be in Target, and end up buying a random throw pillow, or candle, or a plug-in scent, things like that. No longer. I buy nothing unless I have already established that it is a family need, and given good thought to when and where to buy it.

These are just a sample of the changes we’ve made (or didn’t make), and I’m sure I’ll go over others as time goes on. What have you not been willing to give up?