3 Debt Payoff Mistakes I Wish I Could Redo (and How You Can Avoid Them!) | 78

Drowning in debt is overwhelming—but staying there is optional. In this episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on the 3 biggest mistakes I made while paying off $107,000 of consumer debt… and what I would do differently if I could hop in a time machine.

If you’re just starting your debt-free journey or you’re tired of spinning your wheels, these lessons will save you stress, time, and money:

✅ Why building a starter emergency fund is non-negotiable
✅ The budgeting tweak that prevents burnout (yes, fun money matters!)
✅ How accountability and support can speed up your payoff timeline

You don’t need a perfect plan to win with money—you just need the right focus at the right time. Learn from my regrets so you can avoid repeating them, and start moving toward financial freedom with confidence.

👉 Mentioned in this episode:
🎙️ Episode 1: Our $107K Debt Elimination Journey
✨ Free Workshop: 15 Minutes to Money Clarity: www.jewlzthebudgetnerd.com/clarity

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
A debt rebel. So when we were drowning in
debt, I made so many mistakes. And if I could hop in a time
machine and go back, there are three things that I would change
immediately. Things that would have saved us
a ton of stress, time, and definitely some money.
So if you're on your own debt free journey, these lessons will

(00:21):
help you avoid the mistakes thatI made and speed up the process
for you. Welcome to the Debt Rebel
Podcast where we discuss the insurance and outs of personal
finance for families so you can eliminate the burden of debt,
create financial margins, and learn a new way to interact with
your money. I'm your host, Jules the Budget
Nerd, and I have been in your shoes.

(00:43):
My husband and I have paid off over $107,000 in consumer debt
until we finally threw in the towel and decided it wasn't for
us. Throughout our journey, we
learned another way to do life without debt, and that's my hope
for you. You can learn more about our
story and see full shown what's on my website,
julesthebudgetnerd.com. That's JEWLZ, the budget

(01:04):
nerd.com. Now let's dive into today's
episode. All right, so if you are newer
to the show and haven't heard mystory, you can listen to episode
#1 it is our our story of our, our debt elimination journey.
But I have a degree in economics.
My husband and I got into over $107,000 in consumer debt.

(01:27):
So I know a lot about this process and this journey.
It is not just about had knowledge.
And so it took us six years to get out of that, that debt load.
And so I know that if we had notgone through some of these
things, it would have it would have speed up our process.
And so that's what I want to share with you today is I don't

(01:49):
want you to make these same missteps that we did.
And I want you to know that you don't need a perfect plan.
You just need the right focus atthe right time.
And so for US, one of the thingsthat was super, super important
is making sure that you build that emergency fund first, so
not jumping straight into the debt payoff without having a

(02:10):
buffer. And so for us, part of our story
is we bought a house and couldn't make the first mortgage
payment. And so we had no savings set
aside to help us with that. And if you set yourself up in
that way, every little thing, every little car repair, every
little medical bill, maybe it's a house, you know, a house

(02:30):
repair, every little thing starts to just snowball in the
wrong direction. And so for us, it was just,
we're constantly putting stuff on credit cards.
And I remember putting the powerbill on a credit card because we
didn't have that little bit of surplus so that we could focus
on our debt repayment. But we could take care of the

(02:51):
little things as they came. Even if they like to teach the
alliance members is $1000 is a great place to start with your
emergency fund. So it's going to buy you a
little bit of breathing room. So hear me say, do not skip this
step. It can feel like you're like,
let's just get into it. Let's just get into eliminating
that debt. But when you have that $1000

(03:12):
buffer, it's going to help you feel a little bit more in
control and at peace with the journey that you're on.
So do not skip this step. Rebel.
All right. And the next one is budgeting
every dollar and including fun money in it.
So I like to consider myself kind of an extremist, but not
like an extremist in like I'm going to go bungee jumping and

(03:34):
but like in a like, OK, I'm going to be, I'm an all or
nothing kind of person. So trying to get out of debt,
I'm like, we're going all in. And so we created a budget that
wasn't super realistic for us because we weren't going to do
all of these things that broughtus joy.
And that's why I teach the budgeting a little bit

(03:55):
differently than I did it because of this, this principle
right here when we are setting ourselves up for burnout and not
allowing any kind of fun or joy in our life, even though we're
kind of going through a hard season when it comes to our
money, it's really important to find the joy and find the fun in
the process because we will burnourselves out.

(04:18):
We're going to rebel against ourown rules and say, I'm not doing
this. So to be successful, you want to
have a plan for your money. So that's budgeting every dollar
that comes into your household, but making sure you're including
some fun money. Now it doesn't have to be like
thousands of dollars, but give yourself a little bit of money
so that you can spend without guilt, but being consistent with

(04:40):
your overall spending so that you can eliminate your debt
faster and get to that that day.That is such a joyful day when
you can say, I don't owe anybodyanything.
So making sure that you include some fun money in your budget
and call it whatever you want. I have clients that call it all
kinds of things. So if you have a have a fun

(05:01):
special name for it, it's the money that no one can tell you
like judge you for it or so likefor my husband and I, we each
have our own. So he has his, I cannot tell him
what to do with it and he can't tell me what to do with mine or
judge me for my choices. And then the rest of our money,
we budget that together and we say, hey, this is where we're

(05:22):
going. But that fun money is whatever
brings us fun, joy, whatever. And then the last one is getting
support and accountability. So I didn't even know when we
were going through this process that financial coaches existed.
Little did I know that this is where I would be and this is
what I would be doing and I absolutely love it.
But The thing is, we were, my husband and I, we were doing our

(05:46):
debt elimination journey alone. So yes, we had each other, but
we both brought some stuff to the table that was at one point,
We were not on the same page. And so it took a lot of patience
for us to both get to that spot.But I know if we had some
outside accountability and some outside help in that process and
support that we would have got to our debt free date faster.

(06:07):
And so one big mistake is just doing it alone and not having a
community, someone a cheer you on because the world's going to
say you're crazy for trying to pay off all of your debt.
But also it's not it's not an easy process.
It is absolutely worthwhile, butthat sometimes we can get into
those shame spirals where we were like, you know what, we got

(06:28):
off track. And so when you have that
support, you can have someone remind you to say, hey, you know
what? It's about progress, not
perfection. So let's, you know, pick
yourself up and let's go for it and let's keep moving forward
because we can't change the past.
All we can do is change today and our future based on how we
spend our money. That's why I've created the

(06:49):
Alliance coaching program. It's community coaching where we
get together a few times a monthto plan out our spending.
We do some training and then youhave access to an online portal
that has on demand trainings, has a message board.
So when stuff comes up and you're like, I don't know what
to do with this, we have weekly challenges in there.

(07:10):
It's so that you can work on your finances in 15 minute
increments. And I'm not talking about 1515
minute increments like all day long.
I'm saying like, let's do like, you know, couple times, couple
times a week maybe. And then we've got some longer
sessions where I have office hours and you can join us and
get your questions answered. So that's where that

(07:31):
accountability and support comesin.
I want to encourage you that if this is where you are in your
debt elimination journey, remember these things are my
mistakes that I'm sharing with you and maybe you have made them
and you know what? It's OK, Obviously I made them
and I still got to that debt free that that debt free, that

(07:53):
debt free status. So just to recap, you want to
start with that buffer. Do not skip that.
Give yourself a budget that you'll actually follow.
So making sure you budget in that fund money and then don't
do it alone. So these 3 shifts are going to
change your debt elimination journey.
And also it's just going to enrich this whole process for

(08:14):
you so that you don't have to dothings the hard way.
You can do things the smart way,the wise way, and you can do it
with a community of other moms that are like going through the
same thing that you're going through.
If you're nodding your head right now, but you still feel
overwhelmed about where to start, I want to invite you to a
free workshop that I have recently launched called 15

(08:35):
Minutes to Money Clarity. So in about half an hour, you're
going to get a simple action plan to finally feel organized
with your budget. So you can jump on online at
Jewels the Budget nerd.com/clarity and get
registered. That's a totally free on demand
workshop that you can take LZ the budget nerd.com/clarity

(08:56):
CLARITY. So I hope that this episode was
helpful for you today and know that the things that I regret
about my journey, I am sharing those with you today so that you
don't have to add those to your list of regrets.
So have an amazing day and thankyou so much for listening.
Thank you for listening to the Debt Rebel podcast.

(09:17):
Now, if you want to take your next step, check out my website,
jewelsthebudgetnerd.com. That's JEWLZ, the budget
nerd.com. I've created a bunch of
resources just for you. So hop on over, check it out and
we can connect more there. If you love today's episode, I
would be honored if you would hit that subscribe button and
leave me a review. And remember, every step towards

(09:40):
financial independence is a rebellion against debt.
So stay strong, keep pushing forward, and fight the good
fight until next time. Debt rebels stay resilient.