May 20, 2025 • 32 mins
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In this episode, Brad Nelson, founder of Debt Free Dad, chats with Misty Gaetz, who has made significant progress in managing her finances over the past several months. Misty has managed to pay off thousands in debt and is on a clear path to financial freedom. Misty shares the ups and downs of her financial journey, including her background, the impact of joining the Roots Personal Finance Program, and the strategies that helped her save and pay off a substantial amount of debt in just four months. The episode is filled with practical advice and inspirational stories for anyone feeling stuck and looking to gain financial control and momentum.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Brad Nelson (00:00):
Hey, so are you drowning in money stress and
unsure where to start?
Misty Gates has been there, butover the last several months
she has turned things around,saving and paying off thousands
of dollars and making incrediblefinancial progress.
Now, in today's episode, Mistyis here to share her journey and
how she started buildingmomentum with her money, and if
(00:21):
you've ever felt stuck, this isthe dose of hope and
encouragement that you've beenwaiting for.
Stay tuned.
Announcer (00:30):
You're listening to the Debt-Free Dad podcast with
Brad Nelson.
Brad and his co-hostsexperience the anxiety of living
paycheck to paycheck beforelearning the fundamentals of
financial success.
They are now on a mission toempower regular people to pay
off their debt for good andenjoy happier, less stressful
lives.
Keep listening forinspirational interviews, tips,
(00:52):
tricks and practical advice togain financial freedom.
Brad Nelson (00:56):
Hey everyone, welcome to today's show.
I am Brian Nelson, founder ofDebt Free Debt.
I paid off about $45,000 indebt.
I have been debt free now formore than 12 years.
I've also been fortunate to beable to help thousands of other
people save and pay off tens ofmillions of dollars with the
work that we do here at DebtFree Dad.
Now, after listening to thisepisode, if you are ready to
take things to the next level,you're ready to break free from
(01:18):
living paycheck to paycheck.
You want to reduce all thatfinancial stress, maybe build a
savings and finally pay off yourdebt for good.
But maybe you're like many,including myself at one time
you're just not sure where toget started.
Well, we've created someincredible free resources here
at Debt-Free Dad to help you getthere, and I'll be sharing some
details about that later on intoday's episode.
(01:38):
As I said, I would love towelcome Misty Gates to the
podcast Now.
Misty is 37 years old and sheis married to her husband, mike,
for nine years nowCongratulations.
They have two kids, matthew andMorgan, and a dog named Jewel.
Misty says that they love totravel, kayak camp and visit
amusement parks, and she adds wewant to become debt-free so
(02:01):
that we can buy a house, andthat would be our only debt.
So hey, misty, welcome to theDebt-Free Dad podcast.
So glad that you're joining ushere today.
Misty (02:12):
Thank you for having me.
I'm excited to be here.
Brad Nelson (02:14):
Yeah, absolutely so .
You recently joined Roots, backin January.
As we're recording this, it'sthe last day of April, so you've
been with the Roots PersonalFinance Program for about four
months and starting.
We're going to get intoeverything that you guys have
been able to do since joining,but the first thing I want to
ask you is really just how yougot started with learning about
money and what kind of led youto the point of eventually
(02:38):
joining this kind of a programand trying to get help with your
finances.
Can you kind of share, maybe,the ups and downs of your
financial life as you kind ofgot out to being a kid, to being
an adult, and how that allworked out for you?
Misty (02:50):
Yeah, so I come from a divorced family and I lived with
my dad until I was nine andthen I moved in with my mom.
My dad worked 12 to 18 hourdays, six to seven days a week,
so we didn't really see him alot.
I have two older siblings thatwe just kind of took care of
each other, took care ofourselves, and then when I moved
in with my mom, she worked jobsoff and on.
(03:13):
My stepdad had a full-time jobpretty much the whole time.
They were together, at leastthe whole time I lived with them
.
He still works at the sameplace.
He worked a lot of hours too,sometimes like a swing shift, 12
hours a day, two days on, twodays off every other weekend.
So they worked a lot and thenshe was home quite a bit in
(03:33):
between jobs.
But we never went without.
But you could tell there weresome financial struggles there.
There was never talk about like, hey, this is how you
responsibly use credit cards,you need to have money in the
bank, you need to have a goodsavings, things like that.
You know, when I moved out Iwent to college, I lived on
campus, which, looking back now,I probably could have saved a
(03:56):
ton of money living at home.
I only went to school an hourfrom home, only went to school
for 14 months initially, so Icould have drove back and forth
for that amount of time.
I had a reliable car.
I got a job at 14 and I'veworked pretty much ever since
then.
Once I got my permit, wefinanced a car that I made the
(04:18):
payments on.
It was in my mom's name, but Imade the payments on it.
And then, once I turned 18, Ibought a car in my own name and
had a payment on that.
I've pretty much always had acar payment.
I've always.
You know, like I said, I'vealways worked pretty much since
then.
When I met my husband, we workedat the same factory.
(04:38):
We were working seven days aweek, most of the time 12 hours
a day.
We were making pretty goodmoney.
We went ahead, bought a houseand the payment was manageable,
but we had two vehicle paymentsat that time and then we traded
his vehicle in on anothervehicle with a bigger payment
and we had the house payment andit was financed at a good rate.
(05:01):
I mean, this was 2016.
Things were much better thanthey are now.
Then our factory cut back hours.
We were to the point where ourincome was cut in half almost,
and we're like, oh crap, how dowe get by?
So he took a job at a trailerfactory and it didn't pan out to
(05:22):
make what he was supposed to bemaking.
We were ended up it was costingus more for him to drive to
work than what he was reallymaking and we were like, okay,
we can't do this.
So he went to a foundry to work, and that's where he's at now,
six years later, and that helpedus out.
Well, then I switched jobs andit was the same thing.
It didn't pan out very well.
And then we had our secondchild after I switched jobs, and
(05:50):
when it came time to have herfind a daycare that was
affordable, with an hour driveto work for me, it just didn't
work.
So we're like, hey, I'm goingto stay home.
I started working for abusiness that his dad owns.
I don't make a ton, but I makeenough, and I didn't have
daycare then.
So it all set.
And then our homeowner'sinsurance went up and, of course
, while we were at the jobswhere we weren't making what we
(06:11):
thought we were going to be, westarted racking up credit card
debt and a lot of times it wasgroceries or gas.
It wasn't frivolous things Someof it was but it just added up
over time and we never reallysat down and we're like, hey,
how much debt are we in?
Well, then our house neededrepairs and we started doing
that.
At one point we were like thehousing market was up.
(06:32):
We're like, look, we got to getout of this now, before we lose
the house.
We actually took out a cashadvance on one of our credit
cards to be able to make ourhouse payment one month.
And that's when I was likesomething's got to give, we've
got to do something different.
So we talked with myfather-in-law.
We're like, hey, if we sell thehouse, can we move in with you
for a while?
Then he was like, yeah, that'sfine.
So we sold the house and wecame out ahead on the house and
(06:55):
we put that money in the bankand we sat on it for six months.
As we're trying to pay off debt, we started having monthly
meetings on our finances and incredit cards alone.
When we sold our house, we were$70,000 in debt.
I also have student loans, carpayments, all of that, and it
was.
It was a lot so, and we soldour house two and a half years
(07:17):
ago.
So we've really been trying toget out of the debt so that we
can buy property or a house, sowe can move out on our own again
.
And we had $20,000 sitting inthe bank and we're like, oh,
that's great, that's a greatdown payment, but we're still
struggling to get by.
Every day, like week to weekliving, paycheck to paycheck,
every day, like week to weekliving, paycheck to paycheck.
(07:37):
And we finally were like,listen, we're going to take a
chunk of this money and we'regoing to pay off this set of
stuff.
And we did that, which helpedus.
It helped our cash flow alittle bit.
We did do a debt consolidationloan, which has helped our cash
flow.
But we also, with that, wenthey, this is what we were
already paying on the set, thisis what we're going to keep
(07:58):
paying on this set.
We were only getting about$2,000 a month paid off each
month.
As we're having these monthlymeetings going, we're making
progress, but not very fast.
Then I had my vehicle needed a$10,000 repair.
Announcer (08:16):
And.
Misty (08:16):
I was like I can't afford a $10,000 repair when I'm
making a payment on it too,because at that point we were
down to about 2000 in thesavings and I'm like I've got a
little bit sitting here but Idon't have enough that I can pay
this 10 grand.
Had we had the 10 grand, Iprobably would have just fixed
it and kept driving it, causeI'm still making the payment.
So we did trade it in, we didbuy a new vehicle and I know
(08:38):
that's one of the things thatit's like don't buy new, but I'm
like my luck with used vehicleshas been awful.
So this is what we're doing andit has been great.
We're six months into that, butI do pay extra on it.
What we were paying oneverything when we sold the
house is what we have continuedto pay and we've been
(08:59):
snowballing it.
Brad Nelson (09:00):
Right.
Misty (09:00):
I think I found the podcast.
Brad Nelson (09:03):
Until like so, but up until this point.
So you guys were already kindof on your own plan.
Like you guys you guys were Imean you paying off $2,000 a
month.
You moved in with family justto kind of help out, sold your
house, so yeah, and now youfound the podcast, so you were
already kind of on a plan.
So what do you feel like madethat decision of like we're
going to try this process.
Misty (09:22):
So I started listening to the pod and I've listened to
all of them except the lastprobably five now and I was like
man, these people are making aton of progress.
And Katie Hatfield really wasthe one that I was like if she
can do that, we can do this.
We've got this.
You had advertised for the freelife without payments workshop.
Announcer (09:43):
And I was like I'm going to do this we go to bed
early, we get up early.
Misty (09:46):
But I was like, hey, this is kind of later in the day or,
you know, late in the evening,but I'm going to do it, I'm
going to dedicate time to thisbecause something's got to give.
We can't keep doing what we'redoing because we're not making
enough progress fast enough.
And so I did, and I had talkedwith my husband about it.
I was like, hey, what do youthink about this?
And I got the well, are wereally going to spend money to
get out of debt?
(10:07):
And I was like, if it is thedifference, then it's worth
every dime we spend.
So I did the life withoutpayments workshop.
I signed up that night and Iput it on a credit card.
But I was like, hey, next weekwe're going to have a little bit
extra, I can just pay that off.
It's just not in the checkingaccount right now.
And that's what I did.
And we've made amazing progresssince then.
Brad Nelson (10:30):
Yeah, and I want to dive into that Again we have
that Free Life Without Paymentsworkshop.
We do them every quarter andyou decided to join.
Can you talk to me about whatwas in that workshop?
You mentioned you've heard thestories Katie Hatfield I mean,
katie is obviously a co-host onour podcast from time to time
and I mean, as a single person,has paid off nearly $200,000 in
debt.
It's incredible what she's done.
But what was it the thing thatwas like?
(10:50):
You know what we need to dothis, we need to try something
different.
Was it just the stories oranything that you heard in that
workshop that made you pull thetrigger?
Misty (10:57):
It was the stories.
It was kind of like here's kindof the plan.
There's more to it, but this isthe basics.
And if you do this all of thesepeople again I've heard all of
the stories and I'm like there'sno reason why that can't be us.
She's doing it single.
I've got a dual income.
It's like what can we dodifferent?
(11:18):
That isn't going to be adrastic change.
To make this change that'sgoing to take over and change
things for us quicker.
The way we're going, we're ontrack to be debt-free in three
years and that's my studentloans, the new truck, everything
.
Yeah.
Brad Nelson (11:37):
That's incredible.
So when you joined again we'rerecording this at the end of
April you joined mid-January-ishis when we did that last
workshop.
What were some of the earlythings that you started to do,
and again I want you to sharebriefly here in just a minute,
like what you guys have beenable to do.
I mean, you guys have paid offthousands of dollars already,
which is absolutely incrediblefor just doing it for four
months.
But was there anythinginitially that you started to do
(11:57):
that you know again you weredoing 2000 on your own, but what
really started to like push thegas pedal down for you, that
you started to learn in rootsthat you could do differently.
Misty (12:07):
The biggest thing was you can't pay off that while still
using that.
So we stopped completely usingcredit cards.
We've just unless it'ssomething like we have a couple
of cards that have a zerobalance on them and like we have
like our subscriptions andstuff on there and that gets
paid off every month, but ifthere's not money for it, we
(12:29):
also started doing cash stuffing.
We have a checking account thatwe were using for just
groceries.
Well, that has become cashbecause we would go in and not
be paying attention andoverspend.
Well, we'll just put it on thecredit card now.
Now I take my tablet in with meand I add it up as I go.
I have a list, we follow thelist and we may deviate from it
a little bit, but one or twothings, that's it.
(12:51):
It's got to be on there.
And taking the list to thestore has been huge, but
definitely just not using debtanymore.
Brad Nelson (13:00):
Yeah, when you were going through this process you
had mentioned not all of yourspending was frivolous.
You did have some.
But one of the big things thatwe have people do is go through
and roots is really look at yourpast spending habits.
Was anything eye-opening whenyou went through that process?
Because a lot of people willsay, brad, I'm convinced I can't
save and pay off debt.
But then when we have them godo this, they're like, oh my
(13:20):
gosh, I can.
I didn't even realize what Iwas spending on certain things.
Did you have anything like that?
Misty (13:26):
We were spending.
Yes, our eating out was our bigone.
We were spending between $700and $900 a month for four of us
to eat out.
Brad Nelson (13:36):
So you guys were spending $700 to $900 a month on
eating out.
Misty (13:41):
Yeah, just on eating out.
And then we were still spendingyou know $500 or more at the
grocery store and I was like wethere's no way we're eating
$1,400 a month in food.
Like yeah, especially whenthere was just four of us and
two of them were little kids.
I mean they're six and eight now, but they were three and five
(14:03):
three years ago and I'm like mythree-year-old didn't eat that
much and my five-year-old didn'teither.
We've started meal planning.
I sit down normally once amonth and write out the whole
month.
Because we have busy schedules,I don't have time to do it
weekly, I'd rather just do itmonthly.
And then I started going to thestore like three times a week
and on Sunday I go for Sunday,monday, tuesday and Wednesday
(14:24):
and then on Wednesday I get thelatter part of the week and then
, if Friday we need to pick somethings up, we do.
But it was like, instead oftrying to go once a month and
you're like, what do I need forthe month?
Because that's what we weredoing, and then we'd buy stuff
and never eat it.
You know, we cleaned off ashelf that we keep like our
snacks and stuff on.
I'm like I bought this twoyears ago at Costco.
We never even opened it.
(14:45):
It's got to go.
So that's a waste of money.
So it was very eye opening,like knowing that that's what
we're spending on eating out.
And now for the most part weeat out once a month and we
really don't need to do that.
It's so expensive and with theprice increases that have gone
on over the last few years it'seven more expensive.
(15:05):
I'm like I'm glad we're noteating out three or four times a
week, because it'd be way morethan $900 now.
Brad Nelson (15:10):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, and I think, well, and I think
the thing that I love about thisis that you guys were willing
to, number one, really look atwhere your money was going and
you discovered something thatwas like really eye-opening how
much money you're spending goingout to eat for other people.
It could be other things, butyou were also willing to look at
it and say you know, this isgoing to be worth the sacrifice
in order to get to where we wantto go, and that's what I would
(15:31):
be interested to ask you.
Next is that you were doingthis on your own.
You were making some progress.
What was it about?
Like the system and the processthat we share in Roots, how we
lay it all out the step-by-step.
How did that help you with youroverall plan of going at this?
Did you see a difference withthat too?
Misty (15:48):
We did sitting down, actually sitting down together
and going over things, doing thecash part of it, actually
learning about the psychologicalconnection with cash that you
don't have with the card BecauseI was like, oh well, I use my
debit card.
It's not the same Looking inthat envelope and going, oh,
I've got this much Even today.
(16:09):
We went and got groceries thismorning and my son was like, hey
, can we get Oreos?
And I was like let's see whatthe total is when we get the
stuff we need and then ifthere's money left, then yes, we
can, but I've got to get thesethings for dinner the rest of
the week.
Just knowing that you've gotthe community support, like
going through the lessons andlistening to it and doing it
(16:29):
with my husband and being ableto bounce ideas off of him and
going, hey, you know we could dothis, um, but we.
The other part of it was likeyou don't have to stop doing
everything.
Because that was his firstquestion was do we have to not
do anything?
And I was like no, I was likebut we have to be able to pay
(16:51):
for it in cash.
If we can't pay for it in cash,then we're not doing it, and
that's been our big one andactually paying for it, not just
going oh it's on the card,we'll pay for it later.
Brad Nelson (17:02):
Right, right.
Yeah, I was actually going toask you if your husband had any
sort of pushback or, as you guyshave done this over the last
four months, especially when youfirst get started, because that
is one of the number one thingswe get from couples is like,
how do I get my spouse orpartner on board?
You know, I really want to dothis.
They're kind of dragging theirfeet a little bit.
Did you have any of thatexperience?
Obviously, you mentioned likewe don't have to cut everything
out, do we?
(17:22):
Because that's usually what wehear from the other partners.
They feel like it's got to goscorched earth, we're not having
fun ever again, and you know wedon't really teach that in
roots at all, and it's quitedifferent, honestly.
Misty (17:37):
Yeah, yeah, we're busy around the house, so like if we
really want to spend qualitytime with our kids, we have to
leave and go do something,because otherwise we're not
really engaging with them orreally spending quality time
with them.
So we have season passes toamusement parks and that is our
big thing.
My kids love it.
They're both tall enough toride most of the things.
So he's like we're still goingto do that.
We're still going to camp.
We don't spend a lot of time atcamp.
So we've started this yeartaking a small Blackstone with
(18:00):
us that actually his dad has forhis camper, but when he's not
using it he's like you guys canuse it when I'm not.
So we've been able to makebreakfast at camp, but it's like
we're very minimal, tankcampings cheap.
So we're like, hey, we're goingto go do that.
We're going to camp for two orthree nights, we're going to hit
(18:23):
the amusement parks and it'sall paid for.
You know when we've paid for itwith cash, and this is so much
better.
There's no stress about.
Oh, hey, we spent $400 thisweekend that now we have to, you
know, either work extra or hey,where are we getting this money
from?
And that's how it was before.
There was no plan, it was justwe'll figure it out later.
And at first it was like are yousure about this?
Can we do this?
And I was like let's give it ago.
Worst case scenario we spentthe money, we don't use it.
(18:46):
I was like I think we should dothis and we've not made it
through all the modules yet.
Life got chaos and I'm likeokay, I've got to start sitting
down and doing this again.
But watching the videos withhim throwing around ideas, going
hey, this is what I heard onthe podcast, this is what we
taught or what they talked about.
He's very open to it and it'sthe fact that he lives at home.
(19:10):
Again, at 30 years old, he'slike no, really, I want to move
out.
And one day our kids were likehey, when can we move out of
Pawpaw's house?
And it was like, oh, we got todo something.
It's not exciting anymore threeyears later.
And it was okay, we're going todo this.
And we started doing it.
He needs a different workvehicle.
So him and his dad went andlooked at one.
(19:32):
They're like, hey, it doesn'trun, but it just needs this part
fixed and it'll run.
Okay, well, he comes home.
He's like, hey, I'm going to godo that.
We borrowed the money from hisdad for that and that's the
family loan that we have thatwe're paying off.
And it was, hey, we'll pay itback at tax time.
That was the plan.
(19:56):
And he goes I'm going to pickit up on this day.
And then me and my buddy aregoing to work on it this day.
And I said, hold on, you don'thave any money in the auto
repair envelope yet to fix that.
How are you doing that?
And he goes we'll just figureit out.
And I go, no, no, no, that'show we got in this situation to
begin with.
Pump the brakes, we can do this, but you can't do it this
(20:17):
weekend.
And he was like, oh, okay, andso then we worked through that
and all the repairs on it werepaid in cash yeah and I was like
, hey, I'm good with that, aslong as it's paid in cash.
Brad Nelson (20:24):
I don't, I don't care yeah, that's what I love
about it is that you knowespecially when you were talking
about the camping, theamusement parks, and I think
that's the key is that everyoneneeds to sit down.
Your budget should allow you tobe able to, because we all work
hard for our money.
Your budget is permission to goenjoy the things that you want
to enjoy.
Your budget, though, is also agood guideline of, like you
(20:44):
mentioned, you guys discoveredsome really drastic overspending
when it came to eating out.
It's also kind of your guide oflike you know this is fun to go
eat out, but is it the mostimportant things in our lives?
And you guys determine, no,it's not.
We're going to change our ways.
We're going to do meal planning, but we're also not going to
give up the amusements and thecamping, because that is
important to us, right?
So I think when people need tounderstand that, when they're
listening to this, that a budgetis not ripping everything fun
(21:07):
out of your life and onlysticking to just paying down
debt, it's really just making aconscious decision of these are
the things that we really loveand enjoy.
We're going to prioritize this,but we're willing to sacrifice
on other things in order tobuild an emergency fund and pay
down debt, and you guys havedone such a great job with that.
So I'm curious, misty, can youshare real quick what have you
guys actually been able to saveand pay off since you guys
started here mid-January andagain we're talking about four
(21:29):
months?
Misty (21:31):
So we have saved $1,772 and we've paid off $12,850 just
in the four months.
Brad Nelson (21:40):
That is incredible.
I mean, you're talking over a$14,000 swing in just four
months.
When you look at that, did youthink that would ever have been
possible when you started?
Misty (21:52):
I did not.
I was amazed.
The first full month we were inthe program, we paid off $5,500
and I was like there's no waythis is going to happen again.
The second month we were at$4,200, or it was $4,200 the
first full month, and then thesecond full month it was $4,200
(22:13):
more and I was like holy cow.
This is great.
You know we're really doingthis and we're staying on track.
We're not seeing that we'relosing out on anything.
Yeah, we don't go out to eat asmuch, but is that really that
big of a deal?
Hey, we've got a plan and withthe meal plan, there's no
guesswork in it.
It's not.
Hey, what are we having fordinner?
(22:34):
It's hey.
Look at the fridge it's onthere, yeah, right.
That's what we're having.
We're good.
Brad Nelson (22:37):
Right.
Misty (22:47):
So it's been a huge improvement for us and a huge
help, and just the communitybeing able to go in and seeing
different ideas that people aredoing has made a huge difference
.
Or being able to go in and gooh, this, you know.
All we did this month was thisand they're like no, that's
great.
It doesn't matter how small itis or how big it is like.
Any progress is good progress.
Brad Nelson (23:02):
Yeah, I want to talk about the accountability
and the support side of it,because obviously you were doing
this on your own and and nowyou're not.
You're obviously doing it withthe help of Roots and the
community that we have there,and we have the live meetups if
you want to attend.
I want to talk about thedifference there.
But first thing I want to askis if you were at the point
where it's like we got to dosomething different, can you
talk about the emotions beforeversus how you feel now and the
(23:23):
progress that you've made?
Has there been a differencethere as far as stress levels?
Misty (23:33):
hope things like that.
I would get up at three o'clockevery Friday morning to figure
out what bills we were able topay, how we were going to make
sure everything, all minimumpayments, were hit on time, make
sure everything's paid on time.
And now we do our Roots 15every day.
And it's like I look at it alittle bit at a time and it's
like, hey, this is where we'reat.
Okay, we're cool, like, andit's almost to a point where,
(23:54):
like, the bill comes in the mail, we just pay it.
It's not.
Oh, okay, it's due the 25th.
It's gotta be in the mail bythis day or I have to pay it
online the 24th.
When I get paid, generally it'sit comes in the mail.
I write the check and it goesback out Like there's that
cashflow.
Just it seems to go.
It seems to flow better.
Like, you know, we're payingmore off but we seem to have
(24:16):
more money to be able to do it.
It's way less stressful.
You know, I get up when myhusband leaves for work and I
spend 15 minutes a day on thecomputer going okay, this is
where we're at.
Everything's balanced, we'regood, and by the time, friday
rolls around if there's anythingthat has to be paid online.
It's a matter of going in again15, 20 minutes and hitting pay
(24:37):
and going on.
Brad Nelson (24:39):
Yeah.
Misty (24:39):
Not three or four hours in the morning doing it.
Brad Nelson (24:42):
Yeah, that's incredible, and you're right,
it's amazing how much better alot of the members feel,
including myself, at one timewhen I first started.
You know, just once you have aplan, once you start making that
progress at one time when Ifirst started Once you have a
plan, once you start making thatprogress, the momentum starts
building, you start gettingthose wins.
It just feels so much better.
You're just almost Well, youshouldn't say almost you are
mentally in just a much betterstate of really working on your
(25:03):
finances.
So I want to talk to you alittle bit about that
accountability and support youmentioned.
You can go in there, hear fromother people and celebrate your
wins.
How much of a difference foryou guys has that made in this
progress versus, say, when youwere doing it before on your own
?
Misty (25:16):
It's wonderful having the other members cheering you on.
We're going, oh man, we've onlypaid off.
At the time before Roots we'relike, oh man, we're only paying
off $2,000.
And then we hit that $4,200mark and I was like, man, that's
good, but is it enough?
And then you post and peopleare like, oh, that's great,
(25:37):
you're doing awesome, and it'sjust that extra encouragement
and that dopamine hit of peoplebeing excited for you.
It's great.
Okay, I want to keep doing thisso I can keep getting that
encouragement and celebrationwith it.
And then also going in andreading through other people's
like different things thatthey've done and like, hey, I
(26:00):
had this option to use and Ifinally used it.
I haven't used it forever andit, you know, took care of all
these things, or you know.
Brad Nelson (26:08):
You had mentioned.
I think your husband said itand I think before we started
recording I think you said yourfather-in-law said it too, I
believe.
Why would you spend money tosay, save money and get out of
debt?
Because people might feel thatway.
Buying or, I guess, investingin this type of a service where
we help you save money, get outof debt, give you a system and a
plan a lot of people might say,well, that's counterproductive,
(26:30):
why not, I just do it on my ownrather than spend money there.
Can you talk about that alittle bit and how you've
overcome that?
Misty (26:37):
Well, you know, it was a thought of mine at first, and
then to hear all the stories,the success stories and stuff,
and then to see our progress.
You know we were doing $12,000a year or in six months, and now
we've done that in four months.
So it's like we're seeing theprogress and it was like at that
point what do I have to lose?
Brad Nelson (26:59):
Yeah.
Misty (27:00):
I spent this little bit of money.
But if it doesn't work, that'sminimal compared to the debt I
have.
But if it does work and we'reout of debt way sooner than what
we would have been before, itwas a risk I was willing to take
because the success storiesthat I heard and I was like I'm
(27:24):
no different than these people.
You know Katie, for instance.
She was making $12 or $13 anhour when she started.
I'm like I may almost doublethat, like on my plus my
husband's income.
Yeah, we've got about $140,000in debt, but I've got more
income and we can do this.
Just lay it out and do it andput the time and effort into it.
And there's the accountabilitythere.
You're checking in weekly atleast, and going hey, this is
(27:47):
where I'm at.
So I felt like I was going tobe more apt to stick to it
because of having to check inwith it.
Brad Nelson (27:54):
Right.
Misty (27:55):
And the 30, 60, 90 day check-ins, it's like, oh, where
are we at?
And it's exciting to see thatyou know and have the
encouragement of you emailing orcommenting on the post in the
group Like, hey, good job,that's awesome.
And I'm, like hey, excitedabout my win.
Brad Nelson (28:17):
Right, Yep, and that's what it's all about.
You know that community is oneof the number one things, just
like you said, it's not just theeducation, it really is.
The big part of it is thesupport and accountability and
it really is the driving factorfor so many of our members who
are doing okay, like you said,doing okay on our own, but
really just wanted to do better,and it is the difference maker
for so many people.
(28:37):
Well, Misty, I just want to saythank you so much for spending
some time with us here today.
It's been incredible just to seeyour early progress Like I said
before we hit record for you tocome on and open up a little
bit and share.
I know it can be a little bitscary, because talking about
money and you've been here andbeing very transparent of your
experience and I know thatthere's going to be other people
out there listening like Katiemotivated you.
There's going to be people outthere saying, well, if Misty and
(28:58):
her family can do this, youknow we can do it too.
So it's just so cool that youwere able to come on and share a
little bit with us.
Misty (29:04):
Yeah, Thanks for having me.
I'm excited.
I can't wait to see where we'reat in a year or two years, you
know.
See if we can get that threeyear debt free mark a little
sooner.
Brad Nelson (29:14):
Absolutely Love it.
All right, guys, there you haveit.
If you want to get started,just like Misty has shared in
today's episode, you want tobreak free from living paycheck
to paycheck.
You want to start reducing yourfinancial stress, build a
savings and finally start makingprogress with paying off debt.
But maybe, again, you're notsure where to get started.
Don't worry, we've got youcovered.
Simplify my Money is anewsletter that is sent to you
(29:35):
each and every Sunday to youremail.
Now, simplify my Money is astep-by-step roadmap to better
financial control, and you'realso gonna learn easy-to-follow
strategies to manage your moneyeffectively.
It's stress-free moneydecisions that are gonna help
you simplify your financial lifewith proven tips that actually
work, and you're gonna gain thetools and confidence to tackle
your financial goals head-on.
(29:55):
Sign up for Simplify my Moneyby clicking the link at the top
of the show notes.
Let's talk about debt.
Turn into a debt-free debt.
Turn into a debt-free debt and,as you guys know, that's all it
(30:25):
means.
It's time for the celebrationsof the show, and today we are
kicking it off with.
Mary and I asked our Rootsmembers what they've been able
to save and pay off sincestarting, and here's three
individuals sharing.
So not only are we sharing whatMisty did in just four months
since joining Roots, but theseare some other individuals who
are also getting some greatprogress.
This is Mary and as of April5th of 2025, she has saved and
(30:48):
paid off nearly $95,000.
And Mary has been with Rootsnow for a little over five years
.
She's been working really,really hard, but to save and pay
off over $94,000 is incredibleprogress, mary.
So so proud of you.
Claudia Ann, since joining inOctober of 2023, so at the time
of this recording, about 18months or so she says I have
(31:12):
paid off over $21,000 sincejoining Roots.
Claudia Ann, congratulations toyou.
And last but not least, today isHolly.
She says since joining August31st of 2024, I have saved
$1,500 in my emergency fund andI've paid off $15,172.98.
(31:34):
She says I just finished payingoff my car loan and it feels
amazing.
She's like I never want anothercar loan again.
It was killing her budget.
Holly, man, I'm so excited foryou and you're absolutely right,
man Getting rid of those carpayments and just having that
emergency fund bill paying offover 15 grand since August of
2024.
(31:55):
We're talking like nine monthshere.
Amazing, amazing work, holly.
Congratulations to you.
Hey, as always to our listeners.
Congratulations to all of youguys who are taking a stand for
your financial life and arewanting better.
Hey, we get that.
Getting out of debt.
It's not easy, but with ourhelp and with your consistency
and discipline, we promise youguys, this will be some of the
(32:15):
best work that you guys do inyour entire life.
Announcer (32:31):
Thanks for joining us on today's show and we will see
you guys on the next episode.
Thanks for listening to thedebt free dad podcast.
Connect with us on Facebook,tiktok, youtube and Instagram.
Just search debt free dad.
If you found value in today'sepisode, please leave us a
rating and review.
We so appreciate it Forresources, show notes and links
mentioned in today's show.
Visit debtfree dadcom.
Catch you next week.
Hey, so are you drowning in money stress and
unsure where to start?
Misty Gates has been there, butover the last several months
she has turned things around,saving and paying off thousands
of dollars and making incrediblefinancial progress.
Now, in today's episode, Mistyis here to share her journey and
how she started buildingmomentum with her money, and if
(00:21):
you've ever felt stuck, this isthe dose of hope and
encouragement that you've beenwaiting for.
Stay tuned.
Announcer (00:30):
You're listening to the Debt-Free Dad podcast with
Brad Nelson.
Brad and his co-hostsexperience the anxiety of living
paycheck to paycheck beforelearning the fundamentals of
financial success.
They are now on a mission toempower regular people to pay
off their debt for good andenjoy happier, less stressful
lives.
Keep listening forinspirational interviews, tips,
(00:52):
tricks and practical advice togain financial freedom.
Brad Nelson (00:56):
Hey everyone, welcome to today's show.
I am Brian Nelson, founder ofDebt Free Debt.
I paid off about $45,000 indebt.
I have been debt free now formore than 12 years.
I've also been fortunate to beable to help thousands of other
people save and pay off tens ofmillions of dollars with the
work that we do here at DebtFree Dad.
Now, after listening to thisepisode, if you are ready to
take things to the next level,you're ready to break free from
(01:18):
living paycheck to paycheck.
You want to reduce all thatfinancial stress, maybe build a
savings and finally pay off yourdebt for good.
But maybe you're like many,including myself at one time
you're just not sure where toget started.
Well, we've created someincredible free resources here
at Debt-Free Dad to help you getthere, and I'll be sharing some
details about that later on intoday's episode.
(01:38):
As I said, I would love towelcome Misty Gates to the
podcast Now.
Misty is 37 years old and sheis married to her husband, mike,
for nine years nowCongratulations.
They have two kids, matthew andMorgan, and a dog named Jewel.
Misty says that they love totravel, kayak camp and visit
amusement parks, and she adds wewant to become debt-free so
(02:01):
that we can buy a house, andthat would be our only debt.
So hey, misty, welcome to theDebt-Free Dad podcast.
So glad that you're joining ushere today.
Misty (02:12):
Thank you for having me.
I'm excited to be here.
Brad Nelson (02:14):
Yeah, absolutely so .
You recently joined Roots, backin January.
As we're recording this, it'sthe last day of April, so you've
been with the Roots PersonalFinance Program for about four
months and starting.
We're going to get intoeverything that you guys have
been able to do since joining,but the first thing I want to
ask you is really just how yougot started with learning about
money and what kind of led youto the point of eventually
(02:38):
joining this kind of a programand trying to get help with your
finances.
Can you kind of share, maybe,the ups and downs of your
financial life as you kind ofgot out to being a kid, to being
an adult, and how that allworked out for you?
Misty (02:50):
Yeah, so I come from a divorced family and I lived with
my dad until I was nine andthen I moved in with my mom.
My dad worked 12 to 18 hourdays, six to seven days a week,
so we didn't really see him alot.
I have two older siblings thatwe just kind of took care of
each other, took care ofourselves, and then when I moved
in with my mom, she worked jobsoff and on.
(03:13):
My stepdad had a full-time jobpretty much the whole time.
They were together, at leastthe whole time I lived with them
.
He still works at the sameplace.
He worked a lot of hours too,sometimes like a swing shift, 12
hours a day, two days on, twodays off every other weekend.
So they worked a lot and thenshe was home quite a bit in
(03:33):
between jobs.
But we never went without.
But you could tell there weresome financial struggles there.
There was never talk about like, hey, this is how you
responsibly use credit cards,you need to have money in the
bank, you need to have a goodsavings, things like that.
You know, when I moved out Iwent to college, I lived on
campus, which, looking back now,I probably could have saved a
(03:56):
ton of money living at home.
I only went to school an hourfrom home, only went to school
for 14 months initially, so Icould have drove back and forth
for that amount of time.
I had a reliable car.
I got a job at 14 and I'veworked pretty much ever since
then.
Once I got my permit, wefinanced a car that I made the
(04:18):
payments on.
It was in my mom's name, but Imade the payments on it.
And then, once I turned 18, Ibought a car in my own name and
had a payment on that.
I've pretty much always had acar payment.
I've always.
You know, like I said, I'vealways worked pretty much since
then.
When I met my husband, we workedat the same factory.
(04:38):
We were working seven days aweek, most of the time 12 hours
a day.
We were making pretty goodmoney.
We went ahead, bought a houseand the payment was manageable,
but we had two vehicle paymentsat that time and then we traded
his vehicle in on anothervehicle with a bigger payment
and we had the house payment andit was financed at a good rate.
(05:01):
I mean, this was 2016.
Things were much better thanthey are now.
Then our factory cut back hours.
We were to the point where ourincome was cut in half almost,
and we're like, oh crap, how dowe get by?
So he took a job at a trailerfactory and it didn't pan out to
(05:22):
make what he was supposed to bemaking.
We were ended up it was costingus more for him to drive to
work than what he was reallymaking and we were like, okay,
we can't do this.
So he went to a foundry to work, and that's where he's at now,
six years later, and that helpedus out.
Well, then I switched jobs andit was the same thing.
It didn't pan out very well.
And then we had our secondchild after I switched jobs, and
(05:50):
when it came time to have herfind a daycare that was
affordable, with an hour driveto work for me, it just didn't
work.
So we're like, hey, I'm goingto stay home.
I started working for abusiness that his dad owns.
I don't make a ton, but I makeenough, and I didn't have
daycare then.
So it all set.
And then our homeowner'sinsurance went up and, of course
, while we were at the jobswhere we weren't making what we
(06:11):
thought we were going to be, westarted racking up credit card
debt and a lot of times it wasgroceries or gas.
It wasn't frivolous things Someof it was but it just added up
over time and we never reallysat down and we're like, hey,
how much debt are we in?
Well, then our house neededrepairs and we started doing
that.
At one point we were like thehousing market was up.
(06:32):
We're like, look, we got to getout of this now, before we lose
the house.
We actually took out a cashadvance on one of our credit
cards to be able to make ourhouse payment one month.
And that's when I was likesomething's got to give, we've
got to do something different.
So we talked with myfather-in-law.
We're like, hey, if we sell thehouse, can we move in with you
for a while?
Then he was like, yeah, that'sfine.
So we sold the house and wecame out ahead on the house and
(06:55):
we put that money in the bankand we sat on it for six months.
As we're trying to pay off debt, we started having monthly
meetings on our finances and incredit cards alone.
When we sold our house, we were$70,000 in debt.
I also have student loans, carpayments, all of that, and it
was.
It was a lot so, and we soldour house two and a half years
(07:17):
ago.
So we've really been trying toget out of the debt so that we
can buy property or a house, sowe can move out on our own again
.
And we had $20,000 sitting inthe bank and we're like, oh,
that's great, that's a greatdown payment, but we're still
struggling to get by.
Every day, like week to weekliving, paycheck to paycheck,
every day, like week to weekliving, paycheck to paycheck.
(07:37):
And we finally were like,listen, we're going to take a
chunk of this money and we'regoing to pay off this set of
stuff.
And we did that, which helpedus.
It helped our cash flow alittle bit.
We did do a debt consolidationloan, which has helped our cash
flow.
But we also, with that, wenthey, this is what we were
already paying on the set, thisis what we're going to keep
(07:58):
paying on this set.
We were only getting about$2,000 a month paid off each
month.
As we're having these monthlymeetings going, we're making
progress, but not very fast.
Then I had my vehicle needed a$10,000 repair.
Announcer (08:16):
And.
Misty (08:16):
I was like I can't afford a $10,000 repair when I'm
making a payment on it too,because at that point we were
down to about 2000 in thesavings and I'm like I've got a
little bit sitting here but Idon't have enough that I can pay
this 10 grand.
Had we had the 10 grand, Iprobably would have just fixed
it and kept driving it, causeI'm still making the payment.
So we did trade it in, we didbuy a new vehicle and I know
(08:38):
that's one of the things thatit's like don't buy new, but I'm
like my luck with used vehicleshas been awful.
So this is what we're doing andit has been great.
We're six months into that, butI do pay extra on it.
What we were paying oneverything when we sold the
house is what we have continuedto pay and we've been
(08:59):
snowballing it.
Brad Nelson (09:00):
Right.
Misty (09:00):
I think I found the podcast.
Brad Nelson (09:03):
Until like so, but up until this point.
So you guys were already kindof on your own plan.
Like you guys you guys were Imean you paying off $2,000 a
month.
You moved in with family justto kind of help out, sold your
house, so yeah, and now youfound the podcast, so you were
already kind of on a plan.
So what do you feel like madethat decision of like we're
going to try this process.
Misty (09:22):
So I started listening to the pod and I've listened to
all of them except the lastprobably five now and I was like
man, these people are making aton of progress.
And Katie Hatfield really wasthe one that I was like if she
can do that, we can do this.
We've got this.
You had advertised for the freelife without payments workshop.
Announcer (09:43):
And I was like I'm going to do this we go to bed
early, we get up early.
Misty (09:46):
But I was like, hey, this is kind of later in the day or,
you know, late in the evening,but I'm going to do it, I'm
going to dedicate time to thisbecause something's got to give.
We can't keep doing what we'redoing because we're not making
enough progress fast enough.
And so I did, and I had talkedwith my husband about it.
I was like, hey, what do youthink about this?
And I got the well, are wereally going to spend money to
get out of debt?
(10:07):
And I was like, if it is thedifference, then it's worth
every dime we spend.
So I did the life withoutpayments workshop.
I signed up that night and Iput it on a credit card.
But I was like, hey, next weekwe're going to have a little bit
extra, I can just pay that off.
It's just not in the checkingaccount right now.
And that's what I did.
And we've made amazing progresssince then.
Brad Nelson (10:30):
Yeah, and I want to dive into that Again we have
that Free Life Without Paymentsworkshop.
We do them every quarter andyou decided to join.
Can you talk to me about whatwas in that workshop?
You mentioned you've heard thestories Katie Hatfield I mean,
katie is obviously a co-host onour podcast from time to time
and I mean, as a single person,has paid off nearly $200,000 in
debt.
It's incredible what she's done.
But what was it the thing thatwas like?
(10:50):
You know what we need to dothis, we need to try something
different.
Was it just the stories oranything that you heard in that
workshop that made you pull thetrigger?
Misty (10:57):
It was the stories.
It was kind of like here's kindof the plan.
There's more to it, but this isthe basics.
And if you do this all of thesepeople again I've heard all of
the stories and I'm like there'sno reason why that can't be us.
She's doing it single.
I've got a dual income.
It's like what can we dodifferent?
(11:18):
That isn't going to be adrastic change.
To make this change that'sgoing to take over and change
things for us quicker.
The way we're going, we're ontrack to be debt-free in three
years and that's my studentloans, the new truck, everything
.
Yeah.
Brad Nelson (11:37):
That's incredible.
So when you joined again we'rerecording this at the end of
April you joined mid-January-ishis when we did that last
workshop.
What were some of the earlythings that you started to do,
and again I want you to sharebriefly here in just a minute,
like what you guys have beenable to do.
I mean, you guys have paid offthousands of dollars already,
which is absolutely incrediblefor just doing it for four
months.
But was there anythinginitially that you started to do
(11:57):
that you know again you weredoing 2000 on your own, but what
really started to like push thegas pedal down for you, that
you started to learn in rootsthat you could do differently.
Misty (12:07):
The biggest thing was you can't pay off that while still
using that.
So we stopped completely usingcredit cards.
We've just unless it'ssomething like we have a couple
of cards that have a zerobalance on them and like we have
like our subscriptions andstuff on there and that gets
paid off every month, but ifthere's not money for it, we
(12:29):
also started doing cash stuffing.
We have a checking account thatwe were using for just
groceries.
Well, that has become cashbecause we would go in and not
be paying attention andoverspend.
Well, we'll just put it on thecredit card now.
Now I take my tablet in with meand I add it up as I go.
I have a list, we follow thelist and we may deviate from it
a little bit, but one or twothings, that's it.
(12:51):
It's got to be on there.
And taking the list to thestore has been huge, but
definitely just not using debtanymore.
Brad Nelson (13:00):
Yeah, when you were going through this process you
had mentioned not all of yourspending was frivolous.
You did have some.
But one of the big things thatwe have people do is go through
and roots is really look at yourpast spending habits.
Was anything eye-opening whenyou went through that process?
Because a lot of people willsay, brad, I'm convinced I can't
save and pay off debt.
But then when we have them godo this, they're like, oh my
(13:20):
gosh, I can.
I didn't even realize what Iwas spending on certain things.
Did you have anything like that?
Misty (13:26):
We were spending.
Yes, our eating out was our bigone.
We were spending between $700and $900 a month for four of us
to eat out.
Brad Nelson (13:36):
So you guys were spending $700 to $900 a month on
eating out.
Misty (13:41):
Yeah, just on eating out.
And then we were still spendingyou know $500 or more at the
grocery store and I was like wethere's no way we're eating
$1,400 a month in food.
Like yeah, especially whenthere was just four of us and
two of them were little kids.
I mean they're six and eight now, but they were three and five
(14:03):
three years ago and I'm like mythree-year-old didn't eat that
much and my five-year-old didn'teither.
We've started meal planning.
I sit down normally once amonth and write out the whole
month.
Because we have busy schedules,I don't have time to do it
weekly, I'd rather just do itmonthly.
And then I started going to thestore like three times a week
and on Sunday I go for Sunday,monday, tuesday and Wednesday
(14:24):
and then on Wednesday I get thelatter part of the week and then
, if Friday we need to pick somethings up, we do.
But it was like, instead oftrying to go once a month and
you're like, what do I need forthe month?
Because that's what we weredoing, and then we'd buy stuff
and never eat it.
You know, we cleaned off ashelf that we keep like our
snacks and stuff on.
I'm like I bought this twoyears ago at Costco.
We never even opened it.
(14:45):
It's got to go.
So that's a waste of money.
So it was very eye opening,like knowing that that's what
we're spending on eating out.
And now for the most part weeat out once a month and we
really don't need to do that.
It's so expensive and with theprice increases that have gone
on over the last few years it'seven more expensive.
(15:05):
I'm like I'm glad we're noteating out three or four times a
week, because it'd be way morethan $900 now.
Brad Nelson (15:10):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, and I think, well, and I think
the thing that I love about thisis that you guys were willing
to, number one, really look atwhere your money was going and
you discovered something thatwas like really eye-opening how
much money you're spending goingout to eat for other people.
It could be other things, butyou were also willing to look at
it and say you know, this isgoing to be worth the sacrifice
in order to get to where we wantto go, and that's what I would
(15:31):
be interested to ask you.
Next is that you were doingthis on your own.
You were making some progress.
What was it about?
Like the system and the processthat we share in Roots, how we
lay it all out the step-by-step.
How did that help you with youroverall plan of going at this?
Did you see a difference withthat too?
Misty (15:48):
We did sitting down, actually sitting down together
and going over things, doing thecash part of it, actually
learning about the psychologicalconnection with cash that you
don't have with the card BecauseI was like, oh well, I use my
debit card.
It's not the same Looking inthat envelope and going, oh,
I've got this much Even today.
(16:09):
We went and got groceries thismorning and my son was like, hey
, can we get Oreos?
And I was like let's see whatthe total is when we get the
stuff we need and then ifthere's money left, then yes, we
can, but I've got to get thesethings for dinner the rest of
the week.
Just knowing that you've gotthe community support, like
going through the lessons andlistening to it and doing it
(16:29):
with my husband and being ableto bounce ideas off of him and
going, hey, you know we could dothis, um, but we.
The other part of it was likeyou don't have to stop doing
everything.
Because that was his firstquestion was do we have to not
do anything?
And I was like no, I was likebut we have to be able to pay
(16:51):
for it in cash.
If we can't pay for it in cash,then we're not doing it, and
that's been our big one andactually paying for it, not just
going oh it's on the card,we'll pay for it later.
Brad Nelson (17:02):
Right, right.
Yeah, I was actually going toask you if your husband had any
sort of pushback or, as you guyshave done this over the last
four months, especially when youfirst get started, because that
is one of the number one thingswe get from couples is like,
how do I get my spouse orpartner on board?
You know, I really want to dothis.
They're kind of dragging theirfeet a little bit.
Did you have any of thatexperience?
Obviously, you mentioned likewe don't have to cut everything
out, do we?
(17:22):
Because that's usually what wehear from the other partners.
They feel like it's got to goscorched earth, we're not having
fun ever again, and you know wedon't really teach that in
roots at all, and it's quitedifferent, honestly.
Misty (17:37):
Yeah, yeah, we're busy around the house, so like if we
really want to spend qualitytime with our kids, we have to
leave and go do something,because otherwise we're not
really engaging with them orreally spending quality time
with them.
So we have season passes toamusement parks and that is our
big thing.
My kids love it.
They're both tall enough toride most of the things.
So he's like we're still goingto do that.
We're still going to camp.
We don't spend a lot of time atcamp.
So we've started this yeartaking a small Blackstone with
(18:00):
us that actually his dad has forhis camper, but when he's not
using it he's like you guys canuse it when I'm not.
So we've been able to makebreakfast at camp, but it's like
we're very minimal, tankcampings cheap.
So we're like, hey, we're goingto go do that.
We're going to camp for two orthree nights, we're going to hit
(18:23):
the amusement parks and it'sall paid for.
You know when we've paid for itwith cash, and this is so much
better.
There's no stress about.
Oh, hey, we spent $400 thisweekend that now we have to, you
know, either work extra or hey,where are we getting this money
from?
And that's how it was before.
There was no plan, it was justwe'll figure it out later.
And at first it was like are yousure about this?
Can we do this?
And I was like let's give it ago.
Worst case scenario we spentthe money, we don't use it.
(18:46):
I was like I think we should dothis and we've not made it
through all the modules yet.
Life got chaos and I'm likeokay, I've got to start sitting
down and doing this again.
But watching the videos withhim throwing around ideas, going
hey, this is what I heard onthe podcast, this is what we
taught or what they talked about.
He's very open to it and it'sthe fact that he lives at home.
(19:10):
Again, at 30 years old, he'slike no, really, I want to move
out.
And one day our kids were likehey, when can we move out of
Pawpaw's house?
And it was like, oh, we got todo something.
It's not exciting anymore threeyears later.
And it was okay, we're going todo this.
And we started doing it.
He needs a different workvehicle.
So him and his dad went andlooked at one.
(19:32):
They're like, hey, it doesn'trun, but it just needs this part
fixed and it'll run.
Okay, well, he comes home.
He's like, hey, I'm going to godo that.
We borrowed the money from hisdad for that and that's the
family loan that we have thatwe're paying off.
And it was, hey, we'll pay itback at tax time.
That was the plan.
(19:56):
And he goes I'm going to pickit up on this day.
And then me and my buddy aregoing to work on it this day.
And I said, hold on, you don'thave any money in the auto
repair envelope yet to fix that.
How are you doing that?
And he goes we'll just figureit out.
And I go, no, no, no, that'show we got in this situation to
begin with.
Pump the brakes, we can do this, but you can't do it this
(20:17):
weekend.
And he was like, oh, okay, andso then we worked through that
and all the repairs on it werepaid in cash yeah and I was like
, hey, I'm good with that, aslong as it's paid in cash.
Brad Nelson (20:24):
I don't, I don't care yeah, that's what I love
about it is that you knowespecially when you were talking
about the camping, theamusement parks, and I think
that's the key is that everyoneneeds to sit down.
Your budget should allow you tobe able to, because we all work
hard for our money.
Your budget is permission to goenjoy the things that you want
to enjoy.
Your budget, though, is also agood guideline of, like you
(20:44):
mentioned, you guys discoveredsome really drastic overspending
when it came to eating out.
It's also kind of your guide oflike you know this is fun to go
eat out, but is it the mostimportant things in our lives?
And you guys determine, no,it's not.
We're going to change our ways.
We're going to do meal planning, but we're also not going to
give up the amusements and thecamping, because that is
important to us, right?
So I think when people need tounderstand that, when they're
listening to this, that a budgetis not ripping everything fun
(21:07):
out of your life and onlysticking to just paying down
debt, it's really just making aconscious decision of these are
the things that we really loveand enjoy.
We're going to prioritize this,but we're willing to sacrifice
on other things in order tobuild an emergency fund and pay
down debt, and you guys havedone such a great job with that.
So I'm curious, misty, can youshare real quick what have you
guys actually been able to saveand pay off since you guys
started here mid-January andagain we're talking about four
(21:29):
months?
Misty (21:31):
So we have saved $1,772 and we've paid off $12,850 just
in the four months.
Brad Nelson (21:40):
That is incredible.
I mean, you're talking over a$14,000 swing in just four
months.
When you look at that, did youthink that would ever have been
possible when you started?
Misty (21:52):
I did not.
I was amazed.
The first full month we were inthe program, we paid off $5,500
and I was like there's no waythis is going to happen again.
The second month we were at$4,200, or it was $4,200 the
first full month, and then thesecond full month it was $4,200
(22:13):
more and I was like holy cow.
This is great.
You know we're really doingthis and we're staying on track.
We're not seeing that we'relosing out on anything.
Yeah, we don't go out to eat asmuch, but is that really that
big of a deal?
Hey, we've got a plan and withthe meal plan, there's no
guesswork in it.
It's not.
Hey, what are we having fordinner?
(22:34):
It's hey.
Look at the fridge it's onthere, yeah, right.
That's what we're having.
We're good.
Brad Nelson (22:37):
Right.
Misty (22:47):
So it's been a huge improvement for us and a huge
help, and just the communitybeing able to go in and seeing
different ideas that people aredoing has made a huge difference
.
Or being able to go in and gooh, this, you know.
All we did this month was thisand they're like no, that's
great.
It doesn't matter how small itis or how big it is like.
Any progress is good progress.
Brad Nelson (23:02):
Yeah, I want to talk about the accountability
and the support side of it,because obviously you were doing
this on your own and and nowyou're not.
You're obviously doing it withthe help of Roots and the
community that we have there,and we have the live meetups if
you want to attend.
I want to talk about thedifference there.
But first thing I want to askis if you were at the point
where it's like we got to dosomething different, can you
talk about the emotions beforeversus how you feel now and the
(23:23):
progress that you've made?
Has there been a differencethere as far as stress levels?
Misty (23:33):
hope things like that.
I would get up at three o'clockevery Friday morning to figure
out what bills we were able topay, how we were going to make
sure everything, all minimumpayments, were hit on time, make
sure everything's paid on time.
And now we do our Roots 15every day.
And it's like I look at it alittle bit at a time and it's
like, hey, this is where we'reat.
Okay, we're cool, like, andit's almost to a point where,
(23:54):
like, the bill comes in the mail, we just pay it.
It's not.
Oh, okay, it's due the 25th.
It's gotta be in the mail bythis day or I have to pay it
online the 24th.
When I get paid, generally it'sit comes in the mail.
I write the check and it goesback out Like there's that
cashflow.
Just it seems to go.
It seems to flow better.
Like, you know, we're payingmore off but we seem to have
(24:16):
more money to be able to do it.
It's way less stressful.
You know, I get up when myhusband leaves for work and I
spend 15 minutes a day on thecomputer going okay, this is
where we're at.
Everything's balanced, we'regood, and by the time, friday
rolls around if there's anythingthat has to be paid online.
It's a matter of going in again15, 20 minutes and hitting pay
(24:37):
and going on.
Brad Nelson (24:39):
Yeah.
Misty (24:39):
Not three or four hours in the morning doing it.
Brad Nelson (24:42):
Yeah, that's incredible, and you're right,
it's amazing how much better alot of the members feel,
including myself, at one timewhen I first started.
You know, just once you have aplan, once you start making that
progress at one time when Ifirst started Once you have a
plan, once you start making thatprogress, the momentum starts
building, you start gettingthose wins.
It just feels so much better.
You're just almost Well, youshouldn't say almost you are
mentally in just a much betterstate of really working on your
(25:03):
finances.
So I want to talk to you alittle bit about that
accountability and support youmentioned.
You can go in there, hear fromother people and celebrate your
wins.
How much of a difference foryou guys has that made in this
progress versus, say, when youwere doing it before on your own
?
Misty (25:16):
It's wonderful having the other members cheering you on.
We're going, oh man, we've onlypaid off.
At the time before Roots we'relike, oh man, we're only paying
off $2,000.
And then we hit that $4,200mark and I was like, man, that's
good, but is it enough?
And then you post and peopleare like, oh, that's great,
(25:37):
you're doing awesome, and it'sjust that extra encouragement
and that dopamine hit of peoplebeing excited for you.
It's great.
Okay, I want to keep doing thisso I can keep getting that
encouragement and celebrationwith it.
And then also going in andreading through other people's
like different things thatthey've done and like, hey, I
(26:00):
had this option to use and Ifinally used it.
I haven't used it forever andit, you know, took care of all
these things, or you know.
Brad Nelson (26:08):
You had mentioned.
I think your husband said itand I think before we started
recording I think you said yourfather-in-law said it too, I
believe.
Why would you spend money tosay, save money and get out of
debt?
Because people might feel thatway.
Buying or, I guess, investingin this type of a service where
we help you save money, get outof debt, give you a system and a
plan a lot of people might say,well, that's counterproductive,
(26:30):
why not, I just do it on my ownrather than spend money there.
Can you talk about that alittle bit and how you've
overcome that?
Misty (26:37):
Well, you know, it was a thought of mine at first, and
then to hear all the stories,the success stories and stuff,
and then to see our progress.
You know we were doing $12,000a year or in six months, and now
we've done that in four months.
So it's like we're seeing theprogress and it was like at that
point what do I have to lose?
Brad Nelson (26:59):
Yeah.
Misty (27:00):
I spent this little bit of money.
But if it doesn't work, that'sminimal compared to the debt I
have.
But if it does work and we'reout of debt way sooner than what
we would have been before, itwas a risk I was willing to take
because the success storiesthat I heard and I was like I'm
(27:24):
no different than these people.
You know Katie, for instance.
She was making $12 or $13 anhour when she started.
I'm like I may almost doublethat, like on my plus my
husband's income.
Yeah, we've got about $140,000in debt, but I've got more
income and we can do this.
Just lay it out and do it andput the time and effort into it.
And there's the accountabilitythere.
You're checking in weekly atleast, and going hey, this is
(27:47):
where I'm at.
So I felt like I was going tobe more apt to stick to it
because of having to check inwith it.
Brad Nelson (27:54):
Right.
Misty (27:55):
And the 30, 60, 90 day check-ins, it's like, oh, where
are we at?
And it's exciting to see thatyou know and have the
encouragement of you emailing orcommenting on the post in the
group Like, hey, good job,that's awesome.
And I'm, like hey, excitedabout my win.
Brad Nelson (28:17):
Right, Yep, and that's what it's all about.
You know that community is oneof the number one things, just
like you said, it's not just theeducation, it really is.
The big part of it is thesupport and accountability and
it really is the driving factorfor so many of our members who
are doing okay, like you said,doing okay on our own, but
really just wanted to do better,and it is the difference maker
for so many people.
(28:37):
Well, Misty, I just want to saythank you so much for spending
some time with us here today.
It's been incredible just to seeyour early progress Like I said
before we hit record for you tocome on and open up a little
bit and share.
I know it can be a little bitscary, because talking about
money and you've been here andbeing very transparent of your
experience and I know thatthere's going to be other people
out there listening like Katiemotivated you.
There's going to be people outthere saying, well, if Misty and
(28:58):
her family can do this, youknow we can do it too.
So it's just so cool that youwere able to come on and share a
little bit with us.
Misty (29:04):
Yeah, Thanks for having me.
I'm excited.
I can't wait to see where we'reat in a year or two years, you
know.
See if we can get that threeyear debt free mark a little
sooner.
Brad Nelson (29:14):
Absolutely Love it.
All right, guys, there you haveit.
If you want to get started,just like Misty has shared in
today's episode, you want tobreak free from living paycheck
to paycheck.
You want to start reducing yourfinancial stress, build a
savings and finally start makingprogress with paying off debt.
But maybe, again, you're notsure where to get started.
Don't worry, we've got youcovered.
Simplify my Money is anewsletter that is sent to you
(29:35):
each and every Sunday to youremail.
Now, simplify my Money is astep-by-step roadmap to better
financial control, and you'realso gonna learn easy-to-follow
strategies to manage your moneyeffectively.
It's stress-free moneydecisions that are gonna help
you simplify your financial lifewith proven tips that actually
work, and you're gonna gain thetools and confidence to tackle
your financial goals head-on.
(29:55):
Sign up for Simplify my Moneyby clicking the link at the top
of the show notes.
Let's talk about debt.
Turn into a debt-free debt.
Turn into a debt-free debt and,as you guys know, that's all it
(30:25):
means.
It's time for the celebrationsof the show, and today we are
kicking it off with.
Mary and I asked our Rootsmembers what they've been able
to save and pay off sincestarting, and here's three
individuals sharing.
So not only are we sharing whatMisty did in just four months
since joining Roots, but theseare some other individuals who
are also getting some greatprogress.
This is Mary and as of April5th of 2025, she has saved and
(30:48):
paid off nearly $95,000.
And Mary has been with Rootsnow for a little over five years
.
She's been working really,really hard, but to save and pay
off over $94,000 is incredibleprogress, mary.
So so proud of you.
Claudia Ann, since joining inOctober of 2023, so at the time
of this recording, about 18months or so she says I have
(31:12):
paid off over $21,000 sincejoining Roots.
Claudia Ann, congratulations toyou.
And last but not least, today isHolly.
She says since joining August31st of 2024, I have saved
$1,500 in my emergency fund andI've paid off $15,172.98.
(31:34):
She says I just finished payingoff my car loan and it feels
amazing.
She's like I never want anothercar loan again.
It was killing her budget.
Holly, man, I'm so excited foryou and you're absolutely right,
man Getting rid of those carpayments and just having that
emergency fund bill paying offover 15 grand since August of
2024.
(31:55):
We're talking like nine monthshere.
Amazing, amazing work, holly.
Congratulations to you.
Hey, as always to our listeners.
Congratulations to all of youguys who are taking a stand for
your financial life and arewanting better.
Hey, we get that.
Getting out of debt.
It's not easy, but with ourhelp and with your consistency
and discipline, we promise youguys, this will be some of the
(32:15):
best work that you guys do inyour entire life.
Announcer (32:31):
Thanks for joining us on today's show and we will see
you guys on the next episode.
Thanks for listening to thedebt free dad podcast.
Connect with us on Facebook,tiktok, youtube and Instagram.
Just search debt free dad.
If you found value in today'sepisode, please leave us a
rating and review.
We so appreciate it Forresources, show notes and links
mentioned in today's show.
Visit debtfree dadcom.
Catch you next week.
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