July 8, 2025 • 27 mins
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In this episode of the Debt-Free Dad podcast, join Brad Nelson and co-hosts Chris Hawkins, Amber Taylor, and Kati Hatfield as they delve into the emotional toll of financial anxiety and how it affects various aspects of life. The hosts share their personal journeys of overcoming debt, including the emotional struggles and stress that came with it. They emphasize that getting out of debt isn't just about budgeting harder, but also involves understanding the psychological aspects and developing better financial habits. The episode also highlights the importance of community and accountability in achieving financial freedom. Featuring practical advice, inspirational stories, and resources to help you get started, this episode aims to empower listeners to take control of their finances and reduce their financial stress significantly.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Brad Nelson (00:00):
Let me ask you something have you ever felt
like your debt isn't justdraining your bank account but
also your peace of mind, Likethe stress of money is following
you around all day, messingwith your sleep, your
relationships, your mood?
Today, we're going to be divinginto something that doesn't
show up on your credit report,but for a lot of people, it's
the most painful part of beingin debt financial anxiety and if
(00:23):
you've been feeling overwhelmed, ashamed or like you're stuck
in a never-ending cycle ofstress and spending, this
episode is going to be for you,Because here's the truth Getting
out of debt isn't just aboutbudgeting harder.
It's about understanding theemotional toll it takes and
learning how to take your powerback.
Announcer (00:44):
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,
tricks and practical advice toless stressful lives.
Keep listening forinspirational interviews, tips,
(01:05):
tricks and practical advice togain financial freedom.
Brad Nelson (01:11):
Hey guys, welcome to today's episode.
My name is Brad Nelson, founderof Debt-Free Dad.
I paid off about $45,000 ofdebt.
I've been debt-free now formore than 12 years.
I've also been fortunate tohelp thousands of other people
save and pay off tens ofmillions of dollars with the
work that we do here at DebtFree Debt.
Chris Hawkins (01:27):
And my name is Chris Hawkins, and my wife and I
started our journey 20 yearsago, in 2005, and it took us
three years to pay off justunder $100,000 worth of debt,
and we've been debt free exceptfor our house now ever since.
Amber Taylor (01:41):
And my name is Amber Taylor and I have been
living debt-free outside of mymortgage since 2018 and we paid
off $54,000 in just 20 monthsand I'm Katie Hatfield and I am
still paying off my debt and inseven years I have paid off
$224,619 on a single income.
Brad Nelson (02:04):
I can't every time.
Every time you say the numberKatie, it just keeps going up
and up.
It's awesome.
So, after listening to thisepisode, if you're ready to take
things to the next level, youwant to break free from living
paycheck to paycheck, you wantto reduce financial stress, you
want to build your savings andfinally pay off your debt for
good, but maybe you're not surewhere to get started, we've
(02:27):
created some incredible freeresources to help you get there,
and we'll be sharing somedetails about how you can get
started with those later on intoday's episode.
So, guys, as we kick off thisconversation about stress and
anxiety as it relates tofinances number one, I feel like
this is probably an area wheremost people I think a lot of
people can recognize like myfinances are stressing me out,
they're causing me anxiety,they're causing me to lose sleep
, but sometimes they're so likeunder the surface, you don't
(02:51):
really feel that that is thedirect thing that's causing it,
right?
Some people might say like I'mso stressed out about my
finances, but what do we do?
We focus on what Numbers?
We focus on math, we focus onall of that other stuff, and
it's crazy, I mean, when youlook at some of these statistics
right now, 70% of Americans saythat money is their number one
source of stress, according tothe APA Stress in America survey
(03:14):
, and debtcom, in June of 2025,reported a spike in financial
anxiety, especially among peoplewith, obviously, credit card
debt, medical bills and unstableincome, and one in three say
financial stress has damagedtheir mental health or even
going on to their relationships.
First off, guys I mean you guystalk about it.
(03:36):
I mean I know what thosefeelings felt like.
I remember losing sleep.
I remember, especially when myfirst son we were expecting my
first son and I rememberthinking about the car payments
that I had, the credit cardbills that I had, how I was
barely just getting by as it was, and then I started figuring
out what daycare was going tocost.
Man, you want to talk aboutlosing sleep and stress?
(03:58):
I was one freaked out guy.
I was like how are we evergoing to make all of this work?
And it affected everything.
It affected the relationship Iwas in.
It affected me eventually, asNoah was born, being a parent.
It affected my ability to work,just how I showed up at work.
It just affects everything andI don't feel like a lot of
people can really put theirfinger on how much that
(04:19):
financial stress really impactsall of the other areas of their
life.
Amber Taylor (04:24):
Yeah, it was incredibly stressful.
I remember the snapping at myloved ones.
I was just this close to beingat the edge and somebody asked
me for I need lunch tomorrow orthis school trip is happening.
I was like we don't have themoney for that.
Why do they always send us allthis stuff all back?
To back, and meanwhile it wasso much more than just the $10
(04:49):
for the school activity.
Kati Hatfield (04:51):
I know when I was first getting out of debt and
just looking at the numbers ofwhat I owed was sickening to
start with.
But then I was in a positionwhere I was taking on a new car
and a payment I could not affordand I'm just like, all right,
maybe I'm going to end up livingin my car, Like that's just how
this is going to end up,because I don't know how I'm
(05:13):
going to afford this and I'dcome to terms with that.
But it's much easier to live inyour car on the beach in
Florida than winter in Wisconsin.
So I was like we'll make itwork.
Chris Hawkins (05:31):
For me, I think, the anxiety was more of feeling
ashamed of myself and why was Iin the position that I was in
and knowing that I should bedoing better, could be doing
better, and that I needed tochange.
I needed to do some thingsdifferently, and so that's where
a lot of my stress and anxietycame from was really being mad
at myself.
Now all that other stuff wasunderlying.
It was all there, but maybe forme it was just kind of another
(05:51):
level and fortunately it's thatsame anxiety that we always say
you've got to get tired of beingtired.
Eventually I got tired of beingtired and it took me two times
of trying and failing before thethird time I finally kind of
figured it out.
It was that desire to not endup like most people, I think.
Brad Nelson (06:10):
Yeah, well, I think the other part was that and we
talk about this a lot on thepodcast you sit back and you
look at what everybody elseespecially with social media and
everything else that's outthere now.
I mean, it's easy to look atwhat how is everyone else being
able to do all this stuff?
But yet I'm so broke, like whatam I missing, right?
And it's easy to like isolateyourself and sit here and think
I must be the only one who'sstruggling.
I must be the only one whodoesn't have this figured out,
(06:32):
because everyone else looks likethey're doing great, they're
going on vacations, they'redriving the cars, they got the
bigger houses, they got thegreat lawns, their kids are in
sports.
It's like they just have it allfigured out.
But the reality is, like we allknow, most of them have just
like a really nice wrapper onthe outside, but on the inside
they're struggling just as muchas everybody else.
But I feel like that was one ofthe harder parts for me is
(06:55):
feeling like I'm just failure,because it just seems like
everyone else was getting itexcept for me.
Kati Hatfield (07:02):
Yeah, I always felt like I look like I have it
all together.
Everyone thinks my life is, youknow, going great and I have a
big smile on my face.
But when I get home and I shutthe door, I'm just like, oh, I
can't believe.
I pulled it off again foranother day and, yeah, being
single especially, I didn't haveanyone to talk to about it or
confide in, because, yeah, it'sembarrassing and it's not fun to
(07:23):
deal with, especially byyourself.
Brad Nelson (07:25):
It's not fun to deal with, especially by
yourself.
Yeah Well, and I think you alsoget yourself into this cycle.
A lot of us have been there andI see this time and time again
with even people who join Rootsor people that I talk to is that
you get yourself into thisalmost financial misery cycle I
like to call it where you knowyour situation is bad, you know
it's not good, but then what welook for is like ways to cope
(07:46):
with it, and the ways that wecope with it only make the
situation worse.
I'm going to impulse buy here.
I'm going to spend a fewdollars here.
I'm going to make this purchaseto make me feel better.
Here I'm going to go out to eatand celebrate a little bit just
to take my mind off thatconstant stress that you're
feeling all the time.
But the reality is is in theback of your mind.
(08:07):
You know it's only digging adeeper hole, and so many people
get stuck in that misery cycleof this, this repeat pattern of
behaviors that are justconsistently keeping them in
that stress.
Chris Hawkins (08:19):
Yeah, I think for me.
I eventually had to stopworrying about what other people
thought about me and we'vetalked about that on this
podcast a lot.
I've had to realize that if I'mthe problem, I'm also the
solution.
And we've mentioned severaltimes on this podcast, the book
the Compound Effect, and one ofthe things I love about that
(08:40):
book is it tells you to startanalyzing all the bad habits
that you have Okay.
Start analyzing all the badhabits that you have, okay, and
then pick three or four of themand just try to stop doing those
things while at the same timepick up three or four positive
habits, right?
So for me, it was a matter ofstop doing the things that
(09:01):
aren't getting me where I wantto be going.
And it wasn't easy, it was hard, but eventually I got to the
point where I didn't care whatother.
And it wasn't easy, it was hard, but eventually I got to the
point where I didn't care whatother people thought about me,
and that was a big part of thegame for me.
That was a big victory for me isyou know what happens behind
closed doors at my house and,amber you mentioned, sometimes
you snapped at people.
(09:22):
I mean, when you've gotfinancial stress, there's
arguments, there's disagreementsand nobody's happy.
And eventually I got to thepoint where I realized that it
wasn't just happening behind mydoors, it was happening behind a
lot of other doors, so much sothat when I eventually got out
of debt and started doingfinancial coaching.
You kind of realize how bad itis for a lot of folks is for a
(09:46):
lot of folks, and as a teacher Iwould tell my students on the
first day of class that justbecause somebody has got a nice
car, a nice house, awell-manicured house, maybe has
a pool in the backyard, theylook like they're living the
life, they look like they'rehappy, but you have no idea
what's going on on the otherside of that front door and very
often it's quite the oppositeof the show that they put on.
Yeah, so you felt like thatyou're not doing something right
(10:09):
and everybody else is doingsomething the right way.
And what am I missing?
What am I doing wrong?
And you do feel guilty, you dofeel ashamed, but as soon as you
can let that go, it's thebiggest gift you can give
yourself.
Amber Taylor (10:22):
I'm in a relationship and when we were
going through this and we werein this cycle of, just you know,
impulse spending, buying this,buying that we're voiding bills,
whatever we would guilt eachother Like, well, you got this
last week, so now I deserve thisthis week, yeah, and we would
(10:42):
do it back and forth so much andwe could never get ahead.
It was just wild how much wedid that to each other.
Brad Nelson (10:49):
Well, and I think the other thing too is that the
stress alone not only with whatwe're discussing and you get in
this cycle of like, say, impulsespending, emotional spending,
spending to make yourself feelbetter is a lot of people also
fall into the avoidance cycletoo.
They avoid it.
And I actually have a personalfriend right now that I've been
talking to.
They know what I do and justbeen chit-chatting on the side a
(11:10):
little bit.
They've been asking questionsand things, and I've come to
discover that they have somesubstantial bills that they have
just been avoiding, like justignoring it, and I was trying to
explain to them.
It's like a toothache right asit starts out small, but
eventually it's going to getreally, really big, it's going
to get even more painful themore that you avoid it.
And so I've been trying to saylet's tackle this one little
(11:32):
piece at a time, like, what canyou do, what are you able to do?
Because the more you avoid yourparticular situation, it's just
only going to get worse.
And we find this with peoplewho join Roots, who are in their
older years, and they are thefirst people to tell me Brett, I
wish I would have taken care ofthese problems a long time ago.
I wish I would have startedsooner.
I wish I would have startedsaving earlier.
(11:53):
I wish I wouldn't have takenout all of this debt, because
now I'm in my older years andI've avoided all these years,
and now I'm just stressed beyondbelief and it's just causing my
life so much grief all the time.
And so the natural habit for alot of us is to stick our head
in the sand and just pretend itdoesn't exist.
But the reality is iseventually the problem is gonna
get so big where you have noother choice but to face it, and
(12:18):
at that time it's gonna bereally, really hard.
So the reality is, when you'regetting started, you're facing a
lot of these stresses.
Progress with your financesisn't just about numbers.
It isn't just about math.
Some of the best progress thatyou can make is just coming up
with the courage to stand up andsay I'm going to face this, I'm
going to start doing somethingabout my finances.
(12:40):
Chris, I mean you were kind oftalking about that.
Eventually, you just were likethis is such a big problem, I've
got to deal with it, I've gotto handle it, I've got to face
it, and sometimes those are thebiggest wins is making the
decision to say today is the dayI'm finally going to do
something about it.
And the reality is, guys, whenwe have people go through roots
or people who start working onthe stuff that we're talking
about the savings numbers, thedebt payoff numbers come later,
(13:04):
but what comes first is lessstress, it's less worry, it's
less anxiety, because once youactually get on a plan, you face
your issues, you start figuringout where exactly you're at,
you develop a plan of how you'regoing to attack it.
It's amazing it doesn't all goaway, but it's amazing how much
of the anxiety and stress doesgo away, because you're no
longer guessing about what'sgoing in, what's going out.
(13:26):
How are we going to cover this?
How are we going to cover that?
Because you actually have agame plan of how you're going to
start to finally tackle thesechallenges that you're facing.
Kati Hatfield (13:34):
Especially when you have that savings account
where it's like, oh, I have themoney to pay for whatever
emergency, Like this year.
I've had my colonoscopy becauseyou hit 45.
I have to get my wisdom teethtaken out, I have some other
stuff coming up and I'm justlike I can write a check for it
and not even blink, not evenstress, like I would have
(13:56):
several years ago.
It would have just been acompletely life altering,
chaotic, stressful mess and Iwould be like how am I going to
pay for this?
I need to do this, but how am Igoing to pay for this?
And now it's just whatever next.
So it's much easier the moreyou work on it.
Chris Hawkins (14:16):
And I can't reiterate enough you are where
you are because of the decisionsthat you made.
And as soon as you let all thatgo, recognize that, if you're
the person that got you there,you're the person that can fix
it, and focus on the small,simple, little victories and, as
Brad has said, focus on thebehaviors.
(14:37):
Forget the math for a while.
Yes, the math is there and, yes, the math can be beneficial,
but you've got to fix you andthat comes with the behaviors
and that comes with small things, to begin with, learning and
figuring things out.
Sometimes you're going to fail.
Learn from those, Step back up,Try it again.
Eventually you're going to getmore and more victories and
(14:59):
eventually you'll get to thepoint where you have no debt.
You've changed who you are.
You've changed your habits.
You've changed your mindset,your outlook, the why that we
always talk about.
Then you can focus on the mathand then the math becomes very
important.
The math becomes, in a way,very, very fun.
(15:20):
But that comes down the road,after you change who you are and
you change your behaviors, andpart of it is just you've got to
accept that you are where youare, that you can't go back and
change things, and if you focuson the past, you will never,
never make the changes that youneed.
So you know, as a financialcoach, our job is to always tell
(15:41):
people.
All I can do is help you movingforward.
I can't help you unbox or undoanything that you've done in the
past.
But if you will focus onimprovement, 1% change every day
, try to get 1% better atsomething every day, eventually
you're going to get there.
Then you can focus on the math.
And I'll say this it doesn'tmean that from time to time
(16:02):
you're not going to have somelevel of anxiety or something
that comes up.
But with new behaviors, withnew habits, they don't become as
big of an anxiety.
And you know, I had, a couplemonths ago, lost two vehicles.
I think I talked about that ona podcast episode.
I lost two vehicles and one ofthem was a pickup truck that I
(16:25):
really needed to replace.
But I haven't done it yet,partially because I've just been
running the numbers, runningthe math, taking my time, being
patient, not rushing into adecision, and those are the
types of things that you learnthe more that you do this.
And tomorrow I'm going tofinally go buy a used pickup
truck that I'm going to pay cashfor.
I already have the cashier'scheck, money's in the bank.
(16:47):
Those are the types of coolthings that you can do, but, as
Brad has said, you've got tostart off with the small things
and you've got to let go.
Stop blaming yourself.
Brad Nelson (16:55):
Yeah.
So I want to put you guys onthe spot just a little bit and
just ask you if you can go backand say you had to start
completely over and again we'retalking about stress, we're
talking about anxiety.
If you could give one piece ofadvice that helped you reduce
most of that stress and most ofthat anxiety practical things
someone could take away fromthis episode today and say start
doing and say 30, 60 days fromnow, they would start feeling
(17:17):
better.
What do you think?
Amber Taylor (17:18):
Definitely a budget, Like it just gave me a
plan.
It told me where my money wasgoing.
So Like it just gave me a plan,it told me where my money was
going.
So for me it was a budget.
But I'm very analytical and Ineed to see the things.
Kati Hatfield (17:31):
I had to stop going to Target on a regular
basis.
So, whether it's Target orCostco or whatever your downfall
store is, just stop going thereLike if it's in your house.
If you can use the food thatyou have in your fridge in your
pantry.
Stop going to the places where,or going to the website where,
you spend a little too muchmoney and stop hitting submit
(17:51):
order.
Chris Hawkins (17:52):
And I kind of already said it a couple of
times, but I think, on thenegative side, stop beating
yourself up.
And on the positive side, abudget simply is probably the
number one priority.
Yeah, but don't overcomplicateit.
That was the mistake that Imade is, I am very analytical
too, almost too analytical, andit really has served me well.
But at that time where I was atthat time, being over
(18:16):
analytical and overcomplicatedcost me about a year and a half
of having to restart twicebefore I finally figured it out.
Brad Nelson (18:24):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I think budgeting is huge.
I think, when I first gotstarted, though, I think the
biggest thing that helped mebefore I even got my budget done
was and I talk about this allthe time like a broken record is
I started really just lookingat where my money was going.
I wasn't paying attention, andyet I convinced myself over and
over again that I was broke.
There's no way I was ever goingto get ahead, there's no way I
could save, there's no way Icould get out of debt.
(18:46):
The reality is, the money wasthere.
It was just going to prioritiesthat really weren't my
priorities.
It was just careless spending,and so I think for a lot of
people, it's hard to do, it'shard to face, it's hard to look
at, but go back over, print outthe last three to six months of
your bank statements and seewhere every single dollar has
been going, and I can guaranteeyou just about everybody who
(19:06):
does this is going to find somesort of money that they could
have saved, they could have madebetter decisions, they could
have done better things.
Again, what you're not payingattention to, it's just easy to
ignore.
It's just easy to forget thatyou had those dollars to begin
with.
So I think for me that was thebiggest part.
That was like holy crap, thereis hope, like I have actual
(19:27):
money.
I just like Chris you mentionedbehaviors Like I just need to
behave better.
I just need to.
I just need to work on thismore and have better habits,
create better habits.
Stop doing this.
Like Katie you said, don't go totarget, right.
You know, you have to have thatawareness around it and I think
once I started to realize thatthere was possibilities there,
it was like a breath of freshair, like I can do this.
It's going to take some time toget out of it, but it is
possible for sure.
(19:47):
Can you guys talk a little bitNow?
I know Chris, me and you, wekind of went through our
debt-free journey a little bitdifferently than Amber and Katie
.
But can you guys talk a littlebit about just the power of
accountability and justcommunity?
Even, chris, I mean justsurrounding yourself with people
who have, say, like-mindedgoals, and me and Chris
especially, we've been friendsfor a long time.
We started financial coachingtogether, but I know Amber and
(20:08):
Katie, you guys went throughRoots.
You guys have been doing thisfor years.
Can you guys share yourexperience with that and just
how that relates to the stressof going through this say alone
versus with other people who aredealing with it.
Kati Hatfield (20:19):
I definitely needed the accountability
because I didn't have a partneror someone that I could talk to
and I felt embarrassed to talkto my friends and family.
So joining Roots was like, okay, I'm not the only one in this
situation, these people are inthe same boat and we're all
(20:39):
fighting for the same goal.
And we might as well bounceideas off each other and cheer
each other on, and thatencouragement was the key piece
that I needed to get to payingoff $224,000 plus in debt over
seven years.
Yeah, it takes a long time, butI'm doing it and I'm proud of
(21:01):
it.
And also tracking making surethat you're tracking your
progress is huge.
That number still blows my mindall the time.
Chris Hawkins (21:11):
Well, I mean, for me, I was figuring things out
day to day.
I had not read any books, therewas no course that I had taken.
I had read one book and it hadjust come out at the time a
popular seven-step method that alot of people may be familiar
with, and I simply kind offocused on the first two
(21:32):
emergency fund and then gettingout of debt.
You know, that book told thestory of a lot of other folks
who were in the same situationand boat that I was in, or we
were in, and that was sort ofhow I realized that I wasn't
alone.
But for me, the only realaccountability partner that I
had was I sit down with my wifeand I said I'm just tired of
being in debt and here's a plan.
(21:54):
And she bought into it and thatmade it easy to do.
So I sort of have one person tobounce things off of, but I
certainly didn't have acommunity.
I wish I had had a community, Iwish I had had a course, I wish
I had had a lot of the thingsthat you offer, and maybe that's
the message to those of you outthere listening If you're not
(22:15):
sure, what do you have to lose?
Try something different.
Join the community.
You'll find out that you haveother people who have the same
problems that you do, but you'reall working together to get out
of debt, to build wealth, and Ithink you can do it
significantly faster thanperhaps I did, simply because
you have that community.
(22:36):
But in terms of asking me who myaccountability was, it was
simply my wife.
That was it.
We weren't out there tellingeverybody what we were doing,
right, because we knew if we did, they'd tell us.
You know, that's kind of a dumbidea, so we just sort of kept
it to ourself until we got to acertain point.
I found myself making my ownlaundry detergent one time and
(22:56):
my brother laughed at me aboutit.
Right, you know, we laugh aboutit now and I don't have to make
.
I make my own laundry detergent.
But you know, eventually mybrother came to me it's very
similar story to yours, brad andhe needed help.
He needed a lot of help and wehad to spend several years
helping him get out of trouble.
So I became his accountabilitypartner, along with my other
(23:18):
brother who called me forfinancial advice, and a lot of
other people had somebody heretoday just asked me hey, a lot
of other people had somebodyhere today just asked me hey,
can I sit down and talk to youabout money?
So I sort of have becomesomebody else's accountability
partner.
But I didn't really have one.
Amber Taylor (23:29):
Yeah, for us, like I did this with my husband, but
having the community because wejoined Roots, we seen Brad's
seminar and we joined Roots.
And then it was the regularcheck ins because we had these
weekly meetings and we wouldcheck in online and we would
share how we were doing, shareour success, and it really just
(23:51):
helped us keep going and staymotivated and seeing other
people that were kind of doingthe same thing.
But definitely that check-in, Idon't think we would have paid
off $54,000 in 20 months had wenot had that.
Brad Nelson (24:03):
And crazy it was what seven years ago you guys
are on your.
Yeah, I just saw the Facebookreminder or memory come up that
you guys did it seven years agoright.
Seven years, man, where doestime go.
But anyways, yeah, great stuff.
If you're again tired offinancial stress, you want to
break free from living paycheckto paycheck, you want to reduce
a lot of that anxiety, you wantto build a savings and finally
(24:24):
pay off your debt for good.
But again, maybe you're notsure where to get started.
Obviously, you got to startwith our podcast, but we've also
got some incredible freeresources for you, including our
newsletter, and it is yourstep-by-step roadmap to better
financial control, so you'lllearn easy-to-follow strategies
to manage your money effectively.
You're going to get stress-freemoney decision-making that's
(24:45):
going to help you simplify yourfinancial life with proven tips
that actually work, and you'regoing to gain the tools and the
confidence to start tacklingyour financial goals head-on.
If you want to sign up for thisnewsletter called Simplify my
Money, all you got to do isclick the link at the top of the
show notes.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,let's talk.
Let's talk about that baby.
Chris Hawkins (25:05):
Let's talk about your money.
Let's talk about all the goodthings, all the bad things that
may be.
Let's talk about that.
Let's talk about that.
Amber Taylor (25:17):
Turn into a debt-free dad, Turn into a
debt-free dad and that's how Imean this time for the
celebrations of the show.
First we have Misty.
The credit card we've beenworking on paying off is down to
just $82.
The plan is to have that paidoff before the end of the month.
Then snowball what we werepaying on to the next step.
Brad Nelson (25:40):
Yeah, awesome when Misty and Max says I finally got
my state return.
I put it straight into theemergency fund, bringing my
emergency fund total to $1,076.
Also did some pet sitting lastweekend and earned an extra $250
.
I put this towards getting somebills paid off, starting to
feel like I can finally breatheagain.
(26:00):
Max, awesome, awesome wins.
Chris Hawkins (26:03):
And Mary says well, not a whole lot's
happening and that's a goodthing.
My win would be just stayingsteady.
Kati Hatfield (26:13):
Yeah.
Brad Nelson (26:13):
And a lot of people would overlook that, right Like
nothing really happened thisweek.
But honestly, staying steady,staying consistent, is a great
win.
I love it.
Kati Hatfield (26:22):
And Claudia Ann stayed within her grocery budget
and no eating out, no use ofcredit cards for six months.
Way to go.
Brad Nelson (26:31):
Yeah, that's awesome.
And then, last but not least,is Holly.
I got a side job cleaninghouses for some extra money,
holly, I love it.
Income producing activitiesGreat job.
So again, as always, guys,congratulations to all of you
guys who are taking a stand foryour financial life and you're
wanting better.
Hey, we get that getting out ofdebt.
It's not easy, but with ourhelp and with your consistency
(26:52):
and discipline, we promise youguys, this will be some of the
best work that you guys do inyour entire life.
Thanks for joining us ontoday's show and we will see you
guys on the next episode, onthe next episode.
Announcer (27:06):
Thanks for listening to the Debt-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.
For resources, show notes andlinks mentioned in today's show
visit debtfreedadcom.
(27:27):
Catch you next week.
Let me ask you something have you ever felt
like your debt isn't justdraining your bank account but
also your peace of mind, Likethe stress of money is following
you around all day, messingwith your sleep, your
relationships, your mood?
Today, we're going to be divinginto something that doesn't
show up on your credit report,but for a lot of people, it's
the most painful part of beingin debt financial anxiety and if
(00:23):
you've been feeling overwhelmed, ashamed or like you're stuck
in a never-ending cycle ofstress and spending, this
episode is going to be for you,Because here's the truth Getting
out of debt isn't just aboutbudgeting harder.
It's about understanding theemotional toll it takes and
learning how to take your powerback.
Announcer (00:44):
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,
tricks and practical advice toless stressful lives.
Keep listening forinspirational interviews, tips,
(01:05):
tricks and practical advice togain financial freedom.
Brad Nelson (01:11):
Hey guys, welcome to today's episode.
My name is Brad Nelson, founderof Debt-Free Dad.
I paid off about $45,000 ofdebt.
I've been debt-free now formore than 12 years.
I've also been fortunate tohelp thousands of other people
save and pay off tens ofmillions of dollars with the
work that we do here at DebtFree Debt.
Chris Hawkins (01:27):
And my name is Chris Hawkins, and my wife and I
started our journey 20 yearsago, in 2005, and it took us
three years to pay off justunder $100,000 worth of debt,
and we've been debt free exceptfor our house now ever since.
Amber Taylor (01:41):
And my name is Amber Taylor and I have been
living debt-free outside of mymortgage since 2018 and we paid
off $54,000 in just 20 monthsand I'm Katie Hatfield and I am
still paying off my debt and inseven years I have paid off
$224,619 on a single income.
Brad Nelson (02:04):
I can't every time.
Every time you say the numberKatie, it just keeps going up
and up.
It's awesome.
So, after listening to thisepisode, if you're ready to take
things to the next level, youwant to break free from living
paycheck to paycheck, you wantto reduce financial stress, you
want to build your savings andfinally pay off your debt for
good, but maybe you're not surewhere to get started, we've
(02:27):
created some incredible freeresources to help you get there,
and we'll be sharing somedetails about how you can get
started with those later on intoday's episode.
So, guys, as we kick off thisconversation about stress and
anxiety as it relates tofinances number one, I feel like
this is probably an area wheremost people I think a lot of
people can recognize like myfinances are stressing me out,
they're causing me anxiety,they're causing me to lose sleep
, but sometimes they're so likeunder the surface, you don't
(02:51):
really feel that that is thedirect thing that's causing it,
right?
Some people might say like I'mso stressed out about my
finances, but what do we do?
We focus on what Numbers?
We focus on math, we focus onall of that other stuff, and
it's crazy, I mean, when youlook at some of these statistics
right now, 70% of Americans saythat money is their number one
source of stress, according tothe APA Stress in America survey
(03:14):
, and debtcom, in June of 2025,reported a spike in financial
anxiety, especially among peoplewith, obviously, credit card
debt, medical bills and unstableincome, and one in three say
financial stress has damagedtheir mental health or even
going on to their relationships.
First off, guys I mean you guystalk about it.
(03:36):
I mean I know what thosefeelings felt like.
I remember losing sleep.
I remember, especially when myfirst son we were expecting my
first son and I rememberthinking about the car payments
that I had, the credit cardbills that I had, how I was
barely just getting by as it was, and then I started figuring
out what daycare was going tocost.
Man, you want to talk aboutlosing sleep and stress?
(03:58):
I was one freaked out guy.
I was like how are we evergoing to make all of this work?
And it affected everything.
It affected the relationship Iwas in.
It affected me eventually, asNoah was born, being a parent.
It affected my ability to work,just how I showed up at work.
It just affects everything andI don't feel like a lot of
people can really put theirfinger on how much that
(04:19):
financial stress really impactsall of the other areas of their
life.
Amber Taylor (04:24):
Yeah, it was incredibly stressful.
I remember the snapping at myloved ones.
I was just this close to beingat the edge and somebody asked
me for I need lunch tomorrow orthis school trip is happening.
I was like we don't have themoney for that.
Why do they always send us allthis stuff all back?
To back, and meanwhile it wasso much more than just the $10
(04:49):
for the school activity.
Kati Hatfield (04:51):
I know when I was first getting out of debt and
just looking at the numbers ofwhat I owed was sickening to
start with.
But then I was in a positionwhere I was taking on a new car
and a payment I could not affordand I'm just like, all right,
maybe I'm going to end up livingin my car, Like that's just how
this is going to end up,because I don't know how I'm
(05:13):
going to afford this and I'dcome to terms with that.
But it's much easier to live inyour car on the beach in
Florida than winter in Wisconsin.
So I was like we'll make itwork.
Chris Hawkins (05:31):
For me, I think, the anxiety was more of feeling
ashamed of myself and why was Iin the position that I was in
and knowing that I should bedoing better, could be doing
better, and that I needed tochange.
I needed to do some thingsdifferently, and so that's where
a lot of my stress and anxietycame from was really being mad
at myself.
Now all that other stuff wasunderlying.
It was all there, but maybe forme it was just kind of another
(05:51):
level and fortunately it's thatsame anxiety that we always say
you've got to get tired of beingtired.
Eventually I got tired of beingtired and it took me two times
of trying and failing before thethird time I finally kind of
figured it out.
It was that desire to not endup like most people, I think.
Brad Nelson (06:10):
Yeah, well, I think the other part was that and we
talk about this a lot on thepodcast you sit back and you
look at what everybody elseespecially with social media and
everything else that's outthere now.
I mean, it's easy to look atwhat how is everyone else being
able to do all this stuff?
But yet I'm so broke, like whatam I missing, right?
And it's easy to like isolateyourself and sit here and think
I must be the only one who'sstruggling.
I must be the only one whodoesn't have this figured out,
(06:32):
because everyone else looks likethey're doing great, they're
going on vacations, they'redriving the cars, they got the
bigger houses, they got thegreat lawns, their kids are in
sports.
It's like they just have it allfigured out.
But the reality is, like we allknow, most of them have just
like a really nice wrapper onthe outside, but on the inside
they're struggling just as muchas everybody else.
But I feel like that was one ofthe harder parts for me is
(06:55):
feeling like I'm just failure,because it just seems like
everyone else was getting itexcept for me.
Kati Hatfield (07:02):
Yeah, I always felt like I look like I have it
all together.
Everyone thinks my life is, youknow, going great and I have a
big smile on my face.
But when I get home and I shutthe door, I'm just like, oh, I
can't believe.
I pulled it off again foranother day and, yeah, being
single especially, I didn't haveanyone to talk to about it or
confide in, because, yeah, it'sembarrassing and it's not fun to
(07:23):
deal with, especially byyourself.
Brad Nelson (07:25):
It's not fun to deal with, especially by
yourself.
Yeah Well, and I think you alsoget yourself into this cycle.
A lot of us have been there andI see this time and time again
with even people who join Rootsor people that I talk to is that
you get yourself into thisalmost financial misery cycle I
like to call it where you knowyour situation is bad, you know
it's not good, but then what welook for is like ways to cope
(07:46):
with it, and the ways that wecope with it only make the
situation worse.
I'm going to impulse buy here.
I'm going to spend a fewdollars here.
I'm going to make this purchaseto make me feel better.
Here I'm going to go out to eatand celebrate a little bit just
to take my mind off thatconstant stress that you're
feeling all the time.
But the reality is is in theback of your mind.
(08:07):
You know it's only digging adeeper hole, and so many people
get stuck in that misery cycleof this, this repeat pattern of
behaviors that are justconsistently keeping them in
that stress.
Chris Hawkins (08:19):
Yeah, I think for me.
I eventually had to stopworrying about what other people
thought about me and we'vetalked about that on this
podcast a lot.
I've had to realize that if I'mthe problem, I'm also the
solution.
And we've mentioned severaltimes on this podcast, the book
the Compound Effect, and one ofthe things I love about that
(08:40):
book is it tells you to startanalyzing all the bad habits
that you have Okay.
Start analyzing all the badhabits that you have, okay, and
then pick three or four of themand just try to stop doing those
things while at the same timepick up three or four positive
habits, right?
So for me, it was a matter ofstop doing the things that
(09:01):
aren't getting me where I wantto be going.
And it wasn't easy, it was hard, but eventually I got to the
point where I didn't care whatother.
And it wasn't easy, it was hard, but eventually I got to the
point where I didn't care whatother people thought about me,
and that was a big part of thegame for me.
That was a big victory for me isyou know what happens behind
closed doors at my house and,amber you mentioned, sometimes
you snapped at people.
(09:22):
I mean, when you've gotfinancial stress, there's
arguments, there's disagreementsand nobody's happy.
And eventually I got to thepoint where I realized that it
wasn't just happening behind mydoors, it was happening behind a
lot of other doors, so much sothat when I eventually got out
of debt and started doingfinancial coaching.
You kind of realize how bad itis for a lot of folks is for a
(09:46):
lot of folks, and as a teacher Iwould tell my students on the
first day of class that justbecause somebody has got a nice
car, a nice house, awell-manicured house, maybe has
a pool in the backyard, theylook like they're living the
life, they look like they'rehappy, but you have no idea
what's going on on the otherside of that front door and very
often it's quite the oppositeof the show that they put on.
Yeah, so you felt like thatyou're not doing something right
(10:09):
and everybody else is doingsomething the right way.
And what am I missing?
What am I doing wrong?
And you do feel guilty, you dofeel ashamed, but as soon as you
can let that go, it's thebiggest gift you can give
yourself.
Amber Taylor (10:22):
I'm in a relationship and when we were
going through this and we werein this cycle of, just you know,
impulse spending, buying this,buying that we're voiding bills,
whatever we would guilt eachother Like, well, you got this
last week, so now I deserve thisthis week, yeah, and we would
(10:42):
do it back and forth so much andwe could never get ahead.
It was just wild how much wedid that to each other.
Brad Nelson (10:49):
Well, and I think the other thing too is that the
stress alone not only with whatwe're discussing and you get in
this cycle of like, say, impulsespending, emotional spending,
spending to make yourself feelbetter is a lot of people also
fall into the avoidance cycletoo.
They avoid it.
And I actually have a personalfriend right now that I've been
talking to.
They know what I do and justbeen chit-chatting on the side a
(11:10):
little bit.
They've been asking questionsand things, and I've come to
discover that they have somesubstantial bills that they have
just been avoiding, like justignoring it, and I was trying to
explain to them.
It's like a toothache right asit starts out small, but
eventually it's going to getreally, really big, it's going
to get even more painful themore that you avoid it.
And so I've been trying to saylet's tackle this one little
(11:32):
piece at a time, like, what canyou do, what are you able to do?
Because the more you avoid yourparticular situation, it's just
only going to get worse.
And we find this with peoplewho join Roots, who are in their
older years, and they are thefirst people to tell me Brett, I
wish I would have taken care ofthese problems a long time ago.
I wish I would have startedsooner.
I wish I would have startedsaving earlier.
(11:53):
I wish I wouldn't have takenout all of this debt, because
now I'm in my older years andI've avoided all these years,
and now I'm just stressed beyondbelief and it's just causing my
life so much grief all the time.
And so the natural habit for alot of us is to stick our head
in the sand and just pretend itdoesn't exist.
But the reality is iseventually the problem is gonna
get so big where you have noother choice but to face it, and
(12:18):
at that time it's gonna bereally, really hard.
So the reality is, when you'regetting started, you're facing a
lot of these stresses.
Progress with your financesisn't just about numbers.
It isn't just about math.
Some of the best progress thatyou can make is just coming up
with the courage to stand up andsay I'm going to face this, I'm
going to start doing somethingabout my finances.
(12:40):
Chris, I mean you were kind oftalking about that.
Eventually, you just were likethis is such a big problem, I've
got to deal with it, I've gotto handle it, I've got to face
it, and sometimes those are thebiggest wins is making the
decision to say today is the dayI'm finally going to do
something about it.
And the reality is, guys, whenwe have people go through roots
or people who start working onthe stuff that we're talking
about the savings numbers, thedebt payoff numbers come later,
(13:04):
but what comes first is lessstress, it's less worry, it's
less anxiety, because once youactually get on a plan, you face
your issues, you start figuringout where exactly you're at,
you develop a plan of how you'regoing to attack it.
It's amazing it doesn't all goaway, but it's amazing how much
of the anxiety and stress doesgo away, because you're no
longer guessing about what'sgoing in, what's going out.
(13:26):
How are we going to cover this?
How are we going to cover that?
Because you actually have agame plan of how you're going to
start to finally tackle thesechallenges that you're facing.
Kati Hatfield (13:34):
Especially when you have that savings account
where it's like, oh, I have themoney to pay for whatever
emergency, Like this year.
I've had my colonoscopy becauseyou hit 45.
I have to get my wisdom teethtaken out, I have some other
stuff coming up and I'm justlike I can write a check for it
and not even blink, not evenstress, like I would have
(13:56):
several years ago.
It would have just been acompletely life altering,
chaotic, stressful mess and Iwould be like how am I going to
pay for this?
I need to do this, but how am Igoing to pay for this?
And now it's just whatever next.
So it's much easier the moreyou work on it.
Chris Hawkins (14:16):
And I can't reiterate enough you are where
you are because of the decisionsthat you made.
And as soon as you let all thatgo, recognize that, if you're
the person that got you there,you're the person that can fix
it, and focus on the small,simple, little victories and, as
Brad has said, focus on thebehaviors.
(14:37):
Forget the math for a while.
Yes, the math is there and, yes, the math can be beneficial,
but you've got to fix you andthat comes with the behaviors
and that comes with small things, to begin with, learning and
figuring things out.
Sometimes you're going to fail.
Learn from those, Step back up,Try it again.
Eventually you're going to getmore and more victories and
(14:59):
eventually you'll get to thepoint where you have no debt.
You've changed who you are.
You've changed your habits.
You've changed your mindset,your outlook, the why that we
always talk about.
Then you can focus on the mathand then the math becomes very
important.
The math becomes, in a way,very, very fun.
(15:20):
But that comes down the road,after you change who you are and
you change your behaviors, andpart of it is just you've got to
accept that you are where youare, that you can't go back and
change things, and if you focuson the past, you will never,
never make the changes that youneed.
So you know, as a financialcoach, our job is to always tell
(15:41):
people.
All I can do is help you movingforward.
I can't help you unbox or undoanything that you've done in the
past.
But if you will focus onimprovement, 1% change every day
, try to get 1% better atsomething every day, eventually
you're going to get there.
Then you can focus on the math.
And I'll say this it doesn'tmean that from time to time
(16:02):
you're not going to have somelevel of anxiety or something
that comes up.
But with new behaviors, withnew habits, they don't become as
big of an anxiety.
And you know, I had, a couplemonths ago, lost two vehicles.
I think I talked about that ona podcast episode.
I lost two vehicles and one ofthem was a pickup truck that I
(16:25):
really needed to replace.
But I haven't done it yet,partially because I've just been
running the numbers, runningthe math, taking my time, being
patient, not rushing into adecision, and those are the
types of things that you learnthe more that you do this.
And tomorrow I'm going tofinally go buy a used pickup
truck that I'm going to pay cashfor.
I already have the cashier'scheck, money's in the bank.
(16:47):
Those are the types of coolthings that you can do, but, as
Brad has said, you've got tostart off with the small things
and you've got to let go.
Stop blaming yourself.
Brad Nelson (16:55):
Yeah.
So I want to put you guys onthe spot just a little bit and
just ask you if you can go backand say you had to start
completely over and again we'retalking about stress, we're
talking about anxiety.
If you could give one piece ofadvice that helped you reduce
most of that stress and most ofthat anxiety practical things
someone could take away fromthis episode today and say start
doing and say 30, 60 days fromnow, they would start feeling
(17:17):
better.
What do you think?
Amber Taylor (17:18):
Definitely a budget, Like it just gave me a
plan.
It told me where my money wasgoing.
So Like it just gave me a plan,it told me where my money was
going.
So for me it was a budget.
But I'm very analytical and Ineed to see the things.
Kati Hatfield (17:31):
I had to stop going to Target on a regular
basis.
So, whether it's Target orCostco or whatever your downfall
store is, just stop going thereLike if it's in your house.
If you can use the food thatyou have in your fridge in your
pantry.
Stop going to the places where,or going to the website where,
you spend a little too muchmoney and stop hitting submit
(17:51):
order.
Chris Hawkins (17:52):
And I kind of already said it a couple of
times, but I think, on thenegative side, stop beating
yourself up.
And on the positive side, abudget simply is probably the
number one priority.
Yeah, but don't overcomplicateit.
That was the mistake that Imade is, I am very analytical
too, almost too analytical, andit really has served me well.
But at that time where I was atthat time, being over
(18:16):
analytical and overcomplicatedcost me about a year and a half
of having to restart twicebefore I finally figured it out.
Brad Nelson (18:24):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I think budgeting is huge.
I think, when I first gotstarted, though, I think the
biggest thing that helped mebefore I even got my budget done
was and I talk about this allthe time like a broken record is
I started really just lookingat where my money was going.
I wasn't paying attention, andyet I convinced myself over and
over again that I was broke.
There's no way I was ever goingto get ahead, there's no way I
could save, there's no way Icould get out of debt.
(18:46):
The reality is, the money wasthere.
It was just going to prioritiesthat really weren't my
priorities.
It was just careless spending,and so I think for a lot of
people, it's hard to do, it'shard to face, it's hard to look
at, but go back over, print outthe last three to six months of
your bank statements and seewhere every single dollar has
been going, and I can guaranteeyou just about everybody who
(19:06):
does this is going to find somesort of money that they could
have saved, they could have madebetter decisions, they could
have done better things.
Again, what you're not payingattention to, it's just easy to
ignore.
It's just easy to forget thatyou had those dollars to begin
with.
So I think for me that was thebiggest part.
That was like holy crap, thereis hope, like I have actual
(19:27):
money.
I just like Chris you mentionedbehaviors Like I just need to
behave better.
I just need to.
I just need to work on thismore and have better habits,
create better habits.
Stop doing this.
Like Katie you said, don't go totarget, right.
You know, you have to have thatawareness around it and I think
once I started to realize thatthere was possibilities there,
it was like a breath of freshair, like I can do this.
It's going to take some time toget out of it, but it is
possible for sure.
(19:47):
Can you guys talk a little bitNow?
I know Chris, me and you, wekind of went through our
debt-free journey a little bitdifferently than Amber and Katie
.
But can you guys talk a littlebit about just the power of
accountability and justcommunity?
Even, chris, I mean justsurrounding yourself with people
who have, say, like-mindedgoals, and me and Chris
especially, we've been friendsfor a long time.
We started financial coachingtogether, but I know Amber and
(20:08):
Katie, you guys went throughRoots.
You guys have been doing thisfor years.
Can you guys share yourexperience with that and just
how that relates to the stressof going through this say alone
versus with other people who aredealing with it.
Kati Hatfield (20:19):
I definitely needed the accountability
because I didn't have a partneror someone that I could talk to
and I felt embarrassed to talkto my friends and family.
So joining Roots was like, okay, I'm not the only one in this
situation, these people are inthe same boat and we're all
(20:39):
fighting for the same goal.
And we might as well bounceideas off each other and cheer
each other on, and thatencouragement was the key piece
that I needed to get to payingoff $224,000 plus in debt over
seven years.
Yeah, it takes a long time, butI'm doing it and I'm proud of
(21:01):
it.
And also tracking making surethat you're tracking your
progress is huge.
That number still blows my mindall the time.
Chris Hawkins (21:11):
Well, I mean, for me, I was figuring things out
day to day.
I had not read any books, therewas no course that I had taken.
I had read one book and it hadjust come out at the time a
popular seven-step method that alot of people may be familiar
with, and I simply kind offocused on the first two
(21:32):
emergency fund and then gettingout of debt.
You know, that book told thestory of a lot of other folks
who were in the same situationand boat that I was in, or we
were in, and that was sort ofhow I realized that I wasn't
alone.
But for me, the only realaccountability partner that I
had was I sit down with my wifeand I said I'm just tired of
being in debt and here's a plan.
(21:54):
And she bought into it and thatmade it easy to do.
So I sort of have one person tobounce things off of, but I
certainly didn't have acommunity.
I wish I had had a community, Iwish I had had a course, I wish
I had had a lot of the thingsthat you offer, and maybe that's
the message to those of you outthere listening If you're not
(22:15):
sure, what do you have to lose?
Try something different.
Join the community.
You'll find out that you haveother people who have the same
problems that you do, but you'reall working together to get out
of debt, to build wealth, and Ithink you can do it
significantly faster thanperhaps I did, simply because
you have that community.
(22:36):
But in terms of asking me who myaccountability was, it was
simply my wife.
That was it.
We weren't out there tellingeverybody what we were doing,
right, because we knew if we did, they'd tell us.
You know, that's kind of a dumbidea, so we just sort of kept
it to ourself until we got to acertain point.
I found myself making my ownlaundry detergent one time and
(22:56):
my brother laughed at me aboutit.
Right, you know, we laugh aboutit now and I don't have to make
.
I make my own laundry detergent.
But you know, eventually mybrother came to me it's very
similar story to yours, brad andhe needed help.
He needed a lot of help and wehad to spend several years
helping him get out of trouble.
So I became his accountabilitypartner, along with my other
(23:18):
brother who called me forfinancial advice, and a lot of
other people had somebody heretoday just asked me hey, a lot
of other people had somebodyhere today just asked me hey,
can I sit down and talk to youabout money?
So I sort of have becomesomebody else's accountability
partner.
But I didn't really have one.
Amber Taylor (23:29):
Yeah, for us, like I did this with my husband, but
having the community because wejoined Roots, we seen Brad's
seminar and we joined Roots.
And then it was the regularcheck ins because we had these
weekly meetings and we wouldcheck in online and we would
share how we were doing, shareour success, and it really just
(23:51):
helped us keep going and staymotivated and seeing other
people that were kind of doingthe same thing.
But definitely that check-in, Idon't think we would have paid
off $54,000 in 20 months had wenot had that.
Brad Nelson (24:03):
And crazy it was what seven years ago you guys
are on your.
Yeah, I just saw the Facebookreminder or memory come up that
you guys did it seven years agoright.
Seven years, man, where doestime go.
But anyways, yeah, great stuff.
If you're again tired offinancial stress, you want to
break free from living paycheckto paycheck, you want to reduce
a lot of that anxiety, you wantto build a savings and finally
(24:24):
pay off your debt for good.
But again, maybe you're notsure where to get started.
Obviously, you got to startwith our podcast, but we've also
got some incredible freeresources for you, including our
newsletter, and it is yourstep-by-step roadmap to better
financial control, so you'lllearn easy-to-follow strategies
to manage your money effectively.
You're going to get stress-freemoney decision-making that's
(24:45):
going to help you simplify yourfinancial life with proven tips
that actually work, and you'regoing to gain the tools and the
confidence to start tacklingyour financial goals head-on.
If you want to sign up for thisnewsletter called Simplify my
Money, all you got to do isclick the link at the top of the
show notes.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,let's talk.
Let's talk about that baby.
Chris Hawkins (25:05):
Let's talk about your money.
Let's talk about all the goodthings, all the bad things that
may be.
Let's talk about that.
Let's talk about that.
Amber Taylor (25:17):
Turn into a debt-free dad, Turn into a
debt-free dad and that's how Imean this time for the
celebrations of the show.
First we have Misty.
The credit card we've beenworking on paying off is down to
just $82.
The plan is to have that paidoff before the end of the month.
Then snowball what we werepaying on to the next step.
Brad Nelson (25:40):
Yeah, awesome when Misty and Max says I finally got
my state return.
I put it straight into theemergency fund, bringing my
emergency fund total to $1,076.
Also did some pet sitting lastweekend and earned an extra $250
.
I put this towards getting somebills paid off, starting to
feel like I can finally breatheagain.
(26:00):
Max, awesome, awesome wins.
Chris Hawkins (26:03):
And Mary says well, not a whole lot's
happening and that's a goodthing.
My win would be just stayingsteady.
Kati Hatfield (26:13):
Yeah.
Brad Nelson (26:13):
And a lot of people would overlook that, right Like
nothing really happened thisweek.
But honestly, staying steady,staying consistent, is a great
win.
I love it.
Kati Hatfield (26:22):
And Claudia Ann stayed within her grocery budget
and no eating out, no use ofcredit cards for six months.
Way to go.
Brad Nelson (26:31):
Yeah, that's awesome.
And then, last but not least,is Holly.
I got a side job cleaninghouses for some extra money,
holly, I love it.
Income producing activitiesGreat job.
So again, as always, guys,congratulations to all of you
guys who are taking a stand foryour financial life and you're
wanting better.
Hey, we get that getting out ofdebt.
It's not easy, but with ourhelp and with your consistency
(26:52):
and discipline, we promise youguys, this will be some of the
best work that you guys do inyour entire life.
Thanks for joining us ontoday's show and we will see you
guys on the next episode, onthe next episode.
Announcer (27:06):
Thanks for listening to the Debt-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.
For resources, show notes andlinks mentioned in today's show
visit debtfreedadcom.
(27:27):
Catch you next week.
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