How to Stay Motivated While Paying Off Debt

How to Stay Motivated While Paying Off Debt

A year in to our debt free journey and I'm happy to say that we are still plugging along, making progress, and making payments towards everything each month. Yay! But, it is really easy to look at a mountain of debt and wonder how on earth you can ever stick with it for what seems like forever! I'm here to share a few ways that we have stayed motivated on this debt free journey that will hopefully help you either get started OR keep going if you've already jumped in!

How to Stay Motivated While Paying Off Debt

Be With Your People

The hardest part of being on a really tight budget and not being able to spend any money is being surrounded literally every day by people who either don't have to be or choose not to be. We have found that really being intentional about finding friends who understand our money habits has been incredibly helpful and motivating! We don't go out to eat, so right now we aren't hanging out much with people who like to eat out! We aren't doing any vacations, so people who travel aren't in our current crowd. It is hard to not be doing all the things our friends are doing (which is totally natural of course) so instead of going against what our goals are to fit in with that crowd, we have just changed crowds! The other bonus is that we have made some really amazing and inspiring friends who have helped us stay the course and kept us motivated!

We were lucky enough to have a huge group of people to keep us on track by taking Financial Peace University at our Church! Which leads me to my second point.

Attend or Teach Financial Peace University! 

Thankfully, our church already has a thriving FPU program so it was easy for us to just step in. Our coordinator Terri is awesome and has been coordinating FPU at our church for years. We knew Dave's principals but we really wanted to be in the class so we could make some new friends who would get our crazy money decisions. After our class was over we couldn't wait to lead a small group. Our small group leaders were awesome (Hey Kris and Larry!) so we wanted to be that for another couple who was in the same place we were! We immediately signed up to lead a small group and it was such a huge blessing for us to guide others on their journey and it kept us more accountable to our goals too!

I just have to brag on a few of the people in our class. One couple walked away from buying a house while they were in the class because they learned that the weren't financially ready to do it. And when I say walked away, they literally cancelled on closing day. That is tough! Another couple sold their beloved family truck and paid cash for a smaller car so the husband could take on an extra job of driving for Uber to bring in extra cash! We were so inspired by some of the sacrifices that our small group made. It was so exciting!

Track Your Progress!




We keep our Debt Snowball Tracker on our fridge where we can see it every day and see how much debt we have paid off so far. It is such an awesome daily reminder of how far we have come and how our sacrifices have really paid off for us!

Want to start tracking your debt snowball? Just download your free tracker here and tack it up where you will see it every day. It may be on your fridge or your bathroom mirror or maybe in your office! When that running total column starts adding up it will be such a huge motivator for you to keep going!

Celebrate the Little Wins!

It is always good to pat yourself on the back a bit when you are going through a long process of anything whether it is organizing a house or sludging through a work project or paying off debt. Celebrate mini victories along the way to stay motivated! Every time you pay off a debt, like a whole credit card or student loan, reward yourself with a (reasonable) dinner out, a movie date, a girl's night, or something you've really been depriving yourself of!

These little things have really been big things in our debt snowball journey and seriously helped us stay motivated! What are some ways that you stay the course during a long haul journey in life? Share in the comments below!

Are you wanting to turn your finances around? All it takes is one decision to start doing things differently! Take my free five day challenge to jump start your financial makeover!